Not all the Rogers Centre renovations will come down the line, as the 2022 season will see a $13.7-million AV tech overhaul that includes a revamped LED display system and sound system.
The display upgrades were designed by Anthony James Partners (AJP), a subsidiary of ASM Global, will be ready for the Blue Jays’ Friday April 8 season opener. The upgrades cap off a three-year phased AV technology implementation that involves new LED scoreboard and auxiliary displays, a broadcast package that includes a state-of-the-art Video Replay Control Room, and an upgraded sound system.
The new Primary LED Scoreboard replaces one landlocked by building structural features, preventing a size increase. AJP managed structural engineering for major renovations that resulted in a significant increase in scoreboard size. The new High Dynamic Range (HDR), 10mm pixel pitch, concave scoreboard measures 110-feet wide by 4-inches wide by 44-feet, 2-inches feet high and boasts 4873 square feet of LED—a significant upgrade from the previous board’s 3,499 square feet. In addition, 10mm ribbonboards surround the primary, with a new lower “Monster Ribbon Board” measuring 13.3 feet high by 77 feet wide, and refreshed LED for the upper Ribbon Board at 4 feet by 75.5 feet. Existing left and right outfield wall displays (each 10.5 feet by 63.5 feet) were replaced with 10mm LED and a specialty, glare-free, polycarbonate sheeting to protect them. Finally, new 16mm LED was installed for the parapet ribbonboard that runs nearly 360 degrees around the ballpark. Left and right foul pole displays were also upgraded with 16mm LED. The LED displays were from Daktronics.
The new displays are powered by a new Video Replay Control Room featuring a full 1080p HDR system. The design upgrade involved the central equipment room (Technical Operations Center), the Production Control Room, all front-of-house operations, and the augmentation of the existing JBT broadcast cable infrastructure with single-mode fiber. Alpha Video was the awarded integrator with partner Unity-SI.
The control room refresh was a complete rebuild with 100 percent of the control room cabling being gutted and replaced, right down to the last wire—not typical for this type of upgrade scenario.
Finally, the sound system was upgraded with a distributed loudspeaker design, which included replacement of all loudspeakers, complimenting amplifiers, digital signal processing, front of house source equipment for the bowl, back of house and outdoor areas, and replacement of all outdoor speaker cable.
All Pro and Spark Power (New Electric) were the awarded integrators, and the installation was supplied by Canada’s SFM. Arthur Skudra tuned the system.
Rendering courtesy Anthony James Partners.
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