AV Technology - June 2008 - (Page 92)

casestudy entertainment Sportsbook Makes an Impact The new sportsbook video design includes a visually stunning combination of projection and plasma flat panels in various sizes. HUGE PLASMAS AND A VARIETY OF OTHER VISUALLY STUNNING DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES ADD SPARKLE TO A NEW CASINO SPORTSBOOK by George Klippel as Vegas is known for a lot of things. It’s located in the first state (Nevada) to legalize casino gambling, it’s home to the largest hotel in the world, and it’s considered the wedding capital of the world. Now Sin City has one more “first,” the largest single installation of Panasonic 103-inch, high-definition plasma displays in Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall. Sam’s Town is a 29-year-old property that has undergone eight major renovations in its history. Boyd Gaming, the parent company of Sam’s Town, thought it was once again time to make some improvements. This time, they focused on the race and sportsbook. The last time the “book” had been updated was in the L early ‘90s. Instead of slapping on a fresh coat of paint to the existing space, they decided to build one from scratch. According to Mike Garms, vice president and general manager of Sam’s Town Las Vegas, the project was a $15 million investment designed to help keep the property fresh and exciting, and to keep the race and sports fans coming back. “It is a tremendous amenity to the customers here at Sam’s Town,” he says. “And one that many of the customers in the local market find very attractive when they are deciding where to go for their gaming entertainment.” YWS architects of Las Vegas, NV were hired to do the 14,000-square-foot design, and Las Vegas, NV-based JBA Consulting Engineers would handle the extensive audiovisual design. Joe Gombos, an audio/video designer with JBA, worked closely with the management of Sam’s Town during the design phase. In addition to the owners input, finding out what the customers want is key in creating an inviting environment. “We asked customers what it is they would like to see if a new race and sportsbook were being built today,” says Gombos. “On the audio/video design side of things, patrons of the race and sportsbook wanted big impact, large screens, but not just one or two of them. They wanted to see a great number of large screens as well.” The design included over 200 displays. The largest images were provided by two 12,000 ANSI lumen Christie Digital Roadster HD12K DLP rear screen projectors, on 18- by 10-foot dual Mylar mirror screens from Stewart Filmscreen. Surrounding the Roadsters are the 15 103-inch Panasonic TH103PF9UK high-definition plasma displays. According to Gombos, this is the largest single installation of these gigantic monitors in one location in the world. He chose to go with plasma displays over LCD for some good reasons. “Plasma was the only flat panel technology available in that size at the time. Plasma has great contrast and brightness, but the ambient lighting is typically subdued in a race and sportsbook, so brightness was not a major concern. Controlling contrast ratio was much more important,” he adds. One concern about plasma has been image retention problems, or so-called “burn-in.” Gombos considered this issue very seriously. “Plasma technology has come pretty far in that regard. They use phosphors that have much higher resistance to burn-in today. As long as you have fast motion, burn-in is not going to be that much of an issue,” he says. “And because horse racing and sports are typically fast action, you are not going to have that issue as much as you would if you were displaying static images.” The final design included 150 Magnavox LCD TVs in the individual racing carols, 14 LG LCD monitors in the sportsbook bar, 12 65inch Panasonic plasma displays, 11 Magnavox units in the VIP seating area, and nine 70-inch LG plasmas. Trans-Lux LED boards display the current odds for the sportsbook customers. THE INSTALLATION With the design phase complete, it was up to R2W Inc., a full systems integrator based in Las Vegas, to complete the complex installation. The project consumed over 3,600 man-hours and forced Jeremy McConnico, the CEO of www.avtechnologyonline.com 92 | AV TECHNOLOGY | june 2008 http://www.avtechnologyonline.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AV Technology - June 2008

AV Technology - June 2008 Contents Precedent Corporate: Global Standardization Government: Strategic Technology Planning Education: It’s All Just a Click Pre-Empting Projector Breakdown Dealing With Technophobes Keeping Ahead of Technology Obsolescence Understanding Video Codecs Rules of Engagement Network, See & Learn Sound From the Heart Sportsbook Makes an Impact Upgrading an AV Image Product Review: Polycom’s RealPresence Experience HD Tech Horizons: A True AV Networking Standard? Product Spotlight: Digital Media Servers; Flat Panel New Products Ad Index AV MO: Calculating Fiber Optic Transmission Distance

AV Technology - June 2008

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