CT Shines at Super Bowl XLIII

Using Barco true black 4mm (NX-4) LED tiles, the imaginative backdrops for the Super Bowl broadcast’s Commentary Desk and Red Carpet area shined with brightness, clarity and the highest LED resolution possible.

Creative Technology (CT) provided Barco NX-4 tiles and technical services to enhance sets for both the Commentary Desk and the Red Carpet Area during the live broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII from Tampa Bay, Florida. On the Commentary Desk set, a curved NX-4 display was central to the desk, enabling the NX-4 modules to be viewed from almost every camera angle. To the left and right of the commentators, additional tiles were placed on stands and framed into vertical displays.

For the Red Carpet area, where game day interviews were conducted, a large 3x5 tile NX-4 screen graced the set, along with four additional columns made up of 20 NX-4 modules each. For the venue’s NFL Experience area, located on site for the attendees, Creative Technology also provided NX-4 tiles in a curved configuration to duplicate the look of the commentary desk.

For the Super Bowl assignment, Creative Technology was hired by Florida-based Innovative Show Design. Creative Technology selected Barco’s 4mm NX-4 modules for their compact, modular design, brightness and superb resolution. NX-4 tiles utilize black LED SMDs (Surface Mount Diode), with a pixel pitch of 4mm, a technology ideally suited for the bright lights of a broadcast set. To meet the challenge of the high-definition broadcast, the professionals at Creative Technology chose the best LED resolution for the job, and the small modules allowed the curves and columns to be easily configured. In addition, by utilizing NX-4 for each set during the broadcast, Creative Technology was able to achieve remarkable consistency for each set’s creative elements.

Curt Petty, Creative Technology’s Director of Business Development, noted how crisp the NX-4 set elements looked during the broadcast itself. “We were very pleased with the outcome,” said Petty. “The NX-4 tiles fit together seamlessly and images were so bright and crisp, it was almost impossible to tell that we were looking at LED displays.”