Sunlight on a scoreboard

Does late afternoon Sunlight make my scoreboard look worse?

This is true. 
Most sports grounds are oriented so that the main viewing area (the clubrooms) are on the west side of the field. So that later in the day those viewing from the club rooms are not squinting looking into the sun.
If the club house is on the west side, then usually the scoreboard is on the east side (facing west, into the low setting sun).

 click to enlarge

This pic shows this common orientation with the scoreboard facing west. Not the best spot to watch the footy late in the day.

If your club has a scoreboard then hopefully the LEDs are bright enough to push through this low sunlight. If the LED screen is not designed well, then the image will be faint and VERY difficult to read the scores.

"Brighter is not always better", it's a balance.

  • Screens can be designed to be super-bright. But with this comes, 1. more power draw, 2. they run hotter which reduces life-span, 3. more component costs, 3. more expensive to run.
  • Solid scoreboard screens are designed to be bright enough for the purpose, but also last longer. A balance!
  • Solid scoreboard screens also use gold wire encapsulation in the LEDs. 
    • Gold wire (unlike the common "copper") runs cooler, uses less power & lasts longer.
    • Using gold wire has less stress on the screen when running at brighter settings.
    • The drawback with gold-wire is that it is more expensive to buy.
      But long-term, this saves you money (enhancing longevity). Better value-for-money.
    • If buying a video screen scoreboard make sure "gold wire" is listed in the specification. Especially if you are comparing brands.
    • There are many other crucial components in an outdoor video screen, but we feel that this "gold wire" is worth special mention.
Another crucial factor in LED scoreboard screens are the "Mask" (or Veil)...


If the right balance is obtained on a scoreboard screen then you will always see the scores in low afternoon sun. Even when the sun drops so low that it misses the Mask and directly hits the LED.
 The LED is actually still bright, BUT the usually crisp black mask appears "Grey". Which reduces the contrast.
 See this comparative test in low angled light.


Some more examples...