Godzillatron



"Godzillatron" or "Adzillatron" is the nickname given to the scoreboard at the University of Texas at Austin's Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The official name of the board has not yet been decided; it is simply referred to as the "Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Scoreboard" by the Texas Longhorn Athletics department. It is one of the largest high definition video screens in the world. It was manufactured by Daktronics in Brookings, South Dakota, the largest producer of large-screen video displays in the world.

Dimensions
The scoreboard measures at 81 ft tall and 136 ft wide with a pixel resolution of 2064 x 848. The scoreboard was installed as part of a US$150 million stadium renovation, $8 million of which is being spent on audiovisual improvements. The new high definition screen is the centerpiece of these improvements and debuted at the start of the 2006 football season. Previously, two scoreboards were in place, one in the south end, the Freddie Steinmark Memorial Scoreboard and Jumbotron, and one in the north end, a video matrix screen. Both were removed after the 2005 season. The new scoreboard replaces the one in the south end. The north end no longer features a scoreboard as it was removed for the 2008 stadium expansion. The giant Longhorn symbol at the very top was sold on eBay.

At the time of its creation, Godzillatron was called the largest high-definition video screen in the world, though it was quickly surpassed by a larger screen in Tokyo. It is the largest high-definition video screen in college football. In 2006, the Big 12 Conference held the three largest screens in college football by surface area, with Nebraska and Texas A&M at numbers 2 and 3 respectively. Since 2006, however, Mississippi State University has added a high definition video board at Davis Wade Stadium measuring 112 ft by 48 ft, or 5217 sqft. Godzillatron is 84% larger than the screen at Nebraska (7,370 square feet vs 4,012 square feet). At the time of creation, it was the largest HD screen in the western hemisphere, but has since been surpassed by the HD screens at Cowboys Stadium (11,520 sq ft), and several others for various sports.

Criticism
A downside for fans is that the screen can be used to allow more obtrusive advertising to be displayed during games. It has been controversial among fans because at some times a large portion (more than 50%) of the screen is being used for advertising and other non-game related graphics. This has led to some fans (including Austin American-Statesman commentator Kirk Bohls) calling the new screen "Adzillatron". Complaints have also been made about the scoreboard being too loud and about it broadcasting advertisements to those in the stadium, even over the top of the band playing in the stadium. In its first usage, the portion of the new screen that was typically used for showing replays and film highlights was approximately the same size as the old video screen. More recent games have featured a 16:9 format image centered in a ring of advertisement and score/clock related information. Nevertheless, complaints continue about the advertising, with some fans shouting out "We won't shop/eat/bank there" when advertisements are played loudly in the stadium.