The fulldome industry stands at a critical crossroads as LED screen technology emerges as a potential alternative to traditional projection systems. This upcoming Fulldome Forum session, LED Screens in Domes: A Cost-Benefit Exploration, brings together leading voices from across the immersive entertainment landscape to examine whether LED panels truly live up to their considerable hype and whether they can deliver meaningful benefits to venues considering this significant investment.

Hosted and moderated by Ryan Moore, this panel convenes an exceptional group of industry experts who bring diverse perspectives from both the operational and creative sides of dome theater management. The discussion will feature Benjamin Cabut, Managing Director at RSA Cosmos, alongside Jeremiah Dombach, Omni Theater Director at Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, and Nikki Diller, Vice President of Collections, Interpretation, and Programs at the same institution. Adding international insight, Martin Fuchs, Creative Director of Planetarium Prague, joins the conversation along with Kirk Johnson, Chief Operations Officer at Cosm, offering a cutting-edge perspective on immersive venue operations.

The session will tackle the pressing questions facing planetarium operators and entertainment venue designers as they navigate current trends in immersive technology. Attendees will gain comprehensive understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of LED screens compared to traditional projection systems, with frank discussion of cost considerations including initial investment, ongoing maintenance, and operational expenses. Performance factors such as brightness, resolution, and color accuracy will be examined alongside the unique technical challenges that curved dome environments present and the solutions that have emerged to address them.

Real-world case studies will ground the theoretical discussion, with particular attention to successful LED screen implementations including analysis of Fort Worth Theater and Cosm venues. The panel will explore when LED technology represents the better choice for planetarium upgrades and when traditional starball projectors or video projection systems might actually be the more cost-effective and programmatically flexible decision. Critical questions about potential limitations of LED technology, including compatibility with laser shows and traditional optical-mechanical planetarium projectors, will be addressed directly.

This session serves planetarium operators and designers, technology developers and vendors, and entertainment and immersive experience creators who are making strategic decisions about display technology investments that will shape their venues for years to come.