Experiencing Samsung's Onyx Cinema LED
Over the weekend I went to see Toy Story 4 at the Star Cinema Grill in Richmond, TX. The main driver to see it here was that this is the only theater in the Western Hemisphere and the second one in the word to have the new Samsung Onyx Cinematic Screen
This screen and experience boasts of the following
- 46 ft. (14m) wide Samsung Onyx p3.3 Cinema LED
- Enhanced HDR Colors and true blacks
- Expanded sweet spot for audio
Experience
What Worked
As you walk in you notice the sheer size of the screen, the modern look and feel of the theater and the openness of the theater - so much space. The scale of the room and the screen is almost like IMAX, though IMAX is a larger screen but Star Cinema has the larger space.
When seated it feels like you are about to take off in a space pod via tunnel due to the way the walls are angled with the vertical purple lights running down the walls, there is a even a hum that makes it feel you are in spaceship. The seats are comfortable and there is so much leg space that you don’t have to worry about hitting the seat ( or person ) in front of you when the seats are reclined.
Once the movie starts, you instantly notice the screen. Everything is different about it and in a good way. The colors are vibrant and popping, the crispness of the image is unlike Ive ever seen on the projection based screens. The Toy Story red and yellow truly stand out and I’ve never seen such a shade on screen. There is a scene in the beginning involving rain which is just stunningly real looking and this screen renders it perfectly, its truly one the stand out moments tech wise in terms of animation work and screen quality. There is also a black out scene and the regular darkish grey, semi lit black look is not present at all. Its black and the screen looks off.
The sound is nice and there were moments where the surround set up really take you by surprise. There is clock chime during the movie and I thought it came from outside. Overall I felt the Dolby atmos set up was better sounding than this.
The Dolby Atmos experience at AMC 24 Sugar Land has been the gold standard for me in terms of screen quality and sound. The Samsung Onyx definitely puts that screen in second place.
What Didnt Work
When you have a screen and set up like this that enhances the movie watching experience, you want to be engulfed by that experience with few distractions, that take you out of the movie.
First , from the image, those cool looking purple lights on the walls are on throughout the whole movie. I’ve been to other theaters where food is served and don’t remember that much light during the movie playback. I wonder since this was a children’s movie, the lights were on so that small children wouldn’t be afraid, but it was quite distracting. Maybe another movie viewing can help confirm. Since the screen isnt projection based there is no beam of light running down the middle, so it has the potential to be very very dark.
The screen is huge but it feels far away from the audience, so you feel disconnected again. When seated in an IMAX or Dolby the screen curves around you a bit, drawing you in to the experience. This screen is bit flatter and at a distance so it takes you out.
Overall
You have to see this screen in action and Toy Story is the perfect movie to showcase it. The colors, crispness of the image is unlike any other I have seen and makes it a true joy to watch. I only wish I could have seen a movie such as Avengers Endgame on it or Spider-Man in to the Spiderverse ( which had some crazy visuals ). It feels like the future of screens in the theater and it will be interesting to see how I feel about the Dolby Atmos screen when I go to see Spiderman in a few weeks. Whether AMC remains my default option when picking a theater remains to be seen after I view some more movies (especially to see if the lights issue is still a problem).