In May last year the Victorian State Government committed ongoing funds to support the technology of the Melbourne Planetarium. This funding begins from July 2013. This is really exciting news as it means not only can we upgrade our tired equipment but this is not a one-off opportunity. Recurrent funding means an end of running systems into the ground while we wait for the next round of grant applications. It is an important acknowledgement from the State Government of the dynamic technological nature of the Planetarium and what is necessary to keep the Planetarium current and at its optimal best.

The new projection system will be delivered by Skyskan, with installation to occur at the end of May. We have chosen the option of two JVC SH7 D-ILA projectors which have a resolution of 4096 x 2400 pixels and an output of 5000 lumens.  This will significantly improve upon both the resolution and brightness of our current Barco CRT projectors.

This is the an exciting time for the Planetarium as it is our first upgrade since 2005.  We will keep you posted on our progress.