Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced the European launch of its latest Onyx (ICD model) cinema LED screen at CineEurope 2025. Building on its debut at CinemaCon 2025 in the U.S. this past April, the new Onyx brings Samsung’s acclaimed legacy of visual excellence and industry-leading performance to European cinemas, empowering exhibitors and creative partners with new possibilities for HDR content and immersive storytelling.

“Europe is a vital market for cinema innovation, and the launch of Onyx marks a new chapter in our commitment to premium movie experiences,” said Hoon Chung, Executive Vice President of the Visual Display (VD) Business at Samsung Electronics. “By partnering with leading cinema chains like Pathé Cinémas and creative pioneers like Pixar, we are empowering the industry to deliver a truly immersive and visually stunning cinematic journey for audiences everywhere.”

Delivering a Proven Solution With Visuals, Scalability and Reliability

Samsung Onyx, the world’s first DCI-certified¹ cinema LED display, is engineered for premium cinema experiences and supports frame rates of up to 120Hz² at 4K resolution, for an ultra-smooth picture. The screen delivers brilliant HDR visuals with peak brightness levels of 300 nits (87.6fL),³ true black levels and precise color accuracy.

The new Onyx offers four standard screen sizes — 5, 10, 14 and 20 meters — along with additional flexible scaling options.⁴ This remarkable adaptability allows theaters to maximize their available spaces and present films in the largest possible format without compromising image quality.

Designed for long-term performance, Onyx sets a new standard in cinema display technology with the industry’s first and longest 10-year warranty for cinema LED screens.⁵ This extended warranty helps lower the total cost of ownership and ensures that theater owners make a future-proof investment.

Deepening HDR Workflow With Pixar Animation Studios

Samsung’s longstanding relationship with Pixar Animation Studios continues to drive new standards for HDR cinema content. Pixar has continuously mastered its films to offer unparalleled visual quality to viewers and has done so again for its new animated film “Elio” — set to premiere globally starting from June 18 — making it available in 4K theatrical HDR format compatible with Samsung Onyx.

In line with ongoing efforts to expand the theatrical exhibition of HDR films, Pixar will continue mastering future films in DCI HDR that is supported on Onyx screens, ensuring audiences experience the films in the highest brightness and fidelity currently achievable.

In its pursuit of excellence in HDR-mastered films, Pixar aims to install the new Onyx display at its Emeryville, California campus. This screen will be used during production to evaluate HDR color and brightness, conduct content quality tests and host demonstration screenings for filmmakers. By providing a dedicated space for these activities, the Onyx screen will further support creative collaboration and innovation in HDR filmmaking — ensuring that audiences can enjoy the full impact of Pixar’s high-quality HDR films showcased in theaters equipped with Onyx technology.

“Samsung’s Onyx screens allow our Pixar artists to present their stories exactly as they envisioned them — vivid, dynamic and true to life,” said Jessie Schroeder, VP Post Production, Pixar Animation Studios. “By mastering our films in HDR with Onyx, we continue to unlock a new level of visual storytelling for filmmakers and deliver the next generation of cinematic experiences for our audiences.”

CineEurope attendees are invited to experience the new Onyx in person at Samsung’s booth, where the company will highlight its latest innovations in cinema display technology. Taking place June 16–19 in Barcelona, CineEurope is the premier convention for the European cinema industry, uniting theater operators, film studios and industry leaders from across the region and beyond.

For more details, visit samsung.com.

¹ Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) is a consortium of major studios formed to establish specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema systems.
² Based on the screen’s internal data bandwidth. Actual frame rates may vary depending on the connected IMB.
³ Peak brightness supported when using DCI-HDR supported IMB.
⁴ All measurements in meters and feet refer to screen width, while all measurements in inches denote diagonal length. The 10-meter Onyx screen is now available for order, with other models arriving in a phased rollout.
⁵ Based on internal research and publicly available information. Onyx includes a standard three-year warranty, with options to extend coverage to up to 10 years.

Following the launch of the latest Samsung Onyx (ICD), Matīss Kaža, Golden Globes® winner, Academy Award® winner and producer of the film Flow, shared his insights on how Onyx is pushing the boundaries in cinema.

Q. Could you tell us a bit about what the film Flow is about?

Flow is an animated film, without any dialogue, telling the story of a solitary, individualist cat who likes to be by himself. Then suddenly comes this huge flood, destroying the cat’s home and forcing it upon a boat with other animals. On this boat, the cat learns to collaborate and become friends with these animals to survive this new, beautiful and humanless world.

Q. As a dialogue-free film, how does a Cinema LED screen enhance the viewing experience for the audience?

One of the goals of Flow as a dialogue-free film is to essentially have the audience come as close to the cat’s experience as possible, since the film is built around the contrast between the main protagonist and the world around it. Cinema is all about detailing in the visual storytelling, and this comes through on Onyx very well. The world is vividly colorful with the yellows, greens and blues — and then the cat is dark gray. There’s a huge contrast that shines through when watching on the Onyx screen, with its vivid colors and deep blacks.

▲ Flow, played on Samsung Onyx

Q. How did the team work through the movements of each of the animals?

We studied the movements of these real animals, down to the most meticulous detail, to make sure our approach to the film was naturalistic for the audience. For example, when something attracts the cat’s attention, rather than twisting its head to look, it would just twist the ear.

Each animal moves in different ways and has different silhouettes, weights and verticality. It was important for us to nail this process when making the film for the audience to feel fully immersed in this world.

▲ Courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films

Q. How did it feel to watch Flow on the Samsung Onyx Cinema LED screen?

Many scenes in the film feature foreground and background interactions, and the audience can fully enjoy and experience exactly how we wanted the film to look. The movements are also very clear, and you can see how all the different characters have their particularities, down to the most subtle interactions. From the smallest twitching in the ear and the smallest gaze of the eye, or any little interaction, the level of detail on Onyx makes these perfectly visible for the audience.

“I would have to say that Flow on the Onyx screen really flows.”

Q. Did you notice anything new or different about Flow after seeing it on Samsung Onyx?

How vivid the color was in the beginning — where the cat is still in its home, which is a lovely sculpture garden — really stood out to me. The finer details, like the little butterflies and critters flying around, give this emotion of calmness that might not be noticeable on other screens. The Onyx truly shows the film for what it is — there is very crisp detail and clarity — and it displays things that would go unnoticed in other situations.

“On the Onyx, these little details were perfectly visible —
details which give a lot to the atmosphere, to the peaceful tone of the scene.”

▲ Flow, played on Samsung Onyx

Q. Water is a core element of the film. Can you tell us more about its purpose and how the team uses it to add to the story?

The most difficult part of making this movie is the water effect. The dynamics of the water in the storytelling is really important because it’s one of the central metaphors of the film.

On an Onyx screen, you can explicitly see the difference between the little waves in the puddle at the beginning and end of the film. These details are so important to the storytelling, and it really comes through here on the Onyx.

▲ Courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films

Q. How do the color, image details and storytelling jump out more on a screen like Onyx compared to other traditional methods?

Because there is no dialogue in this film, we relied solely on visual storytelling. In terms of visual storytelling, color is essential — setting the right levels of contrast and the exact color palette — for the scene. It’s what creates the mood and the atmosphere.

These aspects are fundamental to the film and are captured precisely, just as we intended. Every detail and color really shines on the Onyx screen.

▲ “Cinema is all about detailing in the storytelling, it always comes through detail. And that comes through on the Onyx,” says Matīss Kaža, co-writer and co-producer of animated film Flow (2024).

Q. As a filmmaker, do the capabilities of Onyx help inspire your creative direction for upcoming projects?

I love it when the theatrical experience has me in the middle of the experience, trying to decode what is going on. Filmmakers can do a lot of interesting things using environments, visuals and powerful storytelling to put audience members in an active relationship with the film. The crispness and range of colors offered on the Onyx bring us back to why we love seeing motion pictures on the big screen. It’s super immersive, and the level of detailing is just incredible.

Q. Anything else you would like us to know?

“I do filmmaking for the cinema-going experience;
that’s where the film really shines.”

Cinemas are where you see the picture as you’re supposed to see it. Every cinematographer and director, I think, has had to come to terms with different cinemas showing different images when using traditional projection. With the uniform approach that the Onyx has, I think that problem might be solved.

“Every detail and color really shines on the Onyx screen,” says Matīss Kaža, co-writer and co-producer of animated film Flow (2024)