IMAX

IMAX is a proprietary system of <a href="/facts/High-definition_video/3CoUBum1">high-resolution cameras</a>, <a href="/facts/Film_format/hoH7lLa3">film formats</a>, <a href="/facts/Film_projector/SXzyFeDQ">film projectors</a>, and <a href="/facts/Movie_theater/oSkG3tKp">theaters</a> known for having very large screens with a tall <a href="/facts/Aspect_ratio_(image)/I3vbqVl3">aspect ratio</a> (approximately either <a href="/facts/List_of_motion_picture_film_formats/e2eCVqLg">1.43:1 or 1.90:1</a>) and steep <a href="/facts/Stadium_seating/NH1ybrW2">stadium seating</a>, with the 1.43:1 ratio format being available only in few selected locations.
<a href="/facts/Graeme_Ferguson_(filmmaker)/4MpzQQUJ">Graeme Ferguson</a>, <a href="/facts/Roman_Kroitor/6hoWc0ry">Roman Kroitor</a>, <a href="/facts/Robert_Kerr_(Canadian_politician)/cb7BhhWh">Robert Kerr</a>, and William C. Shaw were the co-founders of what would be named the <a href="/facts/IMAX_Corporation/VjG7Wk1r">IMAX Corporation</a> (founded in September 1967 as Multiscreen Corporation, Ltd.), and they developed the first IMAX cinema projection standards in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Canada.
IMAX GT is the premium large format. The digital format uses dual laser projectors, which can show 1.43 digital content when combined with a 1.43 screen. The film format uses very large screens of 18 by 24 metres (59 by 79 feet) and, unlike most conventional film projectors, the film runs horizontally so that the image width can be greater than the width of the <a href="/facts/Film_stock/lbzV2rt4">film stock</a>. It is called the <a href="/facts/70mm/AtKXcub9">15/70 format</a>. They can be purpose-built theaters and <a href="/facts/Fulldome/sM4tAF5R">dome theaters</a>, and many installations of this type limit themselves to a projection of high quality, short documentaries.
The dedicated buildings and projectors required high construction and maintenance costs, necessitating several compromises in the following years. To reduce costs, the IMAX SR and MPX systems were introduced in 1998 and 2004, respectively, to make IMAX available to <a href="/facts/Multiplex_(movie_theater)/raI0zBs6">multiplex</a> and existing theaters. The SR system featured slightly smaller screens than GT theatres, though still in purpose-built auditoriums with a 1.43:1 aspect ratio. The MPX projectors were solely used to retrofit existing multiplex auditoriums, losing much of the quality of the GT experience.
Later came the introduction of the IMAX Digital 2K and IMAX with Laser 4K in 2008 and 2014 respectively, still limited in respect to the 70 megapixels of equivalent resolution of the original 15/70 film. Both technologies are purely digital and suitable to retrofit existing theaters. Since 2018, the Laser system has been employed to retrofit full dome installations, with limited results due to the large area of a dome screen.

IMAX open-in-new

IMAX