Litepanels is providing its LED flat-panel lighting for all CBS Sports and FOX Sports NFL regular season and post-season telecasts for the 2010 NFL season. This will culminate with Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, TX, on Feb. 6, 2011.
Litepanels LED lighting systems, through a rental agreement with Bexel (both companies are owned by The Vitec Group), are being used to illuminate the broadcast commentary booths and the roving sideline reporters for each of the 14 weekly NFL games that CBS and FOX are broadcasting during their regular season coverage.
The shift to an all-LED Litepanels system was driven by a desire on the part of CBS and FOX to provide a more eco friendly lighting system as well as the multiple performance advantages over traditional incandescent booth lights. The Litepanels instruments are not only made with 100 percent recyclable materials and contain no mercury, a common component in other lighting devices, but they are one-tenth the weight of comparable HMI's and consume one-third as much power.
The technology's minimal power consumption is highly desirable because most broadcast booths power requirements already exceed the built-in capacity. A primary factor in CBS and FOX making the switch to LED lights was the lack of heat emission, which is important when broadcasting afternoon games during the fall season.
The broadcast talent was pleased with this switchover due to much more comfortable booth temperatures and the reduction of squinting eyes that are typically caused by the HMI fixtures.