ODEON Cardiff IMAX
Cardiff · United KingdomPublished figures
PremiumCinemaIQ rates this IMAX room D, 47/100 — a small room carrying a premium badge — it fails the large-format premise on size, whatever the projector, 129 m² of lit picture. The projector rests on a dated source, so the score is indicative. Data read 21 September 2026.
South Wales' largest IMAX, at the Red Dragon Centre in Cardiff Bay since December 2009, relaunched June 2025 with IMAX with Laser and a new multi-channel sound system.
Hemingway Road, Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village, Cardiff, CF10 4JY · Open in maps ↗
IMAX in name. Weigh it against the surcharge.
Spec sheet
- Projection
- IMAX Commercial Laser(as of 2021)
- Screen
- 16.8 m × 7.7 m (129 m²)
- Screen shape
- 2.18:1 — the fabric itself
- Picture shown
- 1.90:1
- 15/70mm film
- No
- Sound
- IMAX 12-channel
- Seats
- 286
- Screen type
- Not a dome — curvature not recorded
- Opened
- 2009
- Operator
- Odeon
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 16.8m 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 47
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
- 3ODEON Cardiff IMAX · 16.8×7.7 m
- 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 · 129 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
- 129 m²
- Picture
- 129 m²
- Screen used
- 100%
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
Every premium screen in Cardiff · All of United Kingdom
Also in Cardiff
Elsewhere in United Kingdom
Other Odeon screens
Where this comes from
Published figuresWe treat a figure as confirmed only when two independent sources agree.
- Screen dimensions
- single source
- · LF Examiner industry listing (2021)
- Projector
- not established
- Operating status
- verified open
Sources disagree
The 2021 industry listing records this venue as xenon; we publish laseron 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.
The projector here rests on a single source. It is the weakest field we hold across the network.
Showtimes
Checking listings…