The desire to increase the visual impact of film has a long history. In 1929, Fox introduced Fox Grandeur, the first 70 mm movie format, which quickly fell from use. In the 1950s, CinemaScope and VistaVision widened the projected image from 35 mm film, and there were multi-projector systems such as Cinerama for even wider presentations. While impressive, Cinerama was difficult to set up, and the seams between adjacent projected images were difficult to hide.

History

The IMAX system was developed by Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor, Robert Kerr, and William C. Shaw.

During Expo 67 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, In the Labyrinth, their multi-projector giant-screen system had a number of technical difficulties that led them to design a single-projector/single-camera system. Tiger Child, the first IMAX film, was demonstrated at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan. The first permanent IMAX system was set up in Toronto at Ontario Place in 1971, and is still in operation. During Expo '74 in Spokane, Washington, a very large IMAX screen that measured 90 x 65 ft (27.3 x 19.7 m) was featured in the US Pavilion (the largest structure in the expo). About 5 million visitors viewed the screen, which covered a person's total field of vision when looking directly forward. This easily created a sensation of motion for nearly everyone, and motion sickness in a few viewers. However, it was only a temporary screen for the six-month duration of the Expo. Several years later, a standard size IMAX screen was installed, and is still in operation at the renamed "Riverfront Park IMAX Theatre."

The first permanent IMAX Dome installation, the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater and Science Center, opened in San Diego's Balboa Park in 1973. The first permanent IMAX 3D theatre was built in Vancouver, British Columbia for Transitions at Expo '86, and is still in use. It is located at the tip of Canada Place, a Vancouver landmark.

Over the summer of 2006, IMAX's stock fell markedly (by as much as 60%) with the announcement of an SEC investigation, falling again when the announced third quarter earnings were behind the previous year's.

Technical aspects

The intent of IMAX is to dramatically increase the resolution of the image by using much larger film stock at a resolution comparable to about 10000 x 7000 pixels (70 megapixels). To do this, 70 mm film stock is run "sideways" through the cameras. While traditional 70 mm film has an image area that is 48.5 mm wide and 22.1 mm tall (for Todd-AO), in IMAX the image is 69.6 mm wide and 48.5 mm tall. In order to expose at standard film speed of 24 frames per second, three times as much film needs to move through the camera each second.