Ask someone, “What is Dolby?” and you’ll likely get a range of answers.
Some might mention Dolby Audio, a feature found on TVs or computers. Others might think of Dolby Atmos, the surround sound technology used in cinemas and home systems. Then there's Dolby Digital, the lossy surround sound format used in post-production. Or maybe Dolby Vision, the high dynamic range format.
The list goes on.
How often have we seen this logo at the bottom of a movie poster? Countless times.
Like IMAX, Dolby is more than a logo. IMAX can refer to an IMAX camera, an IMAX film format, or an IMAX screen on which an IMAX-formatted movie is projected. It’s an entire range of technologies, and one of the more immersive offerings is Dolby Cinema, a unique cinema experience that differs from your typical cinema experience.
A brief overview of cinema formats
When watching films, we often overlook the many formats available, especially at the cinema. While most people just say they're "going to the movies," the experience can vary significantly depending on the format. With video computer games, you can choose from LCD, OLED, and LED screens, each with varying refresh rates that affect how fluid the frame rate appears.
When it comes to watching films at home, we have streaming, DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K, and the same movie across those four mediums will differ in quality. We can make similar comparisons between video game consoles and tablets.
However, when we think about going to the cinema, we often don’t consider the various formats available. Most of the time, it’s just: we’re going to the cinema to watch a film on the big screen. But much like watching movies at home, various formats are available at the cinema too.
Standard cinema experience
We have the typical standard cinema experience. Whether you're watching a film at an indie cinema or an arthouse complex with just one or two screens, or perhaps at the cinema in a local shopping complex with a dozen screens, your standard 2D experience will give you 2K or 4K digital projection.
Image via Unsplash
The screen will be regular size, not curved, and the audio experience in a standard 2D cinema will be basic surround sound, usually 5.1 or 7.1.
It’s not a “budget” experience; you’ll likely still have a great time (depending on the actual film). However, regarding the potential ways to experience a film, this is the baseline, the lowest value option in the spectrum of cinema formats.
3D cinema
We then have 3D. We saw its rise in the late 2000s with the likes of “Avatar,” and that trend continued swiftly into the mid-2010s, until it somewhat simmered out.
With a 3D cinema experience, you receive added depth perception, creating a more immersive viewing experience. It works best for action films, where debris is flying towards the camera or a monster is reaching out from the screen.
Image via Freepik
For this type of cinema experience, the venue requires specialized dual projectors that display the film at slightly different angles to mimic the left and right eye. Alternatively, newer 3D projectors like RealD can use a single projector that rapidly alternates frames for each eye.
Of course, this is balanced out by classic 3D glasses, which merge the dual images into a single 3D picture. That said, watching 3D films is a bit like eating Marmite, you either love it or hate it. And with the trend fading, audience demand for 3D movies isn’t especially strong anymore.
4DX experience
Now, while 3D itself has started to stagnate, a sister format has risen considerably in popularity, and we're talking about 4DX. 4DX is something of a merger between a theme park and a film. So, while you still have the 3D element, you also get moving seats, lighting synced with the film, and elemental effects introduced into the cinema, such as water, wind, fog, and even scent.
This isn’t necessarily ideal for watching the latest A24 drama, but it makes for a fun and engaging family experience when watching kids' films and action-packed blockbusters.
4DX is expanding, adding around 25 to 30 screens per year worldwide. In the UK, the cinema chain Cineworld has just signed a deal with 4DX. With films that fit the 4DX model, such as “Twisters,” they saw a 944% increase in Google searches for 4DX movie theaters. That said, these experiences are still quite limited. You’d likely have to travel to find a 4DX-equipped cinema near you.
IMAX
Then, we have IMAX. IMAX is the highest-resolution, large-scale format currently available in cinema. Because of its size, the screens are often floor-to-ceiling and curved.
IMAX film is shot on 70mm, twice the size of traditional 35mm film, with an estimated resolution equivalent to 18K, if we talk in digital terms. As a result, the way it’s filmed is inherently different, with the celluloid running horizontally through the camera rather than vertically. The same goes for projection, which requires entirely new projector room setups to display the film properly.
Image via IMAX
In its purest sense, IMAX might be one of the ultimate ways to watch a film, and it’s often accompanied by a 12-channel immersive sound system, enhancing the scale and depth of the cinematic experience.
And while there are a few formats in between this, the following popular cinema-viewing format is Dolby Cinema.
What is Dolby Cinema?
In 2015, Dolby launched Dolby Vision, using their technological expertise to improve image quality. Dolby Vision is an innovative HDR format that uses dynamic metadata to automatically optimize the picture for every screen, offering you the best viewing experience.
As such, to deliver this, it is projected differently than in standard delivery formats. First, dual 4K laser projectors provide four times more resolution than a standard 2D projector. The result is super-crisp images with incredibly deep blacks and bright highlights.
Image via Dolby
Because these projectors use laser projection, they can produce true black on screen, unlike conventional bulb projectors, which struggle with deep blacks. Traditional bulb systems project black, but the theater space and ambient lighting can affect this, leading to muddy or washed-out shadows.
With Dolby, black is presented as the absence of light, not just a color, making a massive difference in image clarity and contrast.
This also boosts the brightness of Dolby Vision, which achieves up to twice the brightness of a standard projector. Bright sequences feel visually intense, contributing to a greater sense of immersion for the viewer.
El Diablo answers this question for a user asking about “Alien: Romulus” in the AVP Forums. He writes:
A genuine IMAX theater has a larger screen and typically uses a dual 4K projection system for better picture quality, but Dolby has its benefits as well. The picture is brighter and the sound quality is unparalleled due to the way the films are processed and mixed. The seating in the Dolby cinemas are fantastic compared to the current IMAX layout. Dolby has reclining seats that are wider and more spaced out for maximum comfort. I typically see big event films that I enjoy more than once and experience both viewings within the first few days of release.
This cinema-goer is correct in their assessment about the sound. See, the visuals with Dolby Cinema are just one part of the package, as every theatre is also equipped with Dolby Atmos.
Dolby Atmos: Immersive sound
While most cinemas will house a form of surround sound, Dolby Atmos is the next level. With Dolby Atmos, audio technology allows sound to move anywhere in the theatre, even overhead. Filmmakers can even position specific sounds to individual speakers within the theatre room, which is a far cry from just having the audio channels split between the front, back, and sides.
Image via Dolby
As the sounds move in three-dimensional space, it leaves cinemagoers feeling like they are within the action itself.
Odeon cinemas says:
Elite filmmakers insist on this format because it lets them place every sound in their film exactly where they want it. Meanwhile, discerning moviegoers love Dolby Atmos because it places them in the eye of the storm, thrilled by an immersive ecosystem of sound that genuinely makes it feel like that arrow just whistled over your head.
Dolby Cinema vs. IMAX
Now, given that the IMAX format is often recognized by the industry, when a new film is released, particularly if it’s been shot using IMAX cameras, like “Oppenheimer,” it’s highly recommended to seek out an actual IMAX cinema to experience the film properly.
If you were to see that same film in a standard cinema, you’d be watching a cropped version.
This raises a common question: What’s the right choice when deciding between Dolby and IMAX? There is no universally correct answer; it often depends on the specific film and the available venue options. If a movie has been shot on IMAX film and is being screened in a true IMAX theatre, you'll likely get a better visual experience than in a Dolby Cinema.
However, here’s the caveat:
Not all venues labeled as "IMAX" are actual IMAX cinemas. Many are what audiences call “LIEMAX” — meaning the screens aren’t up to the standard IMAX size, and the projection system doesn't adhere to full IMAX specifications. It's often franchise branding rather than the real thing.
So, if you watch a film that hasn’t been shot in IMAX on one of these branded screens or an IMAX-shot film in a LIEMAX theatre, you're not seeing the picture as intended.
On ResetEra, a user said:
I always go out of my way to see movies at Dolby Cinema when I have the chance, it's worth the extra money. The extra brightness of the screen and the excellent Dolby Atmos really make a difference. Saw Mission Impossible in Dolby Cinema last week and it was an excellent experience. That said, for IMAX movies, if you have access to a real 1:43 IMAX screen, I'd always take that over Dolby Cinema for films that have IMAX scenes. Otherwise, Dolby Cinema all the way.
Outside of those specific circumstances, Dolby Cinema will almost always provide a superior overall experience in terms of sound quality, image contrast, color vibrancy, and even seating comfort, thanks to integrated recliner seats.
Of course, this comes at a higher ticket price, but for many, the enhanced viewing experience is well worth it.
Limitations and availability
Does this sound great? We bet it does. Are there any potential downsides to this? Yes.
Dolby has signed an exclusive deal with AMC in the United States, meaning you can only find Dolby Vision-equipped cinemas within AMC theatres. And even then, not every AMC location is guaranteed to support the format.
For instance, fewer than ten cinemas are equipped with Dolby Vision nationwide in the United Kingdom. So, it remains a very exclusive format for now.
You don’t have many options as a European cinema-goer.
However, judging by the testimonies and user feedback we’ve quoted throughout this article, it seems to live up to the hype.