Panasonic Launches Gigantic LED Board At Churchill Downs

Gail Chiasson, North American Editor

Panasonic deployed what it claims is the world’s largest 4K ultra-high-definition LED video board at the Churchill Downs horse race track in Louisville, Kentucky, just time for the 140th Kentucky Derby to be held on May 2 and 3.

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The screen, which measures just under 171’ wide and just less than 90’ tall, sits 80’ up in the air, weighs 1.2 million pounds, and is known as the ‘Big Board’. Its purpose is to display replays and close-ups of racing images, as well as betting odds and race results.

Construction of the mammoth screen, which began in December, took only four months. However, to construct it, there was a challenge in the fact that there’s an underground river flowing beneath Churchill Downs, so engineers had to dig deeper than they’d otherwise have to, burying 12 steel beams 45′ deep into bedrock. The result is that the Big Board is now said to be stable enough to handle winds of up to 90 miles per hour.

The Big Board displays 9 million lines of resolution, shows 281 trillion colors, and can be seen from about 1,000 feet away. The active display area is 15,224 sq. ft. and is positioned midway along the backstretch and outside the dirt course to avoid being a distraction to the jockeys and horses. It gives operators an array of creative capabilities ranging from replays, image close-ups, betting odds and race results to advertising, recorded programming and multiple split screen views.

By the way, California Chrome won the 2014 running of the Kentucky Derby..


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