The Space Theater at the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung has completed a major technology upgrade, replacing its legacy lamp-based projection system with six Christie Griffyn 4K35-RGB laser projectors. The project was commissioned in March and completed by the end of October, with the upgraded theater reopening to the public in November.
First opened in 1986, the Space Theater features a 23-meter (75-foot) semi-spherical dome and a 300-seat auditorium arranged on a 30-degree incline. The upgrade replaces an aging lamp-based system with RGB pure-laser projection, placing the venue among the more technically advanced planetarium installations in Taiwan.
The dome is now driven by native 4K imagery from a circular projector array, with geometric correction and edge blending used to form a seamless 360-degree image across the surface.
Systems integration, including installation, calibration, control design, and commissioning, was led by Dacoms Technology. According to museum researcher Dr. Chilong Lin, the move to RGB laser projection has resulted in a substantial increase in brightness and color performance compared with the previous system, while overall resolution across the dome now exceeds 7.2K by 7.2K.
As the first dome venue in Taiwan to deploy the Griffyn 4K35-RGB platform, the Space Theater is expected to serve as a regional reference site for future planetarium upgrades.
(Image: Dacoms Technology/Digitstar)