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Sony Jumbotron Image Control System (1998) [pdf](pro.sony)
16 points by xattt 4 days ago | 4 comments
xattt 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

A couple of interesting takeaways:

- Pre-LED Jumbotrons used CRT pixels called "Trinilite" elements. This was a proprietary Sony technology where each sub-pixel or "cell" was a miniaturized CRT assembly. Each resolved one pixel each.

- A "maximum" NTSC configuration consisting of 40 units wide would result in a horizontal resolution of just 640 dots.

- The display needed a calibration using a “Screen Alignment Unit” (the JME-SA200). This unit used a remote modem chain involving a "cellular phone" and "digital data card." This means that Jumbotron techs could dial in over 1998-era mobile networks to geometrically align a stadium-sized wall of vacuum tubes as they sat in the middle of said stadium.

I also found the format of the manual interesting, because it follows the same style of consumer-grade Sony devices from that period.

Nextgrid 28 minutes ago | parent [-]

Manual of the calibration tool: https://pro.sony/s3/cms-static-content/operation-manual/3864...

zdimension an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Off-topic, but this ongoing trend of brands getting TLDs is really starting to infuriate me. It's not what TLDs are for! Sony is a Japanese company, so it should use sony.com or sony.jp.

ErneX 25 minutes ago | parent [-]

That’s not what the ICANN thinks, and this started in 2012:

https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/about/program