Case Study

Dean E. Smith Center

Section 1

Introduction

The University of North Carolina (UNC) Tar Heels men’s basketball team is one of the winningest NCAA Division I basketball programs in the country and since 1986 the storied basketball team have called the Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center home.

Section 2

The Challenge

In early 2018, UNC Athletics made the decision to upgrade their videoboards at the Dean E. Smith Center and installed four new corner boards, measuring out at 19′ x 100′ each.

Along with the installation of the new video boards, UNC Athletics wanted to enhance the fan experience by integrating engaging fan content, live video, and sponsorship elements on each corner board.

To achieve this, the Go Heels production group needed to upgrade their display control system and workflow. The previous system’s single 720p output was no longer sufficient for the increased complexity and capabilities of the new video boards. UNC Athletics faced the challenge of maintaining operational simplicity while improving the overall show quality.

By upgrading the display control system, UNC Athletics aimed to streamline the process of managing and distributing content, ensuring that the staff could efficiently deliver a dynamic and engaging fan experience. This upgrade would not only enhance the visuals within the arena but also provide new opportunities for sponsorship and revenue generation through targeted advertising and promotional content on the video boards.

Section 3

The Solution

The Go Heels Production team’s control room already featured a suite of Ross products so when the time came to select an LED Display Control System for their new video boards, one that would seamlessly integrate with their existing equipment, the team quickly settled on Ross Video’s Unified Venue Solution.

To enhance their existing production room equipment and enable control over the four corner boards, the Go Heels team incorporated four channels of XPression Tessera, an XPression INcoder, and three Carbonite Black Solos to simplify the delivery of real-time rendered content to various displays. With the inclusion of a DashBoard Custom Panel, the Go Heels team could seamlessly transition from a stat-focused design during the game to a sponsored fan cam takeover.

The nature of XPression Tessera’s design has allowed us to quickly move between board layouts that service our different game day needs. Through a click of the button we can shift from an in-game, stat focused design, to a sponsored fan cam take over

Chris Brown
Assistant Director of Game Day Productions

The full Ross solution includes

 

Section 4

The Impact

XPression Tessera allows the Tar Heels production staff to easily create multiple looks on their extra-wide video boards and to push dynamic content to the main displays as well as their multiple additional LED displays. With the RossTalk capabilities of custom DashBoard panels and the Carbonite Black, controlling the more than 7.6 million pixels in the arena is as easy as pushing a button. 

Explore our Sports Venue Solutions

To learn more about how Ross Video is creating unforgettable game-day experiences for sports fans, while streamlining operations for in-house production teams, explore our Sports Venue Solutions page.

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