Did This Guy Hack Times Square's Jumbotron?

A hacker going by the handle “BITcrash44” claims to be able to hack into any screen he wants and take over the video being shown. And he says he can do it with nothing but an iPhone with a small video transmitter attachment. In his hand, he holds a remote “video repeater,” which when waved in front of any screen, will override that screen’s signal and broadcast video from his iPhone.

To prove it, he filmed this video in Times Square, where you can watch as he starts with a small bus stop screen and eventually works his way up to one of the giant-sized screens Times Square is known for, seemingly hacking into this well-known video display.

Some are claiming the whole thing is nothing but an elaborate hoax. They point to the big red balloon seen in the video, in particular, as evidence that it’s all a big fake, because a little investigation of the store in Times Square where the balloon supposedly comes from, revealed that that store doesn’t sell balloons. The hoax theorists believe the video was genuinely shot in Times Square, but that the signal that overrides the screens was added in postproduction.

What do you think? Is seeing believing? Real or not, it’s awfully clever.