Nowadays, scoreboard controllers are a vital component of any modern team sport. Scoreboard controller systems not only directly control and log the game information, but also create a protocol in the form of a file that can be used later for officials and statistics.
One of the most important characteristics of sports equipment is its impact on the game speed and slowdowns. If operations with the equipment — such as reviewing a disputed situation in video refereeing or making scoreboard controller changes — take a long time, it can result in teams losing their focus or advantage.
Scoreboard controller interface
For a scoreboard controller, simplicity and accessibility of the interface are necessary to minimally affect the course of the game. Frequently repeated operations should be performed as simply and intuitively as possible.
Scoreboard controller Control-MC by SLOMO.TV has evolved steadily since its launch in 2023. Our team regularly collects and analyzes feedback from venues and events where our equipment is deployed, using these insights to improve the systems. This iterative process has made our scoreboard controller notably faster and more reliable.
Simplifying complex operations with Control-MC
Let's imagine a frequently occurring situation: at the end of an ice hockey period, at the last minute of the match, an incorrect puck drop is performed. It is necessary to correct the game time, since the countdown has already been started, and start it again.
Typically, the operation on many scoreboard controllers is as follows: the video goal system is used to find out the time when the countdown started, and this time is entered into the scoreboard controller via the time adjustment menu — this process takes 30 to 60 seconds.
On Control-MC, this is done with a single press of the Undo button. The new puck drop can be performed as soon as the referee and players are ready.
The process of correcting the information in a scoreboard controller can be even more time consuming in case there're players with ongoing penalties during the incorrect puck drop. When the countdown is started, the remaining penalty time decreases. On many systems, there is no option to adjust the penalty time; on others, standard adjustment procedure is required. Control-MC simplifies the adjustments with the Undo key, returning all the remaining penalty times back to where they were before the incorrect puck drop.
Smart Whistle function
Our Smart Whistle function of the Control-MC has been improved as well. It is a function that works with compact radio whistle devices that each referee can carry. When the countdown is stopped by a radio whistle, the Smart Whistle sends a signal to the scoreboard controller, and the countdown stops without delay.
According to our statistics, each manual time stop by whistle takes 0.5–0.7 seconds away from the game, due to the limits of the speed of sound and human reaction. Since the number of stops in a game can be large — on average 60 to 80 — this leads to the fact that introducing a radio whistle lengthens the game on average by 30 seconds, possibly even up to 90 seconds.
System redundancy
Seamless system redundancy ensures reliability of operation in case of equipment failure. Control-MC has the ability to operate in redundancy mode using a special connection via Smart I/O ports. Two Control-MC systems can work in parallel, and if there is a problem with one of them, the other one will continue all operations. Additionally, they can perform different functions in parallel (e.g. one Control-MC handles the timing of the game, and the other handles information for the protocol – scores, player names, penalties, etc.).
Seamless transition to Control-MC
Transitioning from one scoreboard controller system to another can be an intimidating task. The operations team often does not have the opportunity or financial resources to install converters for protocols from one scoreboard controller type to another.
Control-MC ensures seamless transition. It has three main SCD (scoreboard controller data) ports, each of which can be configured to work with the data protocols of the most common scoreboard controller types. All systems that worked with the previous scoreboard controller will also work with Control‑MC.
Since there are three SCD ports, each can be assigned a separate protocol for a different scoreboard controller. Also, different types of scoreboard controllers can be used together, for example, Nautronic scoreboard system, OMEGA, and Control-MC.
Control-MC ports
The scoreboard controller must have a sufficient number of ports to be able to connect the arena systems and all the peripheral equipment. Control-MC has Smart I/O ports that are used for direct connection of all control and indication consoles used in various sports. We also offer a port expander BOB (break-out box), which connects to one Smart I/O and allows up to seven devices to be connected to it.
