Projecting images on a spherical venue

A method for operating an image processing server from among a plurality of image processors to transform an image for projection onto a media plane of a venue, the method comprising:

• assigning a three-dimensional slice of the media plane to the image processing server from among a plurality of three-dimensional slices of the media plane that are distributed among the plurality of image processors;
• retrieving, by the image processing server, a two-dimensional slice of the image that is associated with a three-dimensional slice of the media plane from among a plurality of two-dimensional slices of the image, the three-dimensional slice being assigned to the image processing server from among a plurality of three-dimensional slices of the media plane that are distributed among the plurality of image processors,
• projecting, by the image processing server, three-dimensional coordinates of a plurality of pixels of the three-dimensional slice of the media plane onto two-dimensional coordinates of the two-dimensional slice of the image to provide a plurality of two-dimensional points;
• interpolating, by the image processing server, color information of the plurality of pixels of the three-dimensional slice of the media plane at the plurality of two-dimensional points based upon color information of a first plurality of pixels within the two-dimensional slice of the image that is associated with the three-dimensional slice of the media plane or a second plurality of pixels of the image that surround the two-dimensional slice;
• and
• providing, by the image processing server, the color information of the plurality of pixels of the three-dimensional slice of the media plane to the media plane to project the two-dimensional slice of the image onto the media plane.

A system image projection system for transforming an image for projection onto a media plane of a venue, the system comprising:

• a first image processing server from among a plurality of image processing servers, the first image processing server being configured to:
• retrieve a first two-dimensional slice of the image from among a plurality of two-dimensional slices of the image, the first two-dimensional slice of the image being associated with a first three-dimensional slice of the media plane that is assigned to the first image processing server from among a plurality of three-dimensional slices of the media plane,
• project three-dimensional coordinates of a plurality of pixels of the first three-dimensional slice of the media plane onto two-dimensional coordinates of the first two-dimensional slice of the image to provide a first plurality of two-dimensional points,
• interpolate color information of the plurality of pixels of the first three-dimensional slice of the media plane at the first plurality of two-dimensional points based upon color information of a first plurality of pixels within the first two-dimensional slice of the image that is associated with the first three-dimensional slice of the media plane and color information of a second plurality of pixels of the image that surround the first two-dimensional slice, and
• provide the color information of the plurality of pixels of the first three-dimensional slice of the media plane to the media plane to project the first two-dimensional slice of the image onto the media plane;
• and
• a second image processing server from among a plurality of image processing servers, the second image processing server being configured to:
• retrieve a second two-dimensional slice of the image from among the plurality of two-dimensional slices of the image, the second two-dimensional slice of the image being associated with a second three-dimensional slice of the media plane that is assigned to the second image processing server from among the plurality of three-dimensional slices of the media plane,
• project three-dimensional coordinates of a plurality of pixels of the second three-dimensional slice of the media plane onto two-dimensional coordinates of the second two-dimensional slice of the image to provide a second plurality of two-dimensional points,
• interpolate color information of the plurality of pixels of the second three-dimensional slice of the media plane at the second plurality of two-dimensional points based upon color information of a third plurality of pixels within the second two-dimensional slice of the image that is associated with the second three-dimensional slice of the media plane and color information of a fourth plurality of pixels of the image that surround the second two-dimensional slice, and
• provide the color information of the plurality of pixels of the second three-dimensional slice of the media plane to the media plane to project the second two-dimensional slice of the image onto the media plane.