Barco supports Dome-Shaped Digital Planetarium at Särkänniemi Park in Tampere Finland with 3-channel digital projection system
Kuurne, Belgium – May 6, 2002 – The Planetarium of Tampere, a major attraction of the Särkänniemi Theme Park in Finland, first opened its doors in 1969 and since then welcomed more than 2.5 million visitors. The dome-shaped digital planetarium can seat 139 people and has been completely renovated.
A 3-channel BarcoReality 909 Split-Pack digital display system has been installed in the 13m diameter dome. This extra rugged version of the BarcoReality 909 projector allows placing the projector head separate from the electronics chassis. The Split-Pack is equipped with several high-end Application Specific Optimizations to perform a perfectly blended dome-projection. The Convergence on Green (COG) allows precise and accurate alignment of the multi-channel system, SEMU II Advanced takes care of perfect edge blending between the sources, and the Geometry Extension handles the required geometry distortion. The three projectors are equipped with HFQ900 lenses to ensure extremely sharp images and cover a 195° horizontal and a 60° vertical field of view.“Barco was very excited to contribute to this innovative project, which is bringing high end digital visualization technology, flexibility and versatility for a ludic and educational experience that visitors will remember”, said Eric Braux, head of Edutainment & Entertainment product group of Barco Projection Systems.
The optical heads of the projectors are integrated in the structure of the dome in such a way that they are practically invisible to the audience. In order to ensure reachability for maintenance and the correct alignment of the projection system, Barco developed a mechanism that supports the projectors in such a way that they can easily be turned into the right direction.
“We are very pleased with the installation and the excellent performance of the Barco projection system”, said Timo Rahunen, Head of the Särkänniemi Planetarium. “Our co-operation with the Barco-team has been very fluent and the system operates exactly as planned.”
The Planetarium opens its doors to the public on the 11th of May 2002 and is equipped to be able to host collaborative sessions with remote sites in the near future.
Barco Simulation Products
Barco Simulation Products develops high-performance visual display products and solutions for Simulators, Virtual and Enhanced Reality and Edutainment & Entertainment applications. Active on a worldwide scale - with main offices in Xenia (Ohio, US) and Kuurne (Belgium) and with sales & support offices in Europe, North & South America, Asia and the Middle East - Barco Simulation Products has gained an international reputation for its customer-driven application engineering and projection system optimization know-how. Drawing upon its expertise in projection technologies, color calibration, opto-electronics and mechanics, Barco Simulation Products and its partners provide the solution to meet any Simulation, V&AR and Edutainment & Entertainment requirement.
