Wimbledon Scoreboard Explained
Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
Still no sign of an Englishman in the finals of a WImbledon tournament but we will make do with the two weeks of constant sunshine and a Scotsman (who we are proud to call ‘British’ and fly the flag for us) looking very like he is going to make the final on Sunday.
People are still very much interested in the Barco scoreboard on Centre Court and we receive a lot of Google search results for our story (this story as it happens – originally posted almost 12 months ago to the day).
Back in May 2008 in our post entitled, “W.i.m.b.l.e.d.o.n..S.c.o.r.e.b.o.a.r.d” we wrote…
… we are not happy that the organisers of Wimbledon are replacing a couple of the traditional dot-matrix scoreboards (picture shown) with giant video screens …. At the moment it is only the dot matrix scoreboards on Centre and Number One Courts that will be replaced but seriously, you can take this digital video lark too far!!
Actually on television, we haven’t got to Wimbledon AGAIN this year 
the new LED screens don’t look too bad – though we still think it is a shame that something traditionally very English and well known world-wide has completely disappeared.
Anyway for those interested in the new technology it’s Barco and very good it is too …
Barco keeps the score at Wimbledon
KORTRIJK, Belgium, 27 June 2008. Barco, a leader in visualization technology, is proud to announce that its OLite 612 LED displays have been selected by Creative Technology to replace the dot matrix scoreboards on Centre Court and No.1 Court at this year’s All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon. From 23 June until 6 July, Barco’s LED screens will not only keep tennis fans on both courts abreast of on court scores but also entertain them with Hawk-Eye replays and other additional match information.
Last year saw the introduction of the Hawk-Eye system at Wimbledon and Barco’s OLite 612 LED screens were installed on No.1 Court to allow spectators to see the replays and judgment calls of the new electronic line-calling system. Following the successful trial in 2007, the 122nd Championships at Wimbledon will see the traditional scoreboards on both courts replaced by full color LED displays. The displays will not only replicate and expand upon the existing and familiar Wimbledon Scoreboard format, they will also display a variety of statistics, player profiles and as well as showing the all important Hawk-Eye replays.
The Championships will feature a total of 10 displays using Barco’s OLite 612 LED panels. In addition to the 4 on court scoreboards, 4 IBM ball speed indicators will also be upgraded using the same full color OLite 612 LED panels. The traditional IBM “Match Information Displays” outside Centre Court and in the newly redesigned Tea Lawn Area overlooking the new Centre Court balconies will also use the Barco OLite panels.
“We selected the Barco OLite 612 following a year long appraisal and testing process,” says Dave Crump, Business Development Director at Creative Technology, who have been a supplier to the All England Club since the mid 90s. “During the testing, Barco proved to be the best in overall performance,” continued Crump. “Among Barco’s OLite 612 main advantages were the superb graphic image quality, virtual silent operation and the unique modularity of the tiles enables us to build custom screens to exactly match the tight physical constraints of the venue”
The Barco OLite 612 LED display is a multi-purpose display suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. With a 12mm pixel pitch, 6,000NIT light output and 15 bit processing, the OLite 612 delivers an extremely high quality image. The use of SMD technology enables wide viewing angles and superb uniformity at very short viewing distances. Thanks to it outdoor IP65 rating the OLite panels can be used in all weather conditions. With its modular design, screens can also be customized to everyone’s unique requirement.
About Creative Technology
Creative Technology (CT) is the world’s leading supplier of LED display technology to international sporting events.Founded in London in 1986, CT has developed a global business with locations in the UK, USA, Germany, Dubai and China, providing state-of-the-art equipment to numerous high profile events.
About Barco
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization products for a variety of selected professional markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.
Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with about 3600 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of euro 747 million in 2007.
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July 4th, 2009 at 15:16 @677
On the new scoreboard on the previous sets screen, when there has been a tie break, a number in white appears between the 7-6 scoreline.
This has varied each time I have seen it from 3 through to 10. Does anyone know what this signifies?
July 8th, 2009 at 12:04 @545
It’s the number of points the loser of the tie-break won. By doing it this way you can work out the score in the tie-break e.g. 0 to 5, the winner got 7 points, 6 or more, the winner got that plus 2 more points.
Incidentally, the screens also work very well in “real life” although the ones they have dotted around the grounds telling you who is playing on what court and the current score are rubbish – the information isn’t on display long enough to take in the info presented to you and then make a decision on what court to go to – the old wooden boards were much better as you could see who was playing on every court in one go. Obviously the downside of the wooden displays was no live scores.