How Hitachi Vantara is Powering the Las Vegas Sphere
Since the first Sphere venue opened in Las Vegas in September 2023 it has become a new landmark in the city, powered by cutting-edge technologies.
Hosting a variety of Las Vegas entertainment events, including original immersive experiences, concert residencies, marquee sporting events, corporate events and more, the one-of-a-kind venue is the world’s largest spherical structure.
Now, Sphere Entertainment Co. – the company behind the landmark – and technology company Hitachi Vantara have revealed details on how the two companies leverage Hitachi Vantara’s data processing software to help power the Sphere’s extensive LED screens. Both Sphere’s 160,000 square-foot interior LED display plane and 580,000 square-foot fully programmable LED exterior – known as the Exosphere – utilise Hitachi Vantara’s software as a key tool to stream high-resolution immersive content.
“Sphere is home to many firsts, one of which is streaming immersive, high-resolution video content on a scale that has never been done before,” said Alex Luthwaite, SVP, Show Systems Technology at Sphere Entertainment. “Hitachi Vantara worked with our team to develop a solution that’s fast, reliable, and efficient. Through their expertise and technology, Sphere’s displays deliver content that is captivating audiences not only in the venue in Las Vegas, but also around the world on social media.”
Hitachi Vantara delivers solutions to power the Las Vegas Sphere
With the world’s highest resolution LED screen inside the venue and the largest LED screen on the exterior, Sphere leaned on Hitachi Vantara to deliver solutions to stream video content on an unprecedented scope. For its original immersive film, Darren Aronofsky’s Postcard from Earth, the system handles over 400 gigabytes a second of throughput at sub 5 milliseconds of latency and a 12-bit colour display at a 444 subsampling. Hitachi Vantara utilised its storage platform Hitachi Content Software for File, a high-performance, software-defined, distributed parallel filesystem storage solution.
The Hitachi Content Software for File system consists of 27 nodes, with 4PB of flash storage for playback within Sphere and streamed in real-time to hundreds of 7thSense media servers, each streaming 4K video at 60 frames per second – a world-first in terms of technology capability at this scale. Hitachi Vantara’s technology enables Sphere to deliver extremely low latency and high throughput, creating an unforgettable experience for audiences during Postcard from Earth.
Hitachi Vantara also partnered with Sphere to produce the same reliable capabilities at Sphere Studios’ Big Dome, a 28,000 square-foot, 100-foot-high custom geodesic dome in Burbank, CA with a quarter-sized version of the screen at Sphere in Las Vegas. Big Dome serves as a specialised screening, production facility, and lab for the Sphere Studios team to develop original content exclusively for Sphere.
“Sphere represents a new, completely immersive and visually powerful entertainment experience,” said Octavian Tanase, Chief Product Officer at Hitachi Vantara. “To make sure that the technology behind it was ready to meet the challenge, Hitachi Vantara worked closely with the Sphere team to test, measure, and enhance how the data is processed, streamed, and projected. Quality-wise, the resolution and colour are second to none, and this project has exceeded our already high expectations.”
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