September 19, 2016 — The Denver Museum of Nature & Science today celebrated the grand re-opening of the Gates Planetarium. The Planetarium temporarily closed earlier this month to install upgraded projection equipment, making the experience sharper and more vibrant.

Evans & Sutherland (E&S) installed an 8-channel Digistar system connected to eight Barco F35 2560 x 1600 resolution projectors with E&S’ proprietary auto alignment and auto blending systems. This stunning, full dome display boasts well over 20 million unique pixels.

 

“The E&S team did a fantastic job with the Digistar system design, integration and installation,” Dan Neafus, manager of the Gates Planetarium at the Museum said, “The projectors slotted right into the planned locations, and the Digistar auto align and blending system performed as expected creating a beautiful, seamless image. We were amazed to see how quickly and easily it aligned and blended the images from the eight projectors.”

Museum Technology Operations Director Eric Boen said, “When we watched our show Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity on the new system we were thrilled. We saw way more detail on our dome than we had ever seen before.”

“Dan and his team at the Museum had a solid creative and technical vision for how they wanted to be able to use their new system,” Kirk Johnson, E&S President and COO said. “They wanted a reliable system that would be easy to maintain, and offer flexibility of content sources with rock-solid performance. We are delighted that they trusted this design to our team and our Digistar system. We couldn’t be more pleased that our partnership resulted in a beautiful, versatile and high performance digital dome solution for their theater.”

The Gates Planetarium is a cornerstone of the Museum, serving over 170,000 visitors per year, and offering a wide range of public programming, including a live version of Adler Planetarium’s Destination Solar System and evening lectures such as Digital Earth and 60 Minutes In Space.