Having undergone a $79 million renovation, Minnesota’s Bell Museum now features a dome planetarium, powered by Digital Projection’s Insight Dual Laser 4K projection system. The device features true 4K resolution at 60 frames per second and 27,000 lumens.
Image: The Bell Museum and University of Minnesota
The project specification called for a 4K dual projector system that reflected 2 foot-lambert of brightness straight back off the dome of 45% reflectivity, while projecting white at full power. The solution required over 10-million unique pixels on the dome, a maximum of three average arc minutes per pixel, a native contrast ratio of 2000:1 and brightness of 5,000 lux per projector.
The installed solution for the 16-metre, 120-seat planetarium features an Astro-Tec Ulteria Seam Dome onto which the projectors deliver real-time rendering and full-dome videos, custom-created for the planetarium, using Uniview software and ColorSpace Theatre Control.
