Samsung Electronics Co. has signed its first overseas deal to supply light-emitting diode (LED) cinema screens to Thailand.

The South Korean tech giant said it agreed with Major Cineplex, a Thai cinema chain, on Thursday to install its Cinema LED at Siam Paragon Cineplex in Bangkok. The new screen will open next February.

Major Cineplex is Thailand’s largest cinema operator with 110 cinemas and 668 movie screens. The Cinema LED will first be applied to one screen at the theater with plans for gradual expansion.

The LED screen is 10.3 meters wide and offers 4K (4,096X2,160 pixels) resolution and high dynamic range (HDR) support. The screen’s peak brightness level is nearly ten times greater than that of standard projectors, according to Samsung.

Cinema-sized LED screens and other commercial digital displays are viewed as new growth engines for Samsung Electronics to offset slow sales in the global TV market.

Samsung aims to shift 10 percent of more than 160,000 movie screens worldwide to LED by 2020.

The company is seeking to use the Thai deal as an enabler to increase its footprint in cinema LED across Asia, Europe and the United States.

Cho Yong-cheol, president of Thai Samsung Electronics, said its display prowess has been recognized by Thailand’s largest cinema chain. “It is our goal to provide superior picture quality to more Thai viewers through our cinema screens,” he said.

Vicha Poolvaraluck, chief executive of Major Cineplex, said Samsung’s Cinema LED technology will “change the movie theater paradigm” and called for further collaboration between the two companies.

After unveiling its first Cinema LED in July at the Lotte Cinema World Tower in Seoul, Samsung Electronics installed a second one at Lotte Cinema Centum in Busan last month. The Super S screen will be used to show movies for the Busan International Film Festival, which runs from October 12 to 21.

By Lee Dong-in

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]