IMAX DVD's: why are they not widescreen? (1 Viewer)

[Jay_Sharp]

I was browsing thru the listings of IMAXs DVD and 90% of them seem to be in pan & scan or 1:33. Anyone know the reason why those chose this route? Is this the J6P influence again?

Thanks in advance

 

[Mike Brantley]

I'm pretty sure the IMAX format is 1.33 or close to it. It's tall as well as wide!
Just because something is 1.33 doesn't mean it's P&S.

 

[Jay_Sharp]

Whoops meant to say P&S or 1:33.

Anyways, I thought their format was 15x70? Most of the IMAX things I've seen on their screens tend to be VERY wide wraparound. Of course that would look too small on a TV, but still I would think they adopt some type of widescreen standard for their DVDs.

 

[Paul Richardson]

I don't know if you've ever seen an IMAX screen, but they aren't wide. The aspect ratio on an IMAX film is 1.44:1.

 

[Jay_Sharp]

Ahh nm did some research and most of their movies are 4:3.

My mistake. I guess those screens do a number on your peripheral vision. heh

 

[Ryan Peter]

The ones that are 16:9 are cropped, like Super Speedway and Mike Jordan.

 

[Mike Brantley]

Tell me about it! Our IMAX theater here in Mobile has a domed screen, so it's hard to tell what shape anything is because of the distortion of the projected image by the curvature of the dome. I much prefer the big, flat IMAX screens they have east and west of me at Pensacola and New Orleans.

 

[Jay_Sharp]

Ah yes the dome, that's where I've seen all my IMAX movies in. Although the theater was in Cincinnati.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Imax is indeed near the 1.33:1/1.44:1 ratio.

 

[LarryH]

They show Imax films in the planetarium here, too. Talk about being unwatchable!

 

[nousername]

IMAX and OMNIMAX should not be confused.
IMAX = flat screen
OMNIMAX = domed screen
See here.

 

[Artur Meinild]

But in theory, you could show a 1.85:1 film in IMAX by matting the top and bottom of the picture, right?

 

[David Lambert]

No, Artur...you would matte the SIDES, to make it square-ish. Or else UNmatte the top and bottom. Either way, it's MARred.
For what it's worth, Chicago's Navy Pier IMAX Theater claims itself to be Link Removed.
That's 1.33:1. However, most IMAX theaters claim a 1.44:1 ratio and that's the official format of the film. There are exceptions, theater by theater. One thing is clear: IMAX films are clearly never widescreen in their OAR, and any "widescreen" versions of an IMAX film is MAR.
The Big Movie Zone, which you should go to for the best information about IMAX, OMNIMAX, and other large-format movies, has this to say about the difference between IMAX and OMNIMAX:

Rectangular Large Format screens are generally six to eight stories high (55 to 80 feet), or up to 4500 times bigger than the average TV screen. An IMAX® screen in Sydney, Australia, is 96.9 feet high (almost 10 stories, or 30 meters high) and is considered to be the world's biggest movie screen.
While most screens are rectangular, and situated entirely in front of the viewer, other Giant Screens wrap around the viewer in the shape of a 'dome.' As large as 99 feet in diameter (30 meters), dome theaters are shaped like a bowl (parabolic) and utilize a "planetarium star field projector."

You can read up more about Big Movies at the BMZ:
http://www.bigmoviezone.com/main.html
BMZ always has the best bits, like info about Disney's next 6 IMAX films, including Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King!!
TLK is supposed to be released to IMAX theaters on 1/1/2003. This almost certainly signals a change in the Disney DVD Platinum release order. It was supposed to be Aladdin first in 2003, then Lion King in 2004. But Disney's always released to DVD in October their earlier-in-the-same-year January IMAX re-reformat/re-releases (the trend only being F2K & BatB, though). I'm extrapolating, but I suppose this means we'll get TLK on DVD first!
Howdoyalikethemapples?
I just hope we get, for both BatB & TLK, the original un-IMAXed versions on the DVD. If not, then there will be hell to pay for essentially MARred editions (see note to Artur at the top of this post).

 

[Artur Meinild]

OK, let me rephrase:
You could show a 1.85:1 on IMAX using letterboxing, exactly as you would show a 1.85:1 film on a 4:3 TV.
In my previous post, I meant "matting" top and bottom of the screen, like in letterboxing!

 

[David Lambert]

Aha. Got it. Sorry 'bout that. Yes it would work, although there might be some loss of resolution showing it that big, eh? They have to be re-processed and reformatted for the super-big screen.

Still, if reformatting for IMAX, we don't want them to P&S widescreen films just to IMAX present them, though!

 

[Mike Brantley]

Allan, you were correct re Omnimax ... until sometime fairly recently when somebody decided one name would fit all. The theater here at the Gulf Coast Exploreum is officially called an IMAX Dome theater. But it looks like there are plenty of venues still called Omnimax.

Whatever they call it, it seems like the film is flat and the screen should be flat. Of course, when I go to our domed theater (which is a spectacular place otherwise) I am the only one in our group who is bothered by the image distortion. Sigh.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

How did the IMAX run of Fantasia 2000 cope? Did they mat the sides?

 

[Kwang Suh]

How did the IMAX run of Fantasia 2000 cope? Did they mat the sides?

Yes, it was a P&S presentation.

 

[Artur Meinild]

Still, if reformatting for IMAX, we don't want them to P&S widescreen films just to IMAX present them, though!

My point exactly!

 

[DarrenA]

Most IMAX screens are 87'feet wide x 60'feet tall. This is a 1.44:1 aspect ratio.