History of the Jumbotron (AKA Gigatron, Megatron, or JumboVision)

Jumbotron

Published on Friday, 14 February 2014 10:00

Fire Up Video

0 Comments

History of the Jumbotron (AKA Gigatron, Megatron, or JumboVision)

It goes by many names, but whatever you choose to call it, the Jumbotron (or LED Screen), is great for all events. We’ve seen the big screens called many things besides a Jumbotron, including a Gigatron, Megatron, JumboVision, big daylight TV, event monitor,  and plenty of others. But whatever you do call it, these LED screens are perfect for showing close up shots to large audiences both day and night rain or shine and summer or winter.

The first large screen displays was developed by Mitsubishi Electric in 1980 and debut 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 the cost have come down to make them affordable to use at many community sized events.  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 Barco screens, know as an industry leader in event LED screen technology. If you rent one of 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 screens below: