Audio Video News

Projectors, which have been a staple of movie theaters since the silent film era of Charlie Chaplin, are headed for extinction.

Samsung and Harman yesterday opened the world’s first projection-less movie theater at the Lotte Cinema World Tower in Seoul South Korea. Instead of projecting images onto a large screen, images are displayed on a huge, self-illuminating “Super S” Cinema LED screen.

The 33 x 18-foot screen, which supports 4K resolution and high dynamic range (HDR) content, overcomes the brightness and edge-distortion limitations of projectors, according to Samsung. It is also certified to “provide 100% color representation” of the Digital Cinema System Specification (DCI) and described as 10 times brighter than current projectors, allowing movies, sporting events, and other programs to be shown in a brighter space, according to a report in Korea IT News.

Surround sound delivered by Harman audio technologies with JBL speakers is said to enable moviegoers to “hear vivid sound wherever he or she sits” in the theater, the report said.

Starting in major cities through South Korea, Samsung executives told Korea IT News the company is embarking on an aggressive plan to equip 10% of all movie theaters in the world with LED screens by 2020. The catalyst for the move is Samsung’s 2015 acquisition of Yesco Electronics, a company specializing in commercial LED.