Quince Imaging Installs Professional Hockey’s Brightest Projection System

After a year in operation, offering fans and athletes an amplified entertainment experience, UBS Arena’s new world-class, state-of-the-art projection system remains the brightest in the National Hockey League (NHL). Home to the New York Islanders, – which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year – the new UBS Arena, a 745,000-square-foot, 17,250-seat hockey and entertainment arena located at historic Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., opened in November 2021. Built for hockey and made for music, the arena is one of the most operationally efficient venues in the world.

Quince Imaging was tasked with designing a projection mapping solution to deliver the Islanders’ vision of having the best and brightest system in the League, creating a first-rate fan experience, and complementing all other state-of-the-art technologies throughout the arena. Competition for the top slot in the NHL was high, given Quince’s 2018 installation at the PNC Arena, which had been the NHL’s brightest projection mapping system for four years and counting.

Quince Imaging, the New York Islanders and UBS Arena building architects collaborated to design a system capable of projecting vibrant 3D images across the entirety of the ice playing surface with enough light to compete with the massive LED displays to elevate the fan experience and keep the energy going when players are off the ice. Partnering with consulting firm WJHW and Panasonic, Quince installed a state-of-the-art custom system featuring 12 Panasonic PT-RQ50KU laser-based projectors with more than 53 million active pixels on the ice, a multi-camera auto-calibration system for single click projection calibration between games, and a fully automated rigging package. The result is a robust and sustainable projection system that will “WOW” fans with an immersive experience for ten seasons or more without requiring maintenance.