Thanks to a combination of specialized fiber optics and high-performance LED light sources, the ZEISS SKYMASTER ZKP 4 analog star projector creates a brilliant night sky that cannot be screened using digital technology. Six ZEISS VELVET LED projectors along the perimeter project digital images onto the entire dome, generating the dome-filling imagery using various presentations from astronomy, science, culture, and entertainment.
The True Black hybrid planetarium system combines the opto-mechanical projection power of the ZEISS ZKP 4 star projector with the high-contrast projections delivered by a variety of planetarium functions of the ZEISS VELVET projectors. The ZEISS VELVET LED projectors are special as they deliver pitch-black image backdrops, so the brilliance of the artificial night sky is retained even when accompanied by superimposed images, thus reinforcing the illusion of an object floating in space. ZEISS uses hybrid controls to ensure that both systems work in sync. And it's set to transform planetarium events into an extraordinary experience for all.
What's more, the planetarium in Halle was one of ZEISS' first customers to use UNIVIEW Open Dome, a technology that permits any content to be projected directly from a laptop or PC onto a dome in real time. And it does this in the high resolution of up to 4,096 x 4,096 pixels. In the future, the planetarium in Halle will be able to project content from external sources onto its dome through Plug & Play. This includes videos, presentation apps like PowerPoint and astronomy apps, as well as its own visualizations, VJ applications and even content from the web. “UNIVIEW Open Dome is opening up a whole new age for planetariums. For the first time ever, technology imposes no limits on what can be projected onto the dome,” says Martin Kraus, Head of Planetariums at ZEISS.