Empire Swindon & IMAX
Swindon · United KingdomSingle source
PremiumCinemaIQ rates this IMAX room D, 25/100 — a small room carrying a premium badge — it fails the large-format premise on size, whatever the projector, 112 m² of lit picture. The projector rests on a dated source, so the score is indicative. Data read 21 September 2026.
IMAX in name. Weigh it against the surcharge.
Spec sheet
- Projection
- IMAX Digital Xenon(as of 2021)
- Screen
- 14.6 m × 8.1 m (118 m²)
- Screen shape
- 1.80:1 — the fabric itself
- Picture shown
- 1.90:1
- 15/70mm film
- No
- Sound
- Not published
- Seats
- 260
- Screen type
- Not a dome — curvature not recorded
- Opened
- 2016
- Operator
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.
⚠ LIEMAX — at 14.6m wide this is in the smallest tenth of IMAX screens worldwide (the median is 20 m), showing a 1.90 frame. Good projection can't buy back screen size.
Why IQ 25
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
- 3Empire Swindon & IMAX · 14.6×8.1 m · picture 112 m², 5% never lit
- 4Typical multiplex screen · 12×5 m
Scale check
Familiar objects, same scale as the screen
1 double-decker bus fit on this screen (1 across × 1 up · 118 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
- 118 m²
- Picture
- 112 m²
- Screen used
- 95%
0.4 m of this screen — 5% 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
BFI IMAX
London · 71 mi away
You'd get 340% more screen, real 15/70mm film.
IMAX: The Ronson Theatre, Science Museum
London · 68 mi away
You'd get 231% more screen, real 15/70mm film, the full 1.43 frame.
Cineworld Leicester Square IMAX
London · 70 mi away
You'd get 250% more screen.
Better screens within 75 mi
•Where to next
Also in Swindon
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…