'Wow' factor goes high-tech
Video boards, HDTVs provide fans with unique perspective
Friday, July 19, 2002
By JOHN COOK SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
When 67,000 fans arrive at Seahawks Stadium for the first football game later this summer, they will see bone-jarring hits, booming punts and spectacular catches.
Then they will be able to look to the south end zone and watch replays on a high-definition video board that is 84 feet wide, 24 feet high and has a resolution so clear blood splotches and sweat stains will be seen on players' uniforms.
The video board in the south end zone -- along with a second screen on top of the north tower -- are the crowning jewels in a stadium with plenty of high-tech bells and whistles.
Other amenities include an in-house cell station (so phone calls don't get interrupted), 850 televisions (including 200 Philips high-definition TVs) and a $3.3 million video production studio (where 20 staffers will control audio and visual activities on game day).
But it is the scoreboards and video displays, created by Lighthouse Technologies, a Hong Kong-based giant screen specialist, that will make your jaw drop. At a cost of $7.5 million, they should.
From the right viewpoint, the video boards can be seen from Safeco Field or King Street in Pioneer Square. On a recent tour, a video clip playing on the south board was far superior to most big-screen television sets.
Executives at First & Goal Inc., the developer and operator of the stadium, say the quality on game day will be even better.
"We were after technology," said Ray Colliver, senior project manager at First & Goal. "We basically took Lighthouse to the edge of their research because we were after scoreboards that were state-of-the-art and ... provided the 'wow factor' for the fans."
The video display in the south end zone is nearly twice as wide as the ProStar screen at Safeco Field and about the same height. The video display on top of the north tower, which is 44 feet wide by 50 feet high, includes specially angled light-emitting diodes (LEDs) so fans throughout the stadium will get good views of the replays.
In fact, the video boards were designed with a 140-degree viewing area, so the quality of the picture does not decline, even if you are seated on the 5- or 10-yard line.
"You can be pretty much in any position and see a superior image quality," said technology project manager Christine Viguie.
But there is more than high-tech scoreboards at Seahawks Stadium.
The structure has 3,000 miles of wires, including 150 miles of cabling for high-speed Internet access. Each of the 82 suites has Internet access and a HDTV. The concession stands also feature HDTVs so fans can watch the action while buying a hot dog or peruse a changeable menu called Food TV.
Seahawks Stadium is so cutting edge that the seats can go high-tech. Hollow metal tubing runs below many of the seats so low-voltage cabling can be added. Eventually, that would allow a small touch-screen computer to be attached to the seats where fans could order merchandise, food or pull up players' statistics on the Internet.
First & Goal looked hard into providing interactive experience for the stadium's grand opening. However, Colliver said they could not find the right product with the right application.
"We have the flexibility to do it," said Colliver, adding that the initial plan called for about 3,000 club seats to be equipped with the technology. "If we go with a wired or wireless solution in the near future, and it is cost-effective, we could incorporate that into this chair."
It shouldn't be a surprise that Seahawks Stadium is full of high-tech gadgetry.
After all, the owner of the team is Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen -- a billionaire who often touts his vision of a "wired world."
"We were sent back a couple times to answer a few questions that Paul had put to us, which really in the end was how HD could we make the facility," Colliver said. "We have been able to incorporate, what I think, is the most advanced HD-readiness of any facility that's about to open its doors."
seattlepi.nwsource.com
Jim
Lighthouse International
Email: info@lighthouse-tech.com
URL: www.lighthouse-tech.com |
