• The Essentials
CREATING FILMS FOR IMAX THEATERSIMAX IMAGE CAPTUREIMAX THEATERSIMAX TECHNOLOGY
THE EXPERIENCE

IMAX TECHNOLOGY

IMAX, IMAX 3D and IMAX Dome projectors are the most advanced, precise and powerful film projectors ever built. IMAX Rolling Loop technology ensures far superior picture and focus steadiness to deliver the largest, sharpest and brightest images imaginable.

IMAX and IMAX 3D giant flat screens soar up to eight stories high and are designed to encompass the audience’s peripheral vision. These screens are painted silver to maximize the amount of light reflected back to the audience. Half the size of a football field and large enough to show a whale life-size, IMAX screens fully immerse audience members in the scene.

Semi-circular IMAX Dome screens produce huge images that soar and swoop above, beside and behind you to fully surround you in The IMAX Experience.

All these theaters project the 15/70 film format.

Sound
IMAX uncompressed digital, wrap-around sound is simply unsurpassed in depth and clarity. A proprietary six-channel, Proportional Point SourceTM Loudspeaker system delivers exacting volume and quality at every seat throughout the theatre. Audience members hear every shade and subtlety, regardless of where they are sitting.

Other Formats and Manufacturers
Additional manufacturers of large format film projection systems include Simex-Iwerks and GOTO. While 15/70 is the principal format for projection in giant screen theaters, some theaters use 8/70 projection systems and a small number use 10/70 in planetarium environments. These film formats all use 70mm film but use different configurations of film frame.

Digital
Digital projection is finding its way into many conventional cinemas and it is only a matter of time before giant screen presentations will also be delivered this way. IMAX Corporation and other manufacturers are engaged in the development of digital projection technologies to deliver the substantially larger information load or ‘bandwidth’ required for giant screen presentations. Some of these technologies may be installed in theaters sometime in 2008.