MOSI's IMAX^® DOME Theatre ranked number two on TBO's list of best movie theaters, click here to read the article! 

The Experience
The IMAX^® DOME motion picture system, projects images of unsurpassed size, clarity, and impact onto a dome shaped screen providing 10,500 square feet of visual imagery. The film is enhanced by a superb specially-designed, six-channel, multispeaker sound system.

The IMAX^® DOME image is ten times larger than a conventional 35mm frame and three times larger than a standard 70mm frame. The sheer size of the film frame, combined with the unique projection technology, is the key to the extraordinary sharpness and clarity of an IMAX^® film.

Sound
Sound is critical to the IMAX^® experience. The six-channel, high fidelity motion picture sound system, with sub-bass, is manufactured by Sonics Associates Inc., a world leader in sound design. This allows every member of the audience to experience superb sound quality regardless of their seat position.

The Projectors
The projector in the IMAX^® DOME Theatre at MOSI is the most advanced, highest-precision and most powerful projector ever built. The key to its superior performance and reliability is the unique “Rolling Loop” film movement. The Rolling Loop advances the film horizontally in a smooth, wave-like motion. During projection, each frame is positioned on fixed registration pins, and the film is held firmly against the rear element of the lens by a vacuum. As a result, the picture and focus steadiness are far above normal standards.

History
The IMAX^® DOME Theatre system has its roots in EXPO ’67 in Montreal, Canada, where a multiscreen production was the hit of the fair. A small group of Canadian filmmakers/entrepreneurs (Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor and Robert Kerr), who had made some of those popular films, decided to design a new system using a single, power projector, rather than the cumbersome multiple projectors used at that time. The result, the revolution of the giant-screen cinema: The IMAX^® DOME motion picture projection system.

Summary
IMAX premiered at the Fuji Pavilion, EXPO ’70 in Osaka, Japan. The first permanent IMAX^® DOME projection system was installed at Ontario Place’s Cinesphere in Toronto in 1971. IMAX^® DOME technology debuted at the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theatre in San Diego in 1973. The IMAX^® DOME theatre at MOSI opened in Tampa on July 1, 1995.

To date more than 510 million people have had an IMAX® experience since it premiered in 1970 with more than 65 million customers worldwide in 1996 alone. There are 125 films in the medium's film library. Educational and entertaining, these films take viewers where they are unable to go: to explore the hidden secrets of natural wonders like the Grand Canyon, the inside of an atom, or the magic of space.

In 1997 IMAX^® Corporation won an Oscar™, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' highest honor, for scientific and technical achievement.

For more information on the IMAX^® experience please visit their website at: http://www.imax.com