The desire to increase the visual impact of film has a long history. In 1929, Fox introduced Fox Grandeur, the first 70 mm film format, but it quickly fell from use.[3] In the 1950s CinemaScope (1953) and VistaVision (1954) widened the image from 35 mm film, following multi-projector systems such as Cinerama (1952). While impressive, Cinerama was difficult to install, and the seams between adjacent projected images were difficult to hide.
The IMAX system was developed by Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor, Robert Kerr, and William C. Shaw.[4]
via IMAX – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
During Expo 67 in Montreal, Kroitor’s In the Labyrinth and Ferguson’s Man and the Polar Regions both used multi-projector, multi-screen systems. Each encountered technical difficulties that led them to found a company, initially called “Multiscreen”, with a primary goal of designing and developing a simpler approach. The single-projector/single-camera system they eventually settled upon was designed and built by Shaw, based upon a novel “Rolling Loop” film-transport technology purchased from Australian inventor Ronald Jones. Later,[when?] when it became clear that a single, large-screen image had far more impact than multiple smaller ones, Multiscreen changed its name to IMAX.