Wizard Of Oz at Sphere In Vegas

[Mike Blakesley]

the issue wasn't the ability to produce a large, high rez display, but the ability for that display to be acoustically transparent so speakers could be placed behind it. Mike's assessment of the sound quality seems to mean that issue has been dealt with quite effectively

The sound is a bit of a mystery as to exactly how it works. Supposedly, the place has over 160,000 speakers in it (some of which are in the seats) so a lot of them pretty much HAVE to be behind the screen. But there are no apparent gaps in it, so I dunno how it's done.

Google A.I. says this:

The speakers in Las Vegas's Sphere are hidden behind an acoustically transparent LED screen using a combination of specialized technology and design. The screen itself was engineered to allow sound to pass through with minimal obstruction. To compensate for the inherent audio losses and to deliver crystal-clear sound directly to audience members, Sphere uses the HOLOPLOT system, which employs patented 3D audio-beamforming technology and intelligent algorithms to shape and direct sound waves precisely, ensuring a consistent and immersive audio experience for every guest.

They have the ability to project different soundtracks to different areas. There is a demo of this in the lobby which is fascinating. You stand in front of this audio array, hearing a voice speaking in English. You can move about five feet to the left or right and hear the voice now speaking in a different language with hardly any overlap.

When we saw the Eagles in there, I found myself wishing it was louder because it sounded so good. Usually I get the opposite effect at a concert.

[Bobby Henderson]

They claim it's 16K Rez... I've never seen all the specs published yet...

Considering the immense size of the screen (516' wide X 366' tall) it's not outlandish for the display to boast 16,000 RGB pixels across its width. I see conflicting reports on the hardware resolution of the screen's height, varying between 13K and 16K. The highest resolution LED panels go as tight as a .085mm pitch between pixels -that's Samsung's "The Wall" product. Mainstream outdoor LED sign panels are going as tight as 4mm between pixels. If the cost per pixel can continue to fall it will make LED-based drive-in movie theater screens feasible, and they would be able to show movies during daylight hours. Anyway, just to do a bit of quick math, 516' is 6192" and that converts to 157276mm. Divide that by 16,000 and you get a roughly 9.83mm pitch between pixels. That's not very extreme and a pixel pitch any tighter (such as 8mm or 6mm) would probably be overkill for a venue that big and viewing distances that would be fairly far.

The area where I get suspicious is the kind of video imagery being fed to the display. Is that stuff blown up to 16K resolution or it is truly native 16K? The domed display is driven by some ridiculously powerful computer gear.

I've seen images of the Holoplot X1 speakers used in the Sphere sound system. The speaker cabinets look crazy. Each speaker tile has 16 medium sized speaker drivers and a bunch of tiny drivers peppered thru the design, even running in front of the larger drivers. Apparently they have a bunch of those things installed behind the screen. They're all individually amplified. Reportedly this immersive audio system can go well beyond what a totally maxed out Dolby Atmos system can manage.

I really want to check out the venue the next time I go to Las Vegas. But, holy shit, those ticket prices are high.

[Randy Stankey]

I really want to check out the venue the next time I go to Las Vegas. But, holy shit, those ticket prices are high.

Just get really good at blackjack. When it comes time for comps, ask for a couple of tickets to the Sphere.

[Jim Cassedy]

<edited>They have the ability to project different
soundtracks to different areas. There is a demo of this in the lobby which is fascinating.
You stand in front of this audio array, hearing a voice speaking in English. You can move
about five feet to the left or right and hear the voice now speaking in a different language
with hardly any overlap.

A similar technology is used several places at San Francisco Airport, most notably
at the start-and-end of long 'moving sidewalk' runs. One speaker, near the start of
the sidewalk reminds people to keep to the right, to let other people pass. Another
speaker, near the end, plays an announcement that the 'sidewalk is ending' in a
couple of feet. I don't remember what it's called, but I do recall reading about it when
the system was installed several years ago, and it uses some sort of 'sound beam
focusing' technology to focus the sound so only those within a certain area can hear it.

[Mike Blakesley]

Here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia article about Sphere's sound system.

Sphere's sound system, dubbed "Sphere Immersive Sound", features spatial audio capabilities^[93] and is based on Holoplot's X1 Matrix Array of speakers.^[94] The sound system comprises 1,586 permanently installed speakers and 300 mobile modules, with 99 percent of the system being hidden behind the LED screen.^[95][96] Each X1 array comprises a MD96 and a MD80-S sound module, equipped with 96 and 80 drivers respectively. Through a matrix of drivers within each speaker module and a matrix of modules per array, Holoplot's system offers more control over the dispersion of sound in horizontal and vertical directions.^[97] In total, the sound system comprises 167,000 speaker drivers, amplifiers, and processing channels, and it weighs 395,120 pounds (179,220 kg).^[98] The main coverage of the sound system is provided by the "proscenium array", located in Sphere where a traditional theatre proscenium would be built. It comprises 464 Holoplot X1 speakers (272 MD96 modules and 192 MD80-S modules) organized into 14 clusters and arranged in a semi-arch about 25–30 feet (7.6–9.1 m) above the stage,^{[99][100][101]} making it the world's largest loudspeaker array.^[102] Elsewhere, the sound system has 28 environmental arrays for immersive coverage (each one comprising five MD96 and five MD80-S modules), 6 effects arrays (each one comprising 24 MD96 modules), 71 surround arrays behind the audience, 12 delay arrays under the main balcony, 10 side-fill arrays, and 6 low-fill arrays.^[101] The sound system also can deliver sound through the floorboards.^[87]

Using beamforming capabilities, the Holoplot X1 speakers can digitally aim sound at specific spots in the audience and deliver a consistent volume to every seat in the venue, even over long distances;^[103] in Sphere, the system offers 110 metres (360 ft) of sound coverage^[104] to reach the furthest seats.^[105] The Holoplot X1 arrays can also use wave field synthesis to create a virtual point of origin for sound waves and to place them in precise spatial locations, regardless of the actual positions of speakers.^[103] Software algorithms compensate for any transmission loss caused by the obstruction from the LED screen.^[85] Integrated into the Holoplot X1 modules are several technologies by Powersoft, including 16-channel amplification, "Integrated Powered Adaptive Loudspeaker" for subwoofers, and energy-efficient solutions such as pulse-width modulation and "power factor correction".

Some of that is probably marketing department gobble-de-gook, but it's still pretty impressive.

Considering the immense size of the screen (516' wide X 366' tall) it's not outlandish for the display to boast 16,000 RGB pixels across its width.

Those are the height/width dimensions of the building from the outside. The screen itself would be harder to measure, because rather than just measuring straight across, you would have to incorporate about half the circumferance of the buliding to get the width, and probably about a third of the circumference to get the height -- and it's not the same height all the way across, either. I've looked around quite a bit and haven't found a measurement of the screen in dimensions, only the square footage of it (about 160,000). By that reckoning, it's 355 times the area of our screen here!

I really want to check out the venue the next time I go to Las Vegas. But, holy shit, those ticket prices are high.

True, and if you want to get the perfect experience you need to be somewhere in the middle of the place, which makes it even higher. Whatever you do, don't get sucked into one of those "VIP experience" things. We did that for the Eagles show we went to -- it was a 25th anniversary celebration for us so we splurged. It was decent seats in the center (although not too close to the stage, but in this venue that's better), a bunch of trinkets (many of which my wife already sold on eBay) and an "opportunity" to go into this reproduction of the Troubador in L.A., which was set up with a bunch of actual Eagles memorabilia to look at. There was also the "opportunity" to spend even more money on drinks, "exclusive" Eagles stuff like T-shirts, keyrings and all the usual crap like that. I don't know how much cheaper the tickets would have been without the VIP component, but either way, we'll never do THAT again.

[Lyle Romer]

The pixel pitch on the screen at Sphere (they make a point to correct people to not include "The" in the name) is 9-10mm. There is a picture I found that shows a closeup and the modules kind of look like A/C vents which allows the sound to pass through from behind. At movie theatre viewing distances, I don't think that wide of pixel spacing would work. To get an acoustically transparent direct view screen somebody would have to design a structure for the modules that allows small pixel pitch and also space between the LEDs.

[Mike Blakesley]

I have never been down to the floor level but I would say the seats closest to the stage are still at least 50 or more feet from the video screen. I assume sitting that close, most of your focus would be on the performers anyway. In the middle sections (which seem are pretty optimal for the screen view, but not so great for stage view), you're probably around 250 to 300 feet from the screen. I'm just basing that on the overall size of the building.

[Marcel Birgelen]

When the screen is hit by other light sources you can see a clear structure. I guess those are the functional panels the screen is composed out of, you can see it in the picture below, which was taken at an event with high-powered light-effects inside the room. When they hit the screen, it somewhat kills the magic.


Screenshot 2025-09-17 at 13.21.10.png

As for the sound system: I've heard the Holoplot X1 system before, it's quite impressive, if it works. It consists of large speaker arrays. It can do both beam forming and Wave Field Synthesis and even both at the same time. I said, if it works, because I've also heard it fail, or rather, the up-mixing that was being used fail. In that case, the lead singer of the featured band sounded like she was standing behind you, whereas she was clearly standing in front of me. Maybe that effect was on purpose, but to me it sounded... confusing...

For an impression what a single X1 module looks like, they have one on their site. It doesn't show the relative size of those units though.

Beam forming lets you isolate a certain sound to a certain area and wavefront synthesis lets you simulate the origin of the sound.

Beam forming allows for all kinds of interesting applications. Imagine a theme park with a parade, where the back of the parade plays a different point in the same soundtrack as the front of the parade, so the soundtrack actually is in sync with the floats at that very position in the parade route.

It can also be used to create a better stereo image in large venues. One problem with more traditional PA systems is that you, as spectator, primarily hear the sound coming from the speakers closest to you, unless you're precisely in the middle of two speaker locations. This kills most of the stereo imaging for most of the people and is one of the reasons many PA setups still are just mono to this very day. Beam forming could better balance left v.s. right by adjusting beam volumes accordingly, resulting in a better stereo image.

Wave Field synthesis on the other hand, can be used to "fake" the origin of a particular sound. It can even put the origin of the sound "within the room", as supposed to classical surround systems that cannot realistically put the origin of a sound closer than that the nearest speaker is to you.

[Ryan Gallagher]

That ambient light example is pretty striking. I imagine even if you are careful with beam direction... most concerts are going to deploy haze for beam architecture and once you start throwing bright lights into haze you no longer can control where all the bounce goes. No biggie if you are just using the giant screen to blow up the action on stage... but if the VFX is intended as it's own visual element, it does kinda ruin the magic!