GoKawiilBrowsing the showtimes for a movie these days can often mean choosing a format in which to see it. As always, the standard theater experience is on the table, offering a much larger screen and better sound than most people have at home, in addition to the company of popcorn-munching strangers. But at some theaters, you'll also see Dolby Cinema or Imax showings, two premium formats which some moviegoers can find difficult to differentiate between.
The differences between Imax and Dolby Cinema boil down to intention. Whereas Imax focuses on scale, with massive screens and specialized film cameras or digital workflows used during the filmmaking process, Dolby Cinema is about precision, with intricate, spatial sound systems, object-based audio imaging, and a proprietary version of high dynamic range (HDR) visuals. Ultimately, you should choose Imax if you want to feel swallowed whole by the movie, and Dolby Cinema if you want an incredibly precise and immersive sound experience along with an image that pops off the screen.
Both formats have their place, and a filmmaker can use either format. Some, including Oppenheimer and The Odyssey director Christopher Nolan and Sinners director Ryan Coogler, have championed Imax for those projects as a way of making their stories feel larger than life. Others, including Frankenstein director Guillermo del Toro and Avatar: Fire and Ash auteur James Cameron, have embraced Dolby Cinema. Even so, many movies are released in both formats, and it's up to moviegoers to determine which is best for any given film. So, here's what you need to know before you snap up those tickets.