Railfan Technology > Pittsburgh, PA Omnimax no more.

The Pittsburgh, PA Carnegie Science Center is closing down the
Omnimax theater which used a trick projector and 70mm film.
The projection was essentially on the inside of a dome.

The reason stated by television news is that Imax films are
no longer being made.

Sic transit Cinerama.

It will be replaced by a digital projector and wide, flatish screen.

Those interested in various motion picture film formats may find
this link of value: https://wichm.home.xs4all.nl/filmsize.html

Be Well,

Tim Colbert K3HX

Well, darn. It's a shame to lose a format. But this sent me scurrying to search "OmniMax vs IMAX."

IMAX: Originally a brand for a 70mm film technology and large theater screens to project it. Introduced in 1970. Somewhat cheapened in 2008 by the introduction of "Digital IMAX," which uses 2K projectors while competitors used 4K.

OmniMax: IMAX films shot with a fisheye lens for projection in domed theatres. Introduced in 1973. Since rebranded "IMAX Dome."

What about other OmniMax theatres? I see that Oregon Museum of Science and Industry closed theirs. From http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/2013/09/change_projected_at_three_port.html: "OMSI will replace its dome-shaped Omnimax facility with a flat screen equipped for digital projection. " and "Though OMSI is foregoing the IMAX licensing process and its attendant requirements and fees, the screen will be larger than many that bear the IMAX logo." MOSI in Tampa Florida has a similar story; OmniMax too expensive. Cincinnati's (at Cincinnati Union Station) is also closed. Others remain open; you can show regular IMAX movies in an OmniMax theatre; they just look a bit distorted.

Sounds like a good technology ruined by MBAs, or perhaps a technology which not even the MBAs could save.

A few years ago I was in Philly and went to watch the IMAX film about the history of CP. I seem to recall that was shown in a dome, and the distortion simply spoilt the event. Chris uk.

I saw one of the first Omnimax movies shown at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. It was about the space program and had been shot specifically for showing in Omnimax theaters. It looked great. The last few movies I have seen have tried to adapt whatever format they were shot on to the curved screen and it was not pretty.

55002 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A few years ago I was in Philly and went to watch
> the IMAX film about the history of CP. I seem to
> recall that was shown in a dome, and the
> distortion simply spoilt the event. Chris uk.

I saw that in a dome as well. The curved connecting rods were truly weird.

the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mi, just converted theirs to Digital also.. saw the CP movie their, Great sound

The Omnimax projector is more maintenance intensive than a regular screen IMAX as the lamphouse actually needs to be raised into position after the film has been fed into it, so there are a lot of extra parts to maintain. The IMAX film reels are huge too so there's a lot of space and effort required to store and move them.

Ken