The professional sports experience sure is getting weird. The quality of today's televisions are attempting to turn our living rooms into ballparks and arenas and they're doing a pretty good job of it. Meanwhile, those same ballparks and arenas are trying to turn themselves into our living rooms. It's really only a matter of time until some rabbit hole opens up and we're all sucked into some alternate reality where everyone on the field looks like Max Headroom.

Already happened.

Why?

6th biggest scoreboard in the league.

It's not the size, but how you use it.

So now the replays of those pop-ups will be HUGE!

Why?

0 takes up a lot of space on a scoreboard.

The comment quoted in #1 is interesting but I don't think it's a weird phenomenon. The living room and the ballpark are converging at the supposed platonic ideal of sports watching: comfy seat, fully stocked fridge, professional presentation, high visual quality.

They should square the circle by showing an endless loop of all their concession lines.

And not one bang-bang play at first will ever be shown, for fear the umpire that blew the call will make them turn it off.

I wish my living room was becoming more like the ballpark. In fact the television experience has gotten less and less like being at the ballpark as my life has gone on. I have never once used binoculars to zoom in on Ryan Vogelsong's nostrils at the game, nor have I longed for Tim McCarver to continually re-state the obvious after every pitch.

I wish my living room was becoming more like the ballpark. In fact the television experience has gotten less and less like being at the ballpark as my life has gone on. I have never once used binoculars to zoom in on Ryan Vogelsong's nostrils at the game, nor have I longed for Tim McCarver to continually re-state the obvious after every pitch.

Agreed 100%. I last went to a baseball game 2 years ago and I think that was the last time I watched a full game. I still follow the game closely from a distance, but I can't stand the way baseball is shown on television, so I stopped watching full games. However, if there was a team in Montréal, I would have at least a partial season ticket plan, for sure. Even a crappy stadium like the O is better than watching at home.

I think my favorite part of watching the game live that you miss on TV is watching the fielder positioning and the impact on results... there's something amazing about being able to watch the pitch come in and see the fielders react to the ball off the bat.

Hockey is better live as well, but the difference compared to TV is smaller (and it costs much more than seeing a baseball game, so you're getting less value for the dollar).

My favorite live play is sitting along the third base line when there's a shot into the gap in right center with a speedy hitter. As the hitter hits second in full stride, that's probably the closest baseball comes to ballet and from that seat all of it is in your field of vision. Of course I don't know anything about ballet so I'm probably wrong.

I wish my living room was becoming more like the ballpark. In fact the television experience has gotten less and less like being at the ballpark as my life has gone on. I have never once used binoculars to zoom in on Ryan Vogelsong's nostrils at the game, nor have I longed for Tim McCarver to continually re-state the obvious after every pitch.

One day in the future we may have the TV option of a simple wide-range unadulterated feed of the field with the only sound being noises from the park. However, it would presumably cost a hefty subscription fee considering that the current raison d'etre for on-screen graphics and the announcers themselves is advertisement delivery.

The most popular reader comments on the Seattle Times article about this implore the team to get some G-damn hitters instead.

At Safeco, they have long shown the TV feed on monitors throughout the stadium, but not on the big screen. Monitors are by food stands on the concourses and hanging from the upper decks so people sitting toward the back of the lower decks or standing behind can see them, including the usual TV broadcast replays. This leads to cheers or jeers from the back of the stands when they're shown, while folks near the field don't see them, as they're verboten on the big screen.

So are video boards the new phallic symbol for baseball owners ?

TV has just not figured out how to take advantage of modern trchnology for baseball. I don't know why split screens aren't used more often and to Voros' point seeing everything is better than close ups.

The play where Fielder was gunned down at the plate in the WS is a great example. The replay showed the whole thing, the outfielder in the background, Fielder in the foreground and you could see it develop.

One day in the future we may have the TV option of a simple wide-range unadulterated feed of the field with the only sound being noises from the park. However, it would presumably cost a hefty subscription fee

You may actually be alluding ironically to this, but I bought something close to that from mlb.com for the 2011 playoffs, for six bucks or something. Exceedingly good way to watch a game on video. Radio audio feed was available too, taking care of some of the advertising concerns. It's a niche product, and the minimal costs these days of making a camera feed that's running anyway available to the entire world must be well-recouped by the modest fee.

I think my favorite part of watching the game live that you miss on TV is watching the fielder positioning and the impact on results...

bringing my g.f. to baseball games has helped her appreciate the sport more, for just what you said. she was amazed to see how much the fielders are concentrating on each pitch.

So are video boards the new phallic symbol for baseball owners ?

I wonder if Samsung is going to start emulating the Viagra and Cialis commercials.

What is the res on this? 4K televisions are coming which will introduce a new standard for 'hi-def' in our lives.

With the way the smartphone race towards bigger screens is accelerating, it's only a question of time before they rival this.

What is the res on this?

Not that high, after all it's the angular resolution that is important and no one watches this from close up.

I wonder if Samsung is going to start emulating the Viagra and Cialis commercials

If Jerry Jones and Nolan Ryan start holding hands from separate bathtubs while they watch a huge video screen, I really am seceding.