Hi there Katharsis, welcome on board. Glad to have people who are passionate about cinema halls. Yes, opinions might differ here and there a little, but it's the same passion that matters.

I've tried Onyx previously in Midvalley, not not the one in Icity. Your post on Tropicana Gardens Onyx Atmos is definitely exciting me to catch the next movie there.

Both IMAX and normal cinema halls (exception to those with the latest 4k projectors), should upgrade their projectors. Its way past due time! I hope someone reads this and plans an upgrade soon....

Will be watching The Batman at GSC Gurney Hall 3 (Atmos) tonight. Let me see if this hall is still holding strong or not 😂

Skippable introduction of myself

Hello everyone, I recently became a major cinema enthusiast after watching Spider-Man: No Way Home on the big screen (no pun intended in regards to GSC/MBO's BigScreen) since it's launch back in December 2021. Prior to the quarantines and lockdowns, I had lost a lot of interest in movie-going as imo, many of the blockbuster films felt stagnant and lacking in innovation, and no amount of technical prowess of specialized cinema halls (IMAX, MAXX, DA etc.) could convinced me otherwise. However, once the lockdown had lightened and I unenthusiastically decided to go watch No Way Home at the cinema (IOI City's GSC MAXX DA), I was so surprised at my enjoyment and excitement of cinema watching again. I realized how much I have missed and honestly, under-appreciated the atmosphere and experience of a cinema, especially after almost 2 years of home isolation of just watching tv shows and films in front of my 1440p computer screen.

I mean, to be frank, watching a film like No Way Home as a cinema return is pretty bias and honestly, a once in a lifetime experience considering the film's hype, build-up and phenomenal payoff, especially for big Spidey fans. With that said, it did lead me down a rabbit hole of watching other films in other specialized cinema halls, and did lead me to this forum to see other people's input on Malaysia's cinema experience.

I have watched No Way Home a total of 6 times (call me crazy, lol) and other films in multiple specialized cinema halls for the past few months and I would like to chime in on this discussion. Do note I will factor in ticket pricing, location distance and ease of transportation into my assessment as well.

Cinemas visited and movies watched there

IOI City Mall GSC Maxx Atmos) - 3x No Way Home
Mid Valley GSC Onyx - No Way Home
Sunway Velocity TGV IMAX - No Time to Die, No Way Home, Dune
Starling Mall GSC Big Screen - Uncharted
Tropicana Gardens Mall GSC BigScreen and Onyx - No Way Home (BigScreen DA), The Batman (Onyx DA)

IOI City Mall GSC Maxx Atmos (Hall 10 and 11)

This mall's cinema, and more importantly, cinema hall was my primary go-to for movie watching before the pandemic as it was the nearest, high quality cinema to my residence. The screen is huge and the audio quality being Dolby Atmos and all is pretty great (I'm not a big audiophile so I won't really go in-depth into this). For my cinema return, this hall was a fantastic experience for No Way Home as many people were there and surprisingly, respectful with their reactions in regards to the film's scenes. The crowd cheers and ovations given at certain moments really heightened my enjoyment and of course, along side my return to the cinema hall experience really inspired my resurgence of cinema movie watching.

That being said, after watching No Way Home and other films in other cinema halls, reminiscing back to this Maxx hall, the colours do feel a bit washed and overall is not as clear in clarity in my opinion. I mean, it is fine and honestly it will need you to really focus to realize that it's not very clear, but it generally isn't something to be bothered by if you are a casual or someone who isn't as keen eyed in screen quality. The hall's audio quality is loud, bassy and is mostly clear. You can also feel vibrations in your seat during action sequences, adding more intensity in your movie watching experience. Overall, it is still a great cinema hall to visit, especially if you live close to it (it is a 15-30 minute drive for me with no tolls depending on traffic).

However for me, I will only visit this cinema and primarily, this hall if there is a movie I am not too sure and am unexcited about as I found better cinema halls than this one that I don't mind taking the time to travel to. Small complaint, the tickets here are freaking expensive! I mean, it's movie by movie basis, mall location and I think GSC factors in the timing close to the movie's launch date as well, but RM26.50 per person for The Batman in this Maxx hall? Hell nah! I know price for people is subjective, but for me, ideal times to visit here is before 1pm or on Wednesdays where tickets are discounted by 30-40% (RM 16 per person for The Batman).

Mid Valley GSC Onyx

Mid Valley's Onyx hall is more of a showcase of what Onyx is capable of visually compared to an overall experience. Visually, Onyx is the best looking screen I have witnessed in any cinema screen as that is a given considering the science behind LED screens vs projectors. Dark level performance is spectacular as the night time scenes were very clear without it being too dark to distinguish. Compared to my experience of No Way Home in Maxx, I can easily watch and distinguish the night time scenes during the forest section. Colour vibrancy and accuracy is top notch as well, especially during the scene where Peter stands facing the NYC Time Square building tv screen where the screen's light reflect onto his face in a crisp, sharp manner.

I do not know if this is a fair criticism but if you have high astigmatism, Onyx can be a disadvantage for you. I myself have high astigmatism and in the film itself, I sometimes could see vertical light lines go downwards and it is a distraction when trying to focus on the film. This doesn't happen often and I believe only occurs during scenes with distinct light sources (white subtitles on screen do cause minor astigmatism problems for me). You can easily ignore and minimize this problem by not focusing too much on the astigmatism lines.

Here's a better visualization of what astigmatism looks like.


Aside from the screen quality, the movie going experience for me is an above average assessment as the audio experience is not as engaging as the halls equipped with Dolby Atmos or IMAX speakers. The screen is pretty small (partly due to it being first Onyx hall in Malaysia), and the seating arrangement as of social distancing mandates make this not ideal too. Overall, I would only recommend Onyx in Mid Valley if you haven't experience Onyx and would like to, and if the mall is more convenient for you to visit. Otherwise, the best Onyx experience personally is in Tropicana Gardens Mall.

Price is similar to my take of IOI City hall. Best prices are before 1pm or on Wednesdays. As of right now, it is RM27.50 for The Batman in Mid Valley's Onyx hall, compared to RM15 before 1pm and on Wednesdays.

Sunway Velocity TGV IMAX

This IMAX hall is the closest one to me as I can easily commute to the mall via MRT and without a doubt could be my go-to cinema for blockbuster films... if only the good seats location weren't money-predatory and ASS.

Before I start with the absurd seating arrangement and ticket pricing, I will first start with the screen quality and overall experience as this forum thread primarily focuses on that. This is an IMAX hall that you would expect of the IMAX brand. I have watched No Way Home, No Time to Die and Dune here and the experience has been top notch. You have this giant-ass screen (2nd biggest IMAX screen in Malaysia, slightly behind Central I-City's according to reports) and coupled with the audio quality set-up you have come to expect and love from the IMAX brand, what's not to like? (Oh, we will get to that.)

The only small downsides here is that the air conditioner blows loudly and you can easily hear it before the film starts and during quiet moments of the film. Also, because the screen is very big, the clarity isn't as clear as you would like it to be. I would assume this is due to the projector being outdated (dual 2k instead of 4k laser) as people in this forum have pointed out. I primarily noticed this slight blurriness during my Dune session, as landscape shots of the deserts shows hints of being stretched, thus slightly blurry. No Way Home and No Time to Die weren't as bad but compared to my other cinema hall experiences, it is slightly lacking. Do note, it is very difficult to spot the slight blurriness of the screen and from my point of view, is not as bad as the one in GSC Maxx halls (even then, it is still pretty minute), but it is there. This isn't a major breaking point because the audio experience is outstanding, something that is signature to the IMAX brand.

That being said... the seating arrangements and price...

I mean, look at this shit!


I already find it unreasonable to pay RM30 for a cinema movie as there isn't even an early bird (before 12-1pm) discount (it's RM25 if you pay with Maybank Visa/Mastercard, but I don't use Maybank). However, I can sometimes turn a blind eye to the flies that would scatter out from my wallet when paying for IMAX due to experience the brand entails, primarily with its audio quality for me. Even then, If your best seats location are RM35 but twice the amount because they are twin seats when other cinema halls don't do this? Hell no dude, hell no. I watched both No Way Home and No Time to Die in the F row seats and the screen encompasses majority of your vision. Usually that would be great but because this screen is very big and thus the film will be expanded to accommodate the size, you will miss out on details displayed on screen as you have to consistently move your eyes around to keep focus on who is speaking or what key things are happening. That and the fact you have to lean your head even more to the back to properly keep encompass the whole screen in your peripheral vision, making it a slightly uncomfortable experience.

For Dune, I decided to pick the side seat row G, the seat closest to the middle. It was not a great experience as you will be able to see seat row light indicators on the stairs, and watching the screen from a side angle will always be a disadvantage compared to being in the middle. Thankfully the cinema was very empty (only myself and one man), so I just switched to the twin seats and man, what an experience it was (when I was leaving. I saw a guard at the top of the hall when the movie ended and I was scared for my life as she gave me a menacing glance. Thought I would be fined for switching seats, especially to an indulge/twin seat but there isn't rule for seat changing if the seat isn't occupied/booked, I presume).

Overall, one of the best cinema experiences if you have a movie partner and money to spend for the twin seats. Even more so if you have a Maybank card (only on Fridays and Weekends), making the twin seats cost RM50 instead of RM70 (for some reason, the twin seat paid via Maybank is RM 25 each compared to the RM35 without Maybank).

Starling Mall GSC BigScreen

As OP has mentioned and frankly was the only reason I took the time to visit this mall's cinema in the first place, this cinema hall is really, really good. The 4k laser Barco projectors really lives up to it's technical specs and it's only slightly behind Onyx in terms of clarity and sharpness (that is really high praise). The cinema is equipped with Dolby Atmos speakers as well so you can expect some good quality audio experience here.

However, despite what people here have said about the screen size, I don't think it is as big as the people here has claimed. Don't get me wrong, it is big and clear, but I noticed it was smaller than other biggies I have seen. I think it is slightly bigger than IOI City's Maxx, but smaller than Velocity's IMAX and Tropicana's BigScreen. Maybe it is due to my seat row choices; I tend to book 1 row behind the middle rows (Starling BigScreen has 14 seat rows, I chose row 6) and yeah, The screen ideally filled my peripheral vision, but wasn't as big as I thought.

Anyway, this is a great spot to visit and watch films at. Ticket prices is ok at RM21.50, but is RM14 (a damn steal!) before 1pm or on Wednesdays. However, for me, I won't be going here often, if at all because commuting here is dreadful. If you take MRT, you will have to stop at the TTDI station and then either walk there (takes 20 minutes and have to cross a pedestrian bridge above a busy road which is scary af) or wait for the Starling Mall commute bus which has a 1 hour 30 minutes wait interval. Otherwise, a great option for movie-goers

Tropicana Gardens Mall GSC BigScreen and Onyx

This will be my go-to cinema in the future for blockbuster films. It is simple (but time consuming) for me to commute there as the mall is connected to the MRT Surian station, and it houses two of the best specialized cinema halls I have visited. I will try to be brief in this section as I had covered both BigScreen and Onyx in my previous paragraphs and they definitely still hold true here.

I watched No Way Home here in the BigScreen hall and the screen was as good as Starling's BigScreen, but imo bigger. It is also equipped with Dolby Atmos speakers just like Starling's so not losing in the audio department as well. Not much to say that hasn't been said, a steal for the price (RM21.50 or RM14 as early bird or on Wednesdays) and my go-to for an IMAX alternative (possibly better if you include the 4k laser projector and price benefits).

Onyx here on the other hand is simply amazing, especially since it's equipped with Dolby Atmos speakers. I am planning to re-watch The Batman on IMAX and maybe BigScreen to see the difference between LED screen vs projectors, specifically for this film (and because the film itself was pretty darn awesome). However overall, Onyx for this film was spectacular as the movie takes place mostly at night and the dark level performance really shines (ironic since its dark lol) here. The lights at night looked so sharp and vibrant; the gun fights in the dark with snappy lights became a bit blinding to look at and I instinctively moved my hands to cover my eyes for a bit (this can be a con depending on who you are. For me, it's a pro since I believe in a real gunfight in the dark, it would look and feel realistic).

Again, the downside of Onyx is that the screen is small. Sure, it is bigger than the Onyx screen in Mid Valley, but still, the size is comparable to the ones in normal halls. My seats recommendation is 1-2 rows ahead of the middle row so you can fully immerse your peripheral vision with the screen. The price is slightly high at RM23.50 (still cheaper and better than Mid Valley's), but it is definitely worth it at RM16 for early birds or on Wednesdays. My complaint in regards to astigmatism holds true here, but again, this is subjective and can easily be ignored.

In my opinion, this is the best cinema you can visit today for the best bang for your buck.

Ending notes

Apologies for the long post, but I hope it is informative and helpful to you guys. I plan to watch The Batman again in 1Utama's TGV IMAX as I never been to that cinema before, so you may see me to write a post here about that in the future. Thanks for reading!

I always go to Central-I-City Shah Alam when I want to watch big budget films such as those from Marvel, Star Wars, etc

Onyx definitely and undoubtedly offers the best picture quality as it is very close to OLED/QLED picture quality with very deep blacks. However the downside is that the screen size is usually on the smaller side but if you want the biggest ONYX screen in Malaysia, go to TGV ONYX at Central City Shah Alam. (I'm not sure if the just opened GSC Onyx in Tropicana Gardens is bigger or not)

TGV IMAX, Central City on the other hand holds the biggest cinema screen title in Malaysia beating Sunway Velocity IMAX, correct me if I'm wrong. However, picture quality wise is totally no where near ONYX level but the high seating arrangement and the huge screen does add to the experience.

ericling Bro, since you go to Central City, check out TGV's Onyx there

Great and detailed comparisons - agree with your take on Onyx. Whatever the size, the image quality beats ALL the normal cinema halls that use severely aged and dim projectors.

I recommend the IMAX at Sunway Pyramid if you haven't tried it already as i found the sloping here less steep which slightly increases distance from seat to screen compared to the one at 1 Utama - reducing the image degradation due to the use of 2k projectors.

BIG + Dolby @ GSC Starling Mall vs IMAX @ TGV Central i-City

tldr: Personally I still prefer the IMAX in Central i-City, mainly due to the sound quality. BUT Starling Mall is much more affordable, I paid RM17 only for The Batman while IMAX is RM30.

Brief introduction of myself: I stay in Klang so I go Central i-City quite often. I have watched the IMAX at i-City for at least 5 times, Tenet x2, Matrix Resurrections, Dune, No Way Home, No Time to Die and etc..  However, encouraged by this thread, decided to watched The Batman in the BIG + Dolby Atmos Hall at Starling Mall!

Visual: Would give it a tie. I think i-City IMAX is slightly bigger (I could be wrong). i-City's IMAX screen is also more curved than Starling Mall's BIG. In terms of clarity, I can't really compare because I have only watched The Batman in Starling and not i-City. But I thought the screen is slightly uncomfortable, The Batman is a very dark movie (literally), and the WHITE subtitle at the bottom is just too bright. Actually got red eyes after watching it lol. Let me know if anyone thinks the same!

Sound: i-City IMAX DEFINITELY takes the cake here. It has the omphhhh which was not in Starling Mall. For eg: many viewers praised the Batmobile charging scene for its sound, but didn't feel any omph in Starling Mall. Was expecting better from Dolby but was let down.

Price: RM17 for BIG + Dolby at Starling, RM30 for IMAX at i-City. Guess it's self-explanatory haha

Seat: Despite the "Glide" seats in i-City's IMAX, I actually prefer the seat in BIG hall at Starling. I dont appreciate the "recliner"/"adjustment" in IMAX, I find it to be a hassle more than a convenient as it changes my viewing angle unintentionally.

Popcorn: i-City TGV popcorn is tastier, but Starling Mall GSC can last longer because it's smaller pieces LOL. Me and my gf actually couldn't finish the regular popcorn from GSC in the 3hr runtime for The Batman. Usually we finish the regular sized popcorn in TGV in 2 hours.

Looking forward for a cinema road trip one day with all the enthusiasts here!

Hi, thanks for reacting to my post! I have tried IMAX at Sunway Pyramid multiple times but that was some years ago. I really liked that hall, especially when I watched Dunkirk there where the audio was insane! However, as of right now, it's not convenient for me to go there unless I drive (which even then, will take almost an hour if not considering traffic jams and parking) which I'm trying to avoid. It's an IMAX hall so I believe it has to be good like other malls despite the hall's age.
I can somewhat agree in terms of the BigScreen Dolby Atmos audio experience at Starling. I watched Uncharted there and I didn't really feel much impact from the audio, even during the climatic action sequences. It can be a movie by movie basis as well, but for The Batman, I definitely felt the impact and "omps" during the car chase scene, even felt some vibrations in my seat when I watched it in Tropicana Gardens' Onyx which also has Dolby Atmos. Maybe the one in Starling isn't well optimized? I'm not sure.

It could also be a BigScreen hall thing, as when comparing my time watching No Way Home in IOI City's MAXX DA vs Tropicana Gardens BigScreen DA, the former had more impact and seat vibration during the Doc Ock fight, whereas Tropicana's, I didn't really feel that. Maybe in the future, I will return and try Tropicana's BigScreen again to fully confirm. Still though, the BigScreen in Starling looked very sharp and crisp, and the price especially for early bird or on Wednesdays is very attractive.

Btw, with you taking a photo of the screen and me reminiscing my time there, that screen to me doesn't look THAT big. I mean, the factual specification and measured dimension list it to be bigger than other cinemas, so I can't deny that fact. Maybe my perspective is borked but Idk man haha, I felt like Velocity's and even IOI City's Maxx looked bigger.

I always go to Central-I-City Shah Alam when I want to watch big budget films such as those from Marvel, Star Wars, etc

Onyx definitely and undoubtedly offers the best picture quality as it is very close to OLED/QLED picture quality with very deep blacks. However the downside is that the screen size is usually on the smaller side but if you want the biggest ONYX screen in Malaysia, go to TGV ONYX at Central City Shah Alam. (I'm not sure if the just opened GSC Onyx in Tropicana Gardens is bigger or not)

TGV IMAX, Central City on the other hand holds the biggest cinema screen title in Malaysia beating Sunway Velocity IMAX, correct me if I'm wrong. However, picture quality wise is totally no where near ONYX level but the high seating arrangement and the huge screen does add to the experience.

ericling Bro, since you go to Central City, check out TGV's Onyx there

Although Central I-City is newer, in actuality, Velocity has the bigger screen at 19.4m x 25.9m versus 13.8m x 24.4m..but seating arrangements on Velocity sucks monkey balls as everyone pointed out.

Hey guys, I recently re-watched The Batman in 1U's TGV IMAX and Tropicana Garden's GSC BigScreen DA, and I would like to share my thoughts on both of them. I watched them on the same day (wutface) as I was free that whole day, so I can vividly remember the distinct difference both had to offer. Do note that I did write about Tropicana Gardens' BigScreen before and it may feel like a regurgitation here. However, at that time, I didn't really paid too much attention on assessing the hall's quality compared to this time, so I hope this will be more informative than before.

1U TGV IMAX

     
I wasn't able to snap a photo of the entire screen despite me being at the opposite end of the hall. I believe I missed a bit of the screen's top part in the photo. I sat in the middle of row H.

The screen is pretty big honestly, slightly smaller than Velocity's but I don't have any qualms when it comes to size when comparing between big screens. The thing that bothered me though was how blurry the image quality was during certain sections of the film. The dark light performance was especially poor and considering The Batman mostly takes place at night, it was very disappointing. It's the projector that is at fault here and as I mentioned in my previous posts, the difference is not that big of a deal unless you have keen eyes for this sort of things. However, considering how many cinema halls I have visited (too many and too often now, honestly), I deem IMAX's image quality to be sub-optimal. I won't complain too much as it has been vehemently pointed out here, but unless TGV decides to upgrade their projectors to something better, this negative will always be there.

Sound wise, this shit be popping, man (sorry for me informal speech here). The volume is set quite high along with the bass, so at many tense moments, you will feel vibrations throughout your body along with popping, heavy audio. This is especially true during the car chase sequence, where I felt like I was on a rollercoaster. it was super thrilling and honestly had me on edge. Additionally, during the night club scenes, the hall's audio really simulated the experience of a dance club. The music there was loud and popping; you can really feel the vibration of the pops that plays out from those scenes. I know I use "popping" a lot for my description of the audio, but it really rings true here and honestly made it a riveting experience. Additionally, because the volume is louder and more emphasized, you can hear more audio details in each scene, adding more intrigue to the film's narrative quality and experience.

One small nitpick is that the volume can be a bit tad too loud and overbearing. I feel TGV could optimize it to be more comfortable to the ears while maintaining the intense audio experience.

In regards to the seats, the arrangement itself is pretty alright. Before the film started and while the hall was mostly empty, I changed and tested seats between row H, primarily G and J. Personally, I think I prefer row G, mainly cause while watching throughout the film in row H, the heads of other viewers below were slightly noticeable, and because there is a height gap between H and G, the floor light was (very minor, but) slightly distracting as well despite it being very dim. I wasn't able to fully encompass the whole screen as well as the bottom was slightly cutoff by the height gap, but considering the film doesn't utilize the whole screen for its aspect ratio, the film itself won't wasn't cut off. J on the other hand doesn't have this issue but you are slightly above and further away from the screen which is not to my liking. On a side note, the chairs are not as comfortable as GSC's (moreso MBO's considering BigScreen halls were previously owned and manufactured by MBO) imo.

Tropicana BigScreen Dolby Atmos

     
I sat in row F, F13.

The screen from the looks of it looks smaller than 1U's IMAX, and when watching the film itself, I had this feeling that it isn't as big as IMAX. That's alright though because the image quality was way better than IMAX's, and I will gladly take that any day because for me, big screen sizes doesn't really matter at a certain point and you can mostly solve that with your seating choice. Of course, a bigger screen with bigger image size will bring a more "larger than life" kind of feeling and I definitely felt a bit of that during my IMAX sessions, but considering IMAX's outdated projectors which dampens the image quality, that is a major blow. BigScreen on the other hand had clearer and sharper image quality, and the dark level performance was pretty good. It's not as good as Onyx, but considering it's coming from a projector vs Onyx's LED screen, and of course the larger screen size, BigScreen is a great balance for both screen size and image quality.

Seating wise, I find it comfortable with the ratio of screen fit to my peripheral vision. I think seats E, F and G are the best rows for viewing comfort. Also the seats are more comfortable posture wise, but are quite squeaky so beware to not annoy other viewers when you readjust your bum Xd.

When it comes to audio though, things become complicated. Do note, what I am about say regarding the Dolby Atmos implementation here isn't all negative criticism, but could actually be a different approach to audio optimization in my opinion.

The audio volume and bass here is more subdued compared to IMAX's. I didn't feel the pops and vibration that much (but they are there in key action sequences, just not very emphasized), and considering that I'd watched the film in IMAX prior in the same day, the jarring difference here is severely underwhelming from BigScreen's Dolby Atmos. I do not know if this is exclusively a BigScreen issue as my experience with Dolby Atmos in IOI City's Maxx halls were pretty good as it was both comfortably loud and bassy, which came with the vibrations and pop (this was from my comparisons with Spiderman: No Way Home). This sentiment is also true with Tropicana's Onyx DA, where I had a better audio experience there compared to BigScreen, although I may have to visit that hall again to fully confirm this assessment.

Also, because BigScreen's audio volume is lower, some of the dialogues spoken were slightly muddy, and many layers of audio detail were harder to pick up.

This problem that I faced mostly stemmed from the beginning of the film, and overall, the audio experience did improve for me as the movie continued, but I assume this is due to me adapting to the hall's audio as time went on. My primary problem is the low audio volume and I think my problem would be solved if they just increase the volume further, though I think it is more complicated than that (I am no audio expert/engineer. I am sure the people at GSC are more knowledgeable at audio design and implementation, and "just increasing the volume" wouldn't necessarily solve the problem, but as a consumer, I just find the audio experience here to be lacking compared to other locations).

However, despite my complaints and I am going into a conjecture here, I think that BigScreen's DA implementation is trying to do something different than just highly emphasized bass and very loud volume, instead, they are aiming for clarity and accuracy.

One thing I noticed and actually find pleasant was the surround sound and audio clarity. Some audio cues can be heard from a different angle and actually adds more complexity to scenes without being distracting to the overall audio mix. Dialogue spoken in the open and in high locations were distant but not too low in volume where you can't hear it for the purpose of simulating realism of outdoor audio. The gunshots are not too shocking and overbearingly bassy as IMAX's (though I feel it can be a bit louder for a more thrilling experience), making them more comfortable to go through, and the car chase scene still felt great as the surround sound simulates the audio direction and location, while still being comfortably loud and slightly bassy to make it a riveting sequence.

It just felt clear and balanced.

Again, that doesn't change the fact that the audio at certain sections of the film felt underwhelming compared to IMAX, but it is DIFFERENT, and honestly, still an enjoyable experience.

Closing Thoughts

I really want to know more about the difference between Dolby Atmos and IMAX speakers, as well as the the different optimization of DA in different malls' cinema halls (DA only, Maxx DA, etc) from you guys because I am torn on BigScreen's audio as of this moment. Is this just a different signature in audio implementation; DA's clarity and accurate surround sound vs IMAX's high bass and centered focus sound signature? Could it be that this is MBO's optimization of DA and not GSC's (since GSC bought majority of MBO's assets back in 2021 and just essentially rebranded previous MBO cinemas to theirs)? I am genuinely perplexed and am unconfident with my take on BigScreen's DA audio because for all I know, I could be mistaken.

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read my long post and I hope it helps you in movie-going adventures.

PS. Yes, I have essentially watched The Batman 3 times in the span of 7 days and I really dug the film. It was better the second time around as the pacing made more sense for me, as well as admiring the more grounded, dark-detective approach of Batman; really faithful to the comic book/cartoon materials.

Ah finally you have tried IMAX at 1u and my experience and opinion mirror yours exactly right down to the audience heads slightly obscuring the view And the speaker volume - god bless you if were watching Nolan's "Tenet" here (i did - with my ears covered 35% of the time).

As for comments on the image - i always thought the venue was best for 3D and 2D IMAX formatted films that utilize the additional height ratios where the limitations of outdated projectors can be overlooked (and if you sit further back away from the screen) - anything else, to the normal halls we go! Miss the days of the Marvel 3D Infinity Sagas, Star Wars sequel trilogies in 3D.

BigScreen Atmos - tried it before it was GSC at Starling (MBO days) - it was the only choice then to avoid IMAX and dim projection at TGV and GSC - i would say if could the equipment + some equalization + acoustics at play - i found the BigScreen audio slightly muffled but overall it does its job without being overly outstanding (ie: the issues you mentioned).

I'm curious if you have tried GSC's THX halls at 1 Utama - i found they have better balance for ATMOS amongst all the other halls so far (even the latest Atmos at Tropicana Gardens GSC Onyx has some issues as you mentioned).

I feel only these halls got Atmos nearly right with the rest at GSC tropicana onyx and BigScreen suffering some lack of fine-tuning. I found at Tropicana GSC Onyx Atmos - sounds which were meant for front center were leaking out of overheads as well - somewhat ruining the immersion.

Also of note that Atmos was first installed at GSC 1u Hall 3 so is speculate that they may have received the most attention being the pioneering implementation back in 2013.

One last thing, I have a question regarding DA halls. I read online, mostly Reddit in regards to IMAX vs Dolby Atmos and many brought up that their Dolby halls have brighter, clearer image quality than IMAX but smaller in size. I assume it is from the Dolby Vision proprietary tech, and was wondering do our GSC DA halls have the same screen type, or is just equipped with DA speakers only and the screen is just your standard, 2d hall type.

Quick Update
I just discovered that the new LaLaport Bukit Bintang City Centre mall with GSC will feature "IMAX, Dolby Atmos, THX, and Onyx halls (check the Wikipedia page of List of cinemas in Malaysia under KL category. Still can't post links due to probational account). Pretty exciting but there is no confirmation on the IMAX's screen dimension and whether it's 4k laser vs dual 2k projectors. The cinema is stated as temporarily closed but hope to see it open in time for Doctor Strange 2.

Haha nobody ever wanna try reviewing cinemas across the causeway? We wanna see how they stacked up against KL best. Hahahaha. Can start with GV golden village.

Hey guys, I recently re-watched The Batman in 1U's TGV IMAX and Tropicana Garden's GSC BigScreen DA, and I would like to share my thoughts on both of them. I watched them on the same day (wutface) as I was free that whole day, so I can vividly remember the distinct difference both had to offer. Do note that I did write about Tropicana Gardens' BigScreen before and it may feel like a regurgitation here. However, at that time, I didn't really paid too much attention on assessing the hall's quality compared to this time, so I hope this will be more informative than before.

1U TGV IMAX

     
I wasn't able to snap a photo of the entire screen despite me being at the opposite end of the hall. I believe I missed a bit of the screen's top part in the photo. I sat in the middle of row H.

The screen is pretty big honestly, slightly smaller than Velocity's but I don't have any qualms when it comes to size when comparing between big screens. The thing that bothered me though was how blurry the image quality was during certain sections of the film. The dark light performance was especially poor and considering The Batman mostly takes place at night, it was very disappointing. It's the projector that is at fault here and as I mentioned in my previous posts, the difference is not that big of a deal unless you have keen eyes for this sort of things. However, considering how many cinema halls I have visited (too many and too often now, honestly), I deem IMAX's image quality to be sub-optimal. I won't complain too much as it has been vehemently pointed out here, but unless TGV decides to upgrade their projectors to something better, this negative will always be there.

Sound wise, this shit be popping, man (sorry for me informal speech here). The volume is set quite high along with the bass, so at many tense moments, you will feel vibrations throughout your body along with popping, heavy audio. This is especially true during the car chase sequence, where I felt like I was on a rollercoaster. it was super thrilling and honestly had me on edge. Additionally, during the night club scenes, the hall's audio really simulated the experience of a dance club. The music there was loud and popping; you can really feel the vibration of the pops that plays out from those scenes. I know I use "popping" a lot for my description of the audio, but it really rings true here and honestly made it a riveting experience. Additionally, because the volume is louder and more emphasized, you can hear more audio details in each scene, adding more intrigue to the film's narrative quality and experience.

One small nitpick is that the volume can be a bit tad too loud and overbearing. I feel TGV could optimize it to be more comfortable to the ears while maintaining the intense audio experience.

In regards to the seats, the arrangement itself is pretty alright. Before the film started and while the hall was mostly empty, I changed and tested seats between row H, primarily G and J. Personally, I think I prefer row G, mainly cause while watching throughout the film in row H, the heads of other viewers below were slightly noticeable, and because there is a height gap between H and G, the floor light was (very minor, but) slightly distracting as well despite it being very dim. I wasn't able to fully encompass the whole screen as well as the bottom was slightly cutoff by the height gap, but considering the film doesn't utilize the whole screen for its aspect ratio, the film itself won't wasn't cut off. J on the other hand doesn't have this issue but you are slightly above and further away from the screen which is not to my liking. On a side note, the chairs are not as comfortable as GSC's (moreso MBO's considering BigScreen halls were previously owned and manufactured by MBO) imo.

Tropicana BigScreen Dolby Atmos

     
I sat in row F, F13.

The screen from the looks of it looks smaller than 1U's IMAX, and when watching the film itself, I had this feeling that it isn't as big as IMAX. That's alright though because the image quality was way better than IMAX's, and I will gladly take that any day because for me, big screen sizes doesn't really matter at a certain point and you can mostly solve that with your seating choice. Of course, a bigger screen with bigger image size will bring a more "larger than life" kind of feeling and I definitely felt a bit of that during my IMAX sessions, but considering IMAX's outdated projectors which dampens the image quality, that is a major blow. BigScreen on the other hand had clearer and sharper image quality, and the dark level performance was pretty good. It's not as good as Onyx, but considering it's coming from a projector vs Onyx's LED screen, and of course the larger screen size, BigScreen is a great balance for both screen size and image quality.

Seating wise, I find it comfortable with the ratio of screen fit to my peripheral vision. I think seats E, F and G are the best rows for viewing comfort. Also the seats are more comfortable posture wise, but are quite squeaky so beware to not annoy other viewers when you readjust your bum Xd.

When it comes to audio though, things become complicated. Do note, what I am about say regarding the Dolby Atmos implementation here isn't all negative criticism, but could actually be a different approach to audio optimization in my opinion.

The audio volume and bass here is more subdued compared to IMAX's. I didn't feel the pops and vibration that much (but they are there in key action sequences, just not very emphasized), and considering that I'd watched the film in IMAX prior in the same day, the jarring difference here is severely underwhelming from BigScreen's Dolby Atmos. I do not know if this is exclusively a BigScreen issue as my experience with Dolby Atmos in IOI City's Maxx halls were pretty good as it was both comfortably loud and bassy, which came with the vibrations and pop (this was from my comparisons with Spiderman: No Way Home). This sentiment is also true with Tropicana's Onyx DA, where I had a better audio experience there compared to BigScreen, although I may have to visit that hall again to fully confirm this assessment.

Also, because BigScreen's audio volume is lower, some of the dialogues spoken were slightly muddy, and many layers of audio detail were harder to pick up.

This problem that I faced mostly stemmed from the beginning of the film, and overall, the audio experience did improve for me as the movie continued, but I assume this is due to me adapting to the hall's audio as time went on. My primary problem is the low audio volume and I think my problem would be solved if they just increase the volume further, though I think it is more complicated than that (I am no audio expert/engineer. I am sure the people at GSC are more knowledgeable at audio design and implementation, and "just increasing the volume" wouldn't necessarily solve the problem, but as a consumer, I just find the audio experience here to be lacking compared to other locations).

However, despite my complaints and I am going into a conjecture here, I think that BigScreen's DA implementation is trying to do something different than just highly emphasized bass and very loud volume, instead, they are aiming for clarity and accuracy.

One thing I noticed and actually find pleasant was the surround sound and audio clarity. Some audio cues can be heard from a different angle and actually adds more complexity to scenes without being distracting to the overall audio mix. Dialogue spoken in the open and in high locations were distant but not too low in volume where you can't hear it for the purpose of simulating realism of outdoor audio. The gunshots are not too shocking and overbearingly bassy as IMAX's (though I feel it can be a bit louder for a more thrilling experience), making them more comfortable to go through, and the car chase scene still felt great as the surround sound simulates the audio direction and location, while still being comfortably loud and slightly bassy to make it a riveting sequence.

It just felt clear and balanced.

Again, that doesn't change the fact that the audio at certain sections of the film felt underwhelming compared to IMAX, but it is DIFFERENT, and honestly, still an enjoyable experience.

Closing Thoughts

I really want to know more about the difference between Dolby Atmos and IMAX speakers, as well as the the different optimization of DA in different malls' cinema halls (DA only, Maxx DA, etc) from you guys because I am torn on BigScreen's audio as of this moment. Is this just a different signature in audio implementation; DA's clarity and accurate surround sound vs IMAX's high bass and centered focus sound signature? Could it be that this is MBO's optimization of DA and not GSC's (since GSC bought majority of MBO's assets back in 2021 and just essentially rebranded previous MBO cinemas to theirs)? I am genuinely perplexed and am unconfident with my take on BigScreen's DA audio because for all I know, I could be mistaken.

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read my long post and I hope it helps you in movie-going adventures.

PS. Yes, I have essentially watched The Batman 3 times in the span of 7 days and I really dug the film. It was better the second time around as the pacing made more sense for me, as well as admiring the more grounded, dark-detective approach of Batman; really faithful to the comic book/cartoon materials.

I've always been a fan of audio over video. But it's about time cinemas in Malaysia upgrade their projectors. I understand it can be costly for cinemas, but the lack of competitions only slows down the improvements. GSC taking over MBO reduces the competition. Right now, GSC is riding on MBOs previous cinemas. TGV has been pretty silent post pandemic in terms of upgrades etc. Given that GSC is almost monopolising the industry in Malaysia, fingers crossed for any quick improvements over time.

I'm gonna bring my sound meter to IMAX next time to see if the dB is in the recommend range or not 🤣