At a time multiplex theatres and shopping malls are replacing single-screen theatres, the iconic Shankarnag Theatre has made a comeback with pride as it raised the world’s largest Onyx Cinema LED screen.
The new screen enables viewers to watch movies in higher resolution.
The BBMP had to call three tenders to get a suitable bidder for the theatre that stopped screening movies in mid-2017 after the lease period of the previous operator ended. “The corporation will get Rs 14 lakh a month as rent from the new lessee,” BBMP Joint Commissioner (East) M G Ravindra said.
The MG Road-Brigade Road block which once boasted cinemas every 50 metres, was a haunt of movie buffs, who of late have been deprived of a movie hall in the area. The closure of Rex recently meant they had only multiplexes to turn to.
The 14-metre Onyx LED by Korean electronics major Samsung was unveiled by popular composer and musician A R Rahman at the renovated theatre, which now has 614 seats.
The company has claimed that the screen offers captivating and larger-than-life visuals, transforming the cinema viewing experience for cine lovers with deep black resolution.
Acoustics in the theatre has been upgraded with JBL Professional cinema loudspeakers from Harman. The Onyx screen has active 3D technology for all the seats in the theatre, Samsung said.
Globally, there are only two other 14-metre Onyx Cinema LED screens installed by Samsung to date, in Malaysia and China, the company claimed. This is the fourth theatre in the country to use Samsung’s screen after two theatres in Delhi and one in Mumbai.
“With a 14-metre screen, it is the largest Onyx screen in the country. It will change the way we watch movies and mark a new chapter. It will make projection technology redundant,” Puneet Sethi, vice-president, Consumer Electronics Enterprise Business, Samsung India, told DH.
On what sets it apart from the older projector based system, Sethi pointed out, “One of the main advantages is that it lets you watch movies even with the lights on, as the picture quality is not impacted in ambient lighting conditions. This ensures that the owners can organise corporate events, dine in cinema and many other business events based on this technology.”
The company plans to cover all the major metros in the country soon and have Onyx screens in 20 locations across the country by 2020, Sethi said.
The Onyx Cinema LED screens were first launched in 2017. More than 26 screens have been installed in cinemas across the world.