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 Asian World Film Festival 2025 and has delivered its Onyx Cinema LED to Culver Theater – screens that can outperform any traditional projector.
The largest Asian cinema-art event realized on… LED
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 and the awards gala – are held on Onyx screens. Samsung emphasizes 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 – a LED wall with cinema-level brightness
Onyx is the world's first DCI-certified LED screen for cinemas. No lamps, no projections. Instead:
true black (not "dark gray" from a projector),
massive brightness,
pure colors,
HDR that actually works,
an image identical to what the director intended.
Samsung talks about "cinematic realism," but there is no marketing exaggeration here. Onyx eliminates all the typical problems of projectors: 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 come just with screens. As part of the festival, it organized a panel titled “Redefining the Cinema Experience With Samsung Onyx,” where filmmakers discuss how LED is changing the way films are made.
The discussions focused on, among other things:
higher color precision,
massive contrast,
HDR without compromises,
the ability to work at higher frame rates,
faithful reproduction of the vision of cinematographers.
In short: LED gives filmmakers new tools, and viewers – a completely new quality.
New Onyx ICD – 300 nits, 120 Hz, perfect DCI-P3
Samsung used the festival to remind about the premiere 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,
first in the industry 10-year warranty.
It can be confidently said: if cinemas start to transition to LED in large numbers, it will be equipment like this that convinces them to do so.
Summary: the cinema of the future is bright, sharp, and… has no projector
Samsung consistently drives the film industry toward LEDs – and does so at major 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 game. If projectors ever become obsolete, it will be due to events like this.
