Katarzyna Petru
Samsung once again shows 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 provided its Onyx Cinema LED screens to the Culver Theater – screens that can outshine any traditional projector.
The largest Asian cinema-art event realised on… LED
The Asian World Film Festival is already the 11th edition of the event that gathers the best productions from over 30 countries in Asia. This year, all key screenings – including the opening and closing films, as well as the awards gala – are taking place on Onyx screens. Samsung emphasises that this is not just sponsorship, but a real enhancement of projection quality. And it must be admitted – technically, it looks impressive.
Onyx: instead of a projector – an LED wall with cinematic brightness
Onyx is the first DCI-certified LED screen for cinemas in the world. No lamps, no projection. Instead:
true black (not "dark grey" from a projector),
immense brightness,
pure colours,
HDR that actually works,
an image identical to what the director intended.
Samsung talks about "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 auditoriums + 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, it 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 such as:
higher colour precision,
immense contrast,
HDR without compromises,
the ability to work at higher frame rates,
faithful representation of the cinematographers' vision.
In short: LED provides filmmakers with new tools, and viewers with a completely new quality.
New Onyx ICD – 300 nits, 120 Hz, perfect DCI-P3
Samsung used the festival to remind us of 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),
120 Hz at 4K – super smooth action shots,
ideal coverage of DCI-P3,
available sizes: 5, 10 and 14 metres,
the industry's first 10-year warranty.
It can be confidently said: if cinemas start to transition to LED en masse, it is precisely such equipment that will convince them to do so.
Summary: the cinema of the future is bright, sharp and… has no projector
Samsung is consistently pushing the film industry towards LEDs – and is doing so at the biggest festivals, in real conditions, on genuine productions. AWFF 2025 is an ideal 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 go out of fashion, it will be due to events like this.
