Just how audio transparent are LED screens.

[James Gardiner]

I saw this image today..

DCI LED audio transparent.jpg

I was wondering if any Audio centric readers can comment on what the difference is between a perforated screen and a hard mesh with wholes in it like in the picture above.
I see road speakers with hard metal surface mesh like shown here used to protect the cones.

So I am guessing it works quite well?

Is there any compromise in using these new LED screens?

[Steve Guttag]

The only screens I've seen thus far were "concept" screens. The LED pixel pitch was far too course as were the holes. I suspect that the cavity and the construction will play into the acoustics of it (how the sound plays off of the plastic or whatever they line the speaker area with.

[Ryan Gallagher]

What is the context of the application? For cinema levels of pixel pitch there really aren’t any transparent ones yet.

But for outdoor and concert video/lighting design, there have always been semitransparent concepts, either to avoid windage, or for acoustics so they can hang over arrays, or just to avoid having big acoustic reflectors in the rig. But at certain scales and distances you can get away with huge pixels with gaps,

You’d have to link a specific led product to get more detailed responses from any audio experts I expect.

I believe the cinema LED installs this far surround the screen with cabinets and use processing not unlike ATMOS to fake phantom screen channels/sources.

[James Gardiner]

so on one here has seen one of these in action yet? (obviously for cinema use. it's basically what this forum is for)

I find that informative to it's likely position in the market.
it's probably not great and binaural processing, speakers above and below producing a phantom speaker, is likely as good as it gets.

just trying to get a feel on where the technology is going.

[Ryan Gallagher]

If you are referencing an LED product marketed specifically at cinemas, which product? The photo could be any led wall for a host of applications. Photo is not enough to go on

[Ryan Gallagher]

That said, it's far more complicated than just having appropriately sized perforations for acoustics. Panel design and connections come into play too... your average wall section for live events has a big processor and power supply that is integrated into it (and not transparent, like the rest might be). I expect ones designed to be acoustically transparent tend to offload a lot of that to the edges somehow.

There are probably things that work outdoors, or are close to it (like the photograph), but are not ready for indoors in smaller rooms/screens at closer viewing distances (not enough pixel density for even 2k)?

I think to see the bleeding edge of attempts at this for 2K and 4K cinema you have to go to China, for now.
https://en.kinglight.com/blog/acoust...-screen-1.html

And the corresponding thread here about it:
https://www.film-tech.com/vbb/forum/...-screen-debuts

[Scotty Wright]

Cinity claims their Cinema LED walls are more permissive than traditionally perforated screens. I think they only have one screen in the States, maybe at deluxe or panavision. Otherwise, off to China where they have 70 up and running. They’re currently installing (open in November 2025) an 80ft wide x 60ft tall screen at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Cinity claims their Cinema LED walls are more permissive than traditionally perforated screens. I think they only have one screen in the States, maybe at deluxe or panavision. Otherwise, off to China where they have 70 up and running. They’re currently installing (open in November 2025) an 80ft wide x 60ft tall screen at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.

Cinity's "find a theatre" page lists 1 other in the states, Marcus Majestic Theatre in Waukesha, WI ???
But strangely their website only cites one laser room. Maybe they are "in talks" with Cinity?

And a handful of others in Europe now.

https://cinitytoinfinity.com/#find-a-theatre

EDIT: Oh wait, Cinity does Laser RGB too... so that list is not the direct view installs (yet).

[Ryan Gallagher]

Here is another article about where to find Cinity LED cinema screens (and some of their non-transmissive previous competition):

https://www.trendforce.com/news/2024/11/26/news-chinese-led-cinema-screens-enter-the-overseas-market/

Apparently a venue in Germany has 10 on order according to the article.

[Scotty Wright]

Cinity's "find a theatre" page lists 1 other in the states, Marcus Majestic Theatre in Waukesha, WI ???
But strangely their website only cites one laser room. Maybe they are "in talks" with Cinity?

And a handful of others in Europe now.

https://cinitytoinfinity.com/#find-a-theatre

EDIT: Oh wait, Cinity does Laser RGB too... so that list is not the direct view installs (yet).

The Wisconsin location is a laser projection install developed back in the Gemini Man days. Not sure if it’s single or dual, they say it’s scalable to the size of the venue. It’s the only commercial US install as far as I know. They have a handful of those in Europe too. But no cinity led installed outside of China so far. Samsung onyx is leading the cinema led charge everywhere else for now and they just announced a new generation of panels at CineEurope. (Not sure what improvements they made.)

[Ryan Gallagher]

The Wisconsin location is a laser projection install developed back in the Gemini Man days. Not sure if it’s single or dual, they say it’s scalable to the size of the venue. It’s the only commercial US install as far as I know. They have a handful of those in Europe too. But no cinity led installed outside of China so far. Samsung onyx is leading the cinema led charge everywhere else for now and they just announced a new generation of panels at CineEurope. (Not sure what improvements they made.)

Is the Samsung Onyx approach an example of non-transmissive panels surrounded by cabinets and computed phantom screen channels? From their info page it would seem yes.

[Carsten Kurz]

Cinity is a PLF brand by Barco as well, so not every Cinity site is LED. Currently, to my knowledge, there are 5 LED cinema screens installed in Germany, all Samsung Onyx. All are non-acoustically transparent and need phantom-speaker technology.

[Scotty Wright]

Both Onyx rooms I’ve been to have the front speakers positioned above the screen.

[Jay Wyatt]

I grabbed some photos of this acoustically transparent LED technology. With fabrics at least, the term "acoustically transparent" is used fast and loose, often for marketing purposes -- actual results can vary wildly.I'd like to test it further someday in a lab. The rub with this seems to be the spacing of the solid structural components behind the screen and finding a speaker to fit within.

If this is to be used for 15-20meter LEDs then you'll need relatively large loudspeaker systems (~2m tall / ~1m wide) to meet SPL and coverage requirements. It may be a tough squeeze but I think this is a step in the right direction, no idea what the tradeoffs are in the picture quality though.

[Ryan Gallagher]

I grabbed some photos of this acoustically transparent LED technology. With fabrics at least, the term "acoustically transparent" is used fast and loose, often for marketing purposes -- actual results can vary wildly.I'd like to test it further someday in a lab. The rub with this seems to be the spacing of the solid structural components behind the screen and finding a speaker to fit within.

If this is to be used for 15-20meter LEDs then you'll need relatively large loudspeaker systems (~2m tall / ~1m wide) to meet SPL and coverage requirements. It may be a tough squeeze but I think this is a step in the right direction, no idea what the tradeoffs are in the picture quality though.

Nice reference photos. I would expect those wider columns are not just part of the structure... but are actually data, processing, and power columns too (if they have any kinship to how traditional event panels are designed).

Which brand was this example? The perf design looks very similar to Jame's original photo. It was just hard to get a sense of scale in his photo.