Dolby Cinema will show the film in 3D, 4K, and HFR, and raise IMAX in two areas – it can do high dynamic range (HDR), giving even more contrast, deeper blacks, and color richness to the image, and also Dolby Atmos sound which delivers even more sonic precision.

So, any easy win for IMAX Single-Laser then? Not quite.

This will be limited to 2K resolution but can still do HFR – though whether it will or not will be difficult to ascertain – you’ll have to contact your local screen to find out. If there isn’t an IMAX laser near you then you’ll be limited to a Xenon lamp-based projector. The other advantage of IMAX Laser is that these screens will also come with 12-channel sound – so you get even more impact and overhead action – it’s always thunderously impressive. This means that while single laser IMAX will net you 3D, 4K, and HFR, but dual laser will be limited to 2K, HFR. The issue then is that while all IMAX projectors can display HFR, dual laser can only do so at 2K resolution rather than 4K (allegedly due to overheating). For the Avatar remaster and Way of Water, Cameron has used a clever system that only increases the frame rate for fast action sequences, so you get all of the benefits of clearer motion, without any of the downsides. However, its use has proved divisive, due to creating an unnatural-looking image. This is where the movie frame rate is increased over the standard 24 frames per second and has been used in the past on films such as The Hobbit series and Gemini Man. The wrinkle is down to high frame rate or HFR technology.

Avatar: The Way of Water is framed at 1:90:1 in all IMAX screens.

Avatar: The Way of Water for mac instal