Schulman Theatres Installs Acoustically Transparent LED Cinema Screen in Texas
2026-10-08 · via Digital Signage Today
Schulman Theatres has installed what it calls the first acoustically transparent LED cinema screen in the United States, placing the system in the SPX Direct premium auditorium at Film Alley Bastrop in Texas. The installation is notable for operators tracking where large-format LED is heading beyond retail and corporate signage: cinema chains are now testing LED as a replacement for projection, and the acoustic design question is central to whether that switch works.
The screen is a P2.5 direct-view panel from Tricorne Premium LED, a Singapore-based company that builds LED displays for cinemas. It runs on GDC Technology's SR-5520 LED media server. GDC, a digital cinema technology supplier, has worked with Schulman Theatres since 2010, and GDC America supported the planning and install for this project, according to a press release.
The key feature the companies are promoting is acoustic transparency. On a standard LED video wall, the panel is solid, which forces speakers to the sides or elsewhere in the room. In a cinema, that breaks the traditional layout where sound comes from directly behind the screen. Schulman says the Tricorne panel allows loudspeakers to sit behind the LED display itself, preserving that conventional speaker position so dialogue and effects track with the action on screen rather than arriving from an offset angle.
Schulman Theatres operates 60 screens across eight locations in Texas and Arkansas under the Film Alley and City Lights brands. Morris Schulman, the company's president, said in the release that he and his sons decided to bring the technology to Texas after seeing it demonstrated at CinemaCon, and that being first in the U.S. to install an acoustically transparent LED cinema screen was part of the appeal.
What the release does not say
The announcement does not give pixel pitch performance detail beyond the P2.5 spec, nor does it mention brightness, contrast, or cost figures for the installation. It also does not say whether Schulman plans to roll the format out to other locations in its circuit, or how the acoustic performance compares in practice to a conventional screen-and-side-speaker setup. For cinema operators evaluating LED against projection, those operating numbers, not just the marketing claim of transparency, will matter most.
For digital signage and AV integrators, the project is a reminder that LED panel manufacturers are increasingly engineering around non-display constraints, in this case acoustics, to win over venues that have resisted LED for specialized reasons. The same trend shows up in retail and hospitality installs where mounting, ventilation or sightline issues shape panel design as much as resolution does.
The announcement in full
Reproduced from Digital Signage Today for reference. Digital Signage Magazine did not write the text below.
Schulman Theatres has installed an acoustically transparent cinema LED screen at Film Alley Bastrop in Texas.
The P2.5 direct-view Tricorne Premium LED screen is installed in the theatre's SPX Direct premium-format auditorium and powered by GDC Technology Limited SR-5520 LED media server technology, according to a press release.
GDC provides digital cinema solutions.Schulman Theatres is an entertainment management company operating in eight locations across Texas and Arkansas with a total of 60 screens under the Film Alley and City Lights brand names. Tricorne Premium LED is a Singapore-based technology company specializing in LED display solutions for the cinematic industry.
The acoustically transparent Tricorne screen allows the loudspeakers to be positioned behind the LED screen. This preserves the traditional cinema speaker configuration and helps localize dialogue and sound effects to the corresponding action on screen.
The project builds on a long-standing relationship between Schulman Theatres and GDC that began in 2010. GDC America worked closely with the Schulman technical team throughout the planning and installation of the Tricorne Premium LED system.
"After experiencing Tricorne Premium LED at CinemaCon, my sons and I quickly decided we wanted to bring the experience to Texas," Morris Schulman, president of Schulman Theatres, said in the release. "What made this partnership with GDC even more exciting was the opportunity to be the first U.S. circuit to install an acoustically transparent LED cinema screen, allowing us to bring the future of cinema to our guests."
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