HDR – Reader@mReotEch.com

Samsung’s 2018 Premium UHD and QLED TVs Receive ‘HDR10+’ Certification

Samsung Electronics today received the official HDR10+ logo certification for its 2018 Premium UHD and QLED TVs being HDR (High Dynamic Range) 10+ compatible. HDR10+, a next-generation core technology for ultra-high picture quality TV, provides users with a premium HDR viewing experience and delivers pristine images as originally intended by creators while contributing to the creative activities of film studios and directors.

With HDR10+ technology which helps HDR TVs to optimize brightness levels on a scene-by-scene by incorporating dynamic metadata, Samsung TVs can produce brighter highlights and darker darks for additional depth and sense of realism on-screen. The HDR10+ certification program creates a foundation that provides viewers with an enhanced viewing experience while also developing a range of plans to extend the HDR10+ ecosystem.

“The introduction of the HDR10+ certification logo represents the groundwork that we are setting for the ultra-high picture quality TV market,” said Doochan Eum, Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “By making use of our leading technology and expertise, we will continue to extend our valuable partnerships while maintaining our commitment to providing consumers with best HDR content possible.”

Among Samsung’s notable HDR10+ partnerships, TP Vision, which oversees Philips TV development, manufacturing and marketing, will introduce HDR10+ to its entire lineup of 4K TVs next year, and V-Silicon (formerly Sigma Designs) will show a demo of HDR10+ in its private booth at IFA 2018.

Film production company Warner Bros. will also start creating HDR10+-compatible contents, which will be available for home distribution later this year. In addition to that, Samsung partnered with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation to standardize the HDR10+ licensing process, in order to make it easier for content creators to realize its technology, get closer to filmmaker’s creative intent and improve the viewing experience for all audiences. Twentieth Century Fox is currently exploring several titles for release and plans to announce their availability in the coming weeks.

In Europe, a popular VoD provider, Rakuten TV, is seeking to partner with Samsung Electronics to provide HDR10+ premium entertainment to European consumers. “At Rakuten TV, we have the mission to deliver the best cinema experience at home,” said Sidharth Jayant, Global Product Director at Rakuten TV. “Samsung is our premium partner in this regard, and our upcoming collaboration on HDR10+ reinforces our commitment to be the VoD reference platform for Smart TVs. With dynamic metadata added to the HDR signal, combined with the widest 4K HDR catalog of new releases that we currently provide to European Smart TV owners, we are confident Rakuten TV will deliver an unforgettable cinema experience at home.”

For more information on HDR10+, please visit www.hdr10plus.org.

How Samsung’s QLED TV Earned video Magazine’s ‘Burn-In’ Certification

Samsung’s QLED TVs recently became the first TVs to be certified burn-in free by video, an acclaimed German tech magazine.

The magazine’s comprehensive evaluation assessed vulnerability to burn-in and afterglow, which can permanently impair picture quality. The results of the test proved that Samsung’s TVs were as free of both, and demonstrated what makes QLED TVs some of the most durable displays on the market today.

The Details

‘Burn-in’ refers to the phenomenon in which static images (such as channel logos, or the health bar in a console game), displayed for an extended period of time, leave a permanent outline on a screen.

Conducted in conjunction with connect Testlab, a world-renowned testing lab, the 72-hour stress test evaluates a TV’s ability to stand up to the exacting levels of performance that we require in TVs today, focusing specifically on the portrayal of HDR (high-dynamic-range) video.

With some display technologies, memory effects will already keep glowing after one minute of TV use if static picture elements are shown on their screen in high luminosities. In the test, the TVs were therefore made to display a checkerboard pattern for deep black and very bright white values for longer periods of time. The test engineers added variable text elements and an intermittently blinking white frame to the test picture so that the automatic stills detection customary for modern HDR TVs could not spring into action. This helped the testers create similar conditions as in HDR games. In addition to the standard analysis the testers used dark gray images with brightness values of 10 nits– which will show if dark pixels are brightened up. The findings indicate that QLED TVs are unaffected by burn-in and afterglow, and that fixed images may be displayed on them without risk, regardless of duration.

Why Burn-in Matters

Assessing a TV’s susceptibility to burn-in is key to determining how long it will last – and ultimately whether it’s worth your money. Although all screens get dimmer with age, burn-in’s adverse effect on picture quality can significantly shorten a TV’s lifespan.

On average, based on typical use, consumers should expect their TV’s picture quality to remain roughly the same for anywhere from seven to ten years. What’s interesting to note is that the definition of that term – ‘typical use’ – has expanded in recent years with the rise of binge-watching video and the development of exciting ‘smart TV’ functionalities. Now, on a typical day, we may switch on the TV to watch the latest episode of a favorite show, start a gaming session with friends, or manage our home’s IoT appliances.

Speaking of enjoying dynamic content, these days, so many of our favorite shows and games feature HDR support, which means video that’s brighter and more immersive than ordinary content. As time goes by, however, HDR content can wear down a TV – accelerating burn-in and reducing its lifespan.

In addition, as illustrated by innovative functions like Ambient Mode, which allows QLED TVs to display beautiful, aesthetic-enhancing images when switched off, Samsung is constantly exploring ways to help people get more use out of their TV. Each new function results in TVs being utilized for longer periods of time, which makes durability issues like burn-in more important than ever.

How QLED TVs Deliver

The source of QLED TVs’ durability lies in Samsung’s use of inorganic Quantum dots. Unlike display technologies based on organic materials, Quantum dots do not degrade over time. This allows QLED TVs to offer exceptional picture quality that not only lasts much longer than other displays, but is guaranteed to be burn-in free.

The experts at video are not the first to put Samsung’s guarantee to the test. In fact, industry-trusted TV review site Rtings.com recently conducted a stringent series of tests that measured image retention in dozens of TVs from the market’s leading brands. The pivotal portion of the tests, which reflected typical use conditions, placed colorful logos on the TVs for 10 minutes and measured how many minutes, if any, it took for the imprinted images to disappear.

Samsung’s QLED TV passed with flying colors, earning a perfect score for image quality and lack of burn-in. When subjected to the same tests, however, other displays fared far less well – succumbing to burn-in, and in doing so, further confirming QLED TV’s industry-leading durability.

What it means for Samsung

Rtings’ assessment and video’s certifications are products of Samsung’s steadfast commitment to offering consumers the very best in terms of picture quality.

As Doochan Eum, Samsung Electronics’ Vice President of Visual Display Business, explains, “Consumers simply don’t want to put up with a display that’s not built to handle how we use our TVs today. Quantum dots’ longevity and ability to express 100 percent color volume allow QLED TVs to provide a level of picture quality that will remain consistent and captivating for many years to come.”

Certified by Testlab: No Burn-in with Samsung QLED TV

Samsung QLED TVs are certified as the burn-in free TVs by video, an acclaimed German tech magazine. Conducted in conjunction with the connect Testlab, a global testing lab, all 2018 Samsung QLED TV series were proved free of burn-in and afterglow reaffirming QLED TVs’ position as one of the most durable displays on the market today.

The requirements for TV displays are made ever more demanding by technologies such as High Dynamic Range (HDR). The risk of putative burn-in is of particular concern to TV customers in the premium segment. To see if displays stand up to the exacting performance requirements, the TV experts from video and connect Testlab carried out certification test based on the Information Display Measurements Standard (IDMS), an international norm for panel measurements, and concentrated on QLED TV’s HDR content display quality.

Samsung’s QLED TVs passed the stress test and received the certificate for ꞌno burn-inꞌ and ꞌno afterglowꞌ¹. In a 72-hour endurance test, the testers performed measurements on Samsung QLED TVs to check their putative burn-in effects, which may be caused by static picture elements. These effects, also referred to as ꞌmemory effectꞌ, ꞌghostingꞌ, ꞌimage retentionꞌ, ꞌsticky imageꞌ or imprecisely as ꞌburn-inꞌ, tangibly impair the picture quality of a television.

In the case of some display technologies, memory effects will start glowing after one minute of TV use if static picture elements are shown on their screen in high luminosities. In the test, the TVs were therefore made to display a checkerboard pattern for deep black and very bright white values for longer periods of time. The test engineers added variable text elements and an intermittently blinking white frame to the test picture so that the automatic stills detection customary for modern HDR TVs could not spring into action. This helped the testers create similar conditions as in HDR games. In addition to the standard analysis, the testers used dark gray images with brightness values of 10 nits– which will show if dark pixels are brightened up.

The measurements showed that the tested Samsung QLED TVs remained unaffected by the rigorous tests. The TV can thus theoretically be left on permanently without picture elements like network logos leaving an afterglow or burning in.

Taking into account that the quality of a TV screen is strongly impaired by afterglow and burn-in – especially after emitting HDR quality pictures with extreme brightness values – Samsung QLED TV is a product of choice among many other modern TVs for those planning to invest in a high-end TV. It guarantees powerful visual capabilities without potential memory effects or permanent damage.

“Anyone who is particularly sensitive to ghost images and unwilling to run any risks over many years of use will be on the safe side with LCD or QLED, respectively,”² conclude the test experts.

¹ All test criteria can be viewed at https://www.connect-testlab.com/.

² “Technik Extrem – Hilfe, es brennt (ein)”, video, issue 8/18, p. 58. All quotes are taken from this article.

Samsung Showcases Industry-leading Advancements in 8K and MicroLED TV Technology at QLED & Advanced Displays Summit

Samsung Electronics hosted its second annual QLED & Advanced Displays Summit on June 27 and 28 at The London West Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The Summit offered insights into Samsung’s plans for quantum dot (QLED) displays, activities surrounding its full 8K ecosystem, the brand’s ambitions of bringing MicroLED technology to consumers and its efforts in integrating HDR into cinemas.

Abhijeet Solat, Samsung Display’s technical sales manager, presented the 8K market trends at QLED & Advanced Display Summit, held in Los Angeles on June 27, 2018.

“Samsung has built a reputation for its history of innovation and groundbreaking developments in the TV industry,” said Jongsuk Chu, Senior Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We’re committed to maintaining that trend by bringing advancements of 8K and MicroLED TV technology to the consumers and continuing our investment in enhancing the viewing experience.”

The QLED & Advanced Displays Summit was co-hosted by Samsung and Insight Media, an advanced display consultant focusing on the display industry. During the event, Samsung demonstrated enhancements ranging from HDR10+ mastering workflows to Automatic Color Calibration and no burn-in on its 2018 QLED TVs, showcasing its leadership in the TV display industry.

Participants, including industry experts and influencers attended to experience live demonstrations and spark dialogue about the current state and challenges of TV technologies. Above all, the QLED TV demos highlighted Samsung’s efforts in pioneering HDR capability by applying next-generation enhancements for the benefit of consumers.

The event featured a number of prominent experts in the display industry – ranging from academia experts in the MicroLED technology sector and consultants specializing in HDR cinema integration to renowned professionals in display and mastering tool industry. Speakers and influencers from the following organizations also attended to discuss TV technology-related topics that included:

8K Ecosystem: Insight Media, Panavision, Samsung Display Company, and Display Supply Chain Consultants
Quantum Dots: Palomaki Consulting, Nanosys, Nanoco, and Samsung Advanced Research Institute
Display and Mastering Tools: FF Pictures, Samsung Research America, Portrait Displays, and ColorFront
HDR Cinema: Samsung Research America, LightView, and MKPE Consulting
MicroLEDs: Fuzhou University, Samsung Electronics, Tesoro Scientific, PlayNitride, Sungkyunkwan University, JBD, Lumiode, and N-Tech Research

Martin Fishman, CEO of SpectraCal, described the Automatic Color Calibration program (left) and Florian Friedrich of FF Pictures explained the HDR10+ mastering workflows (right) at the demonstration of the summit.

For more information about Samsung’s QLED TVs and the QLED & Advanced Display Summit, including speakers and sessions, please visit: www.displaysummit.com/2018-qled-and-advanced-display-summit-at-hollywood.

About Insight Media

Insight Media is a technology consultancy focused on emerging technology in the ProAV, cinema, broadcast, consumer electronics and display industries. The company authors white papers and articles on these topics, provide technology and market assessment services and hosts events to discuss key technology trends in these market segments.

[NEXT for QLED] Part 5: Built for Endurance – Taking TV Gaming to the Next Level

At the 2018 Electronic Entertainment Expo (‘E3’) in LA this June, Samsung QLED TVs were exhibited as part of Microsoft’s Xbox booth. The 75-inch QLED TV screens caught the attention of keen gamers, with a long queue forming in order to enter the showroom. Players enjoyed an unparalleled 4K HDR gaming experience, featuring stunning graphics and quick response times, with the QLED.

Samsung’s 2018 QLED TVs have evolved to merit the title of the ‘monster’ of the gaming industry. They offer gamers a low input lag of no more than 15ms (0.015 seconds), a rich viewing experience achieved by 100% color volume and High Dynamic Range (HDR) 2000, and Radeon FreeSync for the seamless playing of even the most demanding games.

Fighting Input Lag in FPS Games

Input lag can be a critical issue for those players who want to enjoy fast-paced games like first-person shooters (FPS) or fighting games. Input lag, or input latency, is the delay between the TV or monitor receiving a signal and it being displayed on the screen, or the delay between pressing a controller button and seeing the game react. It is important in gaming because even a 0.01 second reaction difference can determine the difference between a winning and losing move in an FPS game.

Samsung’s QLED TVs have input lag reduced to 15ms (1ms = 0.001 seconds), faster than conventional TVs which have a 20-30ms lag on average. Gamers can fully immerse themselves in games on their QLED TVs with minimal lag. QLED TV’s Auto Game Mode also changes features including response speed for game optimization. When users start a game on a console such as Xbox, the TV automatically recognizes the game and sets the correct game-related settings.

Optimized Picture Quality for Immersive Gaming

Today’s games are characterized by feature film-quality storylines, cinematography and graphics. Game characters and avatars are becoming more and more lifelike, as are the landscapes around them, often offered in full 360-degree rotation to the player for the most immersive experience possible.

In order to deliver this virtual realism to gamers, game platforms feature the latest in color, contrast and imaging technology, as well as 144Hz refresh rates for high frame-rate gaming. Samsung’s 2018 QLED TVs are the first in the TV industry to use Radeon FreeSync in collaboration with global graphics card maker AMD. Radeon FreeSync puts an end to choppy gameplay and broken frames, bringing smooth gaming and the fluidity of gaming monitors to the big screen.

With the Samsung QLED TV, gamers can experience the cutting-edge display performance they are used to. The QLED TVs feature HDR10+ for crisp and detailed images, as well as 100% color volume for greater image depth in both the day and nighttime, at any brightness level. Samsung’s Anti-reflection technology is another bonus for reducing eye strain and optimizing gameplay.

Enjoy Over 15,000 PC games with Steam on TVs

As well as their favorite console games, users can also play Steam games on their QLED TV. Steam is an online game platform with over 120 million users globally.

In order for QLED users to enjoy the full offering of the Steam platform, all they need to do is head to the Samsung Smart Hub and download the free Steam Link app. No supplementary hardware is necessary for users to be able to access the 15,000+ games offered by Steam on the large-inch QLED screen.

In addition, gamers don’t need to bother with changing the settings on their QLED TV in order to access their favorite console games. Just turn on Auto Game Mode and start your console.

No Screen Burn-In, Guaranteed

TV screens suffer from performance decline over time, with static images and fixed interfaces leading to image retention and consequently the burn-in issue. With Samsung QLED TVs, however, you no longer need to worry about burn-in.

Rtings, an industry-trusted US TV Reviewer, ran a test for permanent image retention. Different kinds of TVs were kept on for 10 minutes, running a test pattern in a loop. The 2017 QLED TV scored 10/10 for image quality and lack of burn-in, while some screens achieved a mere 5/10.

The durability of the QLED TV screen is due to groundbreaking Quantum Dot technology. Quantum dots are made of inorganic materials, which translates to longer-lasting displays that do not develop the burn-in issue. Displaying the same image or scene for long periods of time will not leave unpleasant ghost images on your QLED TV, enhancing the gaming experience.

“Today’s TVs are like all-round players. More and more, people are enjoying everything on TV such as games, the internet, or smart functions provided by IoT,” said Jongsuk Chu, Senior Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “The huge-screen QLED TV with best performance and durability will take the gaming experience to the next level.”

[Infographic] Discover Samsung’s Onyx Cinema LED Screen around the World

Ever since its first installation at the Lotte Cinema World Tower in Seoul, Samsung Electronics’ Onyx Cinema LED screen has expanded to regions across the world – specifically, twelve movie theaters in nine countries worldwide to-date, as shown in the graphic below. Most recently, Onyx was installed in Hong Kong and Malaysia – to deliver an extraordinary cinematic experience to even more movie lovers, with a number of additional orders currently in the pipeline.

Now in Malaysia and Hong Kong – Onyx screens installed all across Asia

This year, Samsung announced partnerships with two of Asia’s largest cinema circuits – Hong Kong’s MCL Cinemas and Malaysia’s Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) – to install the Onyx Cinema LED screen. Earlier this month, on June 7, Onyx officially opened at the MOVIE TOWN theater of MCL Cinemas, which has a total of nine prime cinema sites and 48 screens in the Hong Kong region, as well as the GSC group’s Mid Valley Megamall cinema in Malaysia.

In addition this month, Samsung and global cinema companies including INOX and PVR Cinemas of India kicked-off plans to create Onyx theaters in their respective regions to bring the world’s audiences a better movie experience.

Rapid adoption driven by superior cinema experience

Samsung Onyx has quickly caught on in popularity, with its features that take the cinema experience to the next level. For example, Samsung Onyx’ backlit screen helps bring out a screen’s true colors providing imagery depiction, crisp and free from distortion. Onyx’ High Dynamic Range (HDR) picture refinement and infinite contrast and brightness technologies also add-in to enable sharper presentations, and Samsung’s Audio Lab and JBL by Harman have cooperated to develop the Cinema LED screen’s innovative audio technology that expands audio range throughout theater seating areas.

Hong Kong’s MCL Cinemas (left) and Malaysia’s Golden Screen Cinemas (right)

[NEXT for QLED] Part 2: Making the Difference in the Ultra-Definition TV Era

As screens get bigger, the quality of the picture on the screen becomes more important. Big screen TVs are the main source of growth in an otherwise flat market. And with big screens comes higher resolutions.

No matter how big the TV screen is, if it doesn’t have the necessary picture quality, users won’t be able to realize the power of the screen. That’s why large-sized TV has inevitably led to the increase in demand for Ultra High Definition (UHD). UHD is a 4K (3,840X2,160) picture quality, which is applied to TVs that measure over 65 inches. The technology is about to take yet another step up as 8K (7,680X4,320) TVs are ready to be commercialized.

But this is an era whereby even the number of pixels isn’t enough in isolation. To produce the best picture quality possible, it’s also important to consider the environment this content will be viewed in and the quality of the original content itself. The paradigm is shifting and it’s vital that all considerations are taken into account to produce an experience that everyone will enjoy.

UHD TV Beyond FHD TV

Worldwide UHD TV sales surpassed FHD (Full High Definition) TV for the first time last year, according to market researcher IHS Markit. It is expected to ship more than 100 million units this year, which is about 45% of the total TV market. In 2022, the proportion of UHD TV is expected to reach 60%.

Samsung UHD TV sales volume is also on the rise. Sales of Samsung UHD TVs in the fourth quarter of last year already exceeded 50% of the total Samsung TV units sold globally. In the first quarter of this year, Samsung UHD TV sales also increased by more than 35% compared to the same period last year.

What is the Standard for Ultra-High-Definition?

In the ultra-high-definition TV market era, standards for judging picture quality are further developing. For example, is a TV able to reproduce colors with real-life brightness, particularly when the normal TV viewing environment is brighter than many would expect? According to the DOE survey, consumers in the U.S. and Europe usually watch TV in a bright environment with an average home illuminance level of 79 lux. Can a TV react and provide an accurate picture in these, and other common viewing use cases?

Experts advise consumers to look beyond the high resolution to see the different factors that cause the difference in brightness, contrast, and content when consumers watch TV. The way consumers view TV and the way experts gauge a TV’s ability to deliver is much more sophisticated than it ever has been. The TV needs to be more versatile because it’s used to do more things. That means Samsung has to be stringent to make sure its QLED products perform not just according to the specifications but also according to real life usage.

Blacks and Colors Transformed

A new criterion for picture quality is color volume, which can measure minute color changes, three-dimensionally, according to varying degrees of brightness. Recently, Verband Deutscher Electrotechnischer (VDE), a well-regarded certification institution in Germany established in 1893, certified QLED TV for 100% color volume for two consecutive years, which is the world’s first and only time a TV has received such a distinction.

QLED TV, based on the metal quantum dot technology, can accurately represent detailed colors that can be hidden from dark or bright images. Brightness can be expressed up to 2,000 knits, which is 3 to 4 times that of conventional TVs, giving a more vivid look to scenes such as sunlight reflecting texture and white snowy landscapes.

Indeed, this year’s Samsung QLED TVs achieves the highest level of contrast ratio by improving the quality of blacks on-screen while maintaining brightness. To create an even more stunning contrast ratio, the TVs feature new Direct Full Array technology, which puts backlit LEDs behind the panel for precise brightness control. By making the LED blocks more than ten times the number of conventional TVs, the light can be adjusted individually to create a subtler difference in black colors. Moreover, it applies the black algorithm that perceives and precisely adjusts black colors, successfully delivering the original detail even in particularly dark scenes.

When watching a dark scene in a bright environment, the reflection of objects around the screen can cause discomfort. QLED TV solved this problem by using Anti-reflection technology. Even under daylight or bright lighting, an anti-reflective screen dramatically reduces glare, allowing one to be more immersed in images regardless of the surroundings.

Along with this, Samsung is also working to expand the ecosystem to upgrade HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology, which is an integral function of ultra-definition TV. Since last year, Samsung has been developing HDR10+, which is one step more advanced than HDR10, a standard for realizing HDR video. HDR10+ is a technology that shows optimal contrast ratio for each scene through ‘Dynamic Tone Mapping’ technique which applies different contrast to each scene. The company is expanding its HDR10+ content in cooperation with global companies such as Amazon, 20^th Century Fox, Panasonic and Warner Bros.

AI Upscaling the Content

High quality content is as important as the ultra-high definition TV specification.

Many of the most recognizable names in video content such as Netflix, YouTube and various cable companies already provide UHD content. However, due to the burden of production cost, consumers are not able to enjoy 4K UHD broadcasting content on TV unrestrictedly yet.

The problem here is that if low-quality content is shown on a big screen, the pixels are usually enlarged artificially, causing the picture to shake or lose clarity. Samsung Electronics has solved this problem by installing the ‘4K Q Engine’ based on semiconductor technology on its QLED TV.

‘4K Q Engine’ is a technology that upgrades SD (400,000 pixels) and FHD (2 million pixels) class image to 4K (8 million pixels) class. Based on artificial intelligence, it applies a 5-step algorithm (Image Signal Analysis ▷ Noise Reduction ▷ Improved 1st Detail ▷ 4K Upscaling ▷ Improved 2nd Detail) to improve image quality and express hidden details. In actual comparison, in the FHD image, the part where the light in the night view of the city is clearly separated by the ‘4K Q Engine’.

What’s more, 8K AI Technology will be introduced in the latter half of the year and will offer an even better picture and sound expression.

QLED TV’s dramatically improved picture quality this year has been widely praised by many media outlets including Tech Radar, What Hi-Fi, and AVS Forum. Trusted Reviews gave Samsung’s QLED the Highly Recommended mark and said: “The Samsung QE65Q9FN is the most impressive TV I’ve reviewed in years. It effectively combines the strong brightness and colour of Quantum Dot LED (QLED) with the deep blacks and almost the lighting precision of OLED. That’s a huge deal in a world where you generally choose one or the other.”

“As TVs gradually get larger in size and the competition for premium picture quality becomes fiercer, detailed and subtle image rendering performance is growing in importance,” said Doochan Eum, Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “With Samsung QLED TV’s enhanced brightness, contrast, content, we are continuing to provide consumers with a superb immersive viewing experience.”

[Infographic] Samsung Onyx Cinema LED Screen: the Next Generation of Cinema

For over 120 years, beginning with the earliest models invented in the late 19^th century, the film projector has been the steadfast medium of cinema display. Last year marked a new chapter in cinema history, as Samsung’s world-first Cinema LED screen was unveiled, ushering in the next generation of movie theater technology. The sensation of watching a movie on the backlit Cinema LED screen – with its High Dynamic Range (HDR) picture quality and infinite contrast ratio – is unlike anything experienced before and the screen has been installed in different cinemas around the world.

Now, with increasing interest in the technology from movie experts and enthusiasts, Samsung has announced the launch of Samsung Onyx Cinema LED, a comprehensive cinema screen and sound solution for movie theaters.

Inspired by the gemstone of the same name, the Samsung Onyx brand is an allusion to the Cinema LED screen’s true black colors, offering the audience a detail-rich and vivid cinema experience. Samsung Onyx invites movie-goers to experience a next-level viewing environment with the comprehensive solutions, Onyx VIEW, Onyx 3D and Onyx SOUND. As Samsung Onyx is unaffected by ambient light, Onyx VIEW upholds consistent and distortion-free picture quality that keeps audiences engaged and furthers realism. Featuring high brightness and picture quality, Onyx 3D takes realism to the screen and offers an immersive 3D experience. With support from JBL by Harman Professional’s sculpted surround sound system, Onyx SOUND expands the audio sweet spot within a given theater. When combined with Samsung’s proprietary technology, the result is sound optimized and perfectly-tuned to fit LED screen.

Check out the infographic below for more details on the industry-first cinematic experience.

Samsung Redefines the Movie Theater Experience with the New Onyx Cinema LED Screen

Just one year after offering CinemaCon attendees a first look at its initial Cinema LED screen, Samsung Electronics will officially launch its new Onyx brand at this year’s event. All venues featuring Samsung’s enhanced screen will operate under the “Samsung Onyx Theater” name moving forward.

Inspired by the gemstone of the same name, the Samsung Onyx brand alludes to the display’s ability to showcase cinema content with true, deep and realistic black colors. Combining an infinite contrast ratio and specialized low-tone grayscale settings, this pinpoint representation produces brighter and more detail-rich content.

“By aligning brilliant, uniform color presentation with LED picture quality and crystal-clear audio, the Samsung Onyx screen invites movie enthusiasts into the most immersive and memorable viewing arena available and repositions the theater as an entertainment haven,” said Seog-gi Kim, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are thrilled to deliver a new and exciting theater experience to operators, managers and consumers around the world, and we look forward to working further with leading decision-makers in the movie industry to usher in the next generation of cinema.”

The Next Generation of Cinema

Available in variations extending between 5 and 10.3 meters (16.4-33.8 ft.) in width, the Samsung Onyx display accommodates any venue configuration while delivering visual quality, technical performance and reliability beyond that of traditional projector-based operations. With the 4K model earning validation as the world’s first Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI)-certified theater display, the Samsung Onyx translates the combination of advanced LED and High Dynamic Range (HDR) picture quality to lifelike big screen content.

CinemaCon 2018 attendees also will be among the first to experience the Samsung Onyx’s powerful multi-sensory viewing environment. Each Samsung Onyx screen features state-of-the-art surround sound from HARMAN International, bringing scenes to life through clear and consistent audio. This integration eliminates rearward bias by expanding the audio “sweet spot” within Onyx theaters, and ensures that all attendees can enjoy the same presentation regardless of seat location.

Samsung will also preview the Onyx’s ready-made sequel at CinemaCon 2018. The 3D Onyx Cinema LED screen makes 3D movie content more realistic through enhanced brightness and consistent color amplification. Glass-wearing viewers can now enjoy subtitle text, images and even minor visual details with unprecedented clarity, and without the dark, blurry shadowing and potential dizziness that can occur in traditional 3D movie theaters.

Expanding Presence through Worldwide Partnerships

The Onyx’s debut at CinemaCon 2018 comes as Samsung continues to expand its presence among global cinema operators and audiences. Last week, Samsung and partner Moving Image Tech (MIT) opened the first U.S. Onyx theater at Hollywood’s Pacific Theatres Winnetka w/XD. Samsung also recently announced partnerships with Golden Screen Cinemas – the largest cinema company in Malaysia, with 35 venues and 328 screens throughout the nation – and Cineplexx Cinemas – the largest cinema company in Austria, with 171 screens nationwide – to bring the Onyx screen to movie-goers in each country. The first locally revamped Samsung Onyx theaters are expected to open in Kuala Lumpur and Vienna, respectively, later this year.

“As the heart of the American film industry, Hollywood is an appropriate and symbolic location to introduce a game-changing technology in the Samsung Onyx for movie producers and consumers,” said Ron Gazzola, SVP, Sales and Marketing, IT B2B Division at Samsung Electronics America. “We are excited to revolutionize the cinema experience, and look forward to sharing the Samsung Onyx with even wider audiences both in the U.S. and throughout the world.”

As more theaters upgrade to the Onyx screen, Samsung is working with cinema content developers to ensure that the display can optimize upcoming films. Samsung will collaborate with leading cinema technology services provider Ymagis Group and its Eclair content development business unit to deliver EclairColor^® HDR-compliant pictures that shine on the Onyx screen. CinemaCon 2018 attendees will get a sneak peek at the benefits of this alliance, as Samsung will unveil EclairColor-enhanced visuals on its next-generation display. Samsung additionally has forged a partnership with Hollywood-based post-production company Roundabout to develop specialized Onyx-ready HDR content.

“Today’s movies feature the most sophisticated production and advanced graphics ever, and producers and directors need powerful theater technology to showcase their works as intended and at optimal quality,” said Jean Mizrahi, president and co-founder of Ymagis Group. “We anticipate dynamic and powerful cinema displays like the Onyx becoming the accepted industry standard in the coming years, and we are honored to partner with Samsung to drive change throughout the industry and ultimately improve the content experience for cinema-goers everywhere.”

At CinemaCon, Samsung will additionally highlight its partnerships with production equipment businesses, such as the new research and development initiative performed in conjunction with Arnold & Richter Cine Technik (ARRI), a Munich-based designer and manufacturer of specialized motion picture camera and lighting systems, to create Onyx-optimized content. Samsung is also collaborating with GDC Technology, a leading global provider of end-to-end digital cinema solutions, to develop Onyx-compatible cinema servers.

Taking place April 23-26, 2018 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, CinemaCon is the official convention of the National Association of Theater Owners with participants from more than 80 countries expected to attend.

For more information about Samsung Onyx, visit: https://displaysolutions.samsung.com/led-signage/onyx.

World’s First! Introducing the Ultimate 3-Dimensional Experience, ‘3D Cinema LED’

A 3D version of the Cinema LED Screen has been unveiled to the world. Samsung Electronics formally debuted its latest product at ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) 2018, the largest commercial display exhibition in Europe, which began on February 6 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This is the second time that Samsung showcased a ‘first of its kind’ screen after its first-ever Cinema LED that made its first appearance last March.

Samsung Cinema LED Screen has been acclaimed for overcoming the limitations of existing film projectors in theaters. Viewers have praised the screen for making them feel as if they are watching a 3D film, with its crystal-clear 4K (4,096 x 2,160) resolution picture quality, infinite ‘true black’ HDR, and non-distorted visual imagery.

In less than a year, Samsung turned the viewers’ ‘feeling’ of watching a 3D film into a reality. The true 3D technology was incorporated into the Cinema LED Screen, which gives the ultimate 3- dimensional experience by utilizing the brightness and quality of Cinema LED as it is. Samsung Newsroom met with Dongsoo Koo, from Samsung Visual Display Division’s Enterprise Product Planning Group, who participated in the whole process of bringing the 3D Cinema LED into the world.

Dongsoo Koo, from Samsung’s Enterprise Product Planning Group

Long History of 3D Films that Began from the ‘Binocular Disparity’

“It is the movie ‘Avatar,’ the box office hit of 2009, that usually comes into people’s minds when thinking of 3D movies. However, 3D technology already existed in the 1890s. In fact, it was in 1832 when the physicist Charles Wheatstone first discovered the principle of 3D, which makes it a more than 180-year-old technology. During the 1950s, about 40 3D films were produced in Hollywood.”

The principle of a 3D video is quite simple. There’s a gap between our two eyes, the 65mm disparity between the right and left eye. This ‘binocular disparity’ adds three-dimensional sense to the visual information that our eyes receive. The mechanism of a 3D video is essentially the same. 3D cameras are mounted with two different lenses. For the visual information taken with the two lenses of a 3D camera to be delivered to our two eyes, there should be two screens, too. But since only one screen can be installed, we need a technology to realize 3D video on that screen. Halving the scanline¹ to deliver the video to our two eyes respectively can be one way or making the two videos intersect with each other at an extremely high speed can be another.

To get a three-dimensional sense, you need separate visuals for each of the left and right eyes and realize the two scenes on a single screen.

Catching Both Birds: Brightness and Resolution

Likewise, there are various ways of realizing 3D on a screen. However, the number one priority in 3D Cinema LED development was that no matter which method is adopted, the best level resolution of Cinema LED Screen should be maintained. This was what kept Samsung up at night.

“The existing 3D cinemas had to compromise between brightness and resolution. The screen is dark as if the viewers are wearing sunglasses in the theater. The brightness is already halved, and with the 3D glasses that audience must wear, it becomes a one-third level compared to other 2D films. The resolution is halved too. It is inevitable as the videos for the left and right eye are overlapped and reflected.”

The evident limitation for existing 3D theater clearly revealed the path for 3D Cinema LED. “The brighter the visual information is, the more our eyes receive the three-dimensional impression. Therefore, we had to develop a new product that delivers the same brightness of Cinema LED, even while wearing the 3D glasses. We also could not sacrifice the resolution. It’s clear that lower resolution equals a lower sense of reality.”

It was not an easy goal. But Samsung’s know-how on 3D TV and the knowledge of Cinema LED created the synergy for the company to overcome the limitation on brightness and resolution of the existing 3D movie theaters’. 3D Cinema LED’s full and precise color refuses comparison any premium movie theaters.

Less Dizziness in 3D Film Experience

3D technology makes movies to be more immersive, but it can also cause inconveniences such as dizziness and headaches. The 3D Cinema LED screen has significantly improved dizziness that specifically involves 3D.

There are two reasons for the dizziness. The dizziness from the content itself occurs due to the mismatch between the reality and what our brain recognizes. That is, our body is sitting still but our brain thinks the body is moving. In addition, when we stare at a certain screen for more than two hours in a dark room, it is natural to develop a headache.

However, Koo proudly told that 3D Cinema LED has no degrading of brightness and improves the display-related dizziness by eliminating many of the triggering factors except those coming from the content itself. Therefore, the viewers experience less dizziness. “The left video should be seen only by the left eye and the right video only by the right eye. But there are moments when our eyes receive overlapped imagery. This is called ‘crosstalk,’ and the repetition of crosswalk causes the dizziness and headache. Fortunately, our developers came up with an algorithm for 3D Cinema LED to completely get rid of any crosstalk from happening, therefore dealing with the dizziness and headache issues.”

Mr. Koo (right) from Enterprise Product Planning Group and Sandy Kim (left) of Enterprise Marketing Group are introducing the advantages of 3D Cinema LED, which can be enjoyed with the highest picture quality without dizziness.

Less Distortion, No Matter Where You Sit in the Theater

The 3D Cinema LED has the same viewing angle as the Cinema LED. The 3D Cinema LED provides the opportunity to enjoy the film with less distortion no matter where the viewer is seated, just like the Cinema LED did. “When watching in the conventional 3D theater, the image becomes darker or distorted as people go to the edge of the theater, but 3D Cinema LED has significantly improved the problem.”

For theaters to be a space that continuously delivers new experiences, the 3D Cinema LED is expected to play a bigger role. “People say ‘Seeing is Believing.’ One might not believe until seeing something, but once seeing it, there’s no denial. I think this applies to 3D Cinema LED, too. Before experiencing it, some might doubt whether there is an actual difference. But once they experience the new technology of ours, people will believe and understand that it is totally different. This year’s ISE will be the first moment of that unique experience,” said Koo, adding that soon people will be able to enjoy the ultimate 3-dimensional experience through 3D Cinema LED Screen.

While nothing can compare to actually being there, this video captured the 3D cinema LED screen over 3D glasses. The film is a trailer for “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”.

¹ a line or a row of pixels from a television screen

20th Century Fox, Panasonic and Samsung Gain Momentum for Best Possible TV-Viewing Experience with HDR10+ Technology

20^th Century Fox, Panasonic Corporation and Samsung Electronics today announced updates to the associated certification and logo program for the open, royalty-free dynamic metadata platform for High Dynamic Range (HDR), called HDR10+ which they initially announced last year at IFA.

The HDR10+ platform will soon be made available to content companies, ultra-high definition TVs, Blu-ray disc players/recorders and set-top box manufacturers, as well as SoC vendors, royalty-free with only a nominal administrative fee. Companies can view the new logo, learn about the license program including final specifications, adopter agreements and sign up to receive a notification when technical specifications for HDR10+ become available at http://www.hdr10plus.org. In addition, Ultra HD Blu-ray metadata generation tools have been developed with third parties and will soon be available for content creators enabling Ultra HD Blu-ray players to enter the market. Details on the content transfer and interface format for the content creation pipeline will also be released shortly.

HDR10+ will offer a genuinely premium HDR experience for viewers through a device certification program ensuring an accurate representation of the creative intent expressed in the content. Also, its workflow improvements for creators will encourage increased production of premium HDR content.

The HDR10+ license program will provide interested companies with the necessary technical and testing specifications to implement HDR10+ technology in a way that both maintains high picture quality and gives each manufacturer the ability to apply dynamic tone mapping innovatively. The accompanying certification program will ensure that HDR10+ compliant products meet good picture quality and deliver the creative intent of movie directors and cinematographers. A certified product will feature the HDR10+ logo, which signifies the product’s excellent picture quality.

Key aspects of the license program will include:

Benefits for device manufacturers (e.g., TV, Ultra HD Blu-ray, OTT STB, etc.), content distribution services providers, SoC manufacturers, content publishers, and content creation tool providers.
No per unit royalty.
A nominal annual administration fee for device manufacturers, SoC manufacturers and content distribution service providers.
Technical specification, test specification, HDR10+ logo/logo guide, patents from the three companies directly related to the technical specification and the test specification.
Certification for devices will be performed by a third-party, authorized testing center.

Once the HDR10+ license program is open, the three founding companies will incorporate HDR10+ technologies in all future Ultra HD movie releases, selected TVs, Ultra HD Blu-ray player/recorders, and other products.

“It was important for us to create an open system that is flexible and offers a viewing experience much closer to the filmmaker’s creative intent for the film,” said Danny Kaye, Executive Vice President of 20^th Century Fox, and Managing Director of the Fox Innovation Lab. “Together with Samsung and Panasonic, we aim to standardize the licensing process making it easy for partners, including content creators, television and device manufacturers, to incorporate this technology and improve the viewing experience for all audiences.”

Support continues to grow for HDR10+ and companies are looking forward to applying the 3C specifications and certification program. More than 25 companies spanning many different industries have expressed strong interest in supporting the HDR10+ platform, further reinforcing its path to success.

Amazon Prime Video, the first streaming service provider to deliver HDR10+, has made the entire Prime Video HDR library available in HDR10+ globally. The Prime Video HDR10+ catalog includes hundreds of hours of content such as Prime Originals The Grand Tour, Golden Globe®-nominated The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Jean-Claude Van Johnson, The Tick and The Man in the High Castle plus hundreds of licensed titles.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will support HDR10+ to enable a dynamic metadata solution for Warner Bros. content to Samsung, Panasonic and other HDR10+ capable 4K HDR TVs. “Warner Bros. has always strived to provide the best next gen home entertainment experience to consumers,” said Jim Wuthrich, President of the Americas and Global Strategy, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. “With HDR10+ dynamic metadata, WB can continue to more accurately bring the filmmakers’ vision of our 2018 releases and our vast catalog of over seventy-five 4K HDR titles to the home across a broad range of HDR10+ capable TV’s.”

The new HDR10+ technology optimizes picture quality for next generation displays by using dynamic tone mapping to reflect frame to frame or scene to scene variations in brightness, color saturation, and contrast, which makes for an enhanced viewing experience. HDR10+ technology optimizes the performance of many 4K ultra-high definition TVs, enabling playback on a wide range of next generation TVs bringing user experience much closer to the original creative intent for Hollywood films.

“By bringing together know-how and technology from the three founding companies, HDR10+ has the potential to deliver considerable picture quality benefits to both viewers and creators alike,” said Toshiharu Tsutsui, Director of Panasonic’s TV Business Division. “Accordingly, Panasonic anticipates wide support for HDR10+.”

“Samsung is committed to technological innovation across our TVs and HDR10+ represents an evolution in display quality for the best possible viewing experience,” said Jongsuk Chu, Senior Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We have also designed the HDR10+ platform to encourage future development in order to deliver further enhanced technology in the years to come.”

20^th Century Fox, Panasonic and Samsung will show technical demonstrations of HDR10+ technology at CES 2018. Accredited journalists or parties interested in the licensee program may email chris.bess@fox.com for more information. Accredited journalists can see Panasonic’s HDR10+ technical demo at its suite at the MGM Grand Conference Centre. A HDR10+ technology demo will be held at Samsung’s First Look event at Enclave Las Vegas on 7^th January.

To learn more about the HDR10+ license program, please contact the HDR10+ license administration office at info@hdr10plus.org.

About Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is the industry leading worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox produced, acquired and third-party partner film and television programming. Each year TCFHE expands its award-winning global product portfolio with the introduction of new entertainment content through established and emerging formats including DVD, Blu-ray, Digital and VOD. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is a subsidiary of 20^th Century Fox, a 20^th Century Fox Company.

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development of diverse electronics technologies and solutions for customers in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, and B2B businesses. Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2018, the company has expanded globally and now operates 495 subsidiaries and 91 associated companies worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of 7.343 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2017. Committed to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better world for its customers. To learn more about Panasonic: http://www.panasonic.com/global.

“The Best Possible Representation” ARRI’s Executive Board Members Discuss Samsung Cinema LED Screen

On November 20, two special guests visited Samsung’s Cinema LED screen at the Super-S Theater in Lotte World Tower, Seoul. On a short visit to Korea, Franz Kraus and Dr. Joerg Pohlman came from Germany to acquaint themselves with Samsung’s new cinema screen technology first-hand. The pair make up the Executive Board of Arnold & Richter Cine Technik (ARRI Group) – a leading designer and manufacturer of camera systems and lights for the motion picture media industry. Founded in 1917 in Germany, ARRI now has subsidiaries across the globe, and every year several hundred feature films are shot with ARRI cameras.

Samsung Newsroom sat down with Kraus and Pohlman to discuss their initial reactions to the screen.

ARRI’s Executive Board, Franz Kraus and Dr. Joerg Pohlman, in front of the Samsung LED Screen

“I have waited for four months to see the Cinema LED screen”

The Cinema LED screen is the world’s first LED screen designed to replace conventional projectors in cinemas. The new screen, which has overcome limits in brightness and a light-to-shade ratio, supports 4K resolution and high dynamic range (HDR), thus producing clear and vivid color. In addition, directly beamed LED light sources prevent color distortions, giving fuller realization to what directors originally intended to express. The innovative screen installed with JBL sound systems of Harmon Kardon provides viewers with a whole new level of audio experience.

Film technology is constantly developing in the digital era. However, film screening is still based on projection, which has served as an obstacle in realizing true and lifelike high-quality resolution. Against this backdrop, the arrival of a Cinema LED screen was a breath of fresh air for the ARRI Executive Board.

ARRI’s Executive Board member, Franz Kraus, recalled the moment when he first heard the news about the Cinema LED screen, saying, “I read the news and I thought: I must go to see it.” At last, four months later, he arrived in Seoul to witness the effects of Cinema LED for himself.

Before the lights were turned off and the Cinema LED screen was turned on, Kraus expressed high expectations for the LED screen, saying, “I expect to see images superior to the best projection system available today in respect to contrast, color rendition, peak brightness, and reproduction of fine detail. I am curious about the local audio resolution as the LED screen doesn’t allow for the usual setup of three or five speakers behind the screen.”

Reviews of the Satisfaction with New Cinema Technology

The pair watched an ARRI show reel which had been remastered for the Cinema LED Screen. Pohlman, Executive Board member at ARRI, admired Samsung’s technology, saying: “Samsung is a pioneer with this technology. For us, it’s always about bringing technology one step further.”

“When you look at movie theaters, I think one of the challenges for them will be to keep up with the development of TV screens. With the advent of HDR, there’s a lot more that can be seen and, in the future, our visual impressions are going to be different from now. It’s about taking time to make sure that theaters in the future will be of a very high quality, so that people will want to watch movies in them.”

“I think LED is showing the right way and certainly you can see a lot more on an LED screen. There’s a lot of detail, it’s very rich in color. Of course, with the blacks there’s the contrast, so it’s a very interesting technology. It’s great that Samsung is moving technology forward.”

The Cinema LED screen boasts an advantage that viewers experience no distortion in images and sound, wherever in the theater they choose to sit. After confirming this for himself by moving from seat to seat in the theater, Kraus expressed full satisfaction with the technology.

Leading Desirable Change in the Film Industry

Since the people of ARRI are creators themselves, this new way to display has certainly piqued the Executive Board’s interest. The two also gave their opinion about the future impact of the Cinema LED screen on the film industry, and on cameras and lighting specifically.

“One of the very simple things that we were looking for was if you would be able to see the seams or any fixed pattern structure from the individual panels,” Joerg Pohlman remarked. “And you really could not see them. I thought it was extremely impressive. The interesting question is whether and how the creatives in our industry will manage to create images that utilize the full capabilities of the LED screen, delivering life-like images in the cinema.”

Franz Kraus added: “Of the images from the ARRI demo reel we watched, some of them worked very well. What I really liked was that the images looked very good, both in SDR as well as in HDR (with ten times the peak brightness). The amount of detail in the darker parts of the image was just marvelous. Even when I strained my eyes, I could not see any trace of technical evidence and the images looked very cinematic.”

Throughout their history, conventional projection systems have been faced with limitations in fully expressing clear and lifelike images. These limits have now been overcome with the emergence of the Cinema LED screen. The Cinema LED screen has become a “must see” for film makers and moviegoers who are seeking a whole new experience in image and sound.

Samsung Cinema LED: Cinema Technology of the Future Makes Its Way to Europe

Earlier this year at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Samsung presented the world’s first Cinema LED screen for the film and cinema industry to wide anticipation. The debut was followed by installation of the world’s first commercial Cinema LED screen at Lotte Cinema World Tower in Seoul, Korea in July, and recently in October at the Paragon Cineplex Theatre in Bangkok, Thailand.

With an area of 10.24 x 5.4 meters, Samsung Cinema LED is able to depict current blockbusters in impressive full 4K resolution (4,096 x 2,160 pixels), and with High Dynamic Resolution (HDR), deliver a more captivating and vibrant viewing experience through next-generation picture quality. Samsung Cinema LED screen illuminates its vast display area through use of around 8.8 million LEDs, as well as immerses audiences in true-to-life audio utilizing technology developed in partnership between HARMAN Professional Solutions and Samsung Audio Lab.

With industry professionals and audiences around the world praising their initial experiences with Samsung Cinema LED screen, the innovative cinema technology is now making its way to Europe.

In collaboration with the Arena Cinemas and Imaculix AG, Samsung is currently building Europe’s first Cinema LED screen at the Arena Cinema Sihlcity in Zurich, Switzerland. With launch scheduled, the anticipation and vision for the new theatre concept is groundbreaking.

Edi Stöckli, owner of the Arena Cinemas explained, “Based on elimination of the projector beam and the high luminosity of Samsung Cinema LED screen, there are a host of new possibilities for interior design, and we are entirely removing the existing furnishings, and implementing an innovative seating concept to provide audiences with a totally new kind of cinematic experience.”

Samsung Cinema LED screen will allow creation of a solid black wall thanks to seamless installation and high-precision calibration. The ‘true black’ will make the movie theater pitch dark, and the 4K resolution, able to project the two usual cinema formats of flat and scope, will get rid of distracting dark gray stripes, long a pain point of traditional projectors. Thanks to LED technology, luminosity of the wall will be 10 times brighter than with conventional projectors, achieving intensity of up to 146-foot lambert or 500nit. Cinema LED’s HDR functionally also helps deliver full color brilliance and contrast even in the brightest or darkest of scenes, and the screen also provides significantly reduced energy consumption as compared to conventional projectors.

“At Samsung, our aim in advancing technological progress is to make life easier for people and enrich their lives,” said Daniel Périsset, Head of IT business at Samsung Electronics. “We have once again succeeded in doing this with the new Cinema LED screen, and are actively planning for expansion of the screens in theatres next year.”

In addition to Switzerland, Samsung continues to expand installation of its Cinema LED screen around the world including the USA during 2018.

6 Features to Consider Before Buying Your Next Premium TV

The holiday season is just around the corner, and many shoppers will be placing a premium TV on the top of their wish list. When it comes to buying a new TV, consumers have traditionally focused on two key points: how big it is, and how much it costs. These days, however, we’re seeing increasing demand for UHD-quality TVs as consumers gain a better understanding of the features that really matter when it comes to increasing immersion.

With that in mind, here’s a handy rundown of features to consider before buying your next TV.

1. Color Volume

What it is: A standard for evaluating a TV’s ability to produce accurate colors at all luminance levels. The higher the color volume, the better the TV will be at expressing vivid, accurate colors.

Why it matters: Manufacturers in the fiercely competitive TV industry are constantly exploring ways to deliver standout picture quality. The color volume measurement emerged as a way to evaluate a UHD (or 4K) TV’s ability to produce immersive viewing experiences, focusing on how the TV performs under various lighting conditions. Color volume matters because if a depicted image exceeds a TV’s peak luminance, it may appear washed out or faded, and the quality of the viewing experience suffers.

How Samsung’s innovating with it: Samsung’s QLED TVs, which feature a peak brightness of 1,500 to 2,000 nits, are the first displays to reaches 100 percent color volume. This means that in typical viewing environments, the TVs produce brighter and deeper colors that allow content to be displayed in the manner that producers intended. In addition, QLED TV’s screen-coating technology reduces reflection by 98.5 percent, providing a more comfortable viewing experience even under strong sunlight or lighting.

2. HDR

What it is: HDR, or “high dynamic range” technology adds more color, brightness and contrast to content displayed on standard HD or UHD TVs.

Why it matters: HDR was introduced to provide whiter whites, blacker blacks, and colors that are more detailed and true-to-life. The difference between HDR and the preceding SDR (standard dynamic range) standard is night and day, as HDR allows details that might be lost in shadows or glare when depicted on an SDR TV to truly stand out.

How Samsung’s innovating with it: QLED TVs come with support for the new open standard for HDR video, HDR10+. HDR10+ adds more dynamic range (the ratio of light and dark) to images to deliver greater contrast and more vibrant colors, and allows images to be enhanced on a scene-by-scene basis. The results are lifelike visuals that portray content precisely as the producer intended.

3. Refresh Rate

What it is: A TV’s refresh rate, expressed in hertz (Hz), is the number of times that an image on the screen is refreshed per second. The higher the hertz, the smoother the picture.

Why it matters: The standard refresh rate for TVs today is 60Hz, or 60 times per second, with 120Hz and 144Hz representing the higher end of the spectrum. TVs with high refresh rates generally provide more seamless visuals with minimal motion blur, creating more immersive viewing experiences. If you’re a gamer, or you watch a lot of fast-paced action films, a TV with a high refresh rate may be just what you need to take your experience to the next level.

How Samsung’s innovating with it: In addition to boasting a wide range of game-optimizing features including a short input lag (20-millisecond), three types of QLED TVs with the Q7, Q8 and Q9 models feature a 120Hz refresh rate that ensures seamless and fluid in-game visuals.

4. HDMI and Connections

What HDMI is: HDMI, short for “high definition multimedia interface”, is an industry-standard, all-digital interface that transmits visual and audio data between devices such as TVs, streaming media and Blu-ray players, gaming consoles, and more.

Why it matters: Higher-quality HDMI cables generally support higher data transfer speeds (measured in gigabytes per second), providing more bandwidth to enjoy 4K UHD and HDR content. The manner in which a TV handles its HDMI and other connections can directly influence its setup, and the ease with which the device integrates into a living environment.

How Samsung’s innovating with it: All QLED TVs are optimized to deliver 4K UHD content thanks to their support for HDMI 2.0. HDMI 2.0 makes it possible to increase frame rates and maximum bandwidth (to 18Gbps), and deliver high-resolution visuals, allowing for the transmission of 4K video at 60Hz with 32 audio channels (up from eight).

In addition to HDMI 2.0, QLED TVs feature a practically invisible optical cable that seamlessly connects to external devices via the HDMI, USB 3.0 and coaxial port-housing One Connect box. The result is a TV setup that’s free of messy wires and truly designed for living.

5. Smart TV

What it is: A “smart” TV is capable of connecting to the internet to allow users to stream video content, browse the web, and run compatible apps.

Why it matters: Streaming shows and movies through over-the-top (OTT) services like Netflix has quickly become the new normal, with more and more people enjoying a wide range of dynamic entertainment via convenient apps. Smart TVs typically incorporate support for these services, offering users more freedom to enjoy their favorite content.

How Samsung’s innovating with it: Samsung has equipped its QLED TVs with a range of smart apps, services and features that make it easy to enjoy high-quality UHD and HDR content. Particularly handy features include the TV PLUS app, which neatly organizes on-demand content in an interface that mirrors the channel menus of traditional cable or TV providers, and the One Remote, which allows you to manage your smart TV and other connected devices via a single, intuitive control.

6. Durability

What you should expect: No TV will last forever, but these days you should typically expect anywhere from 7 to 10 years of reliable service from your new TV. The expected lifespan for a premium TV may be even longer.

What Samsung’s TVs deliver: There are many factors that can ultimately prove detrimental to a TV’s longevity, and burn-in may be chief among them. Burn-in is a form of permanent damage that’s caused by leaving a static image on a screen for a long period of time. While image retention refers to any image that stays on a screen temporarily, burn-in lasts permanently, seriously affecting the lifespan of a television.

Samsung’s QLED TVs are certified to be burn-in-free, thanks to their utilization of inorganic quantum dots. In fact, each is backed by a 10-year warranty against burn-in* – a quality guarantee that recently expanded to global markets, and demonstrates Samsung’s commitment to delivering premium performance with its premium TVs.

*Details of the burn-in guarantee for QLED TVs vary by country, and the policy will gradually be introduced to other countries as the QLED TV is launched in each market.

[Video] What Makes Samsung’s Cinema LED Screen a Game-Changer for the Movie Industry?

Since it was first used to screen films in 1895, the projector has become symbolic of the movie-viewing experience and of theaters themselves. With the unveiling of its Cinema LED Screen at Seoul’s Lotte World Tower in July, Samsung Electronics introduced a new standard for cinematic immersion – one that captivates audiences not by projecting light onto a screen, but by transforming the screen itself into a massive, vibrant, 4K-resolution display.

Designed as a High Dynamic Range (HDR) LED theater display, the Cinema LED Screen measures nearly 10.3 meters wide and delivers next-generation picture quality with both ultra-sharp 4K (4,096 x 2,160) resolution and peak brightness levels nearly ten times greater (146fL) than those of conventional projectors. All this adds up to distortion-free visuals that feature the brightest colors, the deepest blacks and the whitest whites, and a theater experience that makes viewers feel as if they’re part of the picture.

The Cinema LED Screen’s integration with audio technologies from JBL by HARMAN, meanwhile, provides likewise realistic sound. This state-of-the-art setup includes powerful speakers bordering the screen, proprietary audio-processing technology, and JBL’s Sculpted Surround System. The result of all this innovation is an incredibly accurate sight and sound experience that allows audiences to view films exactly as their creators intended.

Since its debut, Samsung’s first-of-its-kind screen has grabbed headlines around the world, and garnered positive reviews from filmmakers and movie-goers alike, who have tabbed the display as the theater technology of the future. See for yourself, in the video below, what makes Samsung’s immersive screen a game-changer for the industry.

[Interview] How Samsung is Ushering in the HDR10+ Era

Samsung Electronics’ recent introduction of HDR10+, an open standard for high dynamic range (HDR) video that optimizes brightness levels from scene to scene and allows for greater contrast and true-to-life colors, signals the beginning of a new era in home entertainment. An era that will allows consumers to enjoy the best possible viewing experience by making immersive and lifelike visuals the new normal.

Samsung Newsroom sat down with the Vice President of Samsung Research America’s Digital Media Solutions Lab, Bill Mandel, to discuss the ins and outs of the open-source platform, as well as Samsung’s efforts to accelerate its adoption.

Q. In a nutshell, how does HDR10+ help Samsung’s QLED TVs create immersive viewing experiences?

HDR10+ processes images dynamically, allowing for scene by scene, and at times frame by frame picture enhancement. QLED TV’s advanced image technologies make the displays fully capable of portraying these optimized visuals.

This dynamic approach to image optimization results in rich, accurate colors and deeper contrasts. It means that when watching a show or film, characters’ expressions and the details of a scene appear crisp and nuanced, making the scene truly come to life.

Q. What sets HDR10+ apart from other video formats, such as HDR10?

HDR10+ is designed to reproduce images with utmost accuracy, even on displays which would otherwise have difficulty portraying HDR10 content. While HDR10 produces remarkable visuals on Ultra HD Premium^TM displays, HDR10+ allows consumers to enjoy HDR10’s image benefits on a wider variety of TVs.

Samsung UHD and QLED TVs’ HDR10+ integration allows them to fully utilize their native image technologies to provide the most lifelike visuals out there. Even premium TVs will benefit from the display-engine upgrades that come with HDR10+, as well as the incorporation of HDR10+ data in picture optimization.

Some competing platforms employ techniques with fewer control points, and are tuned on reference monitors rather than the consumers’ displays. It’s quite difficult for display manufacturers to take a reference monitor-defined process and adapt it to a range of products. HDR10+, on the other hand, was designed specifically for consumer sets, and engineered to reproduce content created with an HDR10 master in a manner that preserves the creators’ intent.

Q. What led Samsung to make HDR10+ open source and royalty-free?

Samsung strongly believes in making core technologies openly available to the industry to help build strong ecosystems. We’ve seen this before with platforms like Tizen.

It’s for this reason that Samsung made HDR10+ available to chip and TV manufacturers royalty-free. In January of 2018, we will begin licensing the HDR10+ platform and metadata for free to content companies, UHD Blu-ray player and set-top box manufacturers, as well as other vendors around the world. By making HDR10+ openly available, we provide a platform that will lead to the creation a variety of devices that depict video content in a manner that offers viewers the best possible expression of the creators’ intent.

Q. What are some of the actions that Samsung is taking to ensure a smooth transition to HDR10+?

Our goal is to see HDR10+ available to any manufacturer out there who would like to incorporate it into their displays. We’re offering engineering support to help these manufacturers achieve the best results, and we’re currently in discussions with various content creators and distributors as well.

Everyone we’ve met with at the industry level has been shown the platform’s benefits, as well as the simplicity with which it integrates into existing processes. We’re also working closely with vendors to make it easy for content creators and studios to generate HDR10+ content using existing HDR10 videos. We plan to announce further details on the platform’s adoption in the coming months.

Q. Could you elaborate on some of the advantages that HDR10+ offers our partners?

Through our partnership with 20^th Century Fox and Panasonic, we’ve introduced a logo and certification program that allows displays to be certified for quality HDR10+ implementation.

We are working to enable post production tool suppliers to incorporate HDR10+ so that content producers can integrate HDR10+ generation right in to their final post production. Additionally the function of these tools could be incorporated into transcoding operations so that even libraries could be upgraded to HDR10+ if so chosen by rights holders. We are aiming to provide the best ability available to generate and review HDR10+ data for their content.

Q. We’ve heard that HDR10+ was designed with the future in mind. Could you elaborate on this?

The SMPTE standard that we introduced at the end of 2015 was designed to be forward-thinking. It’s currently capable of blending in HDR10+ over parts of an image, but its versatility also makes it possible to incorporate support for new advancements in image optimization in the future without impacting performance.

Over the past year, we’ve been conducting demonstrations and working with HDR10+ in our labs to confirm with certainty the profile of HDR10+ that we are putting into practice.

Q. What can consumers expect to see next in terms of picture quality?

We’re currently witnessing intense development in this area across the industry. Now that we have a great image platform in HDR, as well as open delivery systems in HDR10 and HDR10+, there is a lot of room for innovation in content production, post-production, and displays – all of which will benefit the consumer. Over the coming years, this will lead to significant advancements in picture quality that empower creators and filmmakers to produce great content.

In addition, the proliferation of HDR10+ will allow cinematographers to create engaging three-dimensional content by taking depth and detail to entirely new levels.

HDR10+ Sets a New Standard for Picture Quality at IFA 2017

In today’s era of Ultra HD (UHD) TVs, the ultimate goal for those who innovate TV technologies is to achieve lifelike visuals that they seem to pop out of the display. Samsung Electronics’ IFA 2017 booth will feature exhibits that show a part of its efforts to reach this goal, demonstrating how HDR10+, the latest advancement in high dynamic range (HDR) technology, is setting a new standard for picture quality.

The royalty-free HDR10+ standard promotes vibrant and vivid visuals that bring us closer than ever to true-to-life images. Samsung’s recent announcement of partnerships with Panasonic and 20^th Century Fox will expand the platform’s ecosystem of compatible technologies, eventually making such immersive visuals standard fare.

But how exactly does HDR10+ establish this new standard, and what will the technology’s advancement mean for content creators, device manufacturers, and the future of home entertainment? To answer those questions, let’s take a closer look at how Samsung optimized the platform to offer consumers a more advanced viewing experience.

HDR10+: The Next Step in HDR Technologies

It wasn’t too long ago that HDR represented the pinnacle of picture quality. HDR provided greater depth, brightness and color accuracy – whiter whites, blacker blacks, and a wider color gamut – than standard dynamic range (SDR) displays. Innovations such as Samsung’s Quantum dot technology further advanced picture quality by introducing more accurate color expression and higher brightness levels.

Since its introduction, the second major advancement in HDR technologies, HDR10, has been the standard throughout the industry. The technology is widely used and certified by the UHD Alliance – an association of Hollywood movie studios, content distributors, tech companies and device manufacturers that was formed to strengthen and grow the UHD ecosystem.

HDR10+, the latest and most advanced HDR technology, builds upon the strengths of previous HDR platforms to further enhance the viewing experience. HDR10+ better channels content’s intrinsic dynamic range (the ratio of light and darkness) to produce truer images that appear brighter and more colorful – and therefore more detailed and realistic than with conventional HDR on a wider array of displays. Whereas previous HDR10 iterations utilized static tone mapping, wherein color enhancement is uniform from scene to depicted scene, HDR10+ employs dynamic tone mapping to maximize each scene individually. The results are visuals that feature optimal colors, contrast and brightness, and create a viewing experience that allows you to see a show or film precisely as its producers intended.

Raising the Bar for UHD with an Open HDR10+ Ecosystem

Samsung’s decision to introduce HDR10+ as an open-source, royalty-free platform, which anyone may utilize to create compatible devices and content, underlines a larger commitment to raising the bar for UHD video.

The fact that HDR10+ is open and royalty-free makes the technology an attractive option for a variety of partners – from movie studios and filmmakers, to TV and device manufacturers – and will ultimately hasten its adoption as the new standard with which to create innovative digital devices and dynamic content.

In addition to incorporating support for HDR10+ in its complete range of 2017 UHD TVs, including its new QLED TV line, Samsung is also actively working with some of the world’s leading producers of premium content to make HDR10+ the filmmaking standard.

This past April, Amazon became Samsung’s first official HDR10+ content partner. Soon, the company will offer viewers around the world gripping HDR10+ content available to stream through its widely popular Prime Video service. Also, on September 1, the first day of IFA 2017, Samsung will host the QLED & HDR10+ Summit at Berlin’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where the company will lay out its plans to advance HDR10+ adoption throughout Europe.

By making HDR10+ technology widely available, and forging partnerships that will lead to more visually captivating content, Samsung hopes to make immersive, true-to-life home entertainment the new normal for consumers around the world.