How The New Sphere Venue Uses LED Lights

The Sphere at The Venetian, commonly called the MSG Sphere, is the world's largest spherical structure. Standing at 366 feet tall and 516 feet wide, the building is large enough to fit the entire Statue of Liberty inside. After its exterior debut in July, it has become one of the world's greatest electric spectacles. It opened to the public in September, making itself known as one of the most immersive entertainment venues.

Announced in 2018, the $2.3 billion project began construction in 2019. World-class architects design and manufacture the LED Sphere to be a global landmark. With its completion, it revolutionizes the capabilities of LED technology, providing a new medium of sphere entertainment.

The exterior screen is the largest LED screen in the world. Made up of 1.2 million individual LED lights spanning across a 580,000 square foot panel, you can see its brightness even from outer space. From afar, the screen appears smooth and seamless, but up close you can see the details of its structure. Hundreds of interlocking triangles come together to make the 360-degree exoskeleton.

Each LED puck contains 48 individual diodes that allow it to display 256 million different colors. Images displayed on the exosphere so far include planetary likenesses, a giant eyeball, and an expressive emoji face. The goal is for the Sphere to display different artistic and branded content daily on the Vegas skyline.

And the futuristic LED technology doesn't just stop at the screens. LED illumination covers almost the entirety of the Las Vegas Sphere interior. Combinations of strip lights, wall sconces, and more cover nearly every corner of the space. The accent lighting has customizable intensity, color, and temperature to fit the mood of any show or event.

The Sphere’s technology uses many different equations to calculate optimal screen performance. The exoskeleton uses geodesic math to create the triangular pattern. Stereographic and lens projection formulas calculate how to map images so that they fit seamlessly on the curved screen. Visual acuity calculates how many pixels it takes to display images on the screen in high resolution.

The Sphere offers a new genre of entertainment with the latest innovative technology. LED lighting tells a story as soon as the venue comes into view and as soon as you walk in the doors. The use of LEDs at the Sphere is going to inspire lighting designers and project builders around the world.

The arena will primarily host concerts and award shows, among other entertainment events. A landmark innovation of the lighting industry, the MSG Sphere pilots toward an LED-driven future.