What Is IMAX & How Does It Change Your Movie Watching Experience?

For decades, audiences have enjoyed watching films in IMAX, a premium format that promises an enhanced viewing experience. However, IMAX screenings are not available in every market. Thus, those who don't have a location near them or haven't been to one of the specialty theaters might wonder what all the hubbub is about with IMAX and why so many film aficionados swear by it.

While many know IMAX auditoriums have staggered seating and larger screens than conventional theaters, with the size being 72' x 50' compared to the standard theater measurements of 50' x 20, what else is different when you go for the premium theater experience? For starters, the audio is completely overhauled to provide the most immersive viewing possible.

"The combination of our perfectly tuned integrated sound system and our precise speaker orientation ensures you can hear a pin drop and be able to tell exactly where it landed," reads a quote from the IMAX website. The film's director oversees this process to ensure it fits their design. The official site also touts its dual projection system and hand-crafted remastering, a "process [that] fully transforms every frame of a film to produce the best possible version of a filmmaker's vision."

The IMAX experience also boasts that "every element in our theatres is planned, designed, and positioned with exacting standards to create the most intense experience." However, among these already impressive improvements to the filmgoing experience, the 70mm IMAX version of "Oppenheimer" offers something even more special.

For movies that are still shot on film rather than digital, the standard print is 35mm. This means the IMAX version of "Oppenheimer" is twice as big as the theatrical version. In addition to this, the resolution is roughly four times the size of what you can expect in a standard theater, meaning the quality of the image onscreen is vastly superior.

That Christopher Nolan's film went so far as to make sure the IMAX experience was something special shouldn't come as a surprise. The filmmaker has been using IMAX technology to shoot his films since "The Dark Knight" and has been an outspoken devotee of the shooting process and its commitment to high-quality cinema for over a decade.

Though not every IMAX movie undergoes such a lofty and intensive process as Nolan's films, the quality difference is still very noticeable in a way that even casual moviegoers will be impressed by the experience. For that reason alone, it's worth going to the trouble to visit one of the elite theaters at least once if you're able to.