Date: August 2008

LIGHTHOUSE SHINES WITH WINNING DELIVERY AT LORD'S

UK – 7th August 08 - When the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) decided to invest in state-of-the-art scoreboards at its world-famous cricket ground, Lord’s, it chose Lighthouse Technologies to head up the contract. And it was the best decision they could have made.

Lord’s is the home of cricket, which means the Ground’s custodians are constantly working to maintain the highest standards. So when the scoreboards became tatty and dated, the powers-that-be felt it was time to replace them with the latest in information technology.

“We had two scoreboards that had been there for some time and the16,000 light bulbs of which they consisted needed constant replacement,” explains Steve Jones, IT manager at MCC. “We also had a temporary video screen which was brought in for major matches. So when we decided to replace the two scoreboards, the decision was made to add a third and set them all up to be capable of showing video.

“It has been a sizable investment,” Steve admits, “but it’s part of an ongoing policy of upgrading our facility to ensure that Lord’s continues to be the best cricket ground in the world.”

It was essential for MCC to engage the services of the best suppliers, so it hired Gardiner and Theobald as project managers to put out a tender for a full JCT Design and Build contract. At an on-site ‘shoot-out’ between six LED screen manufacturers, Lighthouse screens stood out as the best.

“When we first displayed white text on a black background — which is how a traditional scoreboard would look — the Lighthouse screens provided more contrast than those of its competitors,” confirms Steve. “They provided better display quality when used as scoreboards and for showing video. This was the major consideration in awarding the contract to Lighthouse Technologies.”

As the main contractor, Lighthouse was responsible for the entire project. Installation specialists, EDS were sub-contracted to design and build the screen housings, install and integrate the displays. Lighthouse recommended P16 to produce sharp information and clear replay images across the 11m x 6m screens. Lighthouse also appointed AMX who specialise in electronic control systems to develop an integrated content management system for all three screens.

“This was a significant undertaking for Lighthouse and we have gained a vast amount of experience from our main contractor status,” reveals Graham Filmer, Lord’s project manager for Lighthouse. “But we were wholly confident in our ability to remove the two old scoreboards and their support structures, install a new 20 metre high mast, and to supply the three screens — one for the Allen Stand, one for the Compton Stand and another for the Edrich Stand.

With a strict deadline to adhere to (the cricket season waits for no-one), Lighthouse ran into a challenge that nobody could have foreseen. ”We hit a couple of underground structures that had not been revealed in previous investigations,” explains Graham. ‘But we just had to deal with it and get on with the job. We weren’t going to let anyone down.’

Less of a surprise, but nonetheless testing, has been the issue of weight constraint. With the Allen Stand, for example, Lighthouse had to install within an existing stand and there were severe restrictions with this. Because the Allen Stand screen is suspended from the roof, the new screen had to weigh less than the old one. The limit was 8.5 tonnes and that included the steel support housing. There were some tight calculations.

“To accommodate the restrictions, some sections are custom designed with panels that have lift-off doors so we can gain access for maintenance, and EDS designed bracing members have been engineered to be removable,” he continues. “This means you can take out the bracing, carry out any maintenance and then put the bracing back in again. It had to be designed that way to keep the weight of the steelwork down.

“A lot of work went into the appearance of the screens and the cladding panels mounted on the rear, to keep the screens in line with planning constraints and architectural requirements,” he adds.

Because the support structures for the new screens had to be similar to the previous ones, the size of the display area would also be the same. But since there are more pixels in the Lighthouse screens than in the previous scoreboards, the image is much clearer. With this particular installation there is a maximum of a 200m viewing distance for each screen, a good deal of research went into the size and choice of fonts to ensure the paying public would be able to read them easily.

The system has been designed to access data from Code 27’s widely used Total Cricket Scorer© (TCS), which is displayed alongside video content received from outside broadcast (OB) trucks. So the scorers, who have ultimate control over the boards, can select what they want to show on each screen.

“The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has a separate OB vehicle to create content for the screens, which it does at all major televised matches,” says Graham. “The programme output is then fed into this system which helps to ensure that any ‘live’ match action is displayed within accepted guidelines, which minimizes any potential distraction to both the players and match officials and greatly reduces pressure put on the umpires.”

Because of the distance limitation, Lighthouse chose to utilize a 16-way fibre optic cable to link all three screens to the control room, as well as to the scorer’s box and the OB compound.
The issue of data access did prove an additional challenge, however. This was due to the complex nature of scoring cricket matches, but also because the system had to be easy for the Lord’s scorers to use, since they are the people in control of information input.

“There is a lot of detail to go on the screens,” explains Graham. “The AMX control system interrogates the TCS software every second, so scorers have the option to select any score data and format it for immediate display. The fact that the AMX control system could interface with TCS was crucial, because this is the database that people in cricket are familiar with.”

The new screens have now been fully operational at Lord’s since 15 May and everyone is thrilled with them. Having risen to the challenge of being the main contractor for the first time, Simon Taylor, general manager of Lighthouse Technologies’ UK office, remarks: “We are proud to have completed such a successful and prestigious project, and to have contributed to the international reputation of Lord’s as a centre of excellence. It has provided us with valuable experience to take on similar roles in the future.”

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About Lighthouse Technologies

Lighthouse Technologies Limited is a leading LED technology developer, manufacturer and global supplier of state-of-the-art LED modular video panels, which can be assembled into large scale video screens for indoor and outdoor use. Specializing in the research and manufacture of LED video screens, Lighthouse has its own intellectual properties with more than 10 active patents worldwide and is committed to remain as the premier creator of intellectual property value.

The company’s LED components, panels and complete video systems undergo stringent quality control with power-on, burn-in processes at ISO 14001 and ISO 9001-certified manufacturing plants. Its products have won several international awards, among them, the IBC Exhibition Design Award 2005, the Best-In-Show Award at InfoComm 2005, the Best New Product Award at the National Association of Broadcasters 2002 (NAB) show and the Good Buzz award at InfoComm 2004, the Technological Achievement Certificate of Merit in the 2003 Hong Kong Awards for Industry as well as the prestigious Consumer Product Design Award and the HKITCC Certificate of Merit in Technological Achievement in the 1999 Hong Kong Awards for Industry. Lighthouse was also recognized as one of the Fastest Growing Technology Companies in the 2002 Deloitte Technology Fast 250.

Lighthouse operates worldwide, through sales offices and technical support teams in the United States, Canada, South America, United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.lighthouse-tech.com.

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Lighthouse Technologies Limited,
Suites 531-537, Building 2,
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Tel: 852 2192 1688
Fax: 852 2423 1062
E-mail: info@lighthouse-tech.com
www.lighthouse-tech.com