NBA’s Cavs Add 750+ Screens To Updated Home Venue

January 7, 2021 by Dave Haynes

The Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, where the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers plays its games in normal times, recently did a digital facelift that added more than 750 displays around the sports and entertainment venue – from the concession areas to behind the scenes in the locker rooms.

The 25-year-old venue contracted local area AV integrator Crescent Digital to put in the revised network. The kit of parts includes:

• 150 49-inch displays on the concourse perimeter;
• Ultra-stretch displays at concessions, for menus;
• Several narrow-bezel video walls in premium ticket-holder areas.

It doesn’t say, but assuming these are all LCDs (the stretchy ones are for sure). LG is big on OLED, but OLED would be overkill for much of what’s being done here, and OLED also isn’t happy having fixed, static images like menus on screens because of image retention concerns.

No idea on the software controls.

Each display in the FieldHouse, both indoors and outdoors, is connected to a single IPTV distribution system that enables quick changes and automated scheduling of the enormous display network.

This manifests itself in things like full venue takeovers. For example, the entire display network goes dark in a “blackout mode” when the national anthem is performed, then comes on instantly when that finishes.