Damn, been some time since I posted here. @yimingwuzere Unfortunately no, Malaysia doesn't house any IMAX Laser currently, bar the one "coming soon" from IOI City Mall's phase 2. While visually, Onyx and BigScreen/Barco 4k are better than current IMAX, the audio department for these screens pales when compared to IMAX. That and the sheer size of IMAX screens are hard to beat when it comes towards scale and awe.

You can read my previous posts in this thread as I'd shared my thoughts about Tropicana Gardens' and Starling's special cinema halls, but tldr BigScreen is Big (though not IMAX scale level) and has higher visual fidelity against IMAX, but the audio experience is pretty lacking as they sound low and had little to no surround sound. Onyx in Tropicana is definitely the largest Onyx screen in Malaysia and is the best visually, but the Dolby Atmos though better than BigScreen, had weak surround sound as well as being overly bassy. Even though these halls advertised to have Dolby Atmos speakers, I think due to the lack of THX certification, these halls do not sound remotely close in quality against its other DA brethren (GSC Mid Valley, 1Utama, IOI City Mall etc.) that actually have that THX cert.

Anyway, update on the new cinema halls I've visited.

Central I-City TGV IMAX - Top Gun Maverick

I finally did it... well quite a few months back. I drove almost two hours to Central I-City and back just to see what the fuss was all about with the latest and best TGV outlet Malaysia had to offer (while of course exploring this high-end mall). As everyone here has pointed out, the screen is massive like damn. It is still using the 2 2k Xenon projectors but man did the Top Gun look great on this screen. Screen aside, the hall was very dark and well designed. For instance, unlike other IMAX halls I've visited, there aren't any distracting lights on the sides of the hall's walls (1Utama and their glaring "Keluar" sign). The glide chairs are well cushioned and adjustable, but the positions can easily change will a small amount of force, so it's pretty awkward to wiggle here and there without the cheat adjustment changing. I still prefer stationary chairs in other halls but the cushions and headrest are great additions.


Couldn't take photos of the screen properly as the hall was very dark to pin-point the screen.

Overall yeah, it lived up to the hype. Whether it was worth driving through a ton of traffic and paying tolls to and back is... questionable. Naturally, it will not be my regular IMAX hall since it is very far from where I live. That and IOI City's IMAX Laser is coming soon and I live closer to this mall instead xd.

MyTown GSC BigScreen Atmos - Smile, Black Adam & Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

MyTown had a pretty well-liked Maxx DA hall many years back that I didn't get to visit, but the hall was closed for maintenance back in 2020 according to GSC's Twitter (still can't post links, sadge). Turns out, GSC refurbished it into a BigScreen hall due to them acquiring major assets from MBO during 2021 covid-lockdown period. Since MyTown BigScreen is closer to visit for me vs Starling and Tropicana Gardens. I decided to paid it a visit.



The screen isn't as big vs Starling's and Tropicana Garden's, so it's quite a bummer to see that. Watching Black Adam on this screen was rough as the film's aspect ratio did not fit right with this screen, so there was pretty large letterboxing (black bars) from the top and bottom. Visually... I don't know. It is advertised as 4k laser ala Barco, but Wakanda Forever's dark scenes were pretty greyish and honestly comparable to IMAX's 2k projectors, which are inferior to Tropicana Garden's and Starlings BigScreen. While IMAX in Malaysia compensates slightly worse visual quality with screen size and scale, MyTown's BigScreen feels like MAXX DA from the one in IOI City Mall's phase 1 outlet instead of the BigScreen halls already opened before the refurbishment.

While the screen is disappointing, the audio makes up for it as it has the Dolby Atmos you would expect. One thing OP of this thread posted was MyTown's Maxx DA having great audio experiences, and that's very likely due to the THX certification it has, vs the ones in Starling & Tropicana (even Onyx DA) which lacks it. The audio is loud and has great surround imaging, the latter which the hall damn well ensures you'll never forget as it plays FOUR Dolby Atmos advertisements consecutively while demo-ing its surround greatness.

Personally, I'm questioning on whether MyTown's BigScreen DA is worth it vs IOI City's Maxx DA as IOI has THX certification too. Sure, it's advertised as BigScreen 4k Barco laser, but the screen size is small and is comparable to IOI's Maxx DA, both size and visually, while imo lacking the visual fidelity of its siblings in the other two malls. Hope some of you here have tried it out and can share your thoughts, especially those who had visited this hall as Maxx DA before it's renovation and change.

Damn, been some time since I posted here. @yimingwuzere Unfortunately no, Malaysia doesn't house any IMAX Laser currently, bar the one "coming soon" from IOI City Mall's phase 2. While visually, Onyx and BigScreen/Barco 4k are better than current IMAX, the audio department for these screens pales when compared to IMAX. That and the sheer size of IMAX screens are hard to beat when it comes towards scale and awe.

You can read my previous posts in this thread as I'd shared my thoughts about Tropicana Gardens' and Starling's special cinema halls, but tldr BigScreen is Big (though not IMAX scale level) and has higher visual fidelity against IMAX, but the audio experience is pretty lacking as they sound low and had little to no surround sound. Onyx in Tropicana is definitely the largest Onyx screen in Malaysia and is the best visually, but the Dolby Atmos though better than BigScreen, had weak surround sound as well as being overly bassy. Even though these halls advertised to have Dolby Atmos speakers, I think due to the lack of THX certification, these halls do not sound remotely close in quality against its other DA brethren (GSC Mid Valley, 1Utama, IOI City Mall etc.) that actually have that THX cert.

Anyway, update on the new cinema halls I've visited.

Central I-City TGV IMAX - Top Gun Maverick

I finally did it... well quite a few months back. I drove almost two hours to Central I-City and back just to see what the fuss was all about with the latest and best TGV outlet Malaysia had to offer (while of course exploring this high-end mall). As everyone here has pointed out, the screen is massive like damn. It is still using the 2 2k Xenon projectors but man did the Top Gun look great on this screen. Screen aside, the hall was very dark and well designed. For instance, unlike other IMAX halls I've visited, there aren't any distracting lights on the sides of the hall's walls (1Utama and their glaring "Keluar" sign). The glide chairs are well cushioned and adjustable, but the positions can easily change will a small amount of force, so it's pretty awkward to wiggle here and there without the cheat adjustment changing. I still prefer stationary chairs in other halls but the cushions and headrest are great additions.


Couldn't take photos of the screen properly as the hall was very dark to pin-point the screen.

Overall yeah, it lived up to the hype. Whether it was worth driving through a ton of traffic and paying tolls to and back is... questionable. Naturally, it will not be my regular IMAX hall since it is very far from where I live. That and IOI City's IMAX Laser is coming soon and I live closer to this mall instead xd.

MyTown GSC BigScreen Atmos - Smile, Black Adam & Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

MyTown had a pretty well-liked Maxx DA hall many years back that I didn't get to visit, but the hall was closed for maintenance back in 2020 according to GSC's Twitter (still can't post links, sadge). Turns out, GSC refurbished it into a BigScreen hall due to them acquiring major assets from MBO during 2021 covid-lockdown period. Since MyTown BigScreen is closer to visit for me vs Starling and Tropicana Gardens. I decided to paid it a visit.



The screen isn't as big vs Starling's and Tropicana Garden's, so it's quite a bummer to see that. Watching Black Adam on this screen was rough as the film's aspect ratio did not fit right with this screen, so there was pretty large letterboxing (black bars) from the top and bottom. Visually... I don't know. It is advertised as 4k laser ala Barco, but Wakanda Forever's dark scenes were pretty greyish and honestly comparable to IMAX's 2k projectors, which are inferior to Tropicana Garden's and Starlings BigScreen. While IMAX in Malaysia compensates slightly worse visual quality with screen size and scale, MyTown's BigScreen feels like MAXX DA from the one in IOI City Mall's phase 1 outlet instead of the BigScreen halls already opened before the refurbishment.

While the screen is disappointing, the audio makes up for it as it has the Dolby Atmos you would expect. One thing OP of this thread posted was MyTown's Maxx DA having great audio experiences, and that's very likely due to the THX certification it has, vs the ones in Starling & Tropicana (even Onyx DA) which lacks it. The audio is loud and has great surround imaging, the latter which the hall damn well ensures you'll never forget as it plays FOUR Dolby Atmos advertisements consecutively while demo-ing its surround greatness.

Personally, I'm questioning on whether MyTown's BigScreen DA is worth it vs IOI City's Maxx DA as IOI has THX certification too. Sure, it's advertised as BigScreen 4k Barco laser, but the screen size is small and is comparable to IOI's Maxx DA, both size and visually, while imo lacking the visual fidelity of its siblings in the other two malls. Hope some of you here have tried it out and can share your thoughts, especially those who had visited this hall as Maxx DA before it's renovation and change.