Katarzyna Petru
Samsung is once again showing that the future of cinema is not projectors, but LEDs. The company has become the official technology partner of the Asian World Film Festival 2025 and has supplied its Onyx Cinema LED screens to the Culver Theater – screens that can outperform any traditional projector.
The largest Asian cinema-art event realised on… LED
The Asian World Film Festival is now in its 11th edition, showcasing the best productions from over 30 Asian countries. This year, all key screenings – including the opening and closing films and the awards gala – are taking place on Onyx screens. Samsung emphasises that this is not just sponsorship, but a genuine enhancement of projection quality. And it must be said – it looks impressive technically.
Onyx: instead of a projector – LED wall with cinema brightness
Onyx is the world's first DCI-certified LED screen for cinemas. No lamps, no projections. Instead:
true black (not "dark grey" from a projector),
huge brightness,
true colours,
HDR that actually works,
an image identical to the director's vision.
Samsung speaks of "cinematic realism," but there's no marketing exaggeration here. Onyx eliminates all typical projector issues: reflections, loss of brightness, unevenness, and image degradation over the years. Culver Theater has four Onyx screens + one with a The Wall 8K screen. It is one of the most advanced LED cinemas in the world.
Panel on the Future of Cinema – Directors and Cinematographers on LEDs
Samsung didn't just arrive with screens. As part of the festival, they organised a panel titled "Redefining the Cinema Experience With Samsung Onyx," where filmmakers discuss how LED is changing the way films are made.
The discussions covered topics including:
higher colour accuracy,
immense contrast,
uncompromised HDR,
the ability to work at higher frame rates,
faithful representation of the vision of cinematographers.
In short: LED provides filmmakers with new tools, while offering viewers an entirely new quality.
New Onyx ICD – 300 nits, 120 Hz, perfect DCI-P3
Samsung used the festival to remind about the launch of Onyx ICD presented at CinemaCon 2025. This model is another step towards the cinema of the future:
300 nits peak brightness in HDR (projectors can only dream of this),
120 Hz at 4K – super smooth action shots,
perfect coverage of DCI-P3,
available sizes: 5, 10 and 14 meters,
industry's first 10-year warranty.
It can be confidently said: if cinemas start to massively switch to LED, it will be equipment like this that convinces them to do so.
Summary: the cinema of the future is bright, sharp, and… there’s no projector
Samsung consistently pushes the film industry towards LEDs – and does so at the biggest festivals, in real conditions, on actual productions. AWFF 2025 is the perfect example that cinema can look different: more modern, more precise, closer to the creators' vision.
Onyx not only improves image quality – it changes the rules of the game. If projectors ever fade into obscurity, it will be because of events like this.
