moofunk t1_iy46ylo wrote on November 28, 2022 at 4:59 PM

Reply to comment by corvaxL in Dune IMAX by kjoro

> If you tried to show the full IMAX-format image on your TV, the effect just wouldn't work.

I've never been to an IMAX theatre, but aren't you simply sitting closer to the screen, relatively to its size, compared to a standard screen?

Wouldn't it work the same by sitting closer to your home screen? I get that you still need a big screen at home, and it should be 4-8k at minimum, but I don't see how the effect couldn't be mimicked on a smaller scale.

corvaxL t1_iy4ou8k wrote on November 28, 2022 at 6:57 PM

Technically, you could just sit really close to the screen, but it's a bit more complicated than that.

For one, the screen you're sitting in front of would have to be massive. A 55" or even 65" screen is unlikely to cut it to get an IMAX-like effect with 1.43:1 content. You have to remember that a good chunk of the left and right sides of the screen are going to be chopped off through pillarboxing when watching IMAX-formatted shots. Mixing in the rest of the movie that isn't in this aspect ratio will be especially jarring; either you switch to letterboxing for the 2.39:1 shots (to the point that the shots that are meant to be smaller actually end up larger) or use a tiny center portion of the screen. Either way, the transitions between these aspect ratios will be way more jarring than on a screen properly fitted for it. Screens in IMAX theaters are large enough that switching between these two wildly different aspect ratios in the middle of a movie doesn't ruin the more traditional widescreen scenes.

You also have to keep in mind that the screen at the IMAX theater isn't perfectly flat. The outer edges on all four sides are curved in a bit to try to keep the distance from your eyes to any point on the screen consistent, to the extent that would be possible in a theater with a wide seating area.

All of this isn't to say you can't have a comparably immersive experience watching movies on your TV by sitting really close to the screen. You just need content that's properly sized for that display. A niche, non-standard format like 1.43:1 IMAX is always going to look best in a purpose-built venue that fits the format. You get the best "big screen effect" by just using as much of whatever display you have as possible.

Also remember that most films these days released in IMAX theaters aren't actually in 1.43:1. Most are in 1.9:1 or even 2.39:1, which don't take advantage of the specialty display and will look perfectly normal on your TV, even for any expanded-ratio shots. As far as I'm aware, only two films released this year had any 1.43:1 footage (Lightyear and Nope), and only two others are known to be planned for next year (Oppenheimer and Dune: Part Two).