TROPICANA FIELD

St. Petersburg, USA

Images: digiLED

Tropicana Field, located in St. Petersburg, Florida has been home to Major League Baseball team Tampa Bay Rays for 25 years. Recently, the stadium had a dramatic upgrade with more than 4,800 square feet of brand-new high brightness LED displays, supplied by the LED screen experts digiLED.

The main stadium is now dominated by three new giant 10mm VISION A LED screens, perfect for giving the 42,735 capacity crowd a close-up of the action. A further three screens are located in prominent positions throughout the venue using both digiLED’s 10mm VISION A and 1.3mm digiTHIN HD.

When it was decided that the LED displays located in the stadium were due for an upgrade, local media company Vū VR Studios recommended digiLED for their outstanding reputation in the industry. digiLED were not only able to upgrade the old screens with higher quality products but were also able to retrofit the new screens into the space where the old ones were located, using some of the original fixtures. “We were invited to partner with Vū Technologies, supplying the LED video screens as they had the connection to the Rays,” explained Joe Lapchick, Director Business Development, digiLED. “They had to get new screens because they ran out of spare parts and couldn’t get support from their previous supplier.” digiLED managed to hit the requirements precisely using their digiTHIN HD product. This enabled the venue to still show multiple images on one screen, whilst also being able to display a single larger image.

The new displays were recently unveiled at the seasonopening game on March 30th, when the Rays took on the Detroit Tigers. It was an exhilarating night, as the team won their first of 13 consecutive games – something that hadn’t been seen since 1884.

Even though the screens are fully contained within the stadium, it was agreed that the best choice was digiLED’s VISION A for the main displays due to the high brightness and IP65 rating that it offers. This was important because of the high levels of humidity in the stadium when no games are being played.

Joe added: “Even though the ballpark is covered, there’s still humidity inside, so we used our VISION A outdoor install panels. The real technological advancement was in the control room - we used UHD 1.3mm digiTHIN HD LED screens to replace the LCD screen array of monitors.”

From start to finish digiLED worked closely with the team at Tampa Bay Rays to ensure their vision was brought to life and to create a captivating experience that truly enhanced the fan experience.

“The new screens have almost double the resolution from the previous screens, so it allows for better content and colour accuracy for advertisers and the replay screen,” said Joe. “So far, everybody’s loved the new screens and how much the fan experience has grown since it’s been installed.

“We are thrilled to have partnered with The Rays on this project and we look forward to continuing to work with them in the future. We are confident that our LED displays will leave a lasting impression on their fans for years to come.”

“The Rays partnership with digiLED has made the process of upgrading the LED at the Tropicana Field effortless, their expertise in the LED industry is truly unmatched,” said Michael Weinman, Director, Tampa Bay Rays. “The stadium now features cutting-edge technology and stunning displays that will help create an engaging atmosphere for our fans.” MANUFACTURER:

Two of the smaller LED screens, located in the Rays control room, required unique resolutions of 3456x1296 and 1152x648 as they were replacing an array of LCD monitors, something that has captured the attention of visiting MLB teams already.