8 premium screens
San Diego
There are 8 premium screens in San Diego, across Dolby Cinema, IMAX, 4DX and ScreenX. The biggest picture is at AMC Palm Promenade 24 & IMAX — 165 m² of lit screen, with almost nothing in it against Edwards Mira Mesa Stadium 18 & IMAX.
No room here can show the full 1.43:1 IMAX frame. Every screen in San Diego crops to 1.90 or wider, so a film shot with IMAX cameras will be missing about a quarter of its picture wherever you see it.
Worth knowing before you book: Edwards Mira Mesa Stadium 18 & IMAX never lights 16% of its screen. The fabric is bigger than the picture, which is why the ranking here is by lit area rather than by the dimensions cinemas advertise.
Ranked
Scored on the picture each room actually lights, not the fabric it is painted on. A tilde means the projector rests on a single dated source.
- Dolby Cinema at AMC Mission Valley 20Dolby Cinemasize unpublishedB
- Dolby Cinema at AMC Palm Promenade 24Dolby Cinemasize unpublishedB
- Dolby Cinema at AMC UTC 14Dolby Cinemasize unpublishedB
- AMC Palm Promenade 24 & IMAXIMAX Commercial Laser17.7 × 9.9 m165 m² lit pictureC
- Edwards Mira Mesa Stadium 18 & IMAXIMAX Commercial Laser17.5 × 11 m161 m² lit pictureC
- AMC Mission Valley 20 & IMAXIMAX Digital Xenon15.1 × 7.9 m119 m² lit pictureD
- not
rankedRegal Edwards Mira Mesa4DXsize unpublished - not
rankedRegal Edwards Mira MesaScreenXsize unpublished
Choosing in San Diego
If you are choosing tonight
It is AMC Palm Promenade 24 & IMAX against Edwards Mira Mesa Stadium 18 & IMAX. 165 m² of lit picture against 161 m², so the projector decides it.
Screen you will be sold and never see
One room here advertises more screen than any film will light. Edwards Mira Mesa Stadium 18 & IMAX leaves 16% dark — 31 m² of fabric that never carries a picture.
Worth leaving San Diego for
Regal Edwards Ontario Palace IMAX is 93 mi away and beats everything in San Diego — 349 m² more lit picture than the best room here.
How much of this is confirmed
Projector confirmed by two independent sources: 0 of 8. Single source: 3. No source: 5.
No longer here
1 room no longer carries the brand it opened with.
- San Diego Natural History Museumno longer IMAX
Not sure what separates these? The screen is not the picture →