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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Samsung Shows LED Film Screen in Chatsworth

Samsung introduced this month 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 installed in theaters in Samsung’s home country of South Korea. The 34-foot-long by 18-foot-high Samsung Onyx screen is paired with a surround sound system developed by Harman Professional Solutions in Northridge. Harman Pro is a division of Harman Industries International, 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. Nick Conti, senior business development manager of 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. The LED screen is made up of 96 cabinets each containing 24 modules, Conti explained. Each module has about 3,840 pixels. This type of screen creates true black colors – and contributed to the Onyx brand name – unlike a projector that is trying to recreate blacks by using shadows. With the LED screen, it is an actual black because the pixel is off, Conti said. “There is no light emitting from that pixel,” he added. Dan Saenz, cinema solution 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 side wall 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.” New Studio Tour Responding to feedback from visitors on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood, the Burbank entertainment company is offering a new tour focused on classic films it has made. The Classics Made Here tour begins on Friday, May 4 and will initially be offered on Fridays and Saturdays only. Gary Soloff, marketing director for the tour, explained that some visitors are not interested in seeing and hearing about current productions the studio is making such as “Pretty Little Liars” or the DC Comics universe. These film aficionados want stories about the studio’s origins and the Golden Age of Hollywood with Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Elizabeth Taylor. “We wanted to focus on things for those really dedicated, committed film enthusiasts that love everything in the classics from silent films to talkies to the Golden Age of Hollywood,” Soloff said. The new tour takes in some aspects of the traditional tour, including stops at the museum but is longer by about a half hour. The Classics Made Here tour costs $75. Included on the tour are stops to the last remaining set from “Casablanca,” plus areas where “House of Wax,” “The Music Man” and television series “The Waltons” were filmed. There is a costume display recreating the Ascot race scene from “My Fair Lady,” as well as other rare costumes that have not been displayed before, Soloff said. Board Addition Entertainment industry accounting firm Cast & Crew has named Cheryl Boone Isaacs to its board of directors. Isaacs is a veteran of the industry, most recently as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She has also served on the academy’s board of governors for two decades. Isaacs called the Burbank company an industry leader for more than four decades that has earned a record for service and partnership with its clients. “Now, as Cast & Crew redefines its industry by digitizing and expanding its solutions, it will encounter numerous opportunities,” Isaacs said in a statement. She is a graduate of Whittier College and serves as adjunct professor at the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts of Chapman University. She has worked in a number of marketing, advertising and publicity positions for such Hollywood studios as Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures and New Line Cinema. Cast & Crew Chief Executive Eric Belcher was confident Isaacs will bring a valuable perspective to the company, especially in respect to cultural and social issues. “Cheryl’s broad and deep understanding of the industry’s opportunities and challenges, as well as her network of relationships, will be extremely valuable to our board,” Belcher said in a statement. Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or [email protected].

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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