Boston - where did the big monitor go?

Originally posted by boncho
... There is also a picture floating around that may indicated the unit was still there but turned or covered when the bombs went off. I think I saw it earlier, but to be honest, this one is done for me.
...

I believe you are correct.
The first picture (of the female winner approaching the finish line) is for the sake of showing the Jumbotron...and more specifically, the "half Caesar wreath" (or - whatever it would be called) along the left side of the fixture.

The next picture has been excerpted from one of the videos...where the first bomb explodes...
I am including this picture twice...the first "unedited" (by me), so you can pick out the features highlighted in the second...without hindrance.

The red horizontal line, highlights the "top" of the board, the red vertical line highlights the edge of the building that obscures the rest of the board...and the yellow...highlights, what appears, somewhat definitively (for me), the upper portion of the "half Caesar wreath".


Make up your own mind/s. I think it's there.
Thanks.

I don't believe it is in that picure nor is it in any of the Videos. There is one which pans over that way.. No screen.

Originally posted by Taggart
I don't believe it is in that picure nor is it in any of the Videos. There is one which pans over that way.. No screen.

You could be right.
To give further substance to my claim, though...please consider the following:
In the first picture (where the female winner is about to cross the finish line), below the screen, you can see what appears to be a large "picture window"...with nothing, apparently "in" it (meaning...nothing to discolor, such as drapes or shades)... It is just a "darkly-colored" window (from all appearances).
In the second picture (which is only a few frames before the first bomb explodes)...the quality of the picture is poor, but it appears that, the same area, where the above-noted picture window is located...is "whitish". And, if you zoom in as far as possible, without entirely losing perspective, it looks (to me) as if there is a definite distinction between the curving-series of "leafs" that comprise the "Caesar wreath", and what would otherwise be the "display" portion of the screen.
If you've taken all those into account...so be it.
Or, if you have another/better picture, at this point in the game/race, that shows otherwise, I would like to see it.
I have been searching for definitive photos between the female-winner's finish and the first explosion...and this is the best I've come up with so far (pretty crappy, I know)... You know there must be tons of photos out there, as there was an entire section above (and behind) the finish line, loaded with photographers &/or videographers.
And...there is probably A LOT of film of the time/s leading up to the explosions -- or -- why would they have been filming at the time of the blast (almost two hours after the "climax")?

Originally posted by WanDash

Originally posted by Taggart
I don't believe it is in that picure nor is it in any of the Videos. There is one which pans over that way.. No screen.

You could be right.
To give further substance to my claim, though...please consider the following:
In the first picture (where the female winner is about to cross the finish line), below the screen, you can see what appears to be a large "picture window"...with nothing, apparently "in" it (meaning...nothing to discolor, such as drapes or shades)... It is just a "darkly-colored" window (from all appearances).
In the second picture (which is only a few frames before the first bomb explodes)...the quality of the picture is poor, but it appears that, the same area, where the above-noted picture window is located...is "whitish". And, if you zoom in as far as possible, without entirely losing perspective, it looks (to me) as if there is a definite distinction between the curving-series of "leafs" that comprise the "Caesar wreath", and what would otherwise be the "display" portion of the screen.
If you've taken all those into account...so be it.
Or, if you have another/better picture, at this point in the game/race, that shows otherwise, I would like to see it.
I have been searching for definitive photos between the female-winner's finish and the first explosion...and this is the best I've come up with so far (pretty crappy, I know)... You know there must be tons of photos out there, as there was an entire section above (and behind) the finish line, loaded with photographers &/or videographers.
And...there is probably A LOT of film of the time/s leading up to the explosions -- or -- why would they have been filming at the time of the blast (almost two hours after the "climax")?

I did take those into account and I could not see it, I wasn't attacking you, You should maybe do some screenshots of the zoomed in picture with comparisons for others to compare. Maybe I'm missing something.
Good work either way.

Ah, so the company responsible for the monitor did not get back to me, as my email to them got kicked back for being too large. There email addressed kicked back my first email, the second was in a form on their website but does not allow 900 characters, which I wrote more than.

In any case, I found more revealing photos of the unit used for the jumbotron, it seems it's a flatbed design, which the LED screen is raised and lowered on two long poles.



The the screen was not in the original position, it seems to indicated it had been lowered. This is not a complete take down of the structure, so the 1 hour disassembly times on other units, doesn't seem like it's applicable here. More like they raise and lower up and down that pole structure and perhaps the whole thing rides away on the flat bed, unless it's brought down horizontally? A reasonable explanation is that it was lowered. Or, if there are people on the other side of the street, it could have been moved to be seen by those people. Not sure...

The likeliest explanation is that it was lowered, but why would it have been? At the time the bombs went off there were still loads of people finishing and big crowds watching, it was far from being the last of the stragglers when it would be reasonable to think they might have started packing up.

Why would they suddenly decide to change its position? Photos in this thread suggest that position was clearly deemed best in previous years, clearly deemed best for the 5k the day before, clearly deemed best for the first few hours of the marathon itself; I don't believe it would suddenly have been decided that it would be better elsewhere.

Also, given the crowds at that part of the course, it would probably have been dangerous to start moving a very large and heavy piece of equipment around.

They're possible explanations, certainly, but don't seem plausible.

It is a real curiosity.