A Brief History of the LED Jumbotron

Jumbotron

Published on Thursday, 04 December 2014 09:15

Fire Up Video

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History of the Jumbotron (AKA Gigatron, Megatron, Video Wall, etc.)

It goes by many names, but whatever you choose to call it, the Jumbotron is great for all events. We’ve seen the big screens called many things besides a Jumbotron, including a Gigatron, Megatron, Video Wall, Outdoor Screen, Daylight Screen, Big Screen TV, Outdoor LED TV, JumboVision, and plenty of others. But whatever you do call it, these LED screens are perfect for showing close up shots to large audiences.

The first large screen displays were developed by Mitsubishi Electric in 1980 at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. However, Sony creative director Yasuo Kuroki is the one credited with the development of the LED screen technology that we call the Jumbotron. The term JumboTron is actually a registered trademark of Sony, but the word jumbotron has become so widely used by the public that it has become a  genericized  trademark. Sony has since left the industry in 2001.

Originally, these screens were not LED (light-emitting diode) display, but instead they consisted of multiple modules made up of 16 or more small flood-beam CRTs (cathode ray tubes). Although these screens were large, at first they had very low resolution. But since they first came out, resolution has improved by about 2-3 times what it was, and they are now a fraction of the cost. A famous example of one of the newer screens can be found at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium. Another very well-known Jumbotron is the ABC Super Sign in Times Square.

At Fire Up Video, we use two Barco screens, known as an industry leader in event LED screen technology. We have also recently finished a brand new custom-built mobile screen using Theatrixx Xvision LED tiles. If you rent our mobile screens, you will see the high-resolution display in action, and your guests will notice the difference. You can read more about the technology used in our Fire Up Video Jumbotrons here, or watch our video giving a quick overview of our FireFly screens below:

We provide Jumbotron screen rentals for events all over the Midwest, including cities such as St. Cloud, MN, Waukesha, WI, Kalamazoo, MI, Decatur, IL, Columbia, MO, Champaign, IL, Ann Arbor, MI, Kenosha, WI, Dubuque, IA, Sioux Falls, SD, Lincoln, NE, Coon Rapids, MN, Bismarck, ND, Council Bluffs, IA, and more. Please contact us at 612-759-1012 or baum3@earthlink.net to find our more!