If you are one of the lucky few to have a Samsung Onyx-equipped theater in your vicinity, you can for the first time experience a Pixar movie in glorious 4K HDR on the big screen.

Compared to traditional SDR projection systems used for more than 100 years in theaters, Dolby Cinema is a step forward with its laser projection but it is still only EDR (Enhanced Dynamic Range).

Samsung's direct-view LED screens, known as Onyx, were the first ones to get certified for DCI (Digital Cinema Initiatives) theatrical exhibition with HDR, providing a wider contrast/brightness range (up to 300 nits peak brightness, nearly 6x higher than projection systems in theaters) and an expanded palette of colors.

Onyx is a real LED display – made up from modules – with millions of LEDs that make up the individual pixels as opposed to "LED TVs" and "miniLED TVs" which are conventional LCD TVs with an LED backlight with relatively few LEDs.

Samsung installed the first Onyx screen in Lotte Cinema World Tower, Seoul, in July 2017, and Onyx screens are now supplied to 120 theaters around the world, according to the company. Samsung did not share a list of locations. Update: Location map of Onyx screens can be found here.


First Pixar theatrical movie in 4K HDR
Viewers have been able to watch Pixar movies at home in 4K (usually upscaled) and HDR for some time with UHD Blu-ray, Disney+, and movie services such as Apple iTunes.

 Also read: Full list: 4K HDR & Atmos movies on Apple TV (iTunes)


 Pixar's Elemental in Samsung's Onyx LED cinema. Photo: Samsung

However, Pixar's new animated movie Elemental is the first to be mastered in 4K HDR for theaters and shown theatrically in 4K HDR. It will be shown like this exclusively on the Samsung Onyx cinema LED screens.

- "Pixar is known for pushing the boundaries of both technology and art, continuing that legacy with our latest film, Elemental," said Dominic Glynn, Senior Scientist at Pixar. "With Onyx, Samsung has taken a bold leap forward, deploying extraordinary technology at a scale that enables a compelling step-change in cinema image quality. For the first time, audiences will be able to experience our highest brightness, rich, detailed HDR imagery on large, sharp cinema screens that showcase Pixar’s most ambitious work to date. HDR cinema delivers a genuinely fresh visual experience to our global audiences, and the filmmaking teams at Pixar are excited to share this unique version of Elemental with the world."


Pixar is planning more 4K HDR
Pixar is planning to continue to master new movies in 4K HDR for Samsung Onyx, it was confirmed.

The initiative will likely extend to other types of LED cinema screens in the future as LG, Sony and others are also working to get theaters to install their direct-view LED screens.

Pixar's next two movies are Elio, premiering March 1, 2024, and Inside Out 2, premiering June 14, 2024.