IMAX, National Science and Media Museum (Pictureville)
Bradford · United KingdomSingle source
PremiumCinemaIQ rates this IMAX room C, 34/100 — a modest premium screen, 211 m² of lit picture, with 34% of the screen never lit. The projector rests on a dated source, so the score is indicative. Data read 21 September 2026.
Europe's first IMAX (1983) lost its 15/70 projector in the 2015 digital conversion and, after the 2023 RAAC closure, reopened December 2024 still IMAX-branded with digital projection, now run in partnership with Picturehouse.
Respectable, but not the full IMAX proposition.
Spec sheet
- Projection
- IMAX Digital Xenon(as of 2021)
- Screen
- 20 m × 16 m (320 m²)
- Picture area
- 211 m² — 34% of the screen is never lit
- Screen shape
- 1.25:1 — the fabric itself
- Picture shown
- 1.90:1
- 15/70mm film
- No
- Sound
- IMAX 6-channel
- Seats
- 340
- Screen type
- Curved
- Opened
- 1983
- Operator
- Picturehouse
The projector here comes from a 2021 industry listing that we haven't been able to re-confirm. IMAX has converted a lot of screens to laser since — where we could check, 100 venues listed as xenon had been upgraded. Treat the score as indicative.
Why IQ 34
⌷ Size is scored on the picture, not the fabric. This screen is taller than its projector's frame, so a chunk of it is never lit and doesn't count.
How big, really?
Drawn to scale · figure = 1.7 m
- 1Traumpalast Leonberg IMAX · 38.8×21 m · picture 792 m², 3% never lit
- 2BFI IMAX · 26×20 m · picture 473 m², 9% never lit
- 3IMAX, National Science and Media Museum (Pictureville) · 20×16 m · picture 211 m², 34% never lit
- 4Typical multiplex screen · 12×5 m
Scale check
Familiar objects, same scale as the screen
3 double-decker buss fit on this screen (1 across × 3 up · 320 m² total)
What you actually see
Switch format — watch what lights up on this screen · why this matters
IMAX digital — what most “IMAX” showings actually are
- Screen
- 320 m²
- Picture
- 211 m²
- Screen used
- 66%
5.5 m of this screen — 34% of it — stays dark for a IMAX 1.90 showing. The projector here can't produce the full 1.43 frame, so the top and bottom of the screen are never used at all.
Worth travelling for?
Your nearest premium screen isn't always the best one in reach
Where this comes from
Single sourceWe treat a figure as confirmed only when two independent sources agree.
- Screen dimensions
- single source
- · LF Examiner industry listing (2021)
- Projector
- single source
- · LF Examiner industry listing (2021)
- Operating status
- verified open
The projector here rests on a single source. It is the weakest field we hold across the network.
Showtimes
Checking listings…