Godzillatron (Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium scoreboard)

“Godzillatron” is the nickname of the scoreboard at the University of Texas at Austin’s Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Like the “Godzilla” monster, it’s huge. The scoreboard was installed for the 2006 season.
 
It’s not known who thought of the nickname, but it was used in Google Groups (alt.sports.college.utexas) by July 31, 2006. The many ads on the scoreboard caused it to also be nicknamed “Adzillatron” by September 3, 2006.
 
The “-tron” suffix for large television screens began with the “Jumbotron” and continued in 2009 with the Cowboys Stadium “Jerrytron.” 
 
     
Wikipedia: Godzillatron
“Godzillatron” 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.
 
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 still the largest high-definition video screen in collegiate sports when considering total screen size. As of 2006, the Big 12 Conference hold the three largest screens in college football by surface area, with Nebraska and Texas A&M at numbers 2 and 3 respectively. (TCF Bank Stadium, currently under construction at the University of Minnesota, when completed will have the second-largest scoreboard in college football, also a Daktronics HD video display.) 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 Kansas City Royals new HD screen (8,925 vs 7,370 sq ft).
 
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 it debuted at the start of the 2006 football season. The screen has a pixel resolution of 2064 x 848. Previously, two scoreboards were in place, one in the south end and one in the north end. 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.
 
Google Groups: alt.sports.college.utexas
From:  Michael Mosteller
Date:  Mon, Jul 31 2006 7:36 pm
 
Check this thing out. People are calling it Godzillatron! I am going to love since I sit in section 1 which is just to the right of it. I feel sorry for the poor bastards who are getting the temporary bleacher seats directly below it.
Michael
http://www.texassports.com/webcam.html
 
Dallas Morning News
02:11 AM CDT on Saturday, August 19, 2006
Video screen dubbed ‘Godzillatron’
Fans will immediately notice something new at Royal-Memorial Stadium this season: A 7,370-foot, high-definition Daktronics LED video screen.
 
It has been nicknamed “Godzillatron” because when it is unveiled at the North Texas game Sept. 2, it will be the largest full-screen video board in the world. A video board being constructed in Asia is expected to be three feet larger than UT’s. But for now, the Longhorns have the record.