Attracting leading players from around the world, WSOPE presented by Betfair, complements the WSOP event, which is held annually in Las Vegas. WSOPE 2009 was held at The Casino at The Empire, Leicester Square and broadcast in the UK on sports television channel ESPN (UK).
For the second year running, Innovative Show Design's president, Christopher Runnells, was hired by Nevada based Poker Productions and ESPN (UK) to design the television and scenic lighting for the event.
Runnells needed a fixture that would not produce a multi coloured shadow and would give him the ability to mix the proper colour temperature of white light. He approached HSL project manager, Mike Oates, to suggest a suitable LED fixture. After considering different options, Oates proposed the latest generation Color Block 2 fixture from Chroma-Q.
Runnells initially had concerns about using an RGBA LED fixture. He commented: "I have not had much luck getting the correct quality or colour temperature of light out of these types of fixtures in the past and have always had the problem of multi coloured shadows. However, we did some testing of the fixture and it seemed to be the right fit for my needs. It was a big gamble to take, but I was pleased with the results of the tests that Mike did at HSL."
Runnells found the Color Block 2 fixture's compact design was ideal for the venue's limited ceiling height, which restricted him to using two-metre lengths of vertical truss on bases for the lighting positions in many of the Tournament areas. He was able to place the units inside the bases of the truss, giving him the ability to highlight the trusses with just the right shade of lavender he was trying to achieve.
He was also very impressed with the ability of the Color Block 2 to address the shortcomings he had found using previous RGBA LED fixtures, commenting: "I was surprised by the unit's ability to produce such an even blend of white light using its single cell RGBA colour mixing. This resulted in the perfect colour temperature of white light and a very even wash over areas, with no multi-coloured shadows."
HSL's Mike Oates commented: "When Christopher asked for an LED Fixture that had no colour separation and would give a nice 3200K colour temperature, I knew the Color Block 2 would deliver."
(Jim Evans)
