IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately 1.43:1 & 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating . I like IMAX so much that I visited IMAX theatres at Shanghai, Dubai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Bangkok, Stockholm, Delhi and observed the film playing procedures in 70MM FILM, DIGITAL & LASER formats. IMAX experience is simply fantastic and spectacular ! Nothing to describe the IMAX experience

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IMAX FIRST ERA / GENERATION : THE 70 MM FILM FORMAT

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IN THE PROJECTION ROOM  : TOTAL CYCLE OF PLAYING THE FILM

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FROM 70MM FILM PLATTER CLOSET TO PROJECTOR TO PLAYING THE FILM TO BACK TO 70MM FILM PLATTER CLOSET

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TRANSPORTING / MOVING THE GIGANTIC FILM PLATTER FROM FILM PLATTER CLOSET TO PROJECTOR AND BACK

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WINDING / THREADING OF THE IMAX 70MM FILM

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CHECKING THE SOUND SYSTEM

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LIFTING UP THE PROJECTOR TO START THE SHOW AND PLAY THE FILM

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PLAYING THE FILM AND LOWER THE PROJECTOR AFTER THE SHOW

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What is IMAX ?

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• IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately 1.43:1 & 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating
• Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor, Robert Kerr, and William C. Shaw were the co-founders of what would be named the IMAX Corporation (founded in September 1967 as Multiscreen Corporation, Limited), and they developed the first IMAX cinema projection standards in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Canada

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How is IMAX different from traditional 70MM / 35MM Screen theatres ?

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• When IMAX was introduced, it was a radical change in the movie-going experience
• Viewers were treated to the scene of a gently-curved giant screen more than seven stories tall (75 feet (23 m), with the tallest measuring 117 feet (36 m)) and steep stadium seating that made for a visually immersive experience
• This was enhanced by a sound system that was far superior to the audio at typical theaters in the years prior to the advent of THX
• Some IMAX theaters have a hemispheric dome screen geometry, which can give the viewer an even more immersive feel
• Over the decades since its introduction, IMAX evolved to include “3D” stereoscopic films, introduced in January 1998, and then began to proliferate with a transition away from analog film into the digital era
• Unlike conventional film projectors, the film runs horizontally so that the image width can be greater than the width of the film stock
• Beginning in May 1991, a visceral dimension of the movie experience was added by having the audience’s seats mounted on a full-motion platform as an amusement park ride in IMAX ride film theaters
• With the advent of digital projection, the IMAX brand has also been applied to lower-resolution imaging systems, causing some degree of confusion among the viewing public

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What is the history of IMAX ?

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• The IMAX film standard uses 70 mm film run through the projector horizontally
• This technique produces an area that is nine times larger than the 35 mm format, and three times larger than 70 mm film which was run conventionally through the projector in a vertical orientation
• The desire to increase the visual impact of film has a long history.
• In 1929, Fox introduced Fox Grandeur, the first 70 mm film format, but it quickly fell from use
• In the 1950s, the potential of 35 mm film to provide wider projected images was explored in the processes of CinemaScope (1953) and VistaVision (1954), following multi-projector systems such as Cinerama (1952)
• While impressive, Cinerama was difficult to install and maintain, requiring careful alignment and synchronization of the multiple projectors
• During Expo 67 in Montreal, the National Film Board of Canada’s In the Labyrinth and Ferguson’s Man and the Polar Regions both used complex multi-projector, multi-screen systems
• Each encountered technical difficulties that led them to found a company called “Multiscreen”, with a goal of developing a simpler approach

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Why does the 70MM film run horizontally in an IMAX instead of vertically in a conventional 70MM / 35 MM theatre ?

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• The single-projector/single-camera system they eventually settled upon was designed and built by Shaw based upon a novel “Rol shop worker from Brisbane, Australia
• Film projectors do not continuously flow the film in front of the bulb, but instead “stutter” the film travel so that each frame can be illuminated in a momentarily-paused still image
• This requires a mechanical apparatus to buffer the jerky travel of the film strip
• The older technology of running 70 mm film vertically through the projector used only five sprocket perforations on the sides of each frame ; however, the IMAX method used fifteen perforations per frame
• The previous mechanism was inadequate to handle this intermittent mechanical movement that was three times longer, and so Jones’s invention was necessary for the novel IMAX projector method with its horizontal film feed
• As it became clear that a single, large-screen image had more impact than multiple smaller ones and was a more viable product direction, Multiscreen changed its name to IMAX

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How was IMAX corporation born ?

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• The name change actually happened more than two years later, because a key patent filed on January 16, 1970, was assigned under the original name Multiscreen Corporation, Limited
• IMAX Chief Administration Officer Mary Ruby was quoted as saying, “Although many people may think “IMAX” is an acronym, it is, in fact, a made-up word.”

• Tiger Child, the first IMAX film, was demonstrated at Expo ’70 in Osaka, Japan
• The first permanent IMAX installation was built at the Cinesphere theatre at Ontario Place in Toronto
• It debuted in May 1971, showing the film North of Superior
• The installation remained in place during Ontario Place’s hiatus for redevelopment
• The Cinesphere was renovated while Ontario Place was closed and re-opened on November 3, 2017 with IMAX 70mm and IMAX with laser illumination
• During Expo ’74 in Spokane, Washington, an IMAX screen that measured 27 m × 20 m (89 ft × 66 ft) was featured in the US Pavilion (the largest structure in the expo). It became the first IMAX Theatre to not be partnered with any other brand of movie theatres
• About five million visitors viewed the screen, which covered the viewer’s total visual field when looking directly forward
• This created a sensation of motion in most viewers, and motion sickness in some.
• Another IMAX 3D theatre was also built in Spokane ; however, its screen-size is less than half
• Due to protests, the City of Spokane officials decided to work with the IMAX Corporation to demolish the theatre, under the condition they renovate the former US Pavilion itself into IMAX’s first permanent outdoor giant-screen theatre
• The plan was to use material on the inside of the structure similar to that used when first constructed
• However, it was expected to last only five years, due to weather conditions destroying previous materials
• Concept art has been released in videos featured on Spokane’s renovation site, and its budget revealed that seating is planned for more than 2000
• The first permanent IMAX Dome installation, the Eugene Heikoff and Marilyn Jacobs Heikoff Dome Theatre at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, opened in San Diego’s Balboa Park in 1973
• It doubles as a planetarium theater. The first permanent IMAX 3D theatre was built in Vancouver, British Columbia for Transitions at Expo ’86, and was in use until September 30, 2009
• It was located at the tip of Canada Place, a Vancouver landmark

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Describe the Digital projection in IMAX Theatres ?

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• In 2008, IMAX extended their brand into traditional theaters with the introduction of Digital IMAX, a lower-cost system that uses two 2K digital projectors to project on a 1.90:1 aspect ratio screen
• This lower-cost option, which allowed for the conversion of existing multiplex theater auditoriums, helped IMAX to grow from 299 screens worldwide at the end of 2007 to over 1000 screens by the end of 2015
• As of September 2017, there were 1302 IMAX theatres located in 75 countries, of which 1203 were in commercial multiplexes
• Switching to digital projection, introduced in July 2008, came at a steep cost in image quality, with 2K projectors having roughly an order of magnitude less resolution
• Maintaining the same 7-story giant screen size would only make this loss more noticeable, and so many new theaters were being built with significantly smaller screen sizes, yet being marketed with the same brand name of “IMAX”
• These newer theaters with the much lower resolution and much smaller screens were soon being referred to by the derogatory name “LieMAX”, particularly because the company did not make this major distinction clear to the public, going so far as to build the smallest “IMAX” screen having 10 times less area than the largest while persisting with the exact same brand name
• Since 2002, some feature films have been converted into IMAX format for displaying in IMAX theatres, and some have also been (partially) shot in IMAX
• By late 2017 – 1302 IMAX theatre systems were installed in 1203 commercial multiplexes, 13 commercial destinations, and 86 institutional settings in 75 countries with less than a quarter of these having the capability to show 70mm film at the resolution of the large format as originally conceived

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TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF IMAX

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Camera

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• The IMAX cinema process increases the image resolution by using larger film frame ; in relative terms, a frame of IMAX format film has three times the theoretical horizontal resolution of a frame of 35mm film
• To achieve such increased image resolution, which IMAX estimates at approximately 12000 lines of horizontal resolution (12K) 65mm film stock passes horizontally through the IMAX movie camera, 15 perforations at a time
• At 24 frames per second, this means that the film moves through the camera at 102.7 metres per minute (24X0,07X60 = just over 6 km/h)
• In a conventional 65mm camera, the film passes vertically through the camera, five perforations at a time, or 34 metres per minute
• In comparison, in a conventional 35mm camera, 35mm film passes vertically through the camera, at four (smaller) perforations at a time, which translates to 27.4 metres per minute
• In the Todd-AO 70mm-format of widescreen cinema, the image area of a 65mm film-frame is 48.5 mm × 22.1 mm (1.91 in × 0.87 in); in the IMAX-format of widescreen cinema, the film-frame dimensions are 69.6 mm × 48.5 mm (2.74 in × 1.91 in)
• To match the standard image resolution of the moving image produced with the film-speed of 24 frames per second, an IMAX film requires three times the length of (negative) film stock required for a 65mm film of comparable scope and cinematic technique

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Phantom 65 IMAX 3D digital camera

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• In 2011, IMAX announced a 4K 3D digital camera
• The camera was developed alongside Vision Research and AbelCine, integrating two Phantom 65 engines
• A prototype camera was used for the documentary Born to be Wild, in which approximately 10% of the finished film was shot with the system
• The company has said they have no intention of replacing the higher resolution film cameras with the new digital camera, but the latter can be used in scenes that require a lightweight or relatively small 3D camera
• While IMAX has completed the production camera and has placed it in service on several films, they have no plans to produce an IMAX film solely with the new digital system
• Transformers: Age of Extinction is the first feature film partially filmed with the Phantom 65 IMAX 3D camera

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ARRI Alexa IMAX digital camera

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• In 2015, IMAX announced a 2D digital camera that was developed alongside Arri, the camera being based on the latter company’s Arri Alexa 65 technology
• The first production to use the camera was Captain America: Civil War. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo have announced and they have shot Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) completely with these cameras
• For Transformers: The Last Knight, two ARRI Alexa IMAX cameras were combined in a rig to provide native 3D with 98% of IMAX footage in the film

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Film stock

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• The IMAX format is generically called “15/70” film, the name referring to the 15 sprocket holes or perforations per frame
• The film’s bulk and weight require horizontal platters, rather than conventional vertically-mounted film reels
• IMAX platters range from 1.2 to 1.83 meters (3.9 to 6.0 ft) diameter to accommodate 1 to 2.75 hours of film
• Platters with a 2.5 hour feature film weigh 250 kilograms (550 lb).
• IMAX uses ESTAR-based print film in their 15/70 rolling-loop film projection systems
• ESTAR-based print film provides greater precision
• The chemical development process does not change the size or shape of ESTAR print film, and IMAX’s pin registration system (especially the camera mechanism) does not tolerate either sprocket-hole or film-thickness variations

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Soundtrack – double-system

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• To use more of the image area, IMAX film does not include an embedded soundtrack
• Instead, the IMAX system specifies a separate six-channel 35 mm (1.4 in) magnetic film, recorded and played back on a film follower locked to picture, just as Vitaphone had been (utilizing 16-inch 33 1/3 RPM electrical transcription discs) in the early 20th century, and was the same technology used to provide the 7-channel soundtrack accompanying films photographed and exhibited in the Cinerama process in the mid-1950s
• By the early 1990s, a separate DTS-based 6-track digital sound system was used, similarly locked to the projector by a SMPTE time code synchronization apparatus, the audio played off a series of proprietarily encoded CD-ROM discs
• In the late 1990s, IMAX upgraded this system to use a hard drive that carries a single uncompressed audio file that contains the six channels
• These are converted directly to analogue rather than processed through a decoding method such as DTS
• Like conventional theatres, IMAX theatres place speakers both directly behind the acoustically-transparent screen, and around the theatre to create a “surround sound” effect
• IMAX also provides a “top center” speaker in addition to the centre speaker found in conventional theatres
• This extra channel allows the sound mix engineers to take advantage of the screen’s greater height

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Projectors

• Transporting the large film stock through the optical system presented challenges for both the camera and the projector
• Conventional 70 mm systems were not steady enough for the 586× magnification
• On the projector side, William Shaw adapted an Australian patent for film transport called the “rolling loop” by adding a compressed air “puffer” to accelerate the film, and put a cylindrical lens in the projector’s “aperture block”
• The projector uses a vacuum to pull the film into contact with this lens
• Thus the “field flattener” flattens the image field
• The lens is twice the height of the film and connects to a pneumatic piston so it can be moved up or down while the projector is running
• This way, if a piece of dust comes off the film and sticks to the lens, the projectionist can switch to a clean portion of the lens at the push of a button
• The lens also has “wiper bars” made of a felt or brush-like material that wipes dust off the lens as it moves up or down
• IMAX projectors are pin-stabilized ; this means that four registration pins engage the perforations at the corners of the projected frame to ensure perfect alignment
• Shaw added cam-controlled arms to decelerate each frame to eliminate the microscopic shaking as the frame “settled” onto the registration pins
• The projector’s shutter is open around 20% longer than in conventional equipment, and the light source is brighter
• The xenon short-arc lamps are made with a thin envelope of fused quartz and contain xenon gas at a pressure of about 25 atmospheres (367 psi (2,530 kPa))
• Because of this, projectionists are required to wear protective body armor when changing or handling the lamp in case it breaks (e.g., due to a drop to the floor) because of the danger from flying quartz shards propelled by the high pressure of the xenon gas within
• An IMAX projector weighs up to 1.8 tonnes (2 short tons) and is over 178 cm (5.8 ft) tall and 195 cm (6.4 ft) long
• IMAX Corporation has released four projector types that use its 15-perforation, 70 mm film format: GT (Grand Theatre), GT 3D (dual rotor), SR (Small Rotor), and MPX, which was designed for retrofitted theatres
• In July 2008, the company introduced a digital projection system, which it has not given a distinct name or brand, designed for multiplex theatres with screens no wider than 21.3 m (70 ft)
• All IMAX projectors, except the standard GT system, can project 3D images

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Digital projection

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• The digital cinema IMAX projection system, debuted in 2008, is designed to use with shorter 1.90:1 aspect ratio screens
• The system uses two 2K projectors that can present either 2D or 3D content in DCI or IMAX Digital Format (IDF) (which in itself is a superset of DCI)
• IDF initially used 2K-resolution Christie xenon projectors, with a Texas Instruments Digital Light Processing (DLP) engine, but in 2012 IMAX announced that they would be switching to Barco as their primary supplier
• The two 2K images are projected superimposed on each other with a half-pixel offset, using super-resolution imaging to increase the perceived resolution to approximately 2.9K
• For 3D presentations, one projector is used to display the image for each eye, while 2D presentations use the superimposed images to allow for a brighter 22-foot lambert image
• The Digital IMAX projection system includes a proprietary IMAX Image Enhancer that modifies the output of the digital media server based on feedback from cameras and microphones in the auditorium, and maintains alignment with sub-pixel accuracy
• Mainly because the system facilitates inexpensive distribution of IMAX features, the company announced in February 2012 that they were re-renovating specially selected locations around the world to present both 70mm analog as well as digital presentations
• To do so, IMAX developed a rail system that moves the projectors in and out to accommodate either a full-frame film print or a digital-only release
• These theaters were prepared in time for the release of The Dark Knight Rises in July 2012

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Laser projection

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• In April 2012, IMAX began testing a new 4K laser projection system, based on patents licensed from Eastman Kodak
• Like the 3D film and digital systems, it used two projectors, but it improved over the smaller digital screens by retaining the traditional IMAX aspect ratio and let films be shown on screens 36 m (118 ft) wide or more
• In December 2014, IMAX began rolling out its new Dual 4K laser projector system, dubbed “IMAX with Laser”, with the first installation occurring at the Cineplex ScotiaBank Theatre in Toronto
• The system allows digital projection on the full 1.43:1 aspect ratio surface of a traditional IMAX screen, but can also be used on wider screens such as the 1.90:1-aspect-ratio TCL Chinese Theater
• The system replaces the xenon arc lamp of a traditional digital projector with a laser light source, and is capable of 60 fps with “50 percent greater” brightness than the Digital Cinema Initiatives spec, a contrast ratio “double” that of IMAX 15/70mm film projection and “higher” than the 2500:1 contrast ratio of IMAX’s xenon lamp-based projection systems, and displaying the full Rec. 2020 color gamut/space
• The system also features a new 12-channel surround sound system, which adds an additional speaker on either side of the theater as well as four new overhead speakers
• While still not matching the theoretical resolution of traditional IMAX film, which is estimated at up to 12 thousand lines of horizontal resolution on the 65mm camera negative (12K) and approximately 6 thousand on a 35mm release print (6K) the new laser system features dual-4K resolution projectors, each capable of displaying four times the detail of one Digital IMAX projector
• Like Digital IMAX, images from the two projectors are projected superimposed on each other with a half-pixel offset, using super-resolution imaging, which makes the perceived resolution greater than 4K
• In-theater cameras and microphones are used to automatically calibrate the projectors and sound system between showings
• For 3D presentations, one projector is used to display the image for each eye, while 2D presentations use the superimposed images to allow for a brighter image
• For 3D presentations, IMAX with Laser systems use dichroic filter glasses, similar to those used by Dolby 3D, as opposed to the linear polarization glasses used in Digital IMAX theaters
• On April 24, 2018, IMAX announced that they would begin rolling out a new single-unit version of their laser projector system later that year, with this iteration designed to replace the IMAX Xenon digital projection system for 1.90:1 screens

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Technical specifications of 15/70 MM IMAX

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IMAX (15/70)

• spherical lenses
• 70 mm film, 15 perforations per frame
• horizontal rolling loop movement, from right to left (viewed from emulsion side)
• 24 frames per second
• camera aperture: 70.41 mm × 52.63 mm (2.772 in × 2.072 in)
• projection aperture: at least 2 mm (0.079 in) less than camera aperture on the vertical axis and at least 0.41 mm (0.016 in) less on the horizontal axis
• aspect ratio: 1.43:1
• DMR aspect ratio: 1.90:1, 2.39:1

IMAX Dome/Omnimax : Same as IMAX except :

• Fisheye lenses
• lens optically centered 9.4 mm (0.37 in) above film horizontal center line
• projected elliptically on a dome screen, 20° below and 110° above perfectly centered viewers

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Theatres

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• IMAX theatres are described as either “Classic Design” (purpose-built structures), or “Multiplex Design” (retrofitted auditoriums)
• Classic IMAX theatre construction differs significantly from conventional theatres
• The increased resolution lets the audience be much closer to the screen
• Typically all rows are within one screen height — conventional theatre seating runs 8 to 12-screen heights
• Also, the rows of seats are set at a steep angle (up to 30° in some domed theatres) so that the audience is facing the screen directly
• A standard IMAX screen is 22 m × 16.1 m (72 ft × 53 ft), but can be significantly larger
• Until 2016, the world’s largest IMAX screen was in Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia, and measured 35.72 m × 29.57 m (117.2 ft × 97.0 ft)
• Since then, the current largest operating IMAX screen is in Melbourne, Australia and measures 32 m × 23 m (105 ft × 75 ft)
• The Sydney IMAX reconstruction, which began in 2016 and is due to be completed in late 2020 includes an even larger screen ensuring it retains the record as the largest IMAX screen

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Dome and Omnimax

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• In the late 1960s the San Diego Hall of Science (now known as the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center) began searching North America for a large-format film system to project on the dome of their planned 23.16 m (76.0 ft) tilted dome planetarium
• The standard IMAX projector was unsuitable for use inside a dome because it had a 3.65 m (12.0 ft) tall lamp house on top
• IMAX Corporation redesigned its system, adding an elevator to lift the projector to the center of the dome from the projection booth below
• Spectra Physics designed a suitable lamphouse that took smaller, 46 cm (18 in) lamps and placed the bulb behind the lens instead of above the projector
• In 1970 – Ernst Leitz Canada, Ltd. (now ELCAN Optical Technologies) won a contract to develop and manufacture a fisheye lens projection system optimized to project an image onto a dome instead of a flat screen
• The dome system, which the San Diego Hall of Science called “Omnimax”, uses films shot with a camera equipped with a fisheye lens that squeezes a highly-distorted anamorphic 180° field of view onto the 65 mm IMAX film
• The lens is aligned below the center of the frame, and most of the bottom half of the circular field falls beyond the edge of the film
• The part of the field that would fall below the edge of the dome is masked. When filming, the camera is aimed upward at an angle that matches the tilt of the dome
• When projected through a matching fisheye lens onto a dome, the original panoramic view is recreated
• Omnimax wraps 180° horizontally, 100° above the horizon and 22° below the horizon for a viewer at the center of the dome. Omnimax premiered in 1973, showing Voyage to the Outer Planets (produced by Graphic Films) and Garden Isle (by Roger Tilton Films) on a double bill
• IMAX has since renamed the system “IMAX Dome”, but some theaters (particularly those opened before the 2000s) continue to call it “Omnimax”
• Omnimax theatres are used in theme parks and North American museums, particularly those with a scientific focus, where the technical aspects of the system may be highlighted as part of the attraction
• The projection room is often windowed to allow public viewing of the equipment in operation, and it is often accompanied by informational placards like other exhibits
• For some theaters, before the show begins, the screen can be backlit to show the speakers and girders behind it
• The screen may be a permanent fixture, such as at the Museum of Science and Industry (Henry Crown Space Center) in Chicago, Illinois; the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History; the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the St. Louis Science Center; Boston’s Museum of Science; Richmond’s Science Museum of Virginia; the Charlotte Observer IMAX Dome Theatre at Discovery Place, Charlotte, North Carolina; Birmingham, Alabama’s McWane Science Center; US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama; or the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal and Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio
• Alternatively, the dome may be lowered and raised as needed, such as at the Canadian Museum of History (where it shares an auditorium with a standard IMAX screen)
• The entire dome can be raised to show flat screen features, and repositioned for immersive features
• While the majority of museum installations focus on educational and documentary films, on special occasions entertainment films are also shown, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
• The largest screens in North America are at Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey, and the Telus World of Science in Vancouver, British Columbia, both of which have dome screens 27 metres (89 ft) in size
• Due to the age of the IMAX Dome format as well as its entirely analogue nature, some theatres may opt to replace their existing IMAX Dome systems with newer, more versatile digital systems
• Examples of former IMAX Dome theatres that have had their IMAX equipment replaced with newer equipment include Tietomaa Science Centre in Oulu, Finland (which replaced its IMAX equipment from 1988 with a Barco 4K projection system in 2013), the Omni-Theatre at Science Centre Singapore and the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung, Taiwan (which both had their original IMAX 1570 systems installed respectively in 1987 and 1985 replaced with Evans & Sutherland Digistar 5 8K digital systems in 2015)
• In November 2018, the Hackworth IMAX dome in The Tech Museum (now The Tech Interactive) replaced its 70mm IMAX projector with a 4K IMAX Laser projector. It became the first digital IMAX Laser dome theater in the world

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3D

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• To create the illusion of depth, the IMAX 3D process uses two separate camera lenses that represent the left and right eyes
• The lenses are separated by a distance of 64 mm (2.5 in), the average distance between a human’s eyes
• Two separate rolls of film are used to capture the images they produce
• The IMAX 3D camera weighs over 113 kg (249 lb)
• By projecting the two films superimposed on the screen and using one of several available methods to direct only the correct image to each eye, viewers see a 3D image on a 2D screen
• One method is to use polarizing filters to oppositely polarize the light used in projecting each image
• The viewer wears glasses with polarizing filters oriented to match the projector filters, so that the filter over each eye blocks the light used to project the images intended for the other eye
• In another method, the two projections rapidly alternate
• While one image is being shown, the projection of its mate is blocked
• Each frame is shown more than once to increase the rate and suppress flicker
• The viewer wears shutter glasses with liquid crystal shutters that block or transmit light in sync with the projectors, so each eye sees only the images meant for it
• Several of the early films that had been produced in digital 3D for release in conventional theaters were also presented in IMAX 3D, including Avatar, Gravity and The Amazing Spider-Man
• The first full-color IMAX 3D film was the 1986 short documentary Transitions, produced for Expo 86 in Vancouver

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HD

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• Variations on IMAX included the 48 frames per second IMAX HD process, which sought to produce smoother, more lifelike motion, while also reducing the blurring of moving objects, by doubling the normal film rate
• The IMAX HD system was tested in 1992 at the Canada Pavilion of the Seville Expo ’92 with the film Momentum
• Higher production costs, and the high “wear-and-tear” on the prints and projectors, doomed the IMAX HD system, but, not before many theatres had been retrofitted to project at 48 frames, especially in Canada, in order to play Momentum
• In the 1990s theme parks in Thailand, Germany, and Las Vegas used IMAX HD for their Motion Simulator rides
• The Disney parks attraction Soarin’ Over California features a modification of both IMAX HD and IMAX Dome, projecting in 48 frames per second

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Digital

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• Because 70mm film and projectors are costly and difficult to mass produce, and because the size of auditoriums that house full-size IMAX screens make them expensive to construct, IMAX debuted a digital projection system in 2008 to use with shorter 1.90:1 aspect ratio screens
• It uses two 2K-resolution projectors that can present either 2D or 3D content in DCI or IMAX Digital Format (IDF) (which in itself is a superset of DCI)
• The digital installations have caused some controversy, as many theaters have branded their screens as IMAX after merely retrofitting standard auditoriums with IMAX digital projectors
• The screen sizes in these auditoriums are much smaller than those in the purpose-built auditoriums of the original 15/70 IMAX format, and are limited to the 1.90:1 aspect ratio. Another disadvantage is the much lower resolution of digital IMAX
• The technology has a maximum perceived resolution of 2.9K, compared to traditional IMAX 70mm projection, which has an estimated resolution of 12K
• Some reviewers have also noted that many non-IMAX theaters are projecting films at 4K resolution through competing brands such as Dolby Cinema and UltraAVX
• IMAX has held to a uniform branding of “The IMAX Experience” across various underlying technologies and screen sizes
• Some have criticized the company’s marketing approach,with the format being dubbed “Lie-MAX”
• The company has defended the format by saying it has a bigger screen, brighter picture and better sound than standard theatres
• Despite the differences with digital IMAX, the cost-effective format has aided in the company’s worldwide growth, especially in Russia and China

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IMAXShift

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• In May 2016, IMAX announced the test launch of IMAXShift, a multimedia indoor cycling concept but decided to discontinue it June 4, 2017

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Virtual reality

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• On September 2, 2016, IMAX announced plans to include virtual reality (VR) into the IMAX theater experience with the opening of a new VR center in Los Angeles that would use a new StarVR headset created by Acer
• The VR experience was intended for short but interactive videos
• IMAX opened a total of seven IMAX VR centers and established a US$50 million fund for the creation of VR content, as well as partnering with Google for the production of IMAX VR cameras
• However, as of December 2018, four out of the seven IMAX VR centers have closed, and the remaining three are slated to close in early 2019

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In space exploration

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• IMAX cameras have flown in space on 17 occasions, NASA astronauts have used handheld IMAX cameras to document missions, and an IMAX camera has also been mounted in the payload bay of the Shuttle
• Space shuttle mission STS-41-C filmed the deployment of the LDEF (Long duration exposure facility) and the repair of the Solar Max satellite
• This footage was included in the 1985 IMAX movie The Dream is Alive
• Kennedy Space Center in Florida has two IMAX 3D theaters. These show space movies, including footage shot on missions and narrated by celebrities
• Two of the IMAX cameras used by NASA are now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC