Planetarium Signs Contract for Digital Projection System
Champaign - The William M. Staerkel Planetarium at Parkland College has signed a contract with Evans and Sutherland to bring a Digistar 4 full-dome video system to Champaign.
The Carl Zeiss optomechanical star projector will remain in the middle of the dome, but the current slide projectors will be removed and two JVC video projectors installed in the north and south parts of the dome. The images from both projectors will be stitched together to cover the entire dome in a video frame. The Digistar 4 features a revolutionary new graphical user interface (GUI) and a fully integrated display system that fills a planetarium dome with spectacular images and sounds.
“Full dome video is a fresh new start for us,” Waylena McCully, planetarium production designer, said. “With slide projectors, we have been physically limited in how we use visuals for telling our science stories. With our new full dome video system, we will have greater flexibility in show production and presentation.”
The planetarium’s regular public shows will continue to Memorial Day weekend, when the older projectors will be removed from the dome. In the following two weeks, technicians from East Coast Control Systems of Bigler, Pennsylvania, will install a programmable LED lighting system. At the same time, F & G Lighting and Sound of Urbana will also install a 5.1 surround sound system. Evans and Sutherland will arrive to install the Digistar 4 unit on June 14.
Although it should only take two weeks to install the equipment, the planetarium may remain closed for another two months so that staff can be thoroughly trained on the new system.
“There is a very steep learning curve!” Dave Leake, planetarium coordinator, said. “Then we will also have to replace our school programs, which won’t translate to the new system as they are now; taking care of the area’s school kids is of prime importance.”
A grand reopening is being planned for the weekend surrounding Labor Day. Updates will appear on the planetarium’s website, www.parkland.edu/planetarium.