A field guide
Know your
formats
Aspect ratio, projection, screen size — three numbers decide whether you see the film the director shot or a cropped copy of it. Scroll.
Scroll — the frame opens up
2.39:1Standard scope
What most films — and most screens — give you.
1.90:1IMAX digital
Laser and xenon IMAX opens the frame up. +26% more picture
1.43:1IMAX 15/70 film
The full frame. Only film and GT laser venues can show it. +67% more picture
What's actually lighting the screen
“IMAX” on the ticket can mean any of four very different machines in the booth. Warm glow = film. Cold glow = laser. Grey = xenon.
IMAX 15/70mm Film
The format Nolan shoots on. A frame ten times the size of standard 35mm, projected through a machine the size of a car. Nothing else touches it.
- Medium
- 15-perf 70mm celluloid
- Detail
- ~12K negative, ~6K print
- Aspect
- 1.43:1 full frame
- Venues
- ~40 worldwide
IMAX GT Dual Laser
IMAX's best digital system — two 4K laser projectors converged, full 1.43 frame, deep contrast. The only digital system that fills the giant screens.
- Medium
- 2 × 4K laser projectors
- Detail
- Dual 4K, sub-pixel offset
- Aspect
- 1.43:1 full frame
- Venues
- flagship sites only
IMAX Commercial Laser
The multiplex upgrade path. Bright, sharp, respectable — but a 1.90 frame on a (usually) far smaller screen.
- Medium
- Single 4K laser (CoLa/XT)
- Detail
- 4K
- Aspect
- 1.90:1
- Venues
- common in multiplexes
IMAX Digital Xenon
The system behind the “LieMAX” nickname: 2K projection on retrofit screens that can be a quarter the size of the real thing — for the same surcharge.
- Medium
- 2 × 2K xenon projectors
- Detail
- 2K — 2008-era spec
- Aspect
- 1.90:1
- Venues
- the majority, worldwide
The negative, to scale
Resolution starts at the camera. Each frame below is drawn at its real relative size.
35mm
standard cinema, ~100 years
5/70
“70mm” — Lawrence of Arabia
15/70 IMAX
ten × the area of 35mm
This page is the reference — every figure with its source. If you want the argument instead, start with why the screen isn't the picture.
The numbers, with receipts
Every figure below is sourced and every source is linked. Where the references genuinely contradict each other we show both rather than quietly picking one — including the places where IMAX's own marketing doesn't reconcile with itself.
Film gauges
| Format | Frame | Perfs | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| IMAX 15/70 (film)[1] en.wikipedia.org[2] en.wikipedia.org | 69.6 × 48.5 mmprojected/printed image area | 15 | 1.43 |
| IMAX Dome / OMNIMAX[1] in70mm.com[2] en.wikipedia.org | 71.25 × 50.8 mm | 15 | — |
| 5/70 standard 70mm (Todd-AO / Super Panavision 70)[1] en.wikipedia.org[2] en.wikipedia.org | — | 5 | 2.20 |
| Ultra Panavision 70 / MGM Camera 65[1] en.wikipedia.org[2] en.wikipedia.org | — | 5 | 2.76 |
| 35mm Academy[1] en.wikipedia.org[2] en.wikipedia.org | — | 4 | 1.375 |
| 35mm flat (spherical widescreen)[1] en.wikipedia.org[2] en.wikipedia.org | — | 4 | 1.85 |
| 35mm anamorphic scope (CinemaScope / Panavision)[1] en.wikipedia.org[2] en.wikipedia.org | — | 4 | 2.39 |
| Super 35[1] en.wikipedia.org | — | 4 | 1.33 native, commonly extracted to 2.40 |
Projection systems
| System | Resolution | Max screen | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| IMAX with Laser XT[1] en.wikipedia.org[2] hollywoodreporter.com | — | 24.4 m(unverified) | 12 |
| IMAX Digital (xenon, 2008-era)[1] en.wikipedia.org | — | 21.3 m | 6 |
The marketing, checked
“up to 26% more image”checks out
Compares an IMAX 1.90:1 presentation against the standard 2.39:1 scope presentation of the same film. IMAX Melbourne's wording: sequences shot in 1.9:1 'show 26% more image than the standard cinema aspect ratio (2.39:1)'.
[1] imaxmelbourne.com.au[2] en.wikipedia.org“40% more picture (1.43:1)”misleading
IMAX Melbourne's wording: 1.43:1 sequences show '40% more picture than the standard cinema aspect ratio (2:39:1)' - stated against the SAME 2.39:1 baseline as the 26% claim.
[1] imaxmelbourne.com.au[2] reddit.com“Expanded Aspect Ratio”checks out
IMAX's marketing term for its taller-than-scope presentation ratios. The official The Odyssey site uses it for 1.43:1: 'In IMAX 70mm locations, the film will be presented in IMAX's 1.43:1 Expanded Aspect Ratio.' The term is applied to 1.90:1 releases too, so 'Expanded Aspect Ratio' on a listing does not by itself mean 1.43.
[1] odysseymovie.co.uk“10x the resolution of standard projection formats (15/70)”unverifiable
in70mm.com repeats IMAX's line that 15-perf 70mm projection gives 'ten times the resolution of standard projection formats', and that 5-perf 65mm gives 3 times. Wikipedia frames the film-area comparison differently: the IMAX frame is 'ten times the size of a conventional 35mm frame, and three times the size of a 70mm frame', and IMAX has 'three times the theoretical horizontal resolution of a frame of 35 mm film'.
[1] in70mm.com[2] in70mm.comWhere the sources disagree
Shown rather than resolved. If we quietly picked a side you'd have no way to check us.
IMAX 15/70 frame dimensions
- — Wikipedia's IMAX article: 69.6 mm x 48.5 mm, which yields 1.435:1 and matches the quoted 1.43:1 native ratio.
- — Wikipedia's 70 mm film article: camera aperture 70.41 mm x 52.63 mm, which yields 1.338:1.
- — in70mm.com's projection table: 48.5 mm x 69.6 mm, area 3376 sq mm / 5.23 sq in - agreeing with the first figure.
IMAX's '26% more' and '40% more' image claims
- — IMAX operator (IMAX Melbourne, cited by Wikipedia): 1.9:1 shows '26% more image' and 1.43:1 shows '40% more picture', both versus 2.39:1.
- — Arithmetic on matched width gives +25.8% for 1.90 and +67.1% for 1.43 versus 2.39 (derived). The 40% figure only reconciles as 1 - 1.43/2.39 = 40.2%, i.e. the proportion of the IMAX frame absent from the scope version - a different base from the 26% claim.
15/70 effective resolution
- — Wikipedia (citing Gizmodo, 2009): up to 12,000 horizontal lines (12K) on the 65mm camera negative, approximately 6,000 (6K) on a release print.
- — Wikipedia elsewhere in the same article: 'three times the theoretical horizontal resolution of a frame of 35 mm film'.
- — in70mm.com / IMAX marketing: 'ten times the resolution of standard projection formats' (which is a frame-AREA ratio, not a linear resolution ratio).
35mm anamorphic labelled 2.35 vs 2.39
- — Wikipedia aspect ratio article: the standard changed to 2.39:1 with the 1970 update PH22.106-1971; pre-1970 anamorphic was 2.35:1.
- — in70mm.com describes Oppenheimer's 2020s 35mm anamorphic release as '2.35:1'.
- — Wikipedia's The Odyssey article gives 2.39:1 for its 35mm release.
'Laser XT' and 'Commercial Laser (CoLa)' as product names
- — Wikipedia documents only 'IMAX with Laser' (GT, dual 4K, 2014) and an unnamed single-unit laser projector announced 24 April 2018 for 1.90:1 screens.
- — Enthusiast/community documentation (IMAX Wiki and derived listings) uses 'Laser XT' (single projector, single lens, 1.90 only, up to ~24.4 m) and 'CoLa / Commercial Laser' (single projector, two lenses, 1.90 only, brighter, better 3D).
Largest IMAX screen
- — Wikipedia: largest operating IMAX screen as of 2021 is Leonberg, Germany at 38 x 22 m (125 x 72 ft).
- — IMAX Melbourne describes its own screen as 32 m wide x 23 m high.
OMNIMAX frame area
- — in70mm.com projection table: elliptical frame 50.8 x 71.25 mm, area given as 2775 sq mm (4.30 sq in).
- — The ellipse area of 50.8 x 71.25 mm is approximately 2843 sq mm (derived); the imperial figure 4.30 sq in does reconcile with 2.00 x 2.74 in.
Whether The Odyssey is '100% IMAX'
- — Official film site and Wikipedia: every frame was shot with IMAX film cameras; first feature shot entirely on them.
- — Wikipedia also states the film 'has been presented in a variety of aspect ratios depending on the exhibition format' - 1.43 only on IMAX 70mm.
How much detail is on a 15/70 frame
Treat these as a range, not a number. Film has no pixel grid, so any “equivalent K” figure is a conversion someone chose. Estimates in circulation run from 8K to 18K; we quote the negative and print separately because they differ enormously, and we don't print a single headline figure.
The two apertures are also a common trap: 69.6 × 48.5 mm is what gets projectedand gives 1.43:1. The 70.41 × 52.63 mm camera aperture is taller, at about 1.34:1. A spec sheet quoting the camera figure beside “1.43:1” is mixing two different things.
Sound systems
- 6-channel
- Used by IMAX film and IMAX digital (xenon) theatres: Left, Centre and Right behind the screen, plus surrounds, plus an additional 'top-centre' overhead speaker. The overhead top-centre chann[1][2][3][4]
- 12-channel
- Introduced with IMAX with Laser: adds speakers on either side of the auditorium (side surrounds between screen and rear corners) plus four new overhead speakers, on top of the existing behin[1][2][3][4]
Brightness and contrast
Figures we hold but will not publish as measurements
- · IMAX laser at 22 fL — traceable only to CTO interviews and launch coverage, not a datasheet or a meter log.
- · Contrast at ~8,000:1 laser or ~4,000:1 film — comparatives and community figures, not published measurements.
Laser is brighter than the xenon it replaced and holds that brightness as a lamp would not. That much is safe to say. Putting a number on it would imply somebody metered it.
The largest screens
Two venues are described in superlative terms by different sources and the dimensions do not rank consistently: Leonberg 38 x 22 m = 836 sq m, IMAX Melbourne 32 x 23 m = 736 sq m (derived). 'Largest IMAX screen' claims should be qualified by metric (width vs area vs height) and date.
The “LieMAX” problem
Same logo, same surcharge — but a retrofit multiplex IMAX can have a screen a quarter the area of a flagship, 2K xenon projection, and a 1.90 frame that crops the film. The badge on the door doesn't tell you. The spec sheet does — which is the entire reason this site exists.
Check your local screen