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Advantage tennis fans with new Wimbledon scoreboard
Mark Prigg, Science Correspondent22.05.08
It could spell the end of a familiar sight at Wimbledon.
Organisers of the tennis tournament have announced that this year spectators will have giant videos in place of the dot matrix scoreboards on Centre and Number One Courts.
As well as keeping score, the hi-tech screens will show replays of contentious points using Hawk-eye, the computer simulation that determines where a ball has bounced. Between points and sets, they will flash up statistics and video clips.
Bill Jinks of IBM, which has supplied the technology to Wimbledon and will run the screens, said: "When play is in progress, we have gone to great lengths to make the displays look identical to the old displays.
"But when play is not happening we can show a whole range of information.
"For instance, before matches we can show player pictures and biographies and if - God forbid - it should rain, we could even show videos to spectators while they wait for the weather to change.
"On the opposite side of the court will be a smaller screen used to show service speed during play, but again it can show other stats and video between games and sets."
The organisers are looking to install similar screens around the grounds, including the grassy knoll near Court One, once known as Henman Hill.
Construction work at the All England Club continues. Centre Court will get another 1,200 seats, taking capacity to 15,000 for the tournament, which runs from 23 June to 6 July.
A retractable roof over Centre Court should be ready in time for next year.
Reader views (6)
@ Peter & Shirley
The number is what the losing score was in the Tie Break I Think. In the Mens Final Roddick lost the 2nd Set 8 - 6 in the tie brea and 7 - 5 in the 3rd Set, hence the white 6 and 5 between the sets.
- Adrian Donoghue, Dublin, Ireland
Will someone please explain to me what the small number in between the score means (eg set score is 5 - 4 and in between is a small number 3!!!)
- Peter Day, bury st. edmunds
Will someone please explain to me what the small number in between the score means (eg set score is 5 - 4 and in between is a small number 3!!!)
- Shirley Robertson, France
I agree, the dot-matrix screens have been in use since the 60's. Why copy everyone else and change to large and 'tacky' screens now? They are tacky, because people think they are new technology when, in fact, they were used 40 years ago by NASA! It just seems pointless. If they think this is the way forwards, then why didn't they relocate the old dot-matrix displays to the other courts, which still rely on someone having to manually change the scoreboards?
- Paul Kinsella, Lancaster, UK
What a real shame that the classic dot matrix scoreboards - for so long associated with Wimbledon as much as strawberries and cream should be replaced by a relatively boring set of low resolution LED screens.
- Adrian Cotterill, Henley on Thames
Well show the old one too, so we can compare!
- Pete Aylett, Laguna Niguel, California
