Samsung has been making Cinema LED screens for theatres for some time now. Last month, along with bringing the first Cinema LED screen to the US, Samsung also launched the Onyx brand to sell these theatre screens. Since the initial launch of these screens in July last year, Samsung has already installed these screens in a few theatres around the world. It appears select theatres in India will soon join the list.
A top company executive told IANS that the Onyx Cinema LED screens will launch in India later this year. Samsung has partnered with PVR Cinemas and INOX Group to install the Onyx Cinema LED screens in the country. At first, they will be installed at the PVR multiplexes in Delhi and Mumbai, but Samsung has aggressive plans to expand the availability. The Korean company is hoping to convert at least 20 percent of the total 10,000 cinema screens in India to Onyx Cinema Screens by 2020.
Offers better picture quality
“We first launched the screen in Korea, then we installed it in China, Europe, Thailand and the US. Once users watch content on ‘Onyx' screen, it would be very difficult for them to switch to conventional projectors in theatres,” Puneet Sethi, VP, Consumer Electronics Enterprise Business, Samsung India, told IANS.
Samsung’s Onyx Cinema screens offer a host of advantages over the current theatre display solutions. They offer better picture quality with deeper blacks and more accurate colors. The screens are versatile as well and can display 2K, 4K, 3D, and HDR images. Samsung also clubs sound solutions from JBL, a brand owned by Samsung subsidiary Harman International, to offer an immersive experience to the viewer irrespective of where he/she is seated.
A report in Business Today mentions that installing an Onyx screen requires an investment of around $600,000 to $800,000 and takes up to 16 weeks from “receiving purchase order to installation.” These screens will reportedly last for 17 years with a screen life of 100,000 hours. The report, however, quotes no source for this information.
