In recent years, cinemas have undergone an almost complete transformation that began with the adaptation of many large capacity rooms in less crowded spaces but with much more comfortable facilities known as Deluxe (reclining seats and individual tables) and, at the same time , have had to deal with a pandemic that has turned the the time it takes for the premieres to be squeezed to the maximum before reaching streaming platforms. Have you been to an IMAX theater? Well wait till you see this.
More comfort and image quality
Precisely, the pandemic has slowed down the expansion of a new type of movie theater, which is the one that embraces the technology developed by Samsung and which has been called Onyx. A good example of the idea that Koreans have of what the cinema of the future should be like is located in Seville, in the Odeon Sambil cinemas which, in March 2019, made the leap to a new type of projection that, seeing the characteristics of the new equipment, ceases to be precisely that, a projection.
To give you an idea, what this system developed by Samsung does is erase the figure from the spotlight with a stroke of the pen. It does not matter if it is cinematographic or digital film, when we enter an Onyx room that beam of light will not be visible because what we will have on the screen will be a set of LED panels that guarantee better viewing than traditional methods.
As you can see in the video below, the adoption of this system eliminates all the space needed for the old projection room, traditionally located in the upper part of the room and in front of the screen, so the spaces can be enlarged to install a couple more rows dedicated to spectators. The truth is that, leaving aside the quality of this Onyx screen, surely for many moviegoers that beam of light that came from somewhere above their heads is as defining of what it means to go to the cinema as the darkness of the room, the popcorn or applause at the end of the session.
Is Onyx the best projection system?
As we say, with this system the presence of a projector in the room is finished since the screen is in charge of showing the images that come from the room where the computer that transmits the film is located. As if from a video wall concerned, this technology is made up of a series of LED panels that print a higher level of contrast to the image but, above all, maintain a deep black that brings to life all the colors that appear on the screen.
Behind this leap is Samsung’s 4K LED technology, which has been developed specifically for use with the motion picture industryallowing the image to be so faithful, alive and real that it will turn the film into an absorbing event capable of immersing us in what we are seeing.
Of course, the image is only part of the experience in cinemas and that is why this Samsung technology is also surrounded by Dolby Atmos to perceive every little noise, effect, dialogue and music as clearly and powerfully as possible. Together, they make the Onyx theaters the pioneers of a revolution that little by little will reach more and more cinemas throughout Spain.
The post What are Onyx movie theaters: are they the best in Spain? was first published in The Output.
