Empirical Theatre IMAX
Portland · United StatesSingle source
PremiumCinemaIQ rates this IMAX room D, 29/100 — at the bottom of the premium range, 188 m² of lit picture, with 18% of the screen never lit. The projector rests on a dated source, so the score is indicative. Data read 21 October 2026.
Map position approximate (city centre)
Premium in name. Weigh it against the surcharge.
Spec sheet
- Projection
- IMAX Digital Xenon(as of 2021)
- Screen
- 18.9 m × 12.2 m (231 m²)
- Picture area
- 188 m² — 18% of the screen is never lit
- Screen shape
- 1.55:1 — the fabric itself
- Picture shown
- 1.90:1
- 15/70mm film
- No
- Sound
- Not published
- Seats
- 300
- Screen type
- Not a dome — curvature not recorded
- Opened
- 2013
- Operator
⚠ Still trading, but no longer an IMAX venue. OMSI's OMNIMAX dome closed September 2013, converted to a flat PLF screen and reopened December 2013 as the Empirical Theater; still operating.
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, so a 2021 label is a 2021 state rather than a current one. Treat the score as indicative.
Why IQ 29
188 m² of lit picture · full marks at 700 m² · one source
IMAX Digital Xenon · recorded 2021 · one source
1.90:1 · the widest frame this room can show
no sound specification published
⌷ 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 · 38.8×21.0 m · picture 792 m², 3% never lit
- 2BFI IMAX · 26×20.0 m · picture 473 m², 9% never lit
- 3Empirical Theatre · 18.9×12.2 m · picture 188 m², 18% never lit
- 4Typical multiplex screen · 12 m wide, height not published
Scale check
Familiar objects, same scale as the screen
2 double-decker buses fit on this screen (1 across × 2 up · 231 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
- 231 m²
- Picture
- 188 m²
- Screen used
- 82%
2.3 m of this screen's height — 18% of it — stays dark for an 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
Dolby Cinema at AMC Vancouver Mall 23
Vancouver
Regal Bridgeport Village Stadium 18 & IMAX
Tigard
Better screens within 75 mi
•Where to next
Also in Portland
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 not-imax (2013)
The projector here rests on a single source. It is the weakest field we hold across the network.
Showtimes
Checking listings…