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

27/07/2026

AES Educational Foundation Announces 2026/2027 Scholarship and Grant Recipients

The Audio Engineering Society Educational Foundation has named its scholarship and grant recipients for the 2026/2027 academic year. The awards support students...

27/07/2026

ESPN and MEAC Reach Multi-Year Media Rights Agreement Through 2030-31

ESPN and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) have signed a multi-year media rights agreement covering basketball championships and select football and ba...

27/07/2026

Yahoo Sports and Cameo Integrate Celebrity Video Bookings into Yahoo Fantasy

Yahoo Sports and Cameo have partnered to allow fantasy football users to book personalized celebrity videos directly within the Yahoo Fantasy app and website. T...

27/07/2026

Eutelsat to Receive $504 Million in FCC Upper C-Band Transition Payments

Eutelsat has welcomed the FCC's order establishing the regulatory framework for the transition of Upper C-band spectrum in the United States. Under the orde...

27/07/2026

ESPN Acquires U.S. and International Rights to International Dance League

ESPN and the International Dance League (IDL) have signed a global rights agreement for the 2026 season. Events will air bi-weekly on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET beginni...

27/07/2026

NBCUniversal and YouTube Announce Multi-Year Global Partnership

NBCUniversal and YouTube have signed a multi-year global partnership that includes bundling Peacock with YouTube Premium, extending NBCUniversal's distribut...

27/07/2026

Two Weeks Away: 2026 SVG Venues & Teams Summit at Miamis Kaseya Center To Reunite In-Stadium Production Community

Agenda includes presentations from the Miami Heat, Inter Miami, Florida Panthers...

27/07/2026

Behind The Mic: CBS Sports Bolsters College Football Analyst Team

Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...

27/07/2026

PBR Goes Animated With BS: Bull Stories, Giving Its Bucking Bulls a Voice

Ten one-minute shorts will roll out across CBS, The CW, Paramount+ during the 2026 PBR Teams season PBR is officially moving into scripted animation. The Profe...

27/07/2026

T-Mobile Tops Ookla's Mobile Network Rankings

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/07/2026

Pebble to Feature Virtualization, Cloud-Based Playout Tech at IBC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/07/2026

NBCU Telemundo Turns To Chyron PRIME 5 For World Cup Graphics

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

27/07/2026

Lightware Adds SNMPv3 Monitoring to Taurus Devices

Lightware announces SNMPv3-based monitoring support for selected Taurus devices, available from firmware v1.20.0. The update enables IT administrators and AV in...

27/07/2026

Mediagenix Showcases the Real-Time Media Enterprise at IB...

Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, will showcase its vision for the Real-Time...

27/07/2026

Seven paradoxes shaping the next era of media production - Episode 4

Why Confidence MattersIn this series, we explore the technologies, architectures and operational realities shaping modern media operations. Along the way, we ex...

27/07/2026

Industry Leaders Unite in Open Secure AI Alliance for AI Safety and Security

Open source software is a critical pillar of the global economy. It underpins cloud computing, financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, government...

26/07/2026

Audio Vivid: A New Destination for Immersive Audio

What is Audio Vivid? A New Destination for Immersive Audio Over the past several years, immersive audio has evolved from a niche production consideration into a...

26/07/2026

NVIDIA Harnesses Vera CPU to Speed Up Design of Next-Generation CPUs and GPUs

The complexity of modern chip design continues to grow as engineering teams work to develop increasingly sophisticated CPUs, GPUs and AI systems. To help meet t...

25/07/2026

Study: T-Mobile Remains Best Mobile and Fastest 5G Network

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/07/2026

Mark Bridges to Lead CableLabs

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/07/2026

Total YouTube Views for All FIFA World Cup Content Top 200 Billion

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/07/2026

Pebble To Address Future Of Media Operations At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/07/2026

Paramount Agrees to Pause Warner Bros. Discovery Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/07/2026

Export FCP7 to XML Without Needing FCP7 Installed

Export FCP7 to XML Without Needing FCP7 Installed Dave Rice July 24, 2026 0 Comments I've created an open source tool that allows you to export FC...

25/07/2026

Documentary Sell Your House Edited with DaVinci Resolve Studio

Documentary Sell Your House Edited with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton July 24, 2026 0 Comments Filmmakers post feature documentary from opposite...

25/07/2026

Time to Act: Bringing a New Opera to Life

Time to Act: Bringing a New Opera to Life Boston Conservatory at Berklee vocal arts students played a vital role in shaping the opera's creative developme...

25/07/2026

Beyond the Score

Beyond the Score For Dean of Music Kevin Haden, the boundless possibilities of classical music begin with process. July 24, 2026 By Kevin Haden Michelle ...

25/07/2026

Reading the Room

Reading the Room As music director of two major orchestras, conductor Jonathon Heyward aims to make the concert hall a space for everyone. July 24, 2026 By ...

24/07/2026

ESPN Adds New Production Features for NFL FLAG Championships

Referee hat cameras, player/coach mics, and virtual graphics will be deployed at the three-day event for the first time The NFL FLAG Championships return to ES...

24/07/2026

Qvest, Ateme and Scaleway Deliver Sovereign OTT Platforms for European Broadcasters

Qvest, Ateme, and Scaleway have partnered to offer broadcasters, media organizat...

24/07/2026

LTN Reaches 3,000 Satellite-to-IP Migrations as FCC Votes on C-Band Auction

LTN has completed satellite-to-IP migrations for more than 3,000 broadcaster, MVPD (Multi-Channel Video Programming Distributor), head-end, and content owner si...

24/07/2026

Chyron Releases Virtual Placement 8.1

Chyron has released Virtual Placement 8.1, an update to its live sports virtual graphics platform. The release adds workflow and graphics changes across chroma ...

24/07/2026

Riedel Deploys RefCam and Easy5G at International Soccer Match

Riedel's RefCam Live was used for the first time at an international soccer match during a friendly between the German men's national team and Ghana in ...

24/07/2026

USSI Global Offers Services for Next Phase of C-Band Spectrum Transition

USSI Global said it is prepared to help broadcasters, satellite network operators, and media organizations manage the next phase of C-band spectrum clearing, fo...

24/07/2026

Fubo Launches The Athletic Video Hub on CTV

FuboTV and The Athletic have launched The Athletic Video Hub on Fubo, bringing The Athletic's sports video content to connected TV (CTV) for the first time....

24/07/2026

Tagboard Integrates With Momento To Display Fan Reaction Photos on Venue Screens

Tagboard and Momento have partnered to bring Momento's fan reaction photos to venue videoboards in real time following big plays. The Seattle Mariners will ...

24/07/2026

Stephen Arnold Music Creates Anthem for Fox Television Stations FIFA World Cup Coverage

Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) created an anthem called The World Is Here for Fox ...

24/07/2026

CazTV Acquires Exclusive Brazilian WTA Tour Rights Through 2030

Caz TV has acquired Brazilian broadcast rights to the entire WTA Tour driven by Mercedes-Benz, covering all WTA 250, WTA 500, and WTA 1000 tournaments. The agre...

24/07/2026

SiriusXM and WWE Launch WWE Radio on Channel 156

SiriusXM and WWE have launched WWE Radio on SiriusXM channel 156, beginning Monday, July 27. The channel will carry live audio of WWE Premium Live Events, audio...

24/07/2026

Harvard Athletics Uses AJA Equipment for Collegiate Sports Production

Harvard Athletics produces more than 325 live NCAA Division 1 sports events and 500 edited videos per year. To manage video capture, streaming, recording, and s...

24/07/2026

Chyrons PRIME 5 Supported Telemundos FIFA World Cup 2026 Graphics Production

Chyron's PRIME 5 graphics platform supported live graphics workflows for NBCUniversal Telemundo's FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage across Telemundo, Univers...

24/07/2026

NBC Sports Prioritizes Data in Presentation of 113th Tour de France

Wearable tech returns to the coverage, and a brand-new mobile unit is rolled out for the 2026 edition The 21-stage Tour de France is nearing its conclusion. Th...

24/07/2026

ESPN Leans Into Player Access, Referee Cam for WNBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago

More than 20 cameras, extensive player and coach audio, and a REMCO production model will power coverage of the league's showcase For an event designed to ...

24/07/2026

F1 Unveils Strategy Insight Graphic Powered by AWS at Hungarian Grand Prix

New broadcast tool uses live timing, telemetry, and predictive analysis to decode real-time team decision-making for fans at home...

24/07/2026

Ratings Roundup: World Cup Final Draws Largest Non-NFL U.S. TV Audience in Nearly 30 Years

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

24/07/2026

Behind Netflix's Emmy-nominated Monster: Bind Studio and FileRunner on the VFX pipeline

Sohonet's partners at BIND Studio have published a great case study on the V...

24/07/2026

Harvard Athletics Transforms Collegiate Sports Storytelli...

Between the maturation of IP and remote production workflows, collegiate sports production is advancing rapidly. For an Ivy League institution like Harvard, kee...

24/07/2026

iWedia announces the launch of Teatro Factory - A groundb...

iWedia, a global provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announces the launch of Teatro Factory, a new operator-facing software factory o...

24/07/2026

Record-breaking World Cup has advertisers cheering

Yospace, the trusted leader in Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), stitched 11.57 billion one-to-one addressable advertisements into live video streams during the 2026 ...