Cowboys Vision Continues To Wow Fans

ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM)If there's one thing North Texas residents know about the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, it's that a very large video board hovers above the field. Considered to be one of the largest in the world, Cowboys fans Sunday could not deny how mesmerizing the video board was.

"It's so big and so close. The cheerleaders are awesome on it too," said Randy Kilmer, a Cowboys fan.

But few seem to know its official name. Some call it a video-tron. For others, it's a monster screen. But its real name is Cowboys Vision.

"A lot of people like to call this the mother ship," said director of Cowboys broadcasting Scott Purcel, pointing at the room of small television screens. "Four, three, two, one; go."

The production crew gets a clear view of the 72 feet tall, 160 feet wide board. It weights about two million pounds, and took Mitsubishi Electric more than 18 months to build.

"The truth is, Mr. Jones really had a vision to do this," Purcel said.

Purcel said Jerry Jones got the idea from a show in Las Vegas. As such, Purcel traveled the world to make sure Jones got what he wanted.

"We flew all over Japan, actually, watching the individual light bulbs being created," Purcel said. "There's over 30 million of those light bulbs."

The video board cost $40 million to make. Cowboys officials said that was more than the total cost of Texas Stadium in Irving.

Dwin Towell was instrumental in the design and instillation of Cowboys Vision.

"Every man wants this position," he said. "I have access to the biggest television set in the world and I've got the remote control for it. What else could you want?"

Towell said he thinks the most interesting thing about the board is the way it was built.

"The whole thing was built in the air - the super structure was built on the ground, reweighted to around two million pounds, hoisted into the air - and then sandbags were removed as modules were put on," he said.

The NFL has also dropped into town for a preview before the Super Bowl invades North Texas early next year.