Tourism is going HD in Philadelphia

Only in America could a really big television screen become a tourist attraction.

Tourist officials in Philadelphia have been blown away by the interest in the city's new Comcast Center, which opened in June boasting a 25-foot tall, 2,000-square-foot high-definition LED screen.

It has thousands of hours of content and, according to the Associated Press, has five times the resolution of a typical HD television!

There are dancing sequences! Footage from outer space! Sports highlights from Philadelphia teams!

People are apparently coming by the thousands to check it out.

Marilyn Overton, who came from the suburbs with her husband to see the screen recently, tells the AP: "At first it looks like a mural. And then all of a sudden, it's moving."

Philly is pimping the Comcast screen on its tourism Web site.

The screen runs 18 hours a day, everyday.

"I'm sure people will say, 'OK, I have to do the [Liberty] Bell, Independence Hall, cheesesteaks, the Rocky statue and the Comcast screen," Meryl Levitz, a chief executive of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., tells the AP.

Then again, maybe not. Since the Comcast screen includes video of Philly's other historical sites, there may be little reason to see them in person.

Filed under: United States