IMAX technology combines a variety of technological innovations: special cameras, special projectors, wide screens, specially-designed theatres with steeply raked seating, and films shot on 65mm negative stock.

• Film Format
• Screens
• Projector
• Digital Sound System
• Theatre Design
• IMAX 3D
• IMAX 3D Effect Created by Electronic Liquid-Crystal Shutter Glasses (E3D Glasses)
• IMAX 3D Effect Via Polarized Glasses
• IMAX Personal Sound Enviroment (IMAX PSE)

Film Format

IMAX technology uses the largest commercial film format in motion picture history -- 70mm, 15-perforation -- three times the size of regular 70mm, and ten times the size of conventional 35mm which you would see in a normal movie theatre.

Screens

It is projected on giant screens which extend beyong peripheral vision -- so big, in fact, that a whale can appear life-size -- IMAX screens can be up to eight stories high. Because these screens fill your peripheral vision, you have the sense of being right in the action.

Projector

It features the most advance projector ever built using IMAX's patented Rolling Loop technology. Each frame is positioned on fixed registration pins; the film is held firmly against the rear element of the lens by a vacuum. A 68% shutter transmit one third more light than a conventional 50% shutter.

Digital Sound System

IMAX theatres feature a patented digital audio technology with advanced ciruits designed specifically to enhance sound clarity and depth of sound reproduction. IMAX sound also uses proprietary signal processing, amplification and loudspeaker design.

Theatre Design

IMAX films are shown in specially-designed theatres where the seating docks are steeply ranked, so that even a child's view is unobstructed and people can look up and down, as in real life.

IMAX 3D

IMAX 3D is acknowledged to be the best 3D in the world. IMAX has developed a special 3D camera which incorporates two camera movements into one housing. It has adapted the Rolling Loop projector to project 3D and uses either IMAX 3D glasses with polarizing filters or electronic liquid-crystal shutter glasses (as the Sony IMAX Theatre in New York). There are currently 14 IMAX 3D theatres worldwide.

IMAX 3D Effect Created By Electronic Liquid-Crystal Shutter Glasses (E3D Glasses)

Used to show left and right eye images of each scene, IMAX E3D glasses sense an infra-red signal from the projection system. The shutters alternately open and close 48 times per second, allowing each eye to see the appropriate image. The theatre disappears as images float through air, enveloping the viewer in the film.

IMAX 3D Effect Via Polarized Glasses

The images are projected onto a huge, flat screen via two polarized lenses that focus the separate left and right eye images of two separate strips of film onto the screen. The audience wears polarized glasses which have the same polarizer attachment in each lens as the projector. This allows excellent alignment and picture steadiness.

IMAX Personal Sound Environment (IMAX PSE)

The IMAX PSE system is an innovative advancement in sound imaging allowing filmmakers to effectively place sound with the images on screen to create a situation of drama and suspense.

IMAX PSE provides an additional pair of sound channels that augments the theatre's existing six-channel digital sound system capabilities. This sound enhancement is presented via a unique, high-performance headset equipped with IMAX PSE sound transducers. These are designed to complement and expand the sound experience from the main speaker system. IMAX PSE provides aural cues and special effects using two full high-fidelity audio channels.