Samsung Electronics introduced its all-new Cinema Screen earlier this week at Cinemacon 2017 as the world’s first HDR (High Dynamic Range) LED theater display. As the moniker suggests, this product is not a TV set destined for the general consumer market, but instead, it aims at providing a solid alternative to conventional projectors found in movie theaters. It boasts a 4K resolution (4096 x 2160) and Samsung claims that the product exceeds DCI specifications used to ensure quality and performance in digital cinema.
The Samsung Cinema Screen is an impressive 34-foot (10 meters) direct-lit LED panel that “truly delivers High Dynamic Range (HDR) to the cinema”, boasting peak brightness levels nearly 10 times higher than standard cinema projectors. The company claims that the panel is free of interference and optical distortion, providing improved uniformity as well as highly accurate colors with “a nearly infinity:1 contrast ratio.” It meets and exceeds DCI specifications – although it has yet to be backed by a DCI certification officially – and as a result, Samsung claims that the Cinema Screen surpasses traditional projection-based technologies and is “guaranteed to impress” even the most demanding and entertainment-savvy viewers. Interestingly enough, the Samsung Cinema Screen will also be backed sound-wise by an “innovative audio solution” by Harman Professional Solutions’ Cinema Group along with Samsung’s Audio Lab. As a reminder, Harman was recently acquired by Samsung Electronics and the acquisition was completed earlier in March. Vice President of Harman Cinema Solutions, Brian Divine, states that the cinema sound systems branch is looking forward to helping Samsung expand into the theater. Seong-gi Kim, Senior VP of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics claims that the launch of the Cinema Screen is “merely the latest step” in its vision to create a complete digitally-powered end-to-end theater experience.
The press release mentions that the Samsung Cinema Screen recently completed its compliance tests at Keio University in Tokyo, and further states that the product is now undergoing the DCI certification process. No details regarding pricing and availability have been revealed, but it’s safe to assume that the Cinema Screen will carry a price tag considerably larger than any of Samsung’s TV sets designed for the consumer market.