Jumbotron

A jumbotron,[1] sometimes referred to as jumbovision or a jumbo screen, is a video display using large-screen television technology (video wall).

The original technology was developed in the early 1980s by Mitsubishi Electric (using the name Diamond Vision) and Sony, which registered JumboTron as a trademark in 1985. It is typically used in sports stadiums and concert venues to show team statistics, close-up shots of an event or even other sporting events occurring simultaneously.[2][3] The same jumbotron technology is used in outdoor public places, often for advertising purposes (such as Times Square, for example).[4]

History and development

The jumbotron was invented in Japan during the early 1980s, but there is a dispute between two rival Japanese companies, Mitsubishi Electric and Sony, over its invention.[5] In 1980, Mitsubishi introduced the first large-scale video board,[6] the Diamond Vision, which was a large screen using cathode-ray tube technology similar to traditional tube televisions.[5] The first demonstration of the technology was during the 1980 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles.[6]

The first Jumbotrons used cathode-ray tube based technology, in which several sub-pixels were integrated into a module made of glass with a vacuum inside, with the shape of a block, in which each subpixel was individually controllable (addressable) with each subpixel acting as a

Purpose

Originally, JumboTrons solely displayed the scores of the games via numerical displays. This later evolved into instant replays being shown for the benefit of fans within the stadiums or arena, and in modern day, social media is heavily integrated, with fans being urged to post on various social media platforms to then have their content appear on the JumboTron screen.[11]

Sony JumboTron's were the world's first mobile screens and concert screens. Big Mo was the first portable video screen and Genesis used the first portable video screens for concert tours in the mid-1990s.

Specifications of production and design

Originally, the JumboTron was not an LED display, since blue LEDs were unavailable at the time, and the only green LEDs available were of the traditional yellow-green variety, which were unsuitable for an RGB display. Each display consisted of multiple modules composed of 16 or more small flood-beam cathode-ray tubes (CRTs), each of which included from 2 to 16 pixels composed of red, green, and blue phosphors. Sony displayed one of the earliest versions at the Expo '85 World's Fair in Tsukuba. Eventually, JumboTron systems adopted LED technology as blue and pure green LEDs were developed.[12] LED-based systems have about ten times the lifespan of CRT-based systems, a key reason for the change.

Genericized trademark

Although JumboTron was a registered trademark owned by the Sony Corporation, Sony stopped manufacturing the devices under that name in 2001 and the word Jumbotron has since become a genericized trademark.[3] An Illinois-based company called Watchfire Signs filed for the US trademark in February 2023.

See also

Displays similar to the JumboTron include:

• LED display
• Trinitron

• Barco LED Screens
• Daktronics ProStar
• Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision
• Panasonic AstroVision
• Philips Vidiwall
• Toshiba TechnoRainbow
• Eidophor video projector

Further reading

External links