When the Louisiana Superdome opened in 1975, the site featured 500 TVs, manually operated by site staff. Superdome technology manager Brodie Cannon states, “The task of turning those TVs on, off, and setting channels took over 8 man-hours every event. Of special mention is a “bridge” used in some events with 24 displays – we used a 30-foot ladder, later a long pole to reach them. In 2001, we integrated the TVs with a Contemporary Research display control technology, reducing work to a few seconds. As the system communicates over the RF cable, we didn’t need the expense of new wiring to install the system, and it paid for itself very quickly.”

Then disaster struck. A place of safety for thousands during Hurricane Katrina, the Superdome suffered significant roof and water damage – ruining many of the site’s televisions.

Brodie continues,” We decided to turn tragedy into opportunity and replace the TVs with modern flat-panel displays. That’s easy to do with the CR system. It’s also brand agnostic – it can integrate different makes and models in the same system.

Today, we control over 1,000 displays in the Dome, plus another several hundred in the Arena, and operation is as simple now as it was in 2001. We recently upgraded to the new Display Express software, which gives us the ability to handle far more complex preset programming, save custom schedules for each event, and access the system from anywhere in our network. Contemporary Research listened to us as we explained the new cababilities we needed, and answered every need with a solution.

Their RF control platform is simply easy to install, adapt, and expand. Contemporary Research display technology, reliability, and support has reduced the cost and complexity of operating our system.”