International Planetarium Representatives Meet in Jena

Jena, Germany | 04 December 2019 | Planetariums

On occasion of the ZEISS Experience Days on 3 and 4 December 2019, the company presented its new ZEISS VELVET LED digital projector.

Almost 100 planetarium representatives from the USA, South America, Malaysia, India and Europe traveled to the event at ZEISS’s own dome to obtain comprehensive information about the video projector with LED lighting.

The semiconductor light sources significantly improve color rendering in comparison to the previous halogen lamps. In combination with the world’s highest contrast, the third generation of digital ZEISS VELVET projectors still delivers an absolutely black image background. The digital projections can be coupled with the starry sky of an optical-mechanical planetarium projector. This is necessary in order to reproduce the brilliance of the analog starry sky in combination with digital overlays. This hybrid planetarium solution enables planetarium shows that help visitors better understand and appreciate the wonders of the night sky.

Between two and eleven ZEISS VELVET projectors are used for a full-dome system. Each projector generates a partial image on the dome. The high-contrast and bright colors of the new light sources make the images on the dome appear three-dimensional. In addition, ZEISS VELVET LED projectors prevent blurring, visible blends, various brightness levels and color deviations between the individual partial images.

The LED light sources have a nominal service life of around 20,000 hours and are immediately ready for operation when switched on. This enables most planetariums to operate for over ten years and to save over 1,000 Euros per year per projector compared to lamp-based models. This also means lower total operating costs compared to many other projection systems.

The participants also got an insight into how the projectors are produced. The ZEISS Experience Days are followed by a two-day forum on the software used for astronomical presentations.