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Exclusive: Behind the Scenes at the World's Most Technologically Advanced Planetarium!
Posted 12/25/08 at 08:00:00 AM by Norman Chan
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Jon then took us back to the planetarium dome, where we were able to examine the screen up close and walk in the space behind its shell. The actual dome is constructed with an aluminum "nanoseam" , a new technology from Spitz, Inc, the leading producer of planetarium dome screens. The nanoseam panels are completely flush with no overlapping panels or exposed rivets to create a seamless, smooth, and highly reflective display. These panels are attached to a tilted steel frame made of 100% recycled steel, to be as green as possible.
In between the dome and its outer fiberglass shell is a narrow work area, which houses an impressive speaker setup worthy of any IMAX theater. The presentation is broadcast with 5.1 surround sound, which is delivered by a ring of Meyer Sound speakers at the dome's zenith. This array of speakers is backed by an imposing set of subwoofers on the floor, which provided the thundering bass we heard as we were hurled through space. Jon told us that the sound system was specially spec'd by Meyer engineers for optimal placement during the planetarium's construction.
The projectors are from Projection Design, a Norwegian projector manufacturer, and were arranged in conjunction with Visual Acuity, a technical visualization design consultant group. Specifically, the planetarium uses six F30 sx+ projectors, which are the world's first WUXGA projector (able to project at 1920x1200). Currently these six DLP projectors operate at 1400x1050 resolution, but there are plans in place to upgrade to 4K projectors (with a max resolution of 4096x2160 for each projector). There are a few pixels lost due to overlap between projectors, but the current setup projects roughly 8 million pixels on the dome!
A ring of LED lights surrounds the base of the dome, providing colorful ambient lighting before the show. These LEDs can be programmed to light up in any color, though the planetarium has opted for a comforting earthy glow during downtime.
A closer look at the nanoseam panels of the dome. From about 10 feet back, the panels blend together so you can't see the seams.
Two sets of Meyer Sound subwoofers housed behind the dome, carefully arranged for optimal sound quality. Below, you can see one set of speakers mounted on the side of the dome wall. The dome exterior has ladders that allow technicians to climb all the way to the top for maintenance.
One of the six Projection Design F30 projectors in its alcove. This projector actually projects (an inverse image) to a mirror that reflects the video to the dome wall. We were warned not to accidentally touch the mirror, which has to remain smudge free and perfectly aligned.
In addition to softwad and hardware blending, the projectors each have custom-made physical frames that create the right aspect ratio for their images to seamlessly overlap.
A series of ventilation holes flank the side of the dome to provide positive pressure for patrons, which helps alleviate motion sickness.
Next, we get our hands on the planetarium show controls!
I want to see crysis on that
Submitted by vistageek on Thu, 12/25/2008 - 11:17am
I want to see crysis on that screen. (OK, I don't care if it only does openGL, just get those cards doing directX or hook up 3DTX 280 XXX's to each projector) That would be most cool thing ever!!! Oh, and while we are at it, let's enable stereo 3D with the glasses. (The best experiance ever even on a 24 inch monitor) I think I will have to put that experiance on my christmas wish list!!!
Missing links
Submitted by lewishaus on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 3:19pm
Went to planetarium this week - WOW!!! - and was looking forward to your article - but:
The 'stellar cartography lab' link <http://www.maximumpc.com/files/u17625/voyager_astrometrics_cut_0.jpg> leads to a blank page.
The 2nd phograph is blank. The link <http://www.maximumpc.com/files/u17625/planetarium_cut_sm.jpg> leads to a blank page.
The 'Star Trek's astrometrics lab' link <http://www.maximumpc.com/files/u17625/voyager_astrometrics.jpg> leads to a blank page.
Since no one else has mentioned these issues, I thought it was me, but I tried 3 different computers and encountered the same problems on all. What are chance of getting the links in this story fixed, please. Thanks.
Submitted by jbkirkpatrick on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 11:02am
What does that caption on page 4 (I think) mean that says "softwad and hardware blending"?
It sounds vaguely dirty....
(and I liked it and that scared me):)
Submitted by V-Lad on Wed, 10/29/2008 - 10:53am
I've been to the planetarium, it is something everyone should see!
Submitted by lemony on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 1:47pm
"If at any time during tonight's presentation you feel dizzy, just simply close your eyes and the sensation will soon pass."
I had to do this three times while reading the article.
Submitted by dgrmouse on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 8:28am
Reading this article, along with the "Load Letter" that heralded it, made me picture Norman's portrait replacing the "actual stock photograph" of the writer in the last issue's piece suggesting that we should write blogs for $10 a pop.
The second software system is called Global Immersion, which is the
hardware that powers the main presentation playback. The video is
stored in a proprietary Pixar format, and packs the 30fps video over a
string of files that require significant hardware muscle to process.
They're not just playing a large AVI file here. A combination of
software and hardware blending is also required to align the six
projectors so that the video is perfectly synced and aspected to look
like one giant display.
Classic! Way to go, Normie - you earned your $10 today!
Awesome and awe-inspiring!
Submitted by Number Six on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 5:42am
This was a great website feature! I love computers as well as astronomy, so was very interested in the new Morrison Planetarium and the hardware that runs it. Thanks MPC!!!
P.S. Please fix the cut-through image-- it's a bad link.
This reminds me of the IMAX
Submitted by Moneyless on Wed, 10/22/2008 - 8:24pm
This reminds me of the IMAX dome / OMNIMAX theater at the Ontario Science Center where I live, in Toronto Canada. :) The theater room is exacly the same on the inside.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OMNIMAX
Submitted by Queenof1 on Wed, 10/22/2008 - 1:51pm
If this planetarium was a dude, it would be my 2nd husband.
I think that I just
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Wed, 10/22/2008 - 12:13pm
I think that I just experienced premature ejaculation.
LMFAO KEITH That thing
Submitted by s3th on Tue, 11/04/2008 - 11:23am
LMFAO KEITH
- That thing looks like its packing some pretty technical and phenomenal hardware. I wonder if they use regular HDD's or is their some other method of storage, I can just see an array of like 100 TB Velociraptors in RAID 0 or some shit.
- Also playing a game on that thing or doing anything, watching a movie on the worlds biggest projector, can you even imagine... With a little 2 x 4 mouse and a 6x 10 keyboard, your controlling a screen thats in like 100000x 100000 resolution, playing Crysis on that bay would need like 600 GPU'S.
Submitted by xs0u1x on Wed, 10/22/2008 - 12:19pm
for some reason i cant help but think that this would be badass to watch porn on. hahahah
Submitted by jtroll on Wed, 10/22/2008 - 10:06am
Mmmmm... nanoseams. So when are you guys going to be playing MoH II on this baby? You know you want to, Norm.
I brought my copy of Sins of
Submitted by willsmith on Wed, 10/22/2008 - 11:14am
I brought my copy of Sins of a Solar Empire, but we decided not to try playing on it.
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