Guadalajara’s new Lunaria planetarium is equipped with six Christie Mirage 304K 3DLP projectors and Evans & Sutherland’s Digistar 6 system, illuminating its 8K dome with 30 million pixels across 500 square meters. The integration was carried out by Planetarios Digitales, a local representative of Evans & Sutherland (E&S).
“The government of the State of Jalisco wanted a world-class 3D stereo system and that is something you can only get with these projectors, which are tried and tested by E&S in various installations all around the world,” said Enrique Fonte, director of Planetarios Digitales, a Mexican company specialized in the design and supply of planetariums. “We chose the Christie Mirage 304K model because of the 4K resolution and its exceptional brightness with 30,000 lumens, as well as the fact that it operates at 120Hz. We were also convinced by the quality of the color and by its easy connectivity, which ensures impeccable image quality in 2D and in 3D.”
Fonte also underscored the 30 million pixels after blending, “which means that the size of the pixel is smaller and imperceptible for the audience, besides producing a brightness that makes this one of the world’s best domes.”
“The six Christie Mirage projectors are performing efficiently, providing extremely high quality and resolution in our dome,” said Alfonso Islas, director of Lunaria.
The projection is run by Evans & Sutherland’s Digistar 6 system. Combining hardware and software, Digistar 6 uses image synchrony, auto blending and auto alignment to create a high-quality image that is always in focus on every part of the projection surface. And, with its Domecasting technology, Lunaria can connect in real time with other planetariums around the world that are equipped with the same system, thus allowing them to share content, discoveries, news, conferences, and events.
The Christie equipment is installed around the perimeter of the hall, projecting 2D and 3D full-dome documentaries and films rendered for dome. The screen used is the NanoSeam model by Spitz with a diameter of 18 meters (360 by 180 degrees) and an 18-degree to ensure greater immersion. The 175-seat capacity dome is also equipped with a 7.1 surround sound system and a perimetral ambient lighting system with RGB LEDs and DMX control.
Lunaria is already acknowledged as one of the world’s best equipped planetariums: “It is definitively among the world’s top five,” Fonte said, “and it has the best and most celebrated system for planetariums and immersion rooms in the world, with the best screen in the world and with the best projection system in the world.”
