NOAA’s Science On a Sphere, located at NOAA’s Silver Spring headquarters and at locations around the world, recently upgraded to 4K projection. (Photo: NOAA)
Visitors to NOAA’s Science On a Sphere may notice some major upgrades to it exhibit, including high-resolution video and graphics, as well as a public kiosk.
NOAA recently announced the upgrades on their Education and Outreach Facebook page.
4K projector support was included in the Science On a Sphere’s 5.0 software version, which was released in November 2015:
Availability of 4K projectors at an affordable price is now becoming feasible for SOS installations. 4K projectors have 4 times the resolution of the current projectors used at most sites and offers significantly enhanced image quality on the sphere. This improvement is noticeable on datasets that have a resolution of 4096×2048 or greater and is even more dramatic for higher resolution datasets, particularly when viewed using the zoom magnifier.
4K video is approximately four times the resolution of High Definition, offering greater clarity and detail compared to that of HD.
Also included in the 5.0 release is Public Kiosk software, which provides a touch screen interface for visitors to interact with SOS when a docent is not present.
The upgrade was among the first of the planned upgrades to the SOS system, which is installed at over 140 locations around the world.
Science On a Sphere, located at NOAA’s Silver Spring headquarters at 1315 East-West Highway, is open to visitors Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11:30am to 1:30pm, excluding federal holidays. The exhibit is also open during NOAA’s annual Open House. Questions regarding Science On a Sphere can be emailed to [email protected].