Are the New Scoreboards Changing the Way You Watch the Game?
I was one of those lucky enough to have been there Saturday night. What a show - can't keep the smile off of my face. I guess the myth about the Big House being quiet is finally dispelled....my ears are still ringing.
Anyway, I was in Section 21, Row 29 around the 20 yardline, on the Michigan side of the field. Normally, I find myself watching the action on the field and only look at the scoreboard for the opccasional replay or the stats. Saturday, I found myself watching the scoreboards more than the field, not because I couldn't see what was taking place, but because the new displays are so detailed. Is this happening to anyone else?
Also, in my section, the new speakers seemed terrific. Loud and really undistorted for a large stadium.
As for the new lighting, because the lights are stretched into a horizontal line and not a tower which creates a point source of sorts, shadowing was very subtle and really minimized. Say what you want about Brandon, but the changes he has made to the Big House are spot on.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:26 AM ^
Are the new scoreboards changing the way I watch the game? Nope, I'm still using my eyes.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:27 AM ^
Yeah I found myself watching the HD boards when the action was in the other endzone and not on purpose. Just because its big and huge and right in my face(that didnt sound right). The only down was the downs and yards were wrong at times. Still some bugs to get out but yeah it adds so much. I would never watch the boards before since they were so garbage(hey I am spoiled now).
September 12th, 2011 at 9:40 AM ^
for replay as they are huge. One thing that bugs me is that other than the down/distance being wrong, that information goes away when there is a replay. So you have to wait for it to update, but it's slow and incorrect. I'd rather have this information in a box that remains visible at all times. Also, the stats bar takes up space on the screen so the whole screen can't be used to watch live gameplay.
I know it's too late, the screens are complete and this would be too expensive, but the stat bar should have been its own smaller screen perhaps below the big screen which would have allowed the stats to remain up at all times and not affecting the big screen at all IMO.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:03 AM ^
This may be something they change to soon. Didn't Brandon say that they could manipulate any part of the screen to do whatever they wanted? So, they should be able to keep part of the screen for stats only.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:52 AM ^
This is really bothering me. Even when the stats are working and on the screen, the numbers are too small to read. Can't believe Mr. Creating the Future botched this. Why not use the side-panels for a dedicated digital display of down and distance and yardage stats. And that would leave more space for video. Whey use 30 percent of the screen for stats that don't work and can't be easily read. Now that I've seen the scoreboards up close, I think it would be easy to add panels for a digital stat display.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:55 AM ^
They can make it bigger or smaller, they can make it permanent all game...e-mail the video department and give them feed back. They have plenty of options with the board.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:05 AM ^
That's what she said!
September 12th, 2011 at 10:08 AM ^
Same here. I sat in section 31, and mostly watched the scoreboard when the ball was on the opposite side of the field (and not on purpose).
The downs being screwed up was really annoying at first, but i think they fixed it later on in the game, didn't they? I didn't notice it in the second half, at least not as much.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:20 AM ^
I'm pretty sure they were corrected in the second half. Don't exactly know what the people above are talking about as it only happened in the first half from what I saw.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:28 AM ^
Shocked about how many replays there were, but I was in the south end zone in the front row in the corner and found myself watching the scoreboards from about mid-field to the other end-zone.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:31 AM ^
Actually, yes. Whenever I had a bad angle on a play, or if it was too far away, I would watch the video screens instead of the play. I was behind the North endzone, and I would I turn around to look at the North video screen. It was actually pretty sweet...
September 12th, 2011 at 9:32 AM ^
...was also caught on camera eyeing the video replays a lot.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:36 AM ^
I love the new boards from a video standpoint. However I think the operator for the Stats is TERRIBLE. The score was off the board almost immediately after the game. The stats (particularly down, distance, ball on) go away when the action stops. Between a quarter or at halftime, you can't get a glimps of what is going on with the game. I think some of these are kinks to get worked out. So far I give the new boards a C-. Great video, but as a "Scoreboard" they come close to failing.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:43 AM ^
just about the exact same thing above. You don't realize how much you're looking at that scoreboard for stats until theyr'e not there/incorrect.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:24 AM ^
The text is way too small for everything except the score. The board should have been designed so that the quarter is shown next to the game clock (instead of wasting that space with a fourth block M). That would free up a little more space on the board to make everything else bigger -- maybe put down and distance on one line and "ball on" on a second line, rather than cramming all three onto one line.
Also, they should put "TOL" in the center with the number of time outs on either side in each team's column so that the numbers could be bigger, just like they did for the words between the yardage stats. And don't waste space putting borders around the yardage numbers. Just make the numbers fill that space. The boards themselves are plenty big, it's just still a very inefficient use of the space they have.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:28 AM ^
I agree. As pretty as the boards are, the design for the information layout is terrible. When they get around to redoing it I hope they do something other than the black fake scroll windows on a black backround. If they want to simulate something a mechical scoreboard would do, they should emulate the way the numbers were displayed on the old board. Otherwise, they should just do simple color borders so it highlights the information with less clutter in a larger size.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:41 AM ^
Yes, the video on the new boards is amazing. But as far as being a functional scoreboard that gives me information I want during the game, it's almost completely useless. It can't be that hard to do.
And, really, whoever is compiling the stats, the number of third down conversions is a pointless stat without telling me how many 3rd down attempts a team had to do it.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:48 AM ^
that the basic game stats weren't working for the first half.
The scoreboards are amazing for replays and fan shots.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:18 AM ^
I also might be the only one out there that doesn't give a crap about fan shots. Or need to be reminded that said fan shots are being taken by "THE BIG HOUSE FAN CAM!" every time they do it.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:29 AM ^
Whenever I saw that, I was waiting for the dreaded kiss cam to follow and lead us straight to minor leaugedom.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:44 AM ^
I did the same thing. My seats were in the endzone, so it made it tough to see much when the play was at the other end (incidentally, the other end being where all of the fun 4th quarter stuff happened). The boards made it nice and easy to follow.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:46 AM ^
I watched from home but noticed more than a few times that the PLAYERS are actually watching the hd screens for replays. Coaches were also pointing to them and talking to each other and/or players. Here's hoping it creates some "teaching moments" for Mattison and the defense :-).
September 12th, 2011 at 10:18 AM ^
I found myself, as a diehard for stats and details, in love with the new boards. Every play that I wanted to double check a block downfield, or a blown coverage, I could just look behind me to the HD scoreboard and see everything I wanted. Now, the stats were a little delayed in updating just like the down and distance, but the video is where the $$ is. Plus, on controversial calls, the boards are heaven. Great addition and done in a classy way
September 12th, 2011 at 10:40 AM ^
Other than the stat complaints (and I don't like their new format...it takes up too much of the screen space, making the video look small), I still watch the game. That's why I came. But I did like they number of replays of a questionable play, even if they didn't do replays often enough.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:41 AM ^
It seems like they thought out how big they wanted the screens, but put little thought into how it would function after they put it up. The borders should have had all the stats, maybe old school electronically, and leave the middle just for video.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:47 AM ^
has a long ways to go. It's a little surprising that they didn't have the layout and type of information figured out a lot better from the beginning. I'm pretty sure they can change almost anything as far as what's displayed, so Brandon will eventually get it fixed.
Even though I'm in the endzone, I still try to watch the live action and not the scoreboard - although I was tempted a few times. But, it's MUCH, MUCH better than the old scoreboards for replays and general video. It's amazing when I turn around a look up at the scoreboard behind me and see how great the picture still is.
I also noticed during the night game, the scoreboards can kick out a lot of extra light, further brightening the field.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:54 AM ^
When I was there for the Western game I remember the new boards looking great, but I also found myself wishing for the stats they used to list on the sides. Did they change that for the ND game and put up a constant stat bar or something?
September 12th, 2011 at 11:17 AM ^
They did have stats, although they had technical difficulties during the first half. The stats seemed better during the second half. The stats were a little hard to see, but my guess is that the scorboards can be programmed to take care of all these issues as feedback is received.
September 12th, 2011 at 11:35 AM ^
hell no....
September 12th, 2011 at 11:42 AM ^
on all of the third and shorts that we stopped on the side of the field opposite the student section. And I sort of wish I had watched our final touchdown on the screen.
I would say they were useful, but they didn't really change how I watched a large majority of the game.
September 12th, 2011 at 11:42 AM ^
on all of the third and shorts that we stopped on the side of the field opposite the student section. And I sort of wish I had watched our final touchdown on the screen.
I would say they were useful, but they didn't really change how I watched a large majority of the game.
September 12th, 2011 at 12:35 PM ^
I actually did watch the scoreboards more often than normal. I was in the student section and whenever the ball was in the opposite redzone I would watch it on the scoreboard instead of the action(except on those last few drives, i was actually watching the field )