Levi's Stadium Facelift, Part 2: NFL's Largest 4K Videoboards, LED Sport Lighting, Enhanced Sound Round Off Upgrade

Levi's Stadium Facelift, Part 2: NFL's Largest 4K Videoboards, LED Sport Lighting, Enhanced Sound Round Off Upgrade ANC supplied videoboards; Musco Sports Lighting the LED Sport Lighting; Clair the audio system By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor

Friday, August 8, 2025 - 2:47 pm

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Game-day productions for San Francisco 49ers home games at Levi's Stadium are going to get a whole lot better, bigger, and brighter. Headlined by two new 4K HDR-capable videoboards from ANC (the largest of its kind in the NFL), new LED Sports Lighting by Musco Lighting, and a new audio system from Clair Global for crispy sound, the Niners Faithful will see, feel, and hear things with a lot more accuracy and clarity for years to come.

One of Levi's Stadium's two 4K videoboards, which are the largest in the NFL.

When you're building this out, you also have to think through how we're going to continue to grow around it, says Laura Johnson, senior director, game presentation and live events, San Francisco 49ers. We don't want to install everything and then immediately hit max capacity [on its potential].

49ers in 4K: Videoboards Comprise Nearly 50,000 Sq. Ft. of LEDs Both videoboards are 70% larger and have 300% more pixels than the 49ers' previous LED displays.

Only a handful of NFL teams have made the leap to 4K and HDR-capable videoboards, and the 49ers have now made that short list. Anchored by a new ST 2110-based control room, two main videoboards - which are 70% larger and have 300% more pixels than the previous versions - and other video displays will have the necessary engine to push out engaging content to the masses. As with the control-room buildout, Johnson and her staff made the rounds and visited certain sports venues that had installed these types of LED displays. Included among the buildings was the Washington Nationals' home in the nation's capital, Nationals Park, whose main screen is comparable to the 49ers' in its 8-mm pixel pitch. To provide the clearest and most vibrant images possible, understanding how color calibration and how this display looks in a live setting was paramount.

We walked as far away and as close as possible to these displays, Johnson says. We knew that a tighter pixel pitch and clarity is what we needed in this new 4K ecosystem.

ANC supplied a new ribbon display on the third deck of the venue.

Another major element that the 49ers crew were trying to understand is how HDR-capable videoboards react to the outdoor elements. Sun glare is chief among them, and, although sun glare has long been a concern as the industry tries to fine-tune HDR-capable displays, the sheer size of the structures in Levi's Stadium could easily exacerbate the problem if it's not addressed properly.

HDR-capable videoboards are still an emerging technology, especially for outdoor venues, adds Johnson. We're taking a lot of the intel that we've learned and applying it to what we want to achieve in Year 1 and seeing how we can improve moving forward.

Musco Sports Lighting provided the 64 RGB lighting fixtures for new light shows.

In this first year, numerous pieces of content will be captured in HDR, but in a crawl-walk-run approach, the display will be in a 4K SDR setting. Along with understanding the HDR component, Chief Broadcast/AV Engineer Ted Slominski ensures that these videoboards run in sync with all the new technologies.

I've been dealing with 4K HDR for the past eight years, notes Slominski. I'm bringing some of that experience here. Between all the different layers of this renovation, the hardest thing to do deal with was the compressed timeline.

Flashing Lights, Booming Sound: New Lighting, New Audio Heighten Immersion Light patterns and flashing sequences can go with the content played on the videoboard. (Photo: San Francisco 49ers)

Near Levi's Stadium's highest point, a new LED lighting system provided by Musco Sports Lighting will make home games feel a lot more kinetic and dynamic. Run of shows will be improved by traditional white lighting and 64 fixtures for RGB (red, green, and blue) lighting.

Going lights out is pretty critical for us during primetime games at night, says Johnson. We're proud of our 49ers colors, so we wanted to make sure that we have moments when we can bring in an infusion of color into the fan experience.

The game-day staff can now display full-color takeovers, like this one in 49ers Red. (Photo: San Francisco 49ers)

Installation of these lights comes at a time when sports venues throughout the professional and collegiate ranks deploy flashing and coordinated light presentations. Whether it's the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball and closer Jhoan Duran's epic entrance late in games or two-time College Football Playoff National Champion University of Georgia at Sanford Stadium, outdoor locales and spaces with a roof or dome are able to fire up fans through light patterns or a various array of colors. Not only can game-presentation crews use this for major in-game events like walk-off home runs or after victories, lighting effects for special themed nights or historic moments are other opportunities.

The team can lower and brighten the lights with ease. (Photo: San Francisco 49ers)

On the audio side, Clair Global was recruited to get the place rocking with out-of-this-world sound. With a setup that mirrors the previous configuration, the renovation added a fourth pod of subwoofers and Powersoft amplifiers to boost the sound.

When they were turned on for the first time, Slominski was extremely pleased with the outcome. It sounds a lot better in here than it used to, he says. I was quite amazed on that first day.

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