Highest Resolution Digital Planetarium Installed in Beijing

Highest Resolution Digital Planetarium Installed in Beijing

Definiti(R) 8K Achieves 35 Million Unique Pixels on Giant Dome Screen

BEIJING, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Sky-Skan today announced the debut of the world's highest resolution digital dome theater: the Beijing Planetarium. Displaying an outstanding 35 million unique pixels on the dome screen, the upgraded Beijing Planetarium now features a Definiti(R) 8K projection system. Definiti 8K projects quadruple the detail of Definiti 4K, allowing for a super-sharp star field exceeding even large-format film resolution.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080807/NETH048 )

"We are proud to have Sky-Skan's Definiti 8K video system installed at the Beijing Planetarium. It is the highest resolution planetarium in the world," said Dr. Jin Zhu, director of the Beijing Planetarium.

High-end digital planetarium systems exceeded 10 million unique pixels (10 megapixels) in 2006 with the first installation of Definiti 4K for Buhl Digital Dome in Pittsburgh. That system featured a new lens from Sky-Skan (Definiti HD) and two Sony SXRD 4K projectors. Eight HD streams fed the system from Sky-Skan's Definiti hardware and software.

Today, Definiti 8K achieves even higher resolution using Definiti HD lenses and six Sony SXRD 4K projectors. The system handles an astounding 24 HD streams, seamlessly stitching 53 million pixels into one continuous ultra-high resolution image on the dome screen. After accounting for blending and masking, final image resolution is 35 million unique pixels (35 megapixels).

The prestigious Beijing Planetarium is now the world's best place to enjoy the marvels of the universe using the highest-resolution display technology. The dome screen is 23 meters in diameter (75 feet) and seats 600 people in a concentric arrangement. Sky-Skan is pleased to offer the world's highest-performance digital planetariums for customers seeking the best image quality possible. With Definiti 8K, Sky-Skan has again has re-defined the upper limits of digital projection for the full-dome digital planetarium market. Definiti 8K achieves more unique pixels on the dome than any other digital planetarium projection system.

In 1967, Sky-Skan began creating unique special effects projectors for planetariums. In the 1980s, SPICE Automation was developed, synchronizing devices in planetariums and large-format film theaters. In the late 1990s, SkyVision sparked a digital revolution bringing full-dome video to planetariums. Today, advances in hardware and DigitalSky 2 software have resulted in Definiti, a full-dome digital theater system capable of real-time astronomy shows in addition to other sciences, entertainment, and art. Definiti theaters include Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, University of Notre Dame, 'Imiloa Planetarium (Definiti 3D: world's first 3D Stereo planetarium), Horizon Planetarium (Australia), and the Queen Mary 2.

Press Contacts:
Marcus Weddle, Sky-Skan: weddle@skyskan.com, +1 603-880-8500
Kai-Ming Wong, PCCW, China: kai-ming.wong@pccw.com, +852-9190-7186

Additional photos and video:
http://www.skyskan.com/pr/2008/08/beijing.html

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080807/NETH048
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN12
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Sky-Skan

CONTACT: Marcus Weddle of Sky-Skan, +1-603-880-8500, weddle@skyskan.com;
or Kai-Ming Wong, PCCW, China, +852-9190-7186, kai-ming.wong@pccw.com

Web site: http://www.skyskan.com/

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