New Lighting in Hilton

NetflixAndClone

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I can certainly see that darkening out the crowd makes for a better a better shooting background. It will also be less intimidating for the opponent...
Hilton has always been a shooter's gym. The crowd has never seemed to make them shoot worse(besides free throws). The noise is still going to be there and it's not like Hilton is pitch black.
 

Thompsonclone

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Dec 13, 2008
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I personally like the way it looks. You can notice the difference right away but it's not like you can't see the person next to you in the crowd. You can still see every person in the arena. It isn't like the Battle for Atlantis arena lighting.

I was talking to Seanna Johnson about the lighting. I asked her if she and her teammate's liked the lights and she said, "ehh it's okay. The only bad part is every now and then you get blinded by them." She asked me how it looked from my angle and I said it looked great. She responded by saying if it looks good that's all that matters to her.


Thought it was interesting.
 

isucy86

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Apr 13, 2006
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As long as I can see the court and well enough to eat a walking taco, I am good. I didn't notice the lights, I did notice we have some good 3 point shooters. Burton had an awesome dunk and Soloman Young has a nice touch from 3.

I might have to show up on Friday night to check out the lights. Maybe if I slide Jamie a few extra bucks, they will shine an LED light on my seat;-)
 
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Thompsonclone

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I said I liked the lights but after asking a player now I'm not so sure. He said he isn't liking them.
 

Cytasticlone

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I was thinking about this too. Like you I have no evidence if it's turn but if you sit in the dark you may feel less likely to act up because no one can see you that well. If you are in a lit up place you may feel out of place if you don't get up and cheer.

In the end, we are Iowa State fans. It would be stupid not to get up and cheer because the team feeds off our energy. If sitting in the dark makes you not want to cheer, don't buy tickets and let someone else who is going to cheer their butt off get them.

I would think it might be the opposite. I feel like the darkness could bring more anonymity which could actually have fans be more inclined to act crazy. I mean, look at cause and effect of anonymity in social media... ;)

Being at the game in section 241 I didn't think it was too dark in the upper areas. Felt I could see the game better as well. Also don't think it will take at the crowd

For fans in the colliseum I could see this being where the balcony likes it and sees improvement(same small can lighting up there, improved court visibility). Whereas, the lower levels may feel the opposite(less light bleeding from court lights for dimmer seats but much closer to the brighter/harsher? court lighting :cool:)

I fall in the balcony catagory and really like it.

Also, I see where a fair amount of the new lights weren't in use and they can probably expand the lighting footprint out if they every need to. Or, maybe some of those are pointed at player entrance for intros. A spotlight-ish setup possibly? I'll be interested to hear what they do for the opener and get your guy's feedback as I can't make it. I would bet they saved all of the cool new stuff like that for the first real game.
 

LowOverhead

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When I walked into the arena, my initial thought was, "what's up with all the shadows on the floor?" The players' shadows seemed more pronounced. Then there's the shadows on each sides of the baskets that look like stains on the wood floor.

Once up to our seats in the second row of the balcony, the overall effect is not negative. I do notice some of the fixtures are not lit, so I'm thinking for volleyball or perhaps during player introductions the lighting configuration may change with flexibility LED offers.

After the game starts, I find the scoreboard to be disconcerting. Even with my old, cataract altered eyes, I don't need all the extra, unnecessary, horizontal lines. Only need one horizontal line under the column headers of player, fouls and points.

After the season starts, all these changes will no longer be apparent and I'll be busy complaining about the refs.
 

Cyke

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Jun 22, 2011
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My two cents:
Love the new lights. Much easier to dim the lights for player intros with LEDs than halogen. Now if we don't dim them for the first game Friday, my opinion might change.
 

mustangcy

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Not a fan of the new lights. I live to far away to make it to more than a few games a year so I'm a TV viewer most games. It totally took away the feeling that you used to get with the crowd being right on top of the action. Cyclone Alley was hard to see as well. I don't get how people can be ok with the best part of Hilton Magic (the crowd) being shown less on tv?

That said I'm sure season ticket holders in the balcony like it. I bet they can see the game much better.
 

ImperialCyclone

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From what I read there are mixed reviews from people. I sit in the 5th row of the balcony and noticed the difference. I personally wasn't a huge fan of the change, but hearing some of the responses you all have given, I'm definitely open-minded to the idea. I will adapt either way and will be at every game cheering just as loudly as I did before. I'm used to seeing the crowd in Hilton and loved the old brightness we had. I also understand some of the points you all have pointed out and I thank you for opening my eyes to those points.
 
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clones26

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I noticed on the Cyclones.TV feed that the court looked a lot brighter and the stands looked a little darker but the stream quality looked really good. I am indifferent, as long as we keep winning I don't care one way or another. With how polarizing freaking lights are just imagine the uproar when/if they ever rebuild HIlton...
 

carvers4math

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My Boy Scouts always have a flashlight on them and there is always the phone. Will we need them for the stairs up high?
 

VeloClone

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The way BB is broadcast on TV now (started by ABC/ESPN), the viewers at home really get no feel or appreciation for the crowd atmosphere. There is very little (relative to what it used to be) crowd noise added to the audio, and as you mentioned above, the majority of the crowd is darkened out on the video.

In another thread I posted an old NBA on NBC Lakers clip from the early years of Staples, before ABC took over the NBA broadcasts. Much different, and IMO, much better than what we see now. The crowd was well illuminated and well represented in the audio. Marv Albert was drowned out by the crowd noise on the buzzer beater shot by Horry, as it should be, because Marv doesn't really matter at that instant. The crowd was well visible in the background going crazy (which is not typical of a Lakers crowd).

Today, you hear a game announcer comment on how loud or how crazy the crowd is at a certain point of a game, but it really doesn't really sound or look any different from any other part of the game.

The Staples lighting system was changed and they have the most dramatic cutoff between the court (well lit) and the seating sections (as dark as possible). The NBA likes it that way and they push facilities to maximize court lighting and minimize seating lighting as new facilities are built or older ones update their lighting. In order to get that dramatic of difference they had to use more lighting fixtures with a narrower focus.
 

VeloClone

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Just wondering, how many of you did it take to change those lights?
I say "I did" because it was my project. We had a design team, a manufacturer's team and an electrical company for the install. There were probably only about 10 electricians total who worked on installing and aiming lights.
 

VeloClone

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A few of you said at the game you didn't notice a difference, but those on tv did.

It very well could be the camera making it appear much darker in the seating. If the playing surface is dramatically brighter than it has been in the past, the iris on the camera would have to close down a bit, making those already in the shaded sections, even darker.

Even with the comparison pics on the last page, it could still be the same thing happening.

Just a speculation.

I haven't been in Hilton, but this is likely the correct answer. On our project the lighting levels on the court went up substantially so the cameras are operating at a lower f/stop. If the seating areas have similar lighting levels to what they had before they will look significantly darker on camera now.
 
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VeloClone

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I installed LED lights in an arena. The power savings is incredible. The AD is going to save a lot of money on utility costs. The ROI is so quick on a purchase like that - it is dumb to not do it.

Not only are you experiencing power savings with lights that don't use nearly as much energy, you are also saving energy during warmer months because the lights don't contribute to the heat load in the building. The old fixtures put out a huge amount of heat and during cooling season that means your airhandlers are working that much harder to cool the building. Obviously not much of a big deal during basketball season but it is for other events that Hilton hosts.
 

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