Samsung Readies Onyx Cinema LED Motion Picture Screens
Last year, Samsung debuted a cinema LED screen, Onyx Cinema LED, to be offered in three sizes to accommodate different movie theaters. The 19-foot model will run at DCI 2K (2048 x 1080), and the 34-foot and 50-foot versions will run at DCI 4K (4096 x 2160). The 2K version has a peak brightness of 300 nits, and the other two support 500 nits, enabling 3D projection. The screens will support other resolutions with letterboxing as well as wide or flat DCI and several versions of HDR, including Samsung’s HDR10+.
“The Samsung Onyx screen is one of the most powerful pieces of equipment that allows us to display HDR content,” said Éclair general manager Pascal Mogavero. The screens are “based on its outdoor display tech that uses individual SMD (surface mount device) LEDs,” with each pixel “self-emitting with no backlight, so you can get true blacks simply by turning off individual LEDs.”
The reviewer calls the demo of switching one scene between SDR and HDR as “pretty eye-popping,” with colors appearing “punchy” and accurate. He adds that, “film directors and colorists will be able to optimize color timing for the screens knowing that subtle shadows will still be visible because of the extra brightness.”
“Some people don’t like it because they feel it will change the filmmaker’s initial intent,” said Mogavero “If you want to show your movie on a projector, you can still do it. But if you want to completely redesign your movie and think about a completely different way to tell the stories, then you can do that, too. It’s widening, not restricting or corrupting the possibilities.”
Samsung’s plans are to install the Onyx Cinema LED in 30 locations by the end of the year.
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