Huge digital array blasts out Star Trek Australian premiere

The latest A$218.5 million (US$155 million) Star Trek film beamed down to one of the most advanced cinemas of its kind last night to blast Sydney-based Trekkies from their seats.

Some of the world's most advanced audio and visual equipment was delivered to the Sydney Opera House for the premiere of the 11th instalment of the sci-fi series, which chronicles the early days of the USS Enterprise.

About 1,500 Sydney viewers watched the premiere over the industry's brightest and clearest Barco projectors, splashed over a German-designed 2048x1080 CinemaScope screen. They were also treated to more than 3 tonnes of forward-facing Dolby audio equipment, which swept audio horizontally across the complex.

The 125kg projectors, a Barco DP 3000 and 2000 sourced from Germany, were housed in a custom-built, sound-proof and air-conditioned booth and connected to an array of 30 Dolby surround sound speakers over Ethernet using the Dolby Dante protocol, as well as Dolby Lake processors and 30 amplifiers.

Controls were digital, which improved fault resolutions and monitoring, right down to the wireless tablet PC which replaced the mixing desk.

The installation and design crew, which hailed from the US and Sydney, had the cinema set-up and fault tested within three days, and a comfortable couple of hours before the opening. Sydney Opera House audiovisual supervisor, Chris Davies, was given a week's lead time to design the audio schematics with Audinate CTO, Aidan Williams.

He said the set-up was a first for the Opera House and one of the latest global instances of digital technology superseding analogue.

With Star Trek obsessed bloggers and Twitterers scrawling fervid outpouring all over the Internet, the premiere could usher in a new era for our iconic cultural hub. Davies said the screening could be seen as a pilot of sorts for the Opera House, which may play host to more shows of its type alongside the typical musical performances it is accustomed to.