Jumbotron
From Freepedia
The Jumbotron, manufactured by the Sony Corporation, is recognized as one of the largest vacuum fluorescent displays ever manufactured. It is not an LED (light emitting diode) display - each display element is composed of 3 or 6 small CRT's each of which is one color of a pixel. (Handbook of Display Technology, Joseph A. Castellano, 1992) It is typically used in sports stadiums and concert venues to show close up shots of the action or band.
While the JumboTron and similar large-screen displays are physically large, they are often surprisingly low in resolution. The JumboTron at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida, for example, while over 30 feet diagonally, was only 240x192 pixels.
Though the term "JumboTron" is a registered trademark owned by Sony, it is often used by the public to refer to any type of such device regardless of its manufacturer or brand name.
Similar devices include:
- Daktronics' ProStar
- Mitsubishi's DiamondVision
- Panasonic's AstroVision
- SACO Technologies Inc.'s SmartVision
Sony displayed one of the earliest versions at the 1985 World's Fair held in Tsukuba, Japan. The size of a Jumbotron screen varies depending on the venue. The one introduced in 1985 was 40 metres wide by 25 metres tall. The largest Jumbotron in use was located at the Rogers Centre (formerly the SkyDome) in Toronto, Canada and measured 33 feet tall by 110 feet wide at a cost of USD$17 million. The Rogers Centre Jumbotron was replaced in 2005 as a part of a stadium revitalization project.
Sony creative director Yasuo Kuroki is credited with its development.
