Audio and video of the Sphere in Las Vegas

The Sphere, an arena for music and entertainment, stands in Paradise, Nevada, USA, to the east of the renowned Las Vegas Strip.The project was announced by Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) in 2018 as MSG Sphere. The spherical theater inside is known for its immersive audio and video capabilities.

The Sphere was designed by Populous and the project was expected to cost $1.2 billion in 2018. Due to design changes, supply chain crises, and inflation, it ended up costing $2.3 billion, making it the most expensive entertainment venue in Las Vegas history. The Sphere was inaugurated on September 29th, 2023, and subsequently, the Irish rock band U2 embarked on a 40-concert residency there. Director Darren Aronofsky's documentary Postcards from Earth was released on October 6, 2023. The venue is primarily used to host award ceremonies and concerts, as well as other entertainment events. While its design is not suited to the arena layout of traditional sports such as basketball and ice hockey, it can host ring sports such as boxing and mixed martial arts, as well as e-sports tournaments.

Construction of the Sphere

The venue is 112 meters tall and 157 meters wide at its widest point. It is the largest spherical building in the world, covering an area of 81,300 square meters.

The dome's roof necessitated the use of 3,000 tons of steel. In March 2021, the roof began to take shape and workers began to install 32 trusses, each weighing 100 tons. In May 2021, the trusses were half installed and the crane had to move to the south side of the venue to install the remaining parts.

The dome was capped on June 18, 2021, and construction of the outer dome frame built around the dome was also underway. The outer dome frame is made of LED light panels and is 30% taller than the dome, which can be seen from miles away. Construction work on the interior of the sphere began in August 2021.

Once the roof steel frame was completed, 4,600 cubic meters of concrete were pumped onto the roof. This created a concrete layer that was 10 inches (250 mm) thick and weighed about 10,000 tons. The roof was completed in October 2021. Workers then turned their attention to the 730-ton steel internal frame that supports the LED screens and sound system. Construction of the internal frame continued until 2022.

On May 24, 2022, the outer dome was capped for the second time. The internal and external LED screens were then installed. The latter was first lit up during the Independence Day celebrations on July 4, 2023. The sphere quickly became popular for its image display.

How many seats can the sphere hold at most

The sphere has 18,600 seats and can accommodate up to 20,000 people (when the stage is at its smallest). The seats do not surround the entire sphere, but cover about 2/3 of the interior space, with the stage occupying the rest. Because of the overhang of the second floor, the approximately 800 seats below the lower level of the venue cannot view the wraparound video screen.

Exterior Sphere Shell LED Display

The sphere's outer shell is equipped with a 580,000 square foot (54,000 square meter) LED display designed by SACO Technology. It was the largest display in the world at the time. It is composed of 1.23 million ice ball LEDs, each containing 48 diodes, spaced 8 inches (20 cm) apart. It can be used for advertising.

Theater Interior Sphere LED Display

The theater is equipped with a 160,000 square foot (15,000 square meter, larger than three football fields) LED screen that wraps around the entire interior wall and ceiling. The screen was designed and manufactured by SACO. According to Sphere Entertainment, it has a resolution of 16,000×16,000, which is the highest resolution LED screen in the world at the time, with a resolution 82 times that of today's best HDTVs. The screen consists of 64,000 LED panels, each managed by a printed circuit board housed within an aluminum frame, and these panels come in 780 distinct geometric configurations. Due to its curved shape and the tendency of pixels to disappear near the poles, the screen uses adaptive pixel spacing. It is also designed to be acoustically transparent, allowing sound from speakers installed behind the screen to pass through.

It should be clarified that although its resolution is the largest in the world, its pixel density is not high due to its large distribution area, that is, the clarity is not high. Its average pixel spacing is only 9.5mm, which is equivalent to the domestic P9.5 transparent screen. From the figure below, it can be seen that the LED screen has a large air permeability (about >50%), which is more favorable for the sound transmission of speakers arranged behind the LED screen.

The sound system of the theater

The sound system of the spherical theater was completed by Holoplot, a German company, using a total of 167,000 speakers. Holoplot uses 3D beamforming and wave field synthesis technology to provide sound control similar to controlling light, bringing a consistent and clear concert-level audio experience, so that every audience can enjoy a truly excellent and personalized listening experience. The entire sound system can be divided into three parts, covering the entire venue's sound reinforcement system, surround speaker system, and immersive speaker system.

The LED display and sound system of the Las Vegas Sphere, through the perfect integration of cutting-edge technology, have jointly created a full-scale immersive experience space that integrates vision and hearing, making every event an unforgettable sensory adventure.