SMU’s new, high-definition video scoreboard will measure 32-feet high by 45-feet wide. (SMU Athletics)
SMU’s Gerald J. Ford Stadium is getting a facelift. A new Daktronics integrated video and audio system will replace the stadium’s 10-year-old scoreboard.
Daktronics has been hired to design, manufacture and install a new High Definition-15 technology that includes a new show control system, a complete HD front-end video production system and a custom sound system.
The new 32-ft. high by 45-ft. wide video display system will feature a tighter resolution and improved image quality, operating as both a single- and multiple-zone display.
Multiple zones will simultaneously provide a variety of information to fans, such as statistics, live video feed and other graphics.
Daktronics’ new show control system — considered to be one of the best in the industry — will accompany the front-end video board’s four new HD cameras, a HD productions switcher and three channels of HD replay capabilities.
In addition, Daktronic speakers, amplifiers and an audio control system will deliver high-impact entertainment.
“This is another sign of SMU’s commitment to athletics,” SMU athletic director Steve Orsini said in a recent press release.
The new video and audio system is part of SMU’s $60 million athletic facilities plan. In the past four years, SMU has built the Crum Center — a basketball-only practice facility — and the Turpin Tennis Stadium. Both facilities opened in 2008.
The SMU Payne Stewart Golf Learning Center is currently under construction and renovations to Moody Coliseum are under consideration.
The new scoreboard and audio system are expected to be installed in Ford Stadium by the start of the 2010 SMU football season. SMU’s first home game will be Sept. 11 against the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
