A film studio is building a virtual set with Samsung's ‘The Wall’ displays

Last week, we stared wide-eyed at updated iterations of “The Wall,” Samsung’s line of gargantuan “IWA” video screens featuring 1000-inch displays at 16K resolution. While the company suggested wealthy people could hypothetically (and somewhat hilariously) install the beasts in their homes, really, the giant is clearly meant for industrial-grade advertising spaces and high-tech film environments. While the former use will undoubtedly be arriving in upscale malls and airports imminently, it remained to be seen which movie studios might opt-in on the increasingly popular method of filmmaking using Samsung’s Wall. As of this week, we know of at least one such studio building a set using the modular, microLED screens — the Korean-based CJ ENM, the studio behind last year’s critical darling, Parasite.

Announced today in a press release, Samsung detailed its new “virtual production studio to spearhead the production of future video content” set to open later this year in Paju, South Korea. Thanks to The Wall’s modular formatting, the company notes that the “main display will be installed in an oval shape with a diameter of 20 meters and a height of seven meters or more, creating a seemingly endless backdrop to capture content.”

An emerging industry standard — Constructing sets using incredibly large, high-resolution screens like Samsung’s IWA line is an increasingly popular method for bigger budget productions like Disney+’s The Mandalorian, as it overall saves a large number of costs in terms of travel, logistics, and crew transport. It’s no real surprise that heavy-hitting companies like CJ ENM are heavily investing in building these new studio setups, especially when Samsung’s latest versions of The Wall include dedicated frame rates of 23.976, 29.97, and 59.94Hz.

Slightly more affordable Samsung offerings — We might be going out on a limb here, but we’re gonna assume nobody reading (or writing) this can afford even one of Samsung’s IWA video screens at the moment. Still, there are plenty of much more economical products on the market for us, from new foldable phones to wireless earbuds to smart watches. They might not be quite as flashy or stop-you-in-your-tracks large, but they’re certainly a bit more useful to the average consumer right now.