Compare screens
Pick up to four venues and see their screens drawn to scale, side by side with the numbers that matter.
What a comparison actually shows
Four rows do the work. Screen is the fabric, the figure cinemas advertise. Picture is the part the projector lights, which is what you actually watch. Where those two diverge, the comparison says by how much, and the ranking follows the picture.
Then projection, because a 2K xenon lamp on a 27-metre screen is a different proposition from a dual laser on the same wall, and confirmed by, because a specification nobody has corroborated should not win an argument. Every figure on a venue page carries the source it came from and how many independent sources agree.
The gap is not theoretical. There are 591 pairs in this dataset where one room has materially more screen than another in the same country and puts up a smaller picture. Six of them, one per country:
China
IMAX, Peace Cinema has 47% more screen than Hengyang Better Life Jinyi & IMAX and shows a smaller picture — 208 m² against 211 m². The extra fabric is never lit.
United Kingdom
IMAX, National Science and Media Museum (Pictureville) has 42% more screen than Cineworld London Leicester Square - Superscreen and shows a smaller picture — 211 m² against 226 m². The extra fabric is never lit.
United States
Maryland Science Center has 40% more screen than Emagine Monticello - Monster Screen and shows a smaller picture — 255 m² against 261 m². The extra fabric is never lit.
Canada
Cinema Cineplex IMAX aux Galeries de la Capitale has 39% more screen than Cinéma Banque Scotia Montréal IMAX and shows a smaller picture — 419 m² against 434 m². The extra fabric is never lit.
Mexico
Cinepolis IMAX Toluca Centro has 30% more screen than Museo Sol del Niño and shows a smaller picture — 313 m² against 317 m². The extra fabric is never lit.
Bulgaria
Cinema City IMAX, Mall of Sofia has 29% more screen than Kino Arena Grand Mall Varna & IMAX and shows a smaller picture — 303 m² against 313 m². The extra fabric is never lit.
That is the whole reason this site exists, and the worked example takes two Glasgow cinemas about three miles apart through it in detail. If you would rather browse than compare, the largest screens are ranked both ways, and every country lists what is actually in each room.