Buzz
The artist's rendering of the Dallas Cowboys stadium provided an early glimpse of what the $1 billion venue would offer to fans and the sports world. View more football photos.
AP Photo/Dallas CowboysNothing compares to the thrill of attending a live football game. The excitement of the crowd is contagious, and you join thousands of fans in cheering for your team. However, if you're seated in the upper levels of the stadium, you might feel somewhat detached from the action.
That’s not the case at the current Dallas Cowboys stadium. Opened officially on May 27, 2009, the stadium boasts two massive arches that support the world’s longest single-span retractable roof [source: Dallas Cowboys]. It offers several restaurants, exclusive clubs, luxury suites, and a range of premium amenities. Yet, the most talked-about feature is the colossal scoreboard, suspended 90 feet (27.5 meters) above the field.
The scoreboard features four massive video screens and has earned recognition from Guinness World Records as the largest high-definition display globally [source: Nusca]. Even if you're seated in the uppermost sections, you can easily follow all the action thanks to these giant displays.
This massive display came at a cost of $40 million to the Dallas Cowboys. Mitsubishi was responsible for designing and constructing the screens. The scoreboard quickly became a hot topic in the NFL, sparking debates about whether such a large screen could disrupt the flow of a football game.
Scoreboard Specifications
Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager, Jerry Jones, speaks to the media in front of the world’s largest HDTV.
AP Photo/Matt SlocumThe scoreboard consists of four massive screens. Two gigantic ones are positioned to face the end zones, measuring 29 feet (8.8 meters) tall and 51 feet (15.5 meters) wide. The other two, even larger, face the sidelines with dimensions of 72 feet (21.9 meters) high and 160 feet (48.8 meters) wide. Together, all four screens cover a total of 25,000 square feet (approximately 2,323 square meters) of display space.
The sideline screens are so enormous that they span the entire length from one 20-yard line to the other. Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager, has stated that the viewing experience at the stadium surpasses watching the game on a 60-inch television, regardless of where you're seated in the venue.
These displays are far from lightweight. The total weight of the four screens amounts to 600 tons, supported by a 72-foot tall (21.9 meter) steel frame. The structure includes 10 levels of catwalks for engineers to perform maintenance on the displays. Steel cables, each 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) in diameter, securely fasten the screens to the stadium's two steel arches.
The central display isn’t the only technological marvel within the stadium. There’s also a ribbon-style screen in the upper sections, measuring 4 feet high (1.2 meters) and an astounding 2,000 feet long (610 meters).
As if suspending a 600-ton screen wasn’t impressive enough, the stadium’s steel framework is capable of supporting a 90,000-pound (40,823-kilogram) basketball arena scoreboard from the ceiling.
LED HDTV Technology
The scoreboard is securely fastened to the two steel arches that support the roof of the stadium.
AP Photo/Matt SlocumHigh-definition television technology comes in several variations. Popular home options include liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and plasma screens. An LCD uses electrical impulses to align microscopic crystals, allowing light to pass through them and form the image. Plasma screens, on the other hand, use ionized gas to produce light and create images. Each individual light element on the screen is referred to as a pixel in both technologies.
The Dallas Cowboys' stadium screen employs a unique technology known as light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In simple terms, an LED is a small light bulb. The tiny LEDs in the display are available in three colors: red, blue, and green. By combining the light from four LEDs (two red, one blue, and one green), the display forms a single pixel. Mitsubishi refers to each of these LEDs as a dot.
Mitsubishi arranges the LED dots in a design called Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision. These dots are placed in alternating lines of blue and red or green and red. In each 4-LED square on the display, you'll find one blue, one green, and two red lights. This setup allows the display's processor to share LED dots between pixels, creating what the company refers to as dynamic pixels.
To achieve high-definition clarity on a display as enormous as the Cowboys’ scoreboard, a vast number of LEDs is needed. The Dallas Cowboys scoreboard houses an impressive 30 million LEDs [source: Grotticelli]. The high density of LEDs enables the screen to deliver images at 1080p resolution, the same resolution found in premium HDTVs at your local electronics retailer.
What kind of power does the scoreboard require? Mitsubishi reports that each sideline display consumes 635 kilowatts, while the end zone displays are slightly less power-hungry at 80 kilowatts each [source: Mitsubishi]. To put that in perspective, the sideline displays use over 2,873 times more power than Mitsubishi's 83-inch WD-82837 HDTV, which draws only 221 watts [source: Mitsubishi].
Reaction and Controversy
Despite objections from numerous coaches and players, the massive scoreboard at the Dallas Cowboys stadium isn't likely to be turned off anytime soon.
AP Photo/Matt SlocumThere's no denying that the gigantic high-definition scoreboard makes a bold statement. Maybe it's an affirmation that everything truly is bigger in Texas. However, not everyone is thrilled about the display.
One person not so fond of the display was Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher. Fisher, who serves on the NFL's competition committee, has been quoted expressing that the display has "a lot of issues" [source: Mortensen]. One possible reason for Fisher’s disapproval may be linked to the first NFL game played at the new stadium.
The preseason match on August 21, 2009, between the Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans became the setting for a notable incident. In the third quarter, Titans backup punter A.J. Trapasso kicked the ball so high it struck the screen. Fisher threw a red flag to challenge the referees and have the fourth down replayed. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones responded by downplaying the incident, stating that if a ball hits the screen, the rules permit another kick. He also mentioned that any player hitting the screen likely did so intentionally [source: Kuharsky and Mosley].
Both kickers and coaches have voiced concerns that the scoreboard gets in the way, particularly for kickers who specialize in creating long hang times for their kicks. The Dallas Cowboys management has argued that only kickers trying to kick the ball straight up would face this issue. The debate remains ongoing.
Given the sheer size of the display and the way it's secured to the stadium, any significant changes seem unlikely. There’s minimal space above the screens to raise them much further, and the cost of modifying the scoreboard would probably be astronomical. For the time being, the stadium is expected to stay as it is. The real question is whether the scoreboard will spark further controversy during Super Bowl XLV, scheduled for February 6, 2011, when the stadium hosts the big event.
