What makes IMAX theaters different from normal ones?

The film world is in the thick of IMAX fever. With Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey selling out the company's exclusive screens months in advance, debates around aspect ratios, film gauges and frame rates have thrust themselves to the forefront of the proverbial watercooler. But for your average moviegoer, the newfound cultural obsession with film formatting may come as a surprise. Why, for instance, are some fans flying across the world just to see a 70mm screening of the latest blockbuster? Moreover, why are IMAX tickets so exclusive, and are they really worth the added wait time and price tag?

Before diving into what makes IMAX theaters unique, let's go over some basics. From a theatrical perspective, fans flock to IMAX theaters because they offer larger screens, enhanced sound systems and better image quality. But IMAX theaters are more than merely a bigger, better image. Rather, IMAX reimagines the entire cinematic experience, revolutionizing how films are shot, edited and displayed. This is because IMAX doesn't just take a film and project it onto an expanded screen but instead works with filmmakers throughout the filming and editing process.

IMAX screens differ from traditional movie theaters in both shape and size. For one thing, IMAX replaces the traditional aspect ratios, the term film buffs use to describe the height and width of a screen, with either a 1:90:1 or 1:43:1 ratio for their digital and film projection showings, respectively. For those who don't spend their days studying the intricacies of film formatting, this means that IMAX theaters are both larger and proportionally taller than the average theater. More square in shape, screens are crafted to extend beyond the periphery of human eyesight to deliver a more visually immersive experience. For a 70mm film screening, for instance, IMAX's theaters stand and astounding 59 feet tall and 79 feet wide.

In an IMAX theater, you aren't simply seeing the same image blown up to gargantuan proportions, but rather, a different image altogether. This is especially true for films shot on IMAX's massive cameras, which capture a larger image than their counterparts. As Christopher Nolan described it to the Associated Press , the expanded view poses exciting challenges for filmmakers. "We have to plan very carefully because by shooting an IMAX film, you capture a lot of information," he said. "Your movie is going to translate very well to all the formats because you're getting the ultimate amount of visual information. But there are different shapes to the screen . . .What you have to plan is how you then frame your imagery so that it can be presented in different theaters with equal success."

But directors shooting in digital also have to make creative decisions to fit the expanded format, as filming for IMAX's dual aspect ratios is more than simply zooming out and cropping the film to size in post-production. Instead, filmmakers must adjust the lenses, lighting, and sound architecture in order to maximize footage for both IMAX and non-IMAX formats. Movies that are "Filmed for IMAX" take it a step further by collaborating directly with the exhibitor throughout the production. IMAX also provides production software, including digital remastering tools, to clean and enhance images for their larger-than-life presentation.

For most, the closest IMAX screen is likely digital. The most common are dubbed IMAX Digital, which are often retrofitted screens offered by popular brands like Cinemark, Dolby, AMC and Regal. Although these dual xenon lamp projectors offer an impressive 1:90:1 aspect ratio, they fail to achieve the resolution gains of IMAX's other projectors. IMAX also offers two types of digital laser projectors. One, known as Laser GT, achieves IMAX's acclaimed floor-to-ceiling aspect ratios. Using two 4K laser projectors, they render enhanced picture resolution and color palettes. However, not all IMAX laser screenings can support these larger formats. Some IMAX theaters use a single laser projection system and thus can only support a 1:90:1 ratio. Single laser screenings offer better contrast and brightness than their xenon bulb alternatives.

The most premium viewing experience is undoubtedly IMAX's 70mm film . Of course, 70mm isn't anything new. Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey , for instance, was shot on the vibrant medium. IMAX, for its part, revolutionized the format by running the film horizontally, rather than vertically. Moreover, IMAX repeats the process three times over, increasing the film's perforations — the holes you see at the edges of a film's frame — from the atypical five to fifteen. To put this in perspective, the reels for the Odyssey run over 10 miles long, weigh roughly 500 pounds and run through the projector at hundreds of miles an hour. To no one's surprise, the colossal prints don't come cheap, as each of Nolan's 70mm print reportedly cost $80,000.

In interviews, Nolan praised the format for its "unparalleled" sharpness and clarity, calling it  the "best that celluloid film ever got." The reason for this is "its massive film negative" that essentially functions as a "a huge roll of film that runs through the projector at hundreds of miles an hour." This added frame size not only creates a larger aspect ratio, but enhances the film's resolution. Because IMAX uses an emulsion to process the image, the greater surface area means better image quality. As the highest resolution format available, IMAX's claims its 70mm prints are 10 times clearer than traditional 35mm projectors, achieving the equivalent of 18,000 pixels per frame.