AV Technology - January 2009 - (Page 38)

yourworld sports AV Enhancements at the Coliseum Six Meyer SB-3F sound field synthesis loudspeakers are mounted on each side of the main peristyle, along with six 700-HP subwoofers. THE L.A. COLISEUM EMBARKS ON A SERIES OF TECHNICAL IMPROVEMENTS — WITH DRAMATIC RESULTS. By Matt Wunsch O ne of the ten largest college football stadiums in the country, The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is home to the USC Trojans, the six-time Pac 10 champion college football team from the University of Southern California. The Coliseum, with a capacity of over 92,000, operates under the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission, with a governing body comprised of representatives from the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, and the State of California. Last spring, the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission approved a series of improvements to the stadium in the form of incremen- tal upgrades over the next five years. The upgrades, which began in May of 2008, include an overhaul of video and audio production services inside the stadium for the purpose of providing enhanced multimedia services to the capacity crowds in attendance. According to Leo Caudillo, IT director at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the upgrades were finished just a week before the September 13, 2008 Trojans’ home season opener versus Ohio State, which USC won 35-3. Caudillo says the Coliseum was in desperate need of a technology update. “We spent about $1.3 million back in 1997, and that was on an all-analog system. There were an old CRT screens that had issues with cooling, and modules were popping out.” Caudillo said the core of the AV upgrades includes a new HD/SDI control room system that feeds video and data to two new display screens. The refurbished control room includes a Broadcast Pix Slate HD platform. The Slate HD is an integrated production platform that includes a switcher, character generator, clip stores, still stores, monitoring, and a file-based server architecture to streamline the production workflow. “The Slate HD provides a lot of flexibility,” Caudillo says. “It helps with computer integration and allows for multiple levels of control. With it, we are able to have a double broadcast, one to the internet and one to the videoboard. Slate HD includes 32 inputs, 16 of which are used to connect a variety of cameras, audio, and source equipment such as HD and SDI players for replay purposes during games. Six digital video effects, which are built into the Slate HD, allow for the production of multiwindow displays on each screen and the integration of XML data crawls for scores and other text-based information.” “The DVE’s work very well for providing other game scores and video replays,” according to Caudillo. The dual-format digital production workflow can accommodate the two new display screens installed by Sign Methods of Los Angeles, including a 40-foot by 45-foot Optec LED display board, with 16mm resolution for 4x3 SDI; and a 215-foot LED panel at the west end that can accommodate 16x9 HD video. “Optec was about $400,000 less than their competitors, and with a better warranty,” says Caudillo. According to Optec, each pixel is a separate replaceable module, so if a pixel fails or is damaged, rather than replacing an entire www.avtechnologyonline.com 38 | AV TECHNOLOGY | january 2009 http://www.avtechnologyonline.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AV Technology - January 2009

AV Technology - January 2009 Contents Precedent Corporate: Hunkering Down Government: The Great Unifier Education: Technological Self-Sufficiency Integrating Communications into Your Business Process DVI/HDMI Signals over Twisted-Pair Cable AV Helps Explain the Unexplainable AV Enhancements at the Coliseum Product Forum Tech Horizons Product Spotlight New Products Ad Index AV MO

AV Technology - January 2009

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