Dallas Cowboys unveil 1080p video screen
Jun 9, 2009 4:35 PM, By Michael Grotticelli
The massive Mitsubishi Diamond Vision video screen is a four-sided HD video board hanging 110ft above midfield and stretching from one 20-yard line to the opposite 20-yard line.
The opening ribbon has been cut and a concert was held last weekend as the first official event in the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington, TX. However, it will be August when the Cowboys games begin and NFL fans will get the first taste of one of the new stadium’s main attractions: one of the largest HD video screens in the world.
Jerry Jones, owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, called it “an iconic symbol of our building for years to come." That’s because the screen cost $40 million and is an integral part of the massive $1.1 billion stadium. In fact, the screen alone cost more than the entire construction budget of Texas Stadium, the Cowboy’s previous venue that opened in 1971.
The video screen is a four-sided HD video board hanging 110ft above midfield and stretching from one 20-yard line to the opposite 20-yard line. Each side of the 600-ton Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision System is about 60yds long and 72ft tall. In addition, each sideline board has about 10.5 million LEDs that the draw the images fans will see. And no matter where they sit, Mitsubishi Electric's 20mm pixel pitch technology ensures bright, clear images from any angle.
“It will create an experience of watching a player like Marion Barber or like Felix Jones or Tony Romo in a way that no fan has ever seen it,” Jones said at an event to show off the video screen.
A short video featuring classic and recent Cowboys game footage, shots of the new Cowboys Stadium and video of team practice was displayed recently to show off the screen. The players were about 70ft tall and as perfectly rendered as footage on a normal-sized HD television. Every detail was visible, from the individual strands of artificial turf to the contours of the stadium parking lot.
The screen’s display surface is 25,000sq ft — the equivalent of 4920 52in flat-panel TV sets — and includes 30 million light bulbs in the viewing surface. The board is stabilized with steel cables 3in in diameter. Circling the inside the stadium, there are another 11,000sq ft of ribbon video boards.
Mitsubishi said the project broke some technological barriers, such as hanging it over the center of the field and increasing the viewing angles.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have some sleepless nights,” said Mark Foster, a Mitsubishi general manager, at the unveiling.
In addition to the Diamond Vision displays, Mitsubishi Electric is also providing a fully integrated scoring system, content management and playback system, game timers, delay of game clocks, locker room clocks and ticket window displays.
Mitsubishi Electric has also installed nearly three-quarters of a mile (3600ft) of its Diamond Vision LEDerAd fascia that rings the stadium for sponsor spots.
The Cowboys are the second premier sports franchise to choose Diamond Vision. Mitsubishi Electric installed an HD scoreboard at the New York Yankees’ new baseball stadium.
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