Order: Planetarium in Berlin Receives Modern Projection System from ZEI

BERLIN/Germany, JENA/Germany, 23.04.2015.

In April ZEISS was awarded the contract for the technical modernization of the large ZEISS planetarium in the Prenzlauer Berg area of Berlin. The centerpiece of the refurbishment is a ZEISS hybrid planetarium, comprising a multichannel, digital projection system with ten ZEISS VELVET projectors for the full-dome projection and a star projector of the type ZEISS UNIVERSARIUM Model IX specially modified for the Berlin planetarium. This system enables even more realistic and radiant planetarium shows than were possible in the past. While the star projector makes the night sky shine with natural brilliance, the digital projection system supplements the programs with a wide diversity of didactic presentations and colorful astronomical objects. Although there are two different projection systems one mechanical and analog, the other digital the control software from ZEISS ensures that the two projectors are always in sync. For example, the digital portrait of the Orion Nebula always appears at the right location under the stars.

This VELVET projection system enables extremely high-resolution films, videos and visualizations piloted live such as the space flight through the universe to be projected onto the 23-meter dome surface. The digital projection system generates images with more than 25 million pixels eleven times as many as a movie theater projector. "The new ZEISS equipment provides the planetarium with leading-edge technology, making it one of Europes most modern star theaters," says Wilfried Lang, Head of the Planetariums division at ZEISS.

The large ZEISS planetarium in Berlin was opened in 1987 as one of the largest and most modern star theaters in Europe. It is located in the citys Prenzlauer Berg area and, like the Archenhold Observatory, now belongs to the foundation Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin . The renovation and modernization of the planetarium started in April 2014. Serving as an important testimony to the history of planetariums, the previous ZEISS COSMORAMA star projector will find a new home in the foyer as the centerpiece of the new exhibition. The reopening is scheduled for spring 2016.

The full-dome system designed for the Berlin Planetarium incorporates ten digital VELVET projectors from ZEISS, installed at the edge of the dome. Each projector generates a partial image. All of the partial images are merged so exactly on the dome that visitors only see the entire image on the 830 m dome surface. The ZEISS VELVET projectors guarantee the worlds highest contrast. While residual light always generates a gray haze in standard projectors, ZEISS VELVET projectors prevent all stray light and deliver absolute black and therefore exceptionally brilliant colors. With the ZEISS VELVET system we achieve pitch black, which means that the digital presentations do not impair the brilliance of the ZEISS UNIVERSARIUM star projector. The pixel size lies at the resolution limit of the human eye, and the dome images are extremely sharply defined, Lang continues.

The combination of analog star projector and digital planetarium will also allow visitors to the large ZEISS planetarium in Berlin to leave the earth and the solar system in the future. 3D software based on astronomical databases visualizes the entire observable universe. A flight on the orbit of the Cassini spacecraft shows an outsize Saturn with its characteristic rings passing by on the dome. When flying into intergalactic space, our home galaxy with 200 billion stars, the Milky Way, shrinks to a mere dot of light among billions of other stars. The dome-filling cosmic background radiation testifies to the evolution process of the universe.

The ZEISS technology allows us to rethink the planetarium. The technical possibilities open the door to the authentic and breathtaking presentation of all sciences. It is the first major step to a science theater that redefines our place in the cosmos in the here and now beyond the limits of astronomy, says Tim Florian Horn, Head of the large ZEISS planetarium.

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Planetarium in Berlin Receives Modern Projection System from ZEISS

Gudrun Vogel

Carl Zeiss

Corporate Communications

Jena Site

Phone: +49 3641 64-2770

Fax: +49 3641 64-2941

gudrun.vogel@zeiss.com

About ZEISS

ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the optics and optoelectronics industries. ZEISS develops and distributes lithography optics, measuring technology, microscopes, medical technology, eyeglass lenses, camera and cine lenses, binoculars and planetarium technology. With its solutions, the company constantly advances the world of optics and helps shape technological progress. The company is divided up into the six business groups Industrial Metrology, Microscopy, Medical Technology, Vision Care, Consumer Optics and Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology. ZEISS is represented in over 40 countries with around 30 production sites, over 50 sales and service locations and about 25 research and development facilities.

In fiscal year 2013/14 the company generated revenue approximating 4.3 billion euros with just under 25,000 employees. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. Carl Zeiss AG is the strategic management holding company that manages the ZEISS Group. The company is wholly owned by the Carl Zeiss Stiftung (Carl Zeiss Foundation).

Further information at www.zeiss.de/en

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