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RBC Center upgrade
by David Lee on 06/06/09 at 12:40 PM ET
Comments (3)
Things have been kind of slow around here, but things are busy inside the RBC Center. Obviously, it’s not the Stanley Cup Finals, but there’s some exciting stuff going on nonetheless. Here’s a view of what looks mundane a couple of days ago.
The RBC Center is finally getting rid of the Sony Jumbotron and they’ll be replacing it with a Daktronics HD videoboard. The Jumbotron is only 10 years old, but the technology is way outdated. The webcam image refreshes about every minute, and it’s starting to take shape pretty quickly.
The new board will not only improve the in-house viewing, but will also have benefits for television audiences as well.
Obviously, the HD board will have better graphics for the fans in the arena. It won’t be quite as fancy as the one in Philips Arena, but I’m thinking that it’ll be almost exactly like the one in XCel Energy Center. Lots of HD video screens and all displays will in high definition LED rather than the boring static display.
There are lots of technical aspects that I don’t understand, but one of the cool things will be a much-improved overhead camera. The existing one has a rotational range of 330 degrees. Its primary use is for showing overhead shots of the puck drop or basketball tip-off. Aside from that, it’s used for crowd shots and things of that nature. Some newer cameras have a rotational range of 400 degrees, but are still limited by that “wall”. The new one mounted to the new video board will have continuous 360 degree capability, allowing it to spin around and around infinitely. They’re saying that this camera will be used not only by the in-house production crew, but also by the television production crew.
The CanesVision (in-house production) crew have a blog devoted to the HD upgrade. They’ve got lots of photos, frequent updates, and lots and lots of technical details. Check it out here. They’re reporting that the entire process should be complete by the middle of this month.
Oddly, I couldn’t find any artist’s rendition of what the final product will look like, but they showed us a design drawing:
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Comments
rwbill - huh? have you been to the RBC center?? the design of the arena is what kicks back the noise. If they are doing artificial junk it would be called out in the press by now..
Posted by mike on 06/06/09 at 08:24 PM ET
After attending games at the Joe, I can see why a Wings fan might find the RBC noise so surprisingly loud that they would think it was being faked. It’s a building that hasn’t been taken over yet by the suits and wine and cheese crowds.
Posted by ThaNaychaBoy on 06/07/09 at 02:22 PM ET
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About Red & Black Hockey
David Lee is a restaurant manager with an unused degree in political science. He can be found at Carolina Hurricanes games, Scrabble tournaments and indie-rock shows. Sometimes, all in the same day.
David has contributed to CBC.ca for their Stanley Cup playoff coverage in 2006 and to the New York Times Slapshot blog for theirs in 2008. Red and Black Hockey was founded in July of 2005.
this is one arena that really depends on artificial noise. the audio of cheering crowds is pumped in from the ceiling via 100000 watts of speaker power in an attempt to to make the home crowd much more boisterous than they really are. it’s quite irritating and dangerous to your ears if you’re in the second deck or higher.
Posted by RWBill from jabbing a six inch sewing needle into my eye. on 06/06/09 at 12:40 PM ET