KONICA MINOLTA

Planetarium

Giving Shape to Ideas

Media Globe Σ

※This product has been discontinued since March 31, 2021.

The Media Globe series is used by more than 120 leading planetariums both overseas and in Japan, and with the addition of the latest technology to the traditional technology that traces its origins back to the days when Konica Minolta Planetarium was Chiyoda Kogaku Seikō, K.K. (Chiyoda Optics and Fine Engineering, Ltd.), it represents the evolution of planetariums to the 18th generation, known as “Σ”.

Media Globe Σ
This is the latest digital planetarium that was developed based on the concept of pulling together all of Konica Minolta Planetarium Co., Ltd.’s technology through a fusion of Konica Minolta’s cutting edge optical technology and high contrast, ultra-high resolution video projection.

Media Globe Σ
*Media Globe is a registered trademark of Konica Minolta Planetarium Co., Ltd.

Lens

This product comes with a newly developed high performance fisheye lens that leverages the optical technology that forms the core of Konica Minolta’s technology.
By combining this high performance lens and its ability to faithfully reproduce high resolution images with a projector, this product projects highly detailed fulldome images that are rich in tonality on to a dome screen without compromising image quality.

Lens-based difference in appearance of projected images

General purpose lens

High resolution lens

*This is how Konica Minolta predicts the image would appear given the specifications

Projector

Using a cutting edge projector for image projection, this is the first ever product to achieve a resolution of 8K (8192 x 4800 pixels) using single lens projection (4.8KSE), and it can project highly detailed, high quality images with a diameter of 4800 pixels that fill an entire dome screen. With a 10,000:1 contrast ratio achieved natively (i.e. no iris mechanism ), it is able to display images that have both pitch black space and sharp, bright stars. On top of this, the lineup also includes a projector that uses the latest laser light source, and models that project images using multiple projectors.


Fulldome constellation projection using the Media Globe Σ 4.8KSE

Software for projection and manipulation

The Σ series keeps the same acclaimed and easy-to-use operation system as the previous series, and as well as standard use for learning purposes that follows learning guides in areas such as fixed stars and the movement of planets and phases of the moon, it also has a GUI (graphical user interface) that does not require a specific user to be chosen and enables the products to be used by anyone for purposes such as demonstrating the orbit of the ISS, satellites, and asteroids or going on a journey around the solar system, the Milky Way, or to the edge of the universe 13.8 billion light years away, or going back in time to see what the night sky looked like a million years B.C.
And as well as being able to operate it from a PC, it can also be operated from a tablet as standard, which means you are not restricted by the need to operate it from the console, and can project images while controlling the projection from anywhere in the venue.
So this enables you to provide commentary on the projection front of the dome, and have members of the audience perform some of the operations during projection. The Media Globe fulldome digital image system series first went on sale in 2001, and has since been adopted by 120 establishments in Japan, North and South America, and Asia, and has received praise for its high image quality and easy-to-use operation.

The series is comprised of eight models that can project images onto domes with diameters between 3 and 35 meters.

All models support both horizontal and tilted domes for all dome diameters.

*For details of each model, see the specification page.

Model No. of devices (installation position) Recommended dome size
1.5KSE 1 (central) 3m - 12m
2.4KSE 8m - 16m
4.8KSE 8m - 16m
2.5KTE 2 (central) 8m - 14m
4KTE 12m - 27m
4KTEL 12m - 27m
8KTE 12m - 27m
7KMO 5 (peripheral) 16m - 35m
*
2.4KSE and 4.8KSE have been used on diameters up to 20m, but only in cases when used in offset setting combined with optical projector.
If not used in combination with optical projector, the maximum recommended dome diameter is 16m.

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