goalweiser
New member
Before anyone books The Odyssey and drives two hours for it, check what the ticket actually says, because the blue logo covers wildly different rooms. If the label reads IMAX 70mm you are done, that is 15/70 film and it fills a 1.43:1 screen. If it reads IMAX with Laser you have learned almost nothing, because that branding covers several different projector systems and the public theatre listings do not always specify which one is in the building.
The tiers, roughly, run from 15/70 film at the top, then dual-4K GT Laser which can also do 1.43:1 in properly equipped houses, then CoLa and XT, which are newer single-projector laser systems that typically top out at 1.90:1, and then the older dual-projector 2K Digital Xenon rigs that spread through multiplexes from 2008. That last group is what actually earned the LieMAX nickname around 2009, when people worked out the new multiplex screens were nothing like the giant purpose-built auditoriums. Gelfond's answer at the time was that screen size is only one part of the experience, which is true and also not what you paid the premium for.
Worth being fair about it though: a modern 1.90:1 laser room is a good presentation, and calling it LieMAX because it is not 1.43:1 is a different complaint from the one people were originally making. Aspect ratio is your best clue if the label is vague, since a 1.43:1 screen is visibly taller and squarer than a 1.90:1 one.
Does anyone have a chain in their area that actually publishes the projector type on the booking page, or is everyone reduced to checking fan-maintained spreadsheets?
The tiers, roughly, run from 15/70 film at the top, then dual-4K GT Laser which can also do 1.43:1 in properly equipped houses, then CoLa and XT, which are newer single-projector laser systems that typically top out at 1.90:1, and then the older dual-projector 2K Digital Xenon rigs that spread through multiplexes from 2008. That last group is what actually earned the LieMAX nickname around 2009, when people worked out the new multiplex screens were nothing like the giant purpose-built auditoriums. Gelfond's answer at the time was that screen size is only one part of the experience, which is true and also not what you paid the premium for.
Worth being fair about it though: a modern 1.90:1 laser room is a good presentation, and calling it LieMAX because it is not 1.43:1 is a different complaint from the one people were originally making. Aspect ratio is your best clue if the label is vague, since a 1.43:1 screen is visibly taller and squarer than a 1.90:1 one.
Does anyone have a chain in their area that actually publishes the projector type on the booking page, or is everyone reduced to checking fan-maintained spreadsheets?
