Denver Broncos Upgrade With New Main Videoboard, 1080p HDR-Capable Control Room at Empower Field at Mile High Diversified, WJHW were at the center of the project By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor Wednesday, September 27, 2023 - 10:47 am
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The new ownership of the Denver Broncos is making a significant investment in the franchise, particularly with technological upgrades at Empower Field at Mile High. The most notable additions have been a 72- by 225-ft. main videoboard, which is now the fifth-largest and the tallest main end-zone video display in professional football, and two revamped 1080p HDR-capable control rooms.
With new ownership, a new coach, and new expectations, there's a lot of excitement around, says Denver Broncos Director, Broadcast and Technical Operations, Pat Jordan, adding, This is only the beginning.
Prep Work: Diversified, WHJW Provide Systems-Integration Services in Denver At the conclusion of the 2022-23 NFL season, the Broncos' ThunderVision production team got right to work on the transformation. With the financial backing and full investment of the new ownership group, conversations with Daktronics in August 2022 turned into full-fledged action during winter and spring in the Mile High City. The main videoboard was built in the lower bowl by Mortenson, and the crew also consulted with the experts at WJHW.
Construction continues on the videoboard on April 10, 2023. (Photo: Ben Swanson/2023 Denver Broncos)
They were instrumental in the scoreboard because our main display in the south end zone is double the size of [our previous fixture], and it's raised by 10 ft., says Jordan. [This decision] required a new structural design, which impacted the team store and ticket office underneath, so they had to renovate those spaces as well.
During early conversations, the sports-production industry was still feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including shipping delays in the supply chain. But the team was able to make the right choices on equipment and had the foresight to order in advance.
We were able to get equipment well within our window of time, says Jeremy Wecker, senior manager, broadcast engineering, Denver Broncos. We made decisions based on things that were definitely available versus things that we weren't sure we could get in the timeframe.
To power the new LED displays, the crew needed to upgrade control-room workflows and selected Diversified for systems integration. The result is two 1080p HDR-capable control rooms: one main space and a secondary space.
Coordinated Approach: Team Overcomes Videoboard's Immense Size, Tight Deadlines With 77% more LED than in the previous version, the crew faced unexpected obstacles. For instance, the massive size of the videoboard made it impossible to see the entire board from the control room near the top of the venue.
One of our bigger challenges was making sure that everybody has eyes on the videoboard, says Wecker. We're using Canon robotic cameras and making a digital composite of the board to see what's going on at all times. We're also distributing [the digital mosaic] around the rest of the stadium so that anybody affected by sightlines has something to see.
The exterior of the main videoboard at the south end zone (Photo: Ben Swanson/2023 Denver Broncos)
An audacious project of this magnitude has its fair share of challenges, and ThunderVision needed an extra gear to complete the job before the Broncos' first preseason matchup, vs. the Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 26. Luckily, Jordan and Wecker on the engineering section of the team have a stellar rapport with their production colleagues, including Game Entertainment Manager Liz Coates and Manager, ThunderVision Content and Presentation, Nick Schultz.
This is entirely new to everyone, notes Wecker, but there has been a lot of respect on both sides and a lot of understanding about what's possible. We try to give [the production team] every tool to match whatever ideas they come up with, because, at the end of the day, that translates to the fans and that's what we're here for. Thankfully, a lot of our production team is very technically sound, so we all work well together.
Under the Hood: New LED Firepower, Improved Control-Room Tech Deploying largely Ross Video solutions and services, the control room houses an Ultrix Acuity production switcher, XPression graphics, Piero 1st and 10 technology, and two Ultrix FR12 upgrades (with the second frame loaded with router I/O and four carbonite switcher blades for LED CMS). Evertz also has a heavy presence in the new space: DreamCatcher replay with 36 inputs, 10 outputs, and seven dedicated operators; DC-Metadata-Copilot to power the NFL's Game Statistics & Information System for automated highlight clipping; an EQX16 288 288 router with Magnum Control; and 448 28 3G 16 PIPs per display for multiviewing. Also on hand are a Lynx Technik test generator, Riedel Communications Intercom system, Telestream PRISM for measurement scope and rasterization, KVM from Adder Technology, and an Allen and Heath dLive S7000 audio console with DM64 mix rack. In the lower bowl, the team deploys Sony HDC-3500 cameras, Canon U111X8.3B and CJ20ex5B lenses, Canon CR-X500 robos, and wireless connectivity via Wave Central Sony side-panel 4K transmitters.
The main control room at Empower Field at Mile High has 1080p HDR capabilities.
LED displays inside the stadium total 24,500 sq. ft. of real estate. Besides the main videoboard, there are 24 displays, including two 3- by 98-ft. north-end corner displays, eight 3- by 9.5-ft. vomitory displays, and three 3.5- by 14.5-ft. tunnel displays. The lower-bowl displays have 10-mm pixel spacing. In club spaces are eight 9- by 16-ft. LED displays with 2.5-mm pixel spa
