Prague will buy the world’s most modern projection technology for its planetarium
The Prague planetarium is currently equipped with the Skyskan digital projection system, which was acquired in 2009 with 4K image quality.
This projection system had an estimated lifespan of around 10,000 hours of operation and reached its limit in 2019. This year there was a serious failure of the optical elements of the projectors.
La réparation était exigeante en raison de l’indisponibilité des pièces puisque les projecteurs de ce type ne sont plus produits. The repair succeeded in extending the life of the projector by about 2-3 years, and the end of life was further delayed by limited operation during the pandemic.
The Prague Planetarium still projects onto the original dome built in 1958, which is not perfectly spherical, which can lead to distortion of the projected image.
« Nous voulons inspirer les enfants et éveiller leur intérêt pour les nouvelles technologies, la science et la recherche. These regions have a great future and are already an important part of the economy. Therefore, along with the modernization of the planetarium, we are working on the preparation of the science park, which would focus on space, other aspects of modern science and technology and which we would like to place in the nearby complex of Výstaviště said Pavel Vyhnánek, deputy mayor for finance and budget.
“The planetarium will be closed for a necessary period due to the replacement of the projection system, as a number of construction works must be carried out, including the replacement of the air conditioning. We estimate a total of six months of work. We will use this time to create new programs so that at the same time Prague has the best projection system in the world,” adds Jakub Rozehnal, director of the Prague Observatory and Planetarium.
“The City of Prague has voted unanimously to allocate funds in the amount of CZK 250,000,000 for the purchase and implementation of a completely revolutionary projection system, which has so far only equipped only two (i.e. smaller) planetariums in Japan. This is an “LED-dome” technology that creates an image using tens of millions of LEDs. This allows you to project with a contrast and quality inaccessible with conventional projection systems, ”said Hana Trestikova, Prague Councilor for Culture and Tourism.
