Yesterday I learned how IMAX works, the photo is from the Philadelphia Science Museum IMAX theatre.
Film platters weigh 250kg, the projector itself is about 1.5 tonnes. IMAX projectors are equipped with water-cooled xenon lamps. It was really interesting to see all this stuff in action.
I used to think that all IMAXes are digital, and it is so for years, but I learned that Digital IMAX has the same resolution as your domestic 1080P TV. Moreover, there are films which weren’t published for IMAX Digital, such as “Interstellar” or “Dark Night Returns”. The new generation is Laser 4k digital projectors which are rare, but they are much better in terms of quality and closer to 70mm IMAX.
For example, the majority of IMAX theaters are 70mm, some have Dual system (both digital and 70mm, rail system). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IMAX_venues. In our area, there are two laser 4k projectors, in the National Air and Space Museum and in Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. In Moscow, there is only one, Formula Kino Kutuzovsky.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EaIQoIuSCc
