FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – You will have to see it to believe it. And, measuring 41.5-feet high and 164-feet wide, you won’t have any trouble seeing it. Those are the dimensions of one of the two massive video boards that will be installed at Gillette Stadium this summer. To fill those dimensions using a standard 37” HDTV, you would need 1,700 televisions.
The Kraft Group announced that they have started the process of installing the two new high-definition Daktronics LED video scoreboards at Gillette Stadium. The removal of the old video boards has already begun and the installation of the new boards is scheduled to be completed by mid-August. The new scoreboards will feature brilliant, high-definition video displays that will bring New England Patriots and New England Revolution fans even closer to the action with live HD video, the ability to display more instant replays and an array of graphics, including live statistical updates and out-of-town scores. The size of the boards and clarity of the images will allow for a much different presentation of the game and will greatly enhance the overall fan experience.
“With the size of these boards, along with the vivid color, image clarity and their graphic capabilities, these high-definition video boards come alive,” said The Kraft Group President Jonathan Kraft. “The resolution is incredible. This type of video board simply didn’t exist eight years ago when the stadium was built. It is amazing to see how far the video technology has come in the past decade and it’s exciting to anticipate what in-game technological advancements will be made during the next decade.”
The Kraft Group chose to update the video boards at Gillette Stadium with a new integrated light emitting diode (LED) video and scoring system, designed and manufactured by Daktronics Inc. of Brookings, S.D. (NASDAQ-DAKT). The new system will feature more than 5 million individual LED pixels on the two displays and will offer superior brightness in direct sunlight, with the capability of showing up to 4.4 trillion shades of color. The image clarity will also greatly enhance the wide-angle visibility of each video display.
The south end zone will feature the largest of the two video displays. Within the 41.5-foot by 164-foot scoreboard will be a “true” high-definition video screen. The state-of-the-art system will feature the latest Daktronics LED video technology to present live and recorded video images, real-time stats, colorful animation and vivid graphics. Two existing tri-panel advertising displays will also be replaced with digital technology for the ultimate in message flexibility. The video configuration behind the south end zone will be a seamless arrangement of three large displays, with the ability to be controlled as multiple zones (windows). The overall south end zone display system will feature approximately 6,800 square feet of digital real estate.
The overall dimension of the north end zone scoreboard will be approximately 45-feet high by 100-feet wide, with the digital LED technology totaling nearly 4,500 square feet. Together, the new end zone displays will provide more than five times the screen size compared to the two old 27-by-48-foot screens, and will feature much greater resolution.
“We have had a great relationship with The Kraft Group and Gillette Stadium over the past eight years,” said Daktronics Regional Manager Ross Yanco. “We look forward to continuing this partnership with the organization, and providing football and soccer fans with an even more exciting experience at this great venue.”
Gillette Stadium also features digital LED ribbon board displays. When they were first installed by Daktronics in 2002, they were the longest digital LED boards in an outdoor venue. The scoring, timing, video, and messaging components for all of the digital LED boards will be integrated through Daktronics proven control system. Daktronics LED technology offers a long lifetime with minimal maintenance and low power consumption, providing value and excitement for years to come.
Daktronics has equipment in 29 of 31 NFL venues and 10 of the 16 MLS venues. They have provided scoring and display systems for the annual NFL in London game at Wembley Stadium. In addition to the New England Patriots, the Washington Redskins, Baltimore Ravens, and New Meadowlands Stadium will also be turning on new, state-of-the-art Daktronics integrated display systems in time for the start of the 2010 season.
About Gillette Stadium
Gillette Stadium, located in Foxborough, Mass., is the premier sports and entertainment venue in New England. The 68,756-seat stadium is the full-time home of the NFL’s New England Patriots, which have sold-out the stadium for every home game since it opened in 2002. Gillette Stadium is also the home field of the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer, and hosts a variety of other marquee sports events, including international soccer matches, NCAA championships and high school football super bowls. In December 2009, Billboard magazine ranked Gillette Stadium among the top 10 grossing concert venues in the world over the last decade. The stadium, which is equipped with two 60,000-square-foot club spaces and 87 luxury suites, hosts hundreds of corporate and private events each year, as well as special events, such as a public address by the Dalai Lama in 2009 and the Great American Food and Music Fest in 2010. For more information, please visitwww.gillettestadium.com.
About Daktronics
Daktronics is recognized as the world’s leading provider of full-color LED video displays. Daktronics began manufacturing large screen, full-color, LED video displays in 1997. Since then, over 6,300 large screen video displays have been sold and installed in sporting and commercial facilities around the world. Since 2001, independent market research conducted by iSuppli Corp. lists Daktronics as the world’s leading provider of large screen LED video displays. Daktronics designs, manufactures, markets and services display systems for customers around the world, in sport, business and transportation applications. For more information, visit the company’s World Wide Web site at: http://www.daktronics.com.
