What Is the Lighting Standard of Indoor Basketball Courts?

What Is the Lighting Standard of Indoor Basketball Courts?

Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world, originated in the United States in 1891, and since then, the sport has been introduced to Mexico, France, Britain, China, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Australia, Lebanon, and other countries, gradually in the world has been carried out, popularization and development. It has hundreds of years of history, has been developed in hundreds of countries, and spawned a variety of large-scale competitions. Here share some information on the basketball court lighting standard.

1.Importance of excellent basketball lighting standards:

A Professional lighting effect is essential for basketball events. During a match, good lighting can improve players' concentration on the field, while poor lighting can greatly affect players' performance. Because the illumination requirement of sports lighting on the field is different from that of general field lighting, it has very high requirements on the evenness of the field, illumination, parabola of the ball in the air, and illumination at the drop point. The light can not produce visual interference on the players, affecting the judgment of the ball and the players' game emotions.

At the same time, the players are not the only ones who need perfect lighting. Referees also need professional lighting to manage the game,  capture the players' movements to determine whether they are fouling, and use hand signals to indicate the rules to the players, all of which are crucial to the game. Comfortable lighting on the outside of the arena protects the spectators' eyesight and increases their satisfaction with the whole match.

On the other hand, optimal lighting conditions are necessary to broadcast live games, broadcasters use high-end cameras to capture sharp images and convert them into digital data, lack of light can lead to stroboscopic effects or flickering in high-speed cameras, and high-quality LED lamps can help get the best results for live broadcasts.

2. Make the right choice of LUX level for your basketball court:

LUX level is one of the most important factors of basketball court lighting, it depends on the fixture type, the number of lighting fixtures, the wattage level of each fixture, and the location. The industry standard (International Lighting Association) classifies them into 6 categories:
I (Training and recreational activities).
II (Amateur competition/Professional training).
III (Professional competition).
IV (televised national/international matches).
V (televising major international matches).
VI (HD TV Broadcasting International Competition).

For most conditions, 200 lux is enough for the non-television standard LUX level of a basketball match, which provides good visibility for recreational basketball games. For television standard matches, kindly consider the 2,000 LUX rating to properly ensure that lighting is up to a high standard LUX level for primarily professional basketball games, which provides proper visibility for the game and is sufficient for broadcast cameras to capture all the action. For a professional indoor basketball court, proper lighting would be essential for broadcast cameras to catch all movement, because nowadays cameras are designed to work at high speeds, and lack of light could cause a stroboscopic effect, or flicker, on high-speed cameras. For higher basketball competition standards, basketball court lights are supposed to support at least 6,000 FPS to ensure quality and keep the flicker rate below 0.3%, higher than this level of illumination would cause flickers undetectable by high-speed cameras. The ratio of site average horizontal to average vertical illuminance should be between 1.0 and 2.0 while avoiding direct luminaire glare and reflective glare from glossy surfaces entering the camera lens.

3. Use anti-glare lights

Another important evaluation index of lighting quality in basketball courts is glared value, which is related to the installation mode, installation height, number, installation density, and light distribution of lamps. Too much glare from lighting fixtures can cause players to become disoriented and not perform to their full ability. Therefore, minimizing glare is crucial in basketball lighting. In order to control glare, lamps must have anti-glare characteristics. In any case, glare levels above 50 are not acceptable. And if for indoor, the GR must be lower 30. The position and intensity of the light source and the calculation of glare value should be considered in the design of stadium lighting.

4. Lighting arrangement

1. The lamp is arranged on the top and above the site: the beam is perpendicular to the site plane. The top arrangement should be symmetrical light distribution lamps. Suitable for the use of low space, ground level illuminance uniformity high, no TV transmission requirements of the gymnasium.

2. Layout on both sides: The lamps are arranged on both sides of the venue. Asymmetric light distribution lamps are arranged on both sides of the venue in the form of continuous light belts or clusters, and the beams are not perpendicular to the surface of the venue. The aiming Angle of the luminaire should not be greater than 65 degrees. The installation method is suitable for high vertical lighting requirements such as television, game broadcast, and video.

3. Mixed layout -- both sides layout and four corner layout would be combined, mixed layout should adopt a variety of light distribution lamps, to meet different lighting needs, suitable for large comprehensive sports venues.

4. Use medium and wide beam distribution lamps: Suitable for low floor height, large span, good reflection condition of the top net building space, at the same time, suitable for glare restriction, no TV broadcast place. The requested gymnasium is not suitable for hanging light fixtures and construction.

5. Four-corner arrangement: Lamps and lanterns are arranged in the four corners of the competition venue in a concentrated form combined with light poles.

5. Basketball lamps shall meet the following standards :

1. Rectangles shall be arranged on either side of the site and shall be at least 1 meter beyond the end of the site.

2. The installation of lamps should not be less than 12 meters.

3. Lamps should not be placed above the area with a diameter of fewer than 4 meters centered on the basket.

4. The lamp has an anti-glare function, and the protection grade of the shell is not less than IP65

5. Lights cannot be placed directly on the front of the basketball court.

Lamps are very important to the lighting effect of the basketball court, LED court lights from Romanso have high luminous efficiency, stable luminous flux, high color rendering index, good anti-glare effect, etc., to provide sufficient and uniform lighting for the basketball court, with high- quality lighting close to natural light for athletes, coaches, spectators to provide more excellent light environment.

Romanso Lighting has more than 16 years of experience in sports lighting, providing professional and complete design, reasonable, effective, and thoughtful design solutions. If you have any ongoing sports lighting project, or if you would like to discuss more details with us, please kindly contact us at romanso@romanso.com.