Samsung Debuts LED Movie Screen in Chatsworth

Samsung introduced over the weekend the first LED movie screen in the United States at Pacific Theatres Winnetka in Chatsworth. The company plans to roll out the screens to multiplex owners in the United States. The screens are already install in theaters in Samsung’s home country of South Korea. The 34-foot by 18-foot Samsung Onyx screen is paired with a surround sound system developed by Harman Professional Solutions in Northridge. Harman Pro is a division of Harman International Industries Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung. The solid surface screen is made up of nearly 9 million pixels that are individually lit by red, green and blue light-emitting diodes. The LED screen is made up of 96 cabinets each containing 24 modules. Each module has about 3,840 pixels. Nick Conti, senior business development manager in cinema for Samsung, said the screen delivers exceptional visual quality and technical performance as well as a cost savings of about $25,000 to theater owners because it does not need a projection booth. Dan Saenz, cinema manager for Harman Professional Solutions, said the surround sound system was a challenge to design because the speakers could not be located behind the screen, as with traditional movie screens. Speakers instead were placed above the screen, and those placed on the sidewall are tilted at 15 degrees toward the screen to enhance the sound coming to the listener, Saenz said. Below the first wall speaker is what’s called a reflector horn that distributes the sound coming from the speakers above the screen, he added. “Your brain latches onto that and you start thinking the (sound) is coming from right behind the screen,” Saenz said. “That is one of the major challenges we had when it came to a hard surface LED screen.”