Which scoreboards does it read?

There is no cable

Most scoreboard controllers either have no data output at all, or one that is proprietary, undocumented and inconveniently located in a locked cupboard. UniversoOCR sidesteps that completely: it reads the board optically, the same way a person in the stands does.

That means the manufacturer, the age of the board and the controller software make no difference. If a camera can see the digits clearly, they can be read.

Brands

Because nothing depends on the manufacturer, the usual names — Daktronics, Bodet, Nautronic, Favero, Fair-Play, Swiss Timing and the many unbranded boards in school and club halls — are all simply boards in front of a camera.

Daktronics boards in particular got specific attention: some of them draw the digit 9 without its bottom stroke, which trips up generic text recognition. That variant is handled explicitly and covered by a regression test using real footage.

If a board is unusual

There is a Teach mode for awkward cases. You freeze the picture, type what the board is actually showing, and the app learns the digits of that specific board — its font, its thickness, its quirks. After a couple of values it recognises that board better than any general-purpose model could.

What actually matters

Not the brand, but the picture:

• Sharp digits. Zoom in so the numbers fill the frame rather than sitting in a corner.
• A stable camera. A tripod beats a handheld phone.
• No glare. Reflections on the glass are the usual culprit, not the board itself.
• Resolution. Capture at 1080p when the board is far away — there is a setting for it.

Angle is not on that list: the four-corner correction takes care of it.