Ask anyone who has seen an IMAX film in an IMAX theater to describe their experience, and they will probably use words like "huge," "giant," and "awesome." This reaction is exactly what the designers of the IMAX film technology had in mind—a motion picture experience like no other. What exactly is it that makes IMAX films so different?

Imax's History

In the late 1960s, filmmakers experimented with multiple-screen films. They used up to three cameras to film movies in a very wide format, which could then be played back to an audience using three projectors at three times the normal width. However, these systems had many problems. First, three cameras had to be used simultaneously to film the movie. Then the three projectors that were used to show the film had to be perfectly aligned and synchronized. Another problem was that the edges of each...