어플리케이션	Sports Flood Lighting
장소	훗카이도, 일본
설치제품	SUFA-A, SUFA, SUFA-X, MAHA
조명설치	GigaTera Japan Technical Team

“First Horsetrack in the World to Replace the Lights with LED” Situated in Hokkaido, Japan, the lighting at the Monbetsu Horsetrack was replaced with GigaTera LED lighting. This project led by the Japan Branch was a major achievement as the deal was landed after competition with other leading Japanese lighting companies. The client also was very pleased with the improved uniformity luminance, and outstanding color rendering.

An expansion was planned for the Mombetsu Horsetrack for an inner course intended for race horses under two years old. The inner course would require lighting, but the outer course already had lighting installed. That is why a new lighting system altogether would be required.

At first it was proposed to just install additional lighting for the inner course, but ultimately the 595 units of 2kW and 1.5kW mercury lamps installed in the outer course were also replaced in the project. First it was suggested that the 595 units of the existing lighting of the outercourse be replaced at a 1:1 ratio, but in and around the inner course 10 poles be newly added to accommodate the additional 200 lighting units that were suggested resulting in an overall proposal of 795 lighting units. Accordingly, the GigaTera Japan Branch suggested reducing the existing number of lighting units for the outer course by 190 units to 405 units. For the inner course it was suggested that just 3 poles be installed for 75 units of lighting, resulting in the installation of a total of 480 lighting units.

The reason the Gigatera Japan Branch was able to win this order was because there was an issue of lighting quantity as well as the 400V voltage pressure standard not satisfied by other companies, and the Gigatera Japanese branch suggested the wireless control of ‘GeSS-Air’ in contrast with the other company suggesting wire controls and was able position itself in an advantageous position. In other words, from a standpoint of quantity of lighting and control systems Gigatera’s low-cost and competitiveness was favorable from the point of view of the customer and therefore this became a big reason for obtaining the contract.

When installing horse track lighting, it is crucial that uniform luminance be secured because if there are any shadow areas on the track this could potentially scare the horses and likewise affect their athletic performance. Regarding these issues, the Japanese branch has introduced the installation case studies of Yankees’ Stadium and Mariners’ Stadium, and after showing the Yankees’ stadium video, it was determined that with the new installation there would be no issue with uniformity luminance. In particular, it was possible for SUFA-A which was installed at the Mombetsu horse track to be set to two aiming points due to its module system of top and bottom separation that used a method of tilting. This resulted in outstanding uniformity.

Broadcasting-grade lighting for horse tracks requires an excellence in color rendering. Mombetsu horse track also required a color rendering of higher than 90Ra. Normally, horse track announcers have to recognize jockeys by their hats and uniform colors, therefore it was compulsory for the colors to look the same even during night games. The Japanese branch introduced 1,500fps slow motion video to the customer to overcome this issue and proved that there was no problem of broadcasting when using a color rendering of higher than 80Ra and performed a camera test after installing just 7 lighting units before installing the rest, and obtained approval from the broadcasting team.