JVC's first Times Square billboard, erected in 1979, was at Broadway and 46th Street.
The second JVC Times Square billboard went up in 1999 at Broadway and 43rd Street.
The focal point of the new billboard, at Broadway and 43rd Street, is a high definition LED screen, but it also features a pair of LED tickers with animated programming synchronized among all three LED displays, plus nine-foot JVC letters illuminated by neon.
With a resolution of 1280 x 720, a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio and 60 frames per second animated content, the new JVC billboard will be the first in Times Square that meets all the criteria for a true 720p high definition display. To further ensure a crisp image, pixel pitch or the space between pixels of the same color is a mere 8mm.
General
1,266,400 LEDs
Total number of LED modules: 1,007
431 vertical ticker modules
576 video display modules
Each video module measures 15 x 15 inches
Each ticker module measures 3.25 wide x 40 high
Display
The first true 720P HD display in Times Square
Resolution: 1280 x 720
16:9 widescreen aspect ratio
60 frames per second content
8mm pixel pitch
1,152,000 LEDs
4:4:4 color subsampling
Size: 19 by 34 feet (total of 7,880 sq. feet)
Weight: 12,500 pounds
Globe
Resolution: 100 x 1344
Size: 3.5 x 45 feet
Content synchronized with display content
Weight: 1,360 pounds
Globe refurbished with fluorescent paint
Ticker
Resolution: 100 x 2104
Size: 3.5 x 71 feet
Content synchronized with display content
Weight: 2,095 pounds
Materials
3,014 feet of data cables
2,650 feet of power cables
1,250 feet of steel tubing (more than 1,000 in the video display cabinet)
Manufacturer
The JVC LED billboard was manufactured by Clear Channel Spectacolor using the following vendors: D3 LED LLC (LED display manufacturer), ArtFX Murals (hand-painted the JVC globe), and North Shore Neon Sign Co. (sign installer).
Times Square Facts
1.6 million people pass through Times Square each day.
274,000 people work directly in Times Square each day.
300,000 vehicles pass through Times Square daily.
100 million people pass through Times Square via subways daily.
500,000 people come to Times Square on New Year's Eve - a half-billion people worldwide watch the festivities on television.
The New Year's Eve ball was first dropped in 1908 - so 2008 marks the 100th birthday of the New Year's Eve ball.
With a diameter of 12 feet, the new-for-2008 ball is the largest Times Square ball ever, and features a shell made of $300,000 worth of Waterford Crystal.
The 2008 ball has 9,576 Philips Luxeon LEDs, and is more than twice as bright as the previous ball, yet will consume about the same amount of electricity that it takes to power 10 toasters or a single oven or range.
The ball has been lowered every year since 1908, with the exceptions of 1942 and 1943, when the ceremony was suspended due to the wartime "dim-out" of lights in New York City.
85% of the 500,000 Times Square attendees on New Year's Eve are non-residents.
Times Square represents only 0.1% of New York City's land area, but 5% of the city's jobs are located there, and the district generates 10% of the city's economic output.
80% of visitors to NYC visit Times Square.
Times Square generates 390,000 Jobs (9% of NYC's Jobs), 200,000 direct, 190,000 indirect.
There are 13,200 hotel rooms in Times Square - more hotel rooms than in all of Philadelphia.
Times Square is visited by 26 million tourists annually.
