[Adam Freeman]

As a coach on the field, I do rely on the score being posted on the screen. At FiM Districts the screen is typically on one side of the field or the other, so if you are say the Blue Alliance you have to turn around to see it.

Only one time this season has the score not been displayed when I went to look at it, and that was a qualification match at the Northville District. I went to talk to the A/V guy and he just said it was a mistake for that match. I was not a huge deal, but as the OP said, it does play into how coaches direct alliances.

I typically use the timers in the corners of the field to see how much time is left. The only issue I have had with those are that in the beginning of the year, I kept looking at the right corner...instead of the left, since that was where the timer was last year. I kept wondering why there were 469 seconds left in the match, and it wasn't changing.