How the Dallas Cowboys Scoreboard Works

The scoreboard has four screens. Two gigantic screens face the end zones. They measure 29 feet (8.8 meters) high and 51 feet (15.5 meters) wide. The other two screens are even more massive and face the sidelines. These monstrosities measure 72 feet (21.9 meters) high and 160 feet (48.8 meters) wide. Together, all four screens create 25,000 square feet (about 2,323 square meters) of displays.

The sideline displays are so wide that they stretch from one 20-yard line to the other. According to Jerry Jones, the owner and general manager for the Dallas Cowboys, the experience is better than viewing the game on a 60-inch television screen at home, no matter where your seats are in the stadium.

Those displays aren't lightweights. The combined weight of the four screens is 600 tons. A 72-foot tall (21.9 meter) steel support system carries the weight. The support has 10 levels of catwalks that allow engineers access to the displays for maintenance. Steel cables 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) in diameter tether the displays to the stadium's pair of steel arches.

The center display isn't the only technological wonder in the stadium -- the stadium also has a ribbon-style screen in the upper levels that measures about 4 feet high (1.2 meters) and an incredible 2,000 feet long (610 meters).

 

High-definition television technology comes in a few different varieties. Two popular technologies in the home market are liquid crystal displays (LCD) and plasma screens. An LCD screen uses electrical impulses to shape tiny crystals so that light can pass between them. The light that passes through forms the image you see on the screen. Plasma screens use an ionized gas to create light and images. In both technologies, we refer to each point of light on the screen as a pixel.

The screen at the Dallas Cowboys stadium uses a different technology -- light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. At its most basic level, the LED is a light bulb. The light bulbs in the stadium's display are tiny and come in one of three colors: red, blue or green. By combining the light from four LEDs (two red LEDs, one blue LED and one green LED), the display creates a single pixel. Mitsubishi refers to each LED as a dot.

Mitsubishi arranges the dots in a pattern the company calls Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision. The LEDs are in lines of alternating blue and red or green and red dots. Any given square of four LEDs on the display will have one blue, one green and two red lights. The arrangement allows the display's processor to share LED dots between different pixels, creating what the company calls dynamic pixels.

To create a high-definition effect on a display as large as the scoreboard, you need a lot of LEDs. The Dallas Cowboys scoreboard has 30 million LEDs [source: Grotticelli]. The density of LEDs allows the screens to display images at 1080p resolution -- the same resolution you'll find in high-end HDTVs at your local electronics store.

There's no denying that the massive high-definition scoreboard makes a statement. Perhaps that statement is that everything really is bigger in Texas. But not everyone is happy about the display.

One person who wasn't thrilled about the display was Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher. Fisher sits on the NFL's competition committee and has been quoted as saying the display has "a lot of issues" [source: Mortensen]. Perhaps one of the contributing factors to Fisher's opinion on the matter stems from the first NFL game to be played in the new stadium.

The preseason game took place on Aug. 21, 2009, between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tennessee Titans. In the third quarter of the game, Titans reserve punter A.J. Trapasso kicked the ball so high that it hit the screen. Fisher threw a red flag to challenge the referees and have the fourth down replayed. Dallas Cowboys owner Jones responded by saying that it wasn't a big deal -- if a ball collides with the screen the rules allow for another kick. He also said that anyone who hit the screen was likely trying to do so on purpose [source: Kuharsky and Mosley].

Kickers and coaches have complained that the board is in the way, particularly for kickers who specialize in creating a long hang time with their kicks. The Dallas Cowboys management has said that only kickers who are trying to kick the ball straight up would have a problem. The debate continues.

Considering the size of the display and how it's tethered to the stadium, alterations aren't likely. There's very little room above the screens to raise them very far, and the cost to change the scoreboard would likely be extravagant. For now, it looks like the stadium will remain as it is. The real question will be if the scoreboard will generate more controversy on Feb. 6, 2011. That's when the stadium will serve as the location for Super Bowl XLV.

Learn more about HDTV technology by following the links on the next page.