A Look Inside the 8K Theater Technology At the Newly Renovated Fiske Planetarium

An anonymous reader writes "Sky gazers at CU-Boulder's Fiske Planetarium are getting better, clearer and deeper views. And not just of astronomy anymore. The planetarium has been upgraded, transforming it into a digital IMAX-like theater that's open to the public every Saturday and Sunday with a variety of programs including shows for children. 'Fiske's refurbished video system projects ultra high-definition pictures at 8,000 by 8,000 pixels in size, giving audience members a crystal-clear 360-degree view on the dome’s 65-foot screen. "The size and quality is the equivalent of 40 Blu-ray players projecting 40 sections of one video image at once," said [Doug Duncan, director of Fiske]. This gallery of images shows a behind-the-scenes look at the Planetarium's brand new 8k Fulldome projection system. ' In addition to space odysseys and laser shows — longtime favorites of audiences — movies are now part of the Fiske lineup. 'Just like at an IMAX theater, we can take you near a black hole, through the Grand Canyon, under the ocean, or up to a super volcano,' said Duncan. "The sky is no longer the limit.'"

Comments

This makes me sad.

[Rhyas]

This was one of the last, if not the last, planetariums in Colorado that still had the classic projector that was this huge awesome piece of machinery that rose from the floor like a magical thing. I loved these as a kid, and it was the coolest thing to get to see it in action a few years ago on a field trip with my kids. They were just as much in awe of it as I was at that age, and every time we pass it these days, they recall how cool it was.

It seems all planetariums are going to the "IMAX" format, and frankly, it sucks. The Denver Planetarium is absolutely lame now, they don't have any good presentations, half the time everything is on auto-pilot and there's no real person there. I don't expect it to be around for very long actually, since it competes with the IMAX theater in the same building, but seats far fewer people.

I'm just glad my kids got to see Fiske once before it was replaced with "better" technology that's much less impressive in it's physical effect on visitors. Going forward, the only thing kids are going to see different with "planetarium" vs. "movie theater" is that the planetarium has a domed screen, and this one happens to have a disco ball in the middle of it.

-= Rhyas =-

Re:This makes me sad.

[jrronimo]

Although the old Zeiss was super impressive, technologically it was old hat -- lots of burnt out bulbs, etc. And while I understand that it's not about the specs, here's something that maybe makes it a bit better: I work for some folk at CU that have some degree of involvement with Fiske. One of the professors said to me of the new display: "It can resolve 2 million individual points of light with incredible detail. You could go into a show using the new projector with binoculars and looking at the display would be similar in effect to looking at the actual night sky with binoculars."

I'll definitely miss the imposing nature of the old Zeiss, but the new projector should have some of the best star shows around. I'm really looking forward to seeing it. And probably Laser Pink Floyd and Laser Nine Inch Nails, too, heh.

Re:This makes me sad.

[jrronimo]

Reading through the imagur link, which is fantastic, tells me that the new projector does 20 million stars. Fritz, the old Zeiss, did 3,000.

Re:This makes me sad.

[Anonymous Coward]

To be completely clear: in addition to the 8K computer-controlled system, they *also* have a new planetarium projector that does 20 million stars.

http://i.imgur.com/KagHpPK.jpg

The projector is a Megastar IIA.

Movies on domes suck

[OzPeter]

Unless you are seated right in the center of the theater (which is only a small part of the total seating) your movie experience will suck big time. I really have no idea why people go to such theaters.