New Big O scoreboard is state of the art

 It will be up to the Expos and Blue Jays players to supply the power at the Olympic Stadium this weekend.

There will be no "juice" in the heralded $17-million Omega scoreboard for the weekend exhibition series - Saturday and Sunday afternoons - between Canada's two major-league teams.

The big news, though, is that the scoreboard is in place. It will be tested during the week and is scheduled to be in operation by next weekend.

Football unveiling

The Expos' home opener against the Cardinals one week from Monday won't be the public unveiling of the board. It will be used for the football Machine's World League game against the Ohio Glory one week from Sunday.

The huge board past centre-field is composed of four panels. Two Tri-Vision Ad Panels flank an Omega Colour Video Board and the Daktronics Color Bulb Matrix Board.

High above left and right field will be two Daktronics black and white lamp Matrix Boards.

These two will be carefully watched. They will spell out what's happening in the game in progress. They will also feature updates on out-of-town scores.

State of the art

What fans will notice quickly when the board is in operation is the amazing improvement in clarity. They will see very clear color pictures, equivalent to what one would expect to see on a giant TV screen.

While the scoreboard which has served Montreal fans was state-of- the-art technology back in 1976 when it was first used for the Olympic Games, the new board is state-of-the-art technology for 1992.

"Our board is at least the 11th generation of video boards," scoreboard operator Paul Shubin said.

"There have been major improvements every time."

The 48-year-old Shubin knows all about changes in scoreboards and the responsibities associated with same.

When hired in 1971 as an assistant to the late Larry Chiasson, Expos PR director at the time, Shubin remembers being told, "and you'll also take care of the scoreboard."

Looking after the board at Parc Jarry was not overly complicated. When Olympic Stadium was opened, Shubin became full-time custodian of the board.

The Loyola graduate in engineering and English has had a staff of nine working with him for the past several years. When the new board is in full operation, the number will increase to 16.

The new board gives the Expos the chance to provide entertainment they could not offer in the past. They can show such major-league film productions as This Week in Baseball, Plays of the Week, highlight films and the always-popular blooper plays.

"We can show animated cartoons like they do now at the Forum as opposed to single drawings," said Shubin, who also runs the board at the hockey shrine.

The Omega Board is 31-feet, 6-inches high and 42 feet wide with 49,152 lighting elements. It is capable of creating 16,777,216 shades of colour, the North American TV standard. This board will be used for live action, replays and static graphics.

The replays will not be intended either to show up umpires or incite fans.

"Our policy is to stay away from any replay which requires an umpire's decision," Shubin said.

The Daktronics Color Board is 32 feet high and 64 feet wide. Messages on this board are transmitted by 32,768 red, blue, green and white 30- and 50-watt bulbs. This panel is used basically for messages, statistics and animated cartoons.