McWane Science Center IMAX
Birmingham · United StatesSingle source
PremiumCinemaIQ rates this IMAX room B, 61/100 — a solid premium screen without being exceptional, 679 m² of dome surface, and it can show the full 1.43:1 frame. Two independent sources agree on the projector. Data read 5 November 2026.
200 Nineteenth Street North, Birmingham, AL, 35203 · Open in maps ↗
Genuinely big screen, strong presentation.
Spec sheet
- Projection
- IMAX Laser for Dome
- Screen
- 24 m dome (~679 m² of surface)
- Picture shown
- 1.43:1 — full IMAX frame
- 15/70mm film
- No
- Sound
- Not published
- Seats
- 280
- Screen type
- Dome
- Opened
- 1998
- Operator
This is a dome. The area above is the projected surface, worked out from the diameter by convention rather than measured — and it wraps above and behind you, so it isn't the same thing as the frontal area of a flat screen. Treat the score as a rough peer of the flat screens around it, not a like-for-like comparison.
Why IQ 61
24 m dome, scored on projected surface · full marks at 700 m² · one source
IMAX Laser for Dome · 2 independent sources
a dome has no frame aspect ratio, so this axis does not apply
no sound specification published
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
- 3McWane Science Center (est.) · 18 m wide, height not published
- 4Typical multiplex screen · 12 m wide, height not published
What you actually see
Switch format — watch what lights up on this screen · why this matters
Worth travelling for?
Your nearest premium screen isn't always the best one in reach
Nothing materially better within 75 mi — this is your best option locally.
•Where to next
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
- confirmed by 2 sources
- Operating status
- verified open
Sources disagree
The 2021 industry listing records this venue as laser; we publish laser-dualon the strength of a more recent source. IMAX has converted a great many screens to laser since that listing closed, so the newer record usually wins — but you should know the two don't match.
Showtimes
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