Global Immersion, international planetarium experts, have supplied a new six-channel high performance LED fulldome projection system to the Thinktank Planetarium in Birmingham, UK.
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Global Immersion upgraded the 10-meter/33-feet diameter, 70-seat Thinktank planetarium over a period of four days while the theatre stayed operational, supplying a state of the art six-channel high performance LED projection system. The new display, featuring six edge-blended projection channels, promises an intensely colorful and resolute immersive experience.
Nick Dodds, Sales Engineer at Global Immersion, said, “The Thinktank team had a clear vision of what the new dome display would deliver in terms of performance, installation time, compatibility with their existing theater server system, and flexibility – especially since they run such a wide variety of programs from astronomy and earth science through to culture and arts. Their new display is versatile enough for them to present any subject matter, with consistently stunning results.
“We are energized by our new partnership with Thinktank. Not only did we supply a robust six LED projector system with our proprietary mounting, alignment and blending technologies, but we transformed the planetarium into one of the few dome theaters in the world with LED-projection technology.
“We have integrated several LED projection systems into planetariums and are seeing an increase in demand for this technology and its welcomed benefits of low cost of ownership, vivid color saturation and crystal clear display results as an ideal solution for smaller planetariums.”
The planetarium was relaunched with a sell-out special show evening featuring the fulldome industry’s newest and most cutting-edge dome content, Mirage 3D’s Dawn of the Space Age and the juried reel from the Domefest 2012 competition held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, earlier this year.
Mario Di Maggio, Planetarium Manager at Thinktank, said, “Digital domes are intensely powerful visual theaters, yet only as good as their projection systems. We therefore chose low maintenance, rich-color projectors with a matching high quality blending system.”
Graham Hodgson, Global Immersion’s Lead Engineer on the project, said, “LED projection technology brings many benefits to planetariums seeking an operationally robust digital display with incredible results. With no lamp replacement and no color wheel change requirements, this system can drastically reduce maintenance costs and provides an energy-efficient solution too with low power consumption and heat output.”
