Is It A True IMAX Rival?

As I recently reported, for connoisseurs of premium cinema in Europe, an exciting new option has arrived: EPIC by Vue.

Featuring an advanced projection system that offers full high dynamic range images, alongside 3D surround sound and premium seating, Vue claims that it’s the best way possible to watch a movie – and it has IMAX in its sights.

To find out for myself if it lived up to its billing, I headed to The Cornerhouse in Nottingham, UK, the location of the first EPIC by Vue screen, for my second viewing of Superman. This was followed by a conversation with Vue CEO Tim Richard, where we discussed why he was so excited about EPIC by Vue

The Latest Technology

As Richards explained, having acquired the Nottingham site from Cineworld in January 2025, Vue undertook a refurbishment and, rather than upgrading the existing IMAX screen, decided to use the opportunity to create EPIC by Vue, its new premium large format brand.

The star of the show is the HDR by Barco projection technology, the first cinema system capable of full high dynamic range, besting even Dolby Cinema in that regard. (For a technical deep dive on this, read my article on Barco Light Steering tech)

Why did Vue choose HDR by Barco over IMAX? “We wanted the best,” said Richards, explaining that Vue conducted comparisons with all the major offerings when deciding which premium system to go with – and it was close to going with Dolby Cinema, of which it already has some screens in the Netherlands.

Describing the Dolby Vision projection as “incredible”, he said that “when we saw Dolby, we realized how much better it was than IMAX.” However, after close comparison, the HDR by Barco system came out as “a little bit better” even than the highly regarded Dolby Vision system.

Dolby Atmos was chosen for the audio, and his praise for this was effusive. “No one in the industry will ever tell you that they are not the very, very best, with no second place. Filmmakers rely on Dolby Atmos to use it as part of the creative process of filmmaking”.

An EPIC Vue

Accommodating 250 smart leather reclining seats, the EPIC by Vue room in Nottingham is large, without being overly cavernous. Thanks to stadium seating, you don’t have to worry about seeing over the person in front of you, and, wonderfully, legroom is not an issue, which can’t be said for most IMAX screens.

The EPIC logo is placed on each wall, lit up in white and accompanied by a series of light strips glowing red. (I was concerned about the lights staying on during the film, but thankfully, they were dimmed as it started).

While it doesn’t have the cool, retro style of somewhere like Battersea’s “The Cinema in the Power Station”, the auditorium felt fresh and modern, and Richards said we can expect a similar look and feel in every EPIC by Vue screen as they appear, which will be no bad thing.

The Biggest Screen In the House

The EPIC screen at The Cornerhouse measures 18.60 by 8.70m, which delivers a somewhat unusual aspect ratio of 2.14:1, which is sort of in between flat and scope. Superman is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, so it didn’t make full use of the screen’s width. As with almost all modern screens, there’s no active masking, so the image was pillar-boxed in the middle. While the class-leading black levels of the HDR by Barco system meant this wasn’t too distracting, I think that scope movies that extended to the full width will carry more impact on this screen.

My first viewing of Superman was on the 20-meter-high BFI IMAX, which, even on a presentation that didn’t make use of its tall 1.43:1 aspect ratio, it is still one of the largest screens in the UK. As such, there’s no getting away from the fact that I did not get the same sense of scale.

However, I’m aware that as someone who regularly goes to the very largest IMAX screens in the country, I’m rather spoiled for what constitutes a big image. For the vast majority of cinemagoers, a EPIC by Vue screen will still deliver greater impact than regular digital screens.

Where it truly excelled was the quality of the image. The deep black levels and high contrast ratio, and sheer brightness of the HDR by Barco projector allowed the image to really “pop”, displaying fabulous color richness —Superman’s costume never looked more red, blue and yellow.

The Dolby Atmos audio was also excellent, with clear sound and controlled bass. To be honest, I would have preferred it to be dialed up a notch, but its 3D positional abilities certainly came to the fore. One scene that stood out was when Superman is spinning rapidly as he fends off attackers with the laser eyes, and I could hear this effect and the crashing of the defeated enemies moving all around the room.

Teething Troubles?

That said, I would be remiss if I didn’t call out a couple of issues. The first was that on scenes where the screen was mostly white (seeing as the Fortress of Solitude is located in the North Pole, there were several), I spotted some interference patterns. To me, these looked like “laser speckle”, which are interference patterns caused by the coherent light from the laser light source bouncing off the “rough” surface of the acoustically transparent cinema screen.

All laser light projectors will inherently suffer from this, but it’s more noticeable on larger screens. This is why most IMAX screens use “screen shakers”: actuators placed behind the screen that shake the screen, which, while imperceptible to the viewer, is enough to deal with the laser speckle issue. The second issue was simply a tiny indentation on the screen, which was possibly caused by some damage during the installation of the new screen.

After pointing these out after the screening, I was assured that both issues had been noted and that shakers were going to be fitted to the new screen imminently, which hopefully will allow them to deal with the minor dent at the same time.

Additionally, I was also told that some “extra-premium” full reclining seats would also be added in the back rows, giving patrons an even more luxurious experience, no doubt for an additional cost uplift.

Nailed It

Teething issues aside, the EPIC by Vue experience was excellent. While I’m fortunate to have an IMAX Laser screen very near me, I would be delighted if an EPIC by Vue screen arrived to give it some competition.

Not every film is fully optimized for IMAX, and the quality of the picture and sound here would make it a brilliant choice, especially for movies designed for a 2.39:1 aspect ratio.

Ultimately, I would say that whether it’s “better” than IMAX comes down to the screen size of your local IMAX. The real advantage of IMAX is scale, with an image that fills your view from every seat, but you only get that on its very largest screens.

Unfortunately, too many of its digital screens simply aren’t big enough to justify the branding, and if that’s the case, then the technical advantages of the alternatives, such as the HDR by Barco-powered EPIC by Vue, will win out.

We know that eleven more EPIC by Vue screens will be rolled out across the UK and Europe by the end of the year, and 50 have been promised by the end of 2027. It’s great news for cinema goers, so keep an eye out to see if your local Vue is one of the lucky ones. And if it lays down the gauntlet to IMAX to up its game and add HDR technology to its projection roster, then all the better.