Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

University of Pittsburgh Decks Out Petersen Events Center With New Centerhung Ahead of Busy Fall Sports Schedule

14/11/2019

University of Pittsburgh Decks Out Petersen Events Center With New Centerhung Ahead of Busy Fall Sports Schedule LED displays were placed in two other venues By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor

Thursday, November 14, 2019 - 8:30 am

Print This Story

Story Highlights

In the city of Pittsburgh, the fall and winter months bring temperatures below the freezing point and a sun that sets earlier than usual. With professional networks in the area enhancing their facilities, programs at the collegiate rank have made some major upgrades to bring some additional (albeit artificial) light into the lives of college basketball fans. Before the rush of an unrelenting fall season, the University of Pittsburgh went to work inside of The Petersen Events Center to install a brand-new Daktronics centerhung with 3.9mm LED line spacing.

The 3.9mm of LED line spacing is the lowest in college athletics.

Competitively, this centerhung really sets us apart in college athletics because we are now the only college in the country that has a sub-4mm board,' says Seth Graham, assistant athletic director, information technology, University of Pittsburgh. The centerhung has taken us from a college-type venue to one with more of a pro-style look.

Let There Be Light: Four Separate LED Structures Brighten Petersen Events Center

More affectionally known as The Pete , Petersen Events Center's crown jewel hovers just above the hardwood floor. At the center of it all, the centerhung features four noncontinuous LED slabs with the two 15 ft. by 28 ft. panels along the sidelines and two 15 ft. by 16.5 ft. panels along the baselines. At 654 sq. ft., the scoreboard can be experienced at a maximum viewing angle of 140-degrees.

Unfortunately, this wasn't always the case. Years prior to the installation, the in-venue production was hampered by a scoreboard that functioned with bulky and lackluster technology.

The old video boards were purchased about 10 years ago, so as we rebranded athletics, we identified these displays as antiquated, says Graham. They didn't offer us much value with enough real estate because the structure was a lot larger than the usable screen, so they didn't offer fans the best viewing experience. People mainly looked at the old video board for stats.

In addition to the main video board, a light-up Panther head is sandwiched in between two massive 16.5 ft. by 31 ft. video displays are plastered against the arena's back wall above the concourse area. These large screens can project detailed statistics of key players and provide pertinent game information. Lastly, a new 2.1 ft. by 50 ft. scorer's table comes with six 2 ft. by 8 ft. panels of lighting that allows sponsorship and other messaging to run along courtside.

Now, pristine video quality and motion is at a premium inside of The Pete. With a total pixel count of more than 4.6 million, the entire arena is lit as bright as a light bulb. As for content consumed on any given night, the entire layout allows Graham to up the gameday atmosphere.

The Petersen Events Center also includes two additional LED displays and a light-up Panther head above the concourse.

What we have now is a more video-oriented structure. Our rallies look better because before we could only show them on the fascia, scorer's table, and the top boards, he says. The sequence of playing the intro video and introducing the players have become 10x better. It's become an integral part of the game presentation.

Three-for-One: Pitt Juggles Simultaneous Projects at Other Athletic Venues

Although the overhauls at Petersen Events Center lead the headline, two other venues (Fitzgerald Field House and Ambrose Urbanic Field) were given a revamp in the visual department as well.

Hosting the school's volleyball, wrestling, and gymnastics teams, the former now includes two 10 ft. by 23 ft. end-wall videoboards after 15 years of operating with the older videoboards from The Pete. As the dwelling place of both men's and women's soccer teams, the latter was outfitted with the venue's first-ever visual display of any kind in the form of a singular 17 ft. by 30 ft. videoboard of its own.

In any other season, the extensive project of constructing multiple displays would have more time to marinate, but because of the timing of it all, Graham and the rest of the staff needed to operate quickly.

The RFP [request for proposal] went out and the selection was made in June of 2019 to go with Daktronics and a lot of the fall sports start in August, he says. We went by the start of each season, so we prioritized soccer and volleyball first since they both happen at the same time. Those video boards were installed during the last week of July.

Although the displays weren't anywhere near the field of play inside Ambrose Urbanic Field and Fitzgerald Fieldhouse, the university developed a give-and-take solution to make progress in the Petersen Events Center.

We needed to be conscious of access to be able to work, so we had to get a [temporary] floor down to support the weight of the lifts. We had to work with both of our basketball teams and also our volleyball team because their practices are sometimes down at The Pete along with their summer camps. We have concerts and other events at this building, too, so we had to get to a point where the centerhung is complete enough to be raised and lowered.

The Next Phase of Video Content: University's Mission to Enhanced Productions

It's been a period of immense growth over the past year. In the classroom, the university established a partnership with nearby NEP Group to foster the next wave of AV professionals. For the sake of the program and the then-upcoming launch of the ACC Network, the program redid their production studio to become a central hub of operations inside of t
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2019/11/14/university-of-pittsburgh-decks-...
See more stories from svg

North America Stories

09/09/2026

Study: New Streaming TV Series Orders Plumet

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

G&D, VuWall To Introduce vsNEO KVM Platform At IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

FCC May Ramp Up Regulation of How Broadcasters Cover Polls

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

Avid to Demo New Avid Content Core Features at IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

Wisycom Showcases Latest Innovations at IBC 2026

Wisycom is showcasing the latest additions to its ecosystem of professional RF technologies at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.D60). This includes its new MATF Wideband Anten...

09/09/2026

VisualOn and Cires21 Cut Delivery Bitrate Up to 76 Percen...

AMSTERDAM, IBC2026 VisualOn, Inc. and Cires21 today released an updated joint whitepaper at IBC 2026 demonstrating measurable, high-impact improvements in visu...

09/09/2026

Sony Electronics Introduces Its First Fisheye Zoom G Lens

Sony Electronics Introduces Its First Fisheye Zoom G Lens Brie Clayton September 8, 2026 0 Comments Compact, lightweight SEL814G Full-frame lens deliv...

09/09/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 21.1

Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 21.1 Brie Clayton September 8, 2026 0 Comments Major update adds AI assistant integration, expanded camera...

09/09/2026

Cuez Integrates AI into a Unified Broadcast Production Workflow

Cuez Integrates AI into a Unified Broadcast Production Workflow Brie Clayton September 8, 2026 0 Comments Cuez announces the expansion of its cloud-ba...

08/09/2026

Comcast Technology Solutions Signs Multi-Year VOD Distribution Agreement with A+E Global Media

Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has announced a multi-year agreement with A E...

08/09/2026

Spectra Logic Introduces Media Insight for Faster Discovery, Preview, and Retrieval of Archived Media

Spectra Logic today announced the availability of Media Insight, a new capabilit...

08/09/2026

Rogers and Quebecor Announce 12-Year French-Language NHL Sublicensing Deal

Rogers Communications and Quebecor have announced a 12-year sublicensing agreement for French-language national NHL games beginning with the 2026-27 season. TVA...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies to Demonstrate Automated Broadcast Workflows

Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies will demonstrate two integrations...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Boland Communications Makes European Debut of 4K55HDR7SNB

Boland Communications will make the European debut of its 4K55HDR7SNB 55-inch super-narrow-bezel monitor at IBC2026 (Stand 12.C57, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-1...

08/09/2026

Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions Announce Collaboration for Live Video Delivery

Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced a collaboration comb...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Haivision Joins IBC Accelerator Programme on 5G Network Control for Live Production

Haivision has joined the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme as part of t...

08/09/2026

Blackmagic Design Cuts Prices on PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K

Blackmagic Design has announced price reductions on its PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K models, effective immediately through Blackmagic Design resellers worldwid...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: AI-Media to Showcase Multilingual AI Captioning and Translation Platform

AI-Media will demonstrate its LEXI Suite at IBC2026 (Booth 5.C34, September 11-1...

08/09/2026

Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform Deploy SGAI Solution for Belgian Broadcaster RTBF

Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform (AIP) have announced the first live deploymen...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Grass Valley to Demonstrate Story-Centric Newsroom Workflows

Grass Valley will demonstrate story-centric media workflows at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), connecting newsroom production, content ma...

08/09/2026

M2A Media and Ateme Partner to Scale Live Sports Video Delivery

M2A Media and Ateme have announced a partnership integrating Ateme's video processing solutions into M2A Media's MediaToAnywhere platform for live sport...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Ikegami to Introduce New UNICAM XE Cameras and Viewfinders

Ikegami will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 12.A31, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), including a Day 1 introduction of new cameras in the UNICAM XE series. Additiona...

08/09/2026

Caretta Research Shares Top Trends to Watch at IBC 2026

Broadcast industry analysts will be gathering plenty of insights at the 2026 IBC Show this weekend in Amsterdam, but Caretta Research has offered up some though...

08/09/2026

SENSHI and DAZN Announce Global Broadcast Partnership

SENSHI and DAZN have announced a global broadcast partnership that will bring SENSHI's live events free to viewers in more than 200 markets. The partnership...

08/09/2026

ESPN, ESPN2 Begin 4K HDR Rollout in the U.S. with New IP-Based Distribution Pipeline

New architecture built with Evertz will bring 4K HDR to Monday Night Football, N...

08/09/2026

IBC2026: Haivision Integrates Chyron LIVE into its Workflow

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/09/2026

Mo-Sys completes reorganisation strengthens management te...

Mo-Sys, the world-leading developer of virtual production, camera robotics and image tracking technology, has completed a business restructuring, which has incl...

08/09/2026

Aicox and TAG Video Systems power monitoring and multivie...

New York, September 8, 2026 The TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure developed by Telef nica's Audiovisual Services area re...

08/09/2026

Asharq migrates extended channel line-up to Pebble playou...

Expanded Riyadh operation brings Asharq and Thmanyah services together on a resilient on-premises Pebble platform. Pebble, the leading automation, content mana...

08/09/2026

Techex Extends its Lead in Software Defined Live Video at...

Techex, a pioneering leader in live video workflows, will showcase its broadest software feature set to date at IBC 2026 (Stand 2.B45), extending its lead in so...

08/09/2026

Grass Valley Advances Story-Centric Media Workflows for U...

Visitors to Grass Valley's booth at IBC2026 will be introduced to new Framelight X capabilities that connect content acquisition, management, editing and pu...

08/09/2026

BCNEXXT Showcases Latest Vipe Innovations at IBC2026 Rais...

BCNEXXT will showcase the latest evolution of Vipe at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B09), introducing a series of innovations designed to deliver higher-quality audience exp...

08/09/2026

Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform Power First Active Dep...

Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Ad Insertion Platform (AIP), a leading innovator in advanced ad insertion technologies, to...

08/09/2026

Brainstorm unveils major enhancements to its Suite 7 envi...

Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics and augmented and virtual production, is announcing a major package of enhancements to its Suite 7 soft...

08/09/2026

Big Blue Marble Collaborates with TDF as Technology Partn...

Big Blue Marble is supporting TDF, French infrastructure and network operator, broadcasting Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and radio services, as a techno...

08/09/2026

nxtedition takes agentic AI from newswire to gallery at I...

Agents work inside a single production environment, from incoming wire copy to a live studio show...

08/09/2026

Ceeblue and Layercake Expand Strategic Integration to Lau...

Building on their strategic partnership, Ceeblue and Layercake make the unthinkable possible: scalable sub-second streaming over standard DRM, SSAI, and CDN wor...

08/09/2026

Brainstorm launches Engram a dedicated asset management t...

Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics, augmented and virtual production, is completing the environment for fast-paced broadcast production wi...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026 - The new Synamedia - solving the business of vi...

A SaaS portfolio built to work together, helping operators grow audiences, monetise smarter and run leaner, on their own terms At IBC 2026 (stand 1.B49) Synam...

08/09/2026

Accedo Selected by PlayOn Sports to Enhance NFHS Network...

Accedo, global provider of video streaming software and services, has been selected by PlayOn Sports, a national leader in high school sports technology, to exp...

08/09/2026

AP brings new connectivity and workflow tech to global ne...

LiveU, the leader in live IP-video solutions, is enabling The Associated Press to take global newsgathering to the next stage with intelligent connectivity and ...

08/09/2026

Mediagenix Personalization Curates Sports Content Around...

Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced the latest evolution of it...

08/09/2026

Appear X5 to enable flyaway contribution for DP World Tou...

Compact, power-efficient X Platform performance brings broadcast-grade reliability and ultra-low latency to space-constrained remote production (REMI) workflows...

08/09/2026

Zixi and Kiloview Partner to Deliver Broadcast-Grade IP V...

Zixi, the leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Kiloview, a leading provider of professional IP video encoding and decoding solutions, t...

08/09/2026

Quortex and NetActuate announce global agreement

Collaboration gives content owners scalable CDN capacity and broadcasters enhanced flexibility, including for C-band transition planning Quortex today announce...

08/09/2026

Orlando Magic, Gray Media Ink Full-Season Broadcast Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/09/2026

Telos Alliance and Pluxbox Announce Dynamic Media Facility Integration Partnership

Telos Alliance and Pluxbox Announce Dynamic Media Facility Integration Partnersh...

08/09/2026

Jnger Audio Showcases Industry-First S-ADM Cloud Workflow at IBC 2026

J nger Audio Showcases Industry-First S-ADM Cloud Workflow at IBC 2026 Search Dolby, MainConcept, Techex and J nger Audio will showcase the industry's ...

07/09/2026

Get to Know This Fall and Winter's Filmmakers Through These 24 Sundance Institute-Supported Films

By Ramona Flume and Lucy Spicer There's a particular kind of magic that hap...

07/09/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces New Lower Price for Blackmagic PYXIS 6K and Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K

Blackmagic Design Announces New Lower Price for Blackmagic PYXIS 6K and Blackmag...