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July 3–12 the best tennis players will duke it out at Wimbledon with millions of spectators watching from around the world. The event is held rain or shine, but since 1922, only seven Wimbledons have been rain-free — meaning heavy cloud cover, poor outdoor lighting and a retractable roof covering used to be hindrances to the viewability for both TV and live audiences. Wimbledon 2017 weather forecast is already calling for “unsettled” conditions.
This initially changed in 2009, when Wimbledon Centre Court received a retractable roof and lighting retrofit using Lutron’s original GRAFIK 7000, and then again this year. In 2017, the venue replaced the slow-start, high-energy HID lighting with efficient LED fixtures, and upgraded to a Lutron Quantum Total Light Management system with Quantum Vue facility management software. As a result of upgrade, and with the proper password permissions, all lighting in Centre Court can be controlled remotely from within the Championship space. Additional levels of security can be assigned per event. This ensures lighting is able to react instantaneously to accommodate player needs without any chance of compromising the system at any time. Working with the Lutron Services Team, ME Engineers was able to utilize the original GRAFIK XP dimming panels, while upgrading the processors, and installing a much improved Graphical User Interface (GUI) that simplifies changes and offers cleaner, crisper graphics.