Daktronics Aims To Put a Sound Peg Into a Square Screen Goal is the ultimate, large-scale integration of sound and picture By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, October 27, 2021 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
As demand increases for ever larger video screens and ever louder sound systems, competing real-estate needs occasionally create a multimedia traffic jam in sports venues. For much of the past two decades, Daktronics, which holds a nearly 60% market share in main video displays and integrated super systems in the pro-sports venues, has been working toward mitigating that conflict by integrating sound systems into progressively larger videoboards. Putting big sound into a big picture creates a unique onsite fan experience, but it also has to deal with a few challenges.
Daktronics' John Olsen sees untapped potential for integrated audio systems in NBA- and NHL-arena videoboards.
Basically, says John Olsen, sales manager, audio systems, Daktronics, what we're doing is putting line arrays inside a huge display so that the effect is that of a point-source sound system. The goal of a point-source sound system is to create a coherent sound wave that reaches most of the seats in a stadium with minimal seat-to-seat variation. The effect feels like sound and picture are all coming from a single location.
With screens as large as Daktronics's nearly 900-sq.-ft. display at Auburn University's Jordan-Hare Stadium and integrated PA systems reaching sound-pressure levels of 120 dB and higher, one main challenge has been achieving plausible synchronization between picture and sound. The light of the video image travels at 186 million miles per second while its associated audio plugs along at a mere 700+ mph.
The solution, says Olsen, is to delay the video by about 500 ms in the video processor. In football stadiums, which have on average the largest videoboards, that's achieved by aiming at the 50-yard line as the target for the best sync for display/sound systems located at one end of the stadium.
That minimizes the effect of the delay to the point where most people won't notice it anywhere in the stadium, although it can't eliminate it completely, he says. It's a challenge with any large-venue sound system, along with loudspeakers installed for shadowed areas like concourses, concessions, suites, and other indoor or outdoor areas.
Bigger and Bigger Typical of the company's hybrid AV installations is one installed this year at Northern State University's new Dacotah Bank Stadium in Aberdeen, SD. It's 23 ft. high by 59 ft. wide within an even larger scoreboard structure measuring 42 ft. high by 76 ft. wide. A Daktronics Sportsound 2000HD audio system is integrated with the video and scoring system.
Auburn University's Jordan-Hare Stadium features a 900-ft. videoboard with integrated PA system.
Larger videoboards can accommodate the bigger sound systems needed for point-source, endfire PAs. That's good because, in an era when ever greater low-frequency energy (LFE) has become a staple of the pop and urban music genres regularly heard in large sports venues, that means room for more subwoofers - generally the largest type of speaker enclosure.
All that LFE could potentially distort the picture by rattling the superstructure, although Olsen says that any such distortions can't readily be picked up by the eye. For extremely large installations, such as the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where any number of internal or external vibration sources could create a potential image distortion, Daktronics has developed stick products: long, slender epoxy LED rods assembled with space between them but, from a distance, forming a coherent image.
Another solution is GKD MediaMesh, which Daktronics markets and installs in a partnership with GKD Metal Fabrics, with Daktronics supplying the LED portion of the product. MediaMesh is a textile-like weave of stainless steel and electronics that can be fitted over a solid fa ade or in front of windows - or a sound system - and provides image and sound while also letting the underlying architecture remain visible.
But, at such large scale, every solution also has its considerations. For instance, spacing between sticks in a display assembly has to consider not only image coherency at certain distances but also how that spacing affects the frequency response of the sound system behind it.
Depending on the size of the sound system and its orientation to the listener, the LED fa ade may attenuate certain higher frequencies, explains Olsen, who came to Daktronics with its acquisition in 2005 of Dodge Electronics, which specialized in PA systems for the collegiate and professional markets. As you move to higher frequencies, the waves become smaller, and it takes less obstruction to block or attenuate them. With our LED Audio Facade product, we have created a happy medium for sound transmission. Really, the only issue is getting as much vertical resolution as possible and then letting our eyes put it all together. It's a matter of finding the right balance between picture and sound.
Daktronics' LED solutions prevent image distortion due to LFE in the huge integrated video/audio scoreboard at Las Vegas's T-Mobile Arena.
In fact, that's part of the strategy for the future, with sports venues in all markets turning to AV to help welcome fans back to the stands: using large-scale audio and video to engage fans in ways that can't be done at home.
To further that, Daktronics in July hired Diane Gonzalez-Ferranti as executive producer in its Creative Services division, which is tasked with helping the company grow its business in the digital-content-creation space across all markets, including sports. At the same time, Olsen says, integrated audio a
North America Stories
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Liberty University on why broadcast technology isn't just a technical invest...
08/05/2026
COW Jobs: UGC, On-Camera Video Content
Brie Clayton May 7, 2026
0 Comments
UGC, On-Camera Video Content
April 17, 2026Documentary Editor - US,......
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...
07/05/2026
Strategic three-year partnership marks delivery phase of BFBS' next-generation media vision
Media organisation and military charity BFBS (British Forces Br...
07/05/2026
Amagi, the agentic industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, today announced the availability of its In-Content Ads offering v...
07/05/2026
Lightware Visual Engineering has developed Rack Taurus for rack-based environments such as education and corporate training spaces. It enables clean and simple ...
07/05/2026
Jigsaw24, the UK's leading media equipment supplier and systems integrator, will showcase its expanded end-to-end workflow capabilities at MPTS 2026, signal...
07/05/2026
Ease Live, an Evertz company, today announced that it has been granted a US Patent for its proprietary graphical overlay technology, the foundation for interact...
07/05/2026
Test & measurement innovator Leader Electronics of Europe will present an extensive range of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement solutions at...
07/05/2026
At Broadcast Asia 2026 (Stand 5H3 8), LiveU is redefining live production with its most powerful IP-video EcoSystem to date built to help broadcasters and con...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Recreating the 1974 Doctor Who Time Tunnel in After Effects
Graham Quince May 6, 2026
0 Comments
The Time Tunnel from Doctor Who titles is one of th...
07/05/2026
AI will help build the energy it needs.
That's the case U.S. Energy Secreta...
07/05/2026
Back to All News
Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix Present the Trailer of ...
07/05/2026
Less typing, more tanking.
Faster logins mean more time in the gaming action - and this week provides GeForce NOW members with a smoother path straight into th...
06/05/2026
Gravity Media Chief RF Communications Engineer Glenn Willems uses Wisycom RF over Fiber and wireless solutions across major cycling events and international mar...
06/05/2026
A Sennheiser Spectera module is now available in Bitfocus Companion and Buttons, enabling direct integration of Spectera with the two software platforms. The mo...
06/05/2026
Ted Turner, the visionary media entrepreneur whose appetite for disruption helpe...
Daktronics Aims To Put a Sound Peg Into a Square Screen Goal is the ultimate, large-scale integration of sound and picture By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
