READ MORE: CJ ENM’s Virtual Production Stage (Samsung)
As the number of LED volumes for virtual production increases worldwide, the business attracts the biggest corporations. Samsung is just the latest company to launch a new product for virtual production — their new Micro LED-driven screen, The Wall. If you can imagine a color gamut 25% wider than sRGB, then imagine The Wall carrying 99% of DCI-P3, a digital cinema standard.
The new technology’s pixel pitch is short, meaning the density of pixels is high, which makes it easier to shoot close to the back wall than other LED screens. This has added value, as real sets can be placed closer to the screens, creating a better illusion without the often-jarring focus or resolution differences.
Samsung also claims that its 7,680 Hz screen refresh rate enables tracked cameras to reduce screen flicker and moire. Cameras can then be used closer to the screens, which has been an enduring complaint of virtual production as shots are usually mid- to long-range in nature.
Close-up shots will finally be welcome, and the technology will become an all-around shooting tool. However, there are still limitations to taking the camera a further away or too high.
The first company to install Samsung’s The Wall is South Korea’s CJ ENM. While the production facility has a technology partnership with Samsung, CJ ENM’s client roster is more than wide enough to justify the new installation. CJ ENM has created, produced, and distributed globally acclaimed content including the Oscar-winning film Parasite, Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots, record-breaking Korean box office hit Roaring Currents, and sought-after television series such as Mr. Sunshine.
The Virtual Production Stage, which opened in May 2022, is the world’s largest virtual studio with Samsung’s Micro LED technology. Two sets of The Wall were installed to build CJ ENM’s VP Stage: a seven-meter high circular model with a diameter of 20 meters, and a four-meter high straight model with a length of 20 meters.
“Compared to other LEDs, The Wall not only has better picture quality but also allows rapid camera work and shooting at close range without any problem,” CJ ENM’s Sangyeop Kim, VP and head of content at the R&D Center, commented about the new technology. “It will be the technical foundation for our future business with immersive content such as XR and even the Metaverse.”
HOW VIRTUAL PRODUCTION IS TAKING OVER HOLLYWOOD:
Originally employed by only the most technically advanced studios, virtual production has now become ubiquitous, as evidenced by series from The Mandalorian to Our Flag Means Death, as well as feature films like Dune, Spider-Man: No Way Home and The Matrix Resurrections. Gain insights into virtual production techniques from top pros with these hand-curated articles from the NAB Amplify archives:
- Virtual Production and Sort of Real Pirates (?): Making “Our Flag Means Death”
- Virtual Production: What You Need to Know Before You Step Onto the Set
- Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” Is A Lot. Here’s How He Did It.
- “Fix it in Prep:” The New Mantra for COVID-Safe Virtual Production
- A Virtual Tour of, Yes, a Virtual Production Studio