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.
Dave Crump, business development director at Creative Technology - who have been a supplier to the All England Club since the mid 90s - commented: "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, say the company.
(Claire Beeson)
