I just watched The Batman in Tropicana Gardens's GSC Onyx hall and it was great time. The screen is definitely bigger than the one in GSC Mid Valley and I assume it is slightly bigger than the one in Central I-City (as this mall is 1 year newer than Central I.C.. Please correct me if I am wrong since I can't experience I-City's TGV as it is situated inconveniently far from where I live). Granted, the screen is still way smaller than your typical IMAX-esque screen, and rather more par to a normal hall's one. However, it was still a great experience for a film like The Batman as it is mostly shot in the dark and the advantages of an Onyx screen (which is LED screen, resembling the likes of OLED) is its black levels, colour accuracy and overall clarity. The hall is also equipped with Dolby Atmos speakers, whereas the one in Mid Valley does not.



I recommend booking the seats in the 6-7th row (E and G), as the screen should encompass your entire vision. Do note that for The Batman, the film did not utilize the whole screen and had to down-size quite a bit to accommodate the film's aspect ratio, hence why I recommend seats slightly closer to the screen for a better overall visual experience.

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!

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.

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.

Hi again. I have tried THX halls before, just not at 1U (that 1U IMAX trip was my first time at that mall and tbh, don't like that mall in general Xd and would only return for IMAX specifically). Do note that I'm an amateur when it comes to audiophile stuff as I only dabble, and rely on what I am able to feel and identify in the audio experience. Your input is definitely more accurate and apt as the way you describe them is very articulated, thus highly appreciated.

The THX halls I'm referring to is mainly the IOI City Maxx halls which have THX labels outside and inside the hall. I also recently learned that THX is actually just a certification for quality audio rather than an audio format, and it gave me clarity in understanding why the BigScreen halls I had visited had underwhelming audio despite having DA speakers. They weren't THX certified (The Onyx hall didn't have THX labels as well, so your criticism rings true even more).

Funnily enough, GSC no longer advertises THX in their "cinema experiences" category in their website, it is only DA, and I had to search online for old articles, forum threads and social media post for THX certified halls. Also, BigScreen is not only missing in the DA category despite having them, but the hall type itself is missing from that cinema experience page, only appearing when booking movies at their specific malls. Right now, BigScreen (and Onyx but at least Onyx is advertised having DA in their DA page) at Tropicana is missing it's DA label whereas Starling still maintains it, though I suspect it is to reduce ticket prices as the tickets without DA advertised is RM1 off. They still use it from my past visits.

Anyway, I still prioritize image quality and screen size over audio (though still a solid determiner), and other subjective things like ticket prices, traveling cost and distance. So far, I think I may stick with IOI City's Maxx for live-action blockbusters as it is the closest big screen format + a pretty great audio experience to my place of residence. I recently got an opportunity to watch The Batman (YES! AGAIN. 4 TIMES NOW, SHIT!) there, and the audio quality was way better than Tropicana's BigScreen and slightly above Onyx. The image quality is imo slightly below IMAX's (which I deem mediocre compared to BigScreen) but the tradeoff is that it is nearer to me and discount prices for early bird and Wednesdays are more appealing. Aside from few movies that imo would benefit from Onyx such as animated films, aesthetically dark movies like The Batman or watching with friends there. Unless Tropicana Gardens GSC improves their DA quality at their BigScreen hall, it's not worth the effort for me to commute there as it takes me more than an hour. This is a shame cause Tropicana Gardens' GSC chain is fairly new and visually well-designed, while having a big screen format with great image quality (4k laser barco yadah yadah).

Just a quick insight to my DA experience at IOI City's Maxx vs 1U IMAX for The Batman, I actually prefer DA over IMAX, mainly for the surround sound (partial though, as I think current blockbusters aren't necessarily prioritizing in audio compared to other films, and maybe IOI City isn't the best optimized DA hall) and at a more reasonable volume; still loud, bassy and exciting, but not ear-bleeding. IMAX is still bonkers and fairer for viewers not sitting in the middle seats due to it's 6-speaker, stereo-format set up but I'm starting to dislike the overly high volume it sets. My decision would be on a film to film basis, as Dune and Dunkirk when I watched them in IMAX were surreal audio wise (I don't know the comparison to THX DA, I would assume it should rival IMAX, maybe even better as it has surround features).

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.

This is pretty great for me since IOI City Mall is the closest mall to me with unique cinema halls (GSC MAXX DA, 4DX etc.). However, considering TGV just increased the price for IMAX tickets, RM 30 to RM 33, I am less inclined to visit them anymore. TBH, there isn't a major difference in visual quality between IMAX and MAXX from my experience; both have contrast issues and pales in comparison to BigScreen and Onyx, and honestly, I prefer Dolby Atmos over IMAX due to the latter being uncomfortably loud for me (could be movie to movie basis, as well as different IMAX halls having different configurations. I'm basing this from my experience with The Batman in 1U IMAX vs IOI City MAXX DA.

Hopefully this new outlet will have 4k laser but I highly doubt it considering there hasn't been a great push for tech improvements in Malaysia's cinema industry. Unless there are specific movies that are highly recommended to be watched in IMAX, TGV upgrades their IMAX halls to 4k laser or better pricing for the tickets, I will mostly stick to GSC for better value.

I am more excited for the GSC opening in the Lalaport mall though, which is also stated to be done by Q4 2022. They advertised to have IMAX, Onyx and THX-DA halls. GSC has an IMAX hall in Johor (Mid Valley Southkey) and a ticket there cost RM 27, so definitely a win in value proposition. Yes, TGV IMAX tickets can cost RM27 with their Maybank card promotion, but it is only for Friday and weekends and I don't have a Maybank card.

*Source: "Bukit Bintang City Centre... Opening in Q4 2022, Located in the Entertainment Hub of BBCC. It will feature IMAX, Dolby Atmos, THX, and Onyx Hall," Wikipedia list of cinemas in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur (I can't post links due to my account being on probation).

Side-note, one thing that GSC loses against TGV though is the popcorn. The new GSC gourmet one is meh compared to TGV's Royale.

Interesting, 4DX in Selangor GSC outlets are rm33 (27 before 1pm). I checked your stated mall prior of Paradigm and yeah, it's rm 37. Pretty yikes.

You can read the main post from OP, but TLDR the most agreed upon recommendation are IMAX halls due to filmmakers nowadays recording and processing their films for IMAX's large screen size and proprietary surround audio. The best (primarily because it is the newest and largest screen) is the IMAX hall in Central I-City's TGV. Otherwise, any other IMAX hall will suffice. Hope this helps.

I visited Tropicana Gardens' GSC quite a bit, watched in both the Onyx and Bigscreen halls twice now so here are my quick two cents. I will be making a longer, more conclusive post later which includes other cinema halls and types but here's for Tropicana Gardens first.

Image quality wise, Onyx is the best. Onyx is essentially an OLED display, does showcasing vibrant and accurate colours, real blacks and clear, crisp image quality. The screen is larger than a classic screen and other Onyx screens but does not compete with the other biggies. Bigscreen on the other hand is has great image quality while still being a big sized screen. It's not as good as Onyx but it is way better when comparing to IMAX and MAXX.

Audio wise, even though both halls are advertised to have Dolby Atmos, they are in my experience, sub par compared to other halls with DA. Onyx is "better" than BigScreen in audio as it has more punch and impact, however to me, I didn't feel the surround sound imaging that I would expect from DA halls. It also suffers from some harsh highs, while the lows (bass) felt over boosted. BigScreen's audio sounds more flat and clear, but quite low volume/db compared to other DA halls and IMAX; it lacks the punch and the vibration factors from high octane sequences (explosions for example). Bigscreen also suffers from the weak surround sound imaging.

There are more details in my previous post in regards to Tropicana Gardens Mall's cinema halls, though I included new insights I have found here with the Onyx hall as I visited it the 2nd time in a more critical pov. I would recommend ONYX DA for sure for the better audio, while seating closer to the screen to emulate that big screen feel (row F, G, H). Both are remarkable for image quality, just falls short in the audio department.

Starling's BigScreen hall is pretty grandiose I would say. The hall and screen is bigger than Tropicana's. I can't comment much about the audio as I've only been there once but from my experience, I think the audio is unimpressive compared to my go-to of IOI's Maxx DA, though then again, the film I watched there was Uncharted and that film wasn't really that impressive.

You can go back a few post here as I went into detail about Starling's Big, Velocity's IMAX, Mid Valley's Onyx, Tropicana Gardens' etc (Page 14 & 15 of this thread).

Bro, everyone here keeps talking about how great Central I-City's IMAX is and I'm left here salivating; jealous af . When IOI City Mall opens their IMAX and it's bigger and better, then we'll see who is laughing xp.

Hey guys. I have visited quite a few specialized cinema halls enough times now to be more confident in my assessment and would like to share . Do note that I will be brief since these details were discussed in my previous posts, but my opinions have changed in regards to my preferred cinema halls.

Disclaimer - do note that this is my personal opinion and I do not believe it is the end all, be all. I would encourage people to try out these halls themselves and come up with their own conclusions, and hopefully share them here too because it is interesting to see feedback on Malaysia's cinema quality while also hoping it could influence these cinema chains to improve with said feedback.

Films I have watched in their respected halls and location recently

Dr. Strange 2 - Onyx DA (GSC Tropicana Gardens Mall), IMAX (TGV 1-Utama) and Hall 11 MAXX DA (GSC IOI City Mall)

Top Gun: Maverick - IMAX (TGV 1-Utama)

Onyx DA, Tropicana Gardens Mall GSC - Dr. Strange 2

Best visuals hands down; true blacks, vibrant colours, clear and crisp images. The great thing about Tropicana Gardens' Onyx hall is that the screen is actually pretty big. It is not as big as IMAX or MAXX, but it is definitely larger than the one in Mid Valley and your typical classic halls. I would recommend sitting in row F, G or maybe H, closer to the screen if you want to emulate that large screen factor of the biggies. I sat in row G and the screen encompass my vision almost fully. You don't have to worry about leaning your head backwards when you're this forward in this hall as the seating positioning centers you straight directly to the screen. I don't have the opportunity to visit Central I-City to witness their Onyx screen size, but I do believe Gardens' houses one of the largest Onyx screens available in Malaysia, at least maybe until LaLaport's GSC opens.

Audio wise, the Dolby Atmos here is pretty sub par compared to other DA halls. While it has punch you would expect of DA speakers (pretty bassy and high volume but not ear shattering), it somehow lacked the surround sound aspect you would expect from DA. Maybe my ears are not as fine tuned as proper audiophiles, but I couldn't hear nor feel the surround imaging in this hall compared to my experience in IOI City's Maxx DA, where the audio imaging was very apparent. Furthermore, the highs were very harsh in some areas, more specifically, the saw scene on the bus (this isn't a spoiler as it is in the trailers), while the lows, primarily bass, was over-boosted, to the point where to me, it affected character dialogue as some lines became quite muddy to hear clearly.

Do note that it is not unwatchable with regards to my complaints about the audio, it is a relatively smooth ride. The audio just tends to be a bit distracting in few moments of the film. The big problem I have is the weak or even lack there of surround sound imaging. When halls are advertised to have Dolby Atmos, you would expect the distinct signature of directional audio that reflects what the film is displaying, and it is pretty disappointing to see the hall not uphold this promise well.

I would still recommend this hall purely for the visual quality. It was impressive to watch Dr. Strange 2 which contained quite a lot of vibrant, colourful imagery. There are few short scenes where the screen goes completely black, thus making the hall pitch black, further adding to the immersion of the film. I will say though, with a film with a lot of visual presence and motion, it did leave me a bit nauseated at the end, so do beware when watching a film with a lot of visual flare in this hall.

IMAX, 1-Utama TGV - Dr. Strange 2 and Top Gun: Maverick

I have been very critical of IMAX in my previous posts, mainly because of the experience you get doesn't necessarily justify the price you pay for. RM33 is no joke (used to be RM30, increased after The Batman) where other biggies' tickets can be bought for less than half the price (e.g. IOI City Maxx DA RM16 for early birds/Wednesday). There is the Maybank RM5 discount but unless the film still airs in IMAX halls in the 2nd week's Friday + weekend, let alone you owning a Maybank card, it's not really reliable. RM33 sets a very high expectation, and even though my gripes about Malaysia's standard of IMAX still holds true... I hate to admit, man, but I've converted (screeched, my wallet).

The screens are humongous. It could be because IMAX tends to position the seats closer to the screen compared to GSC/MBO's biggies but man, you can really feel the overwhelming sensation from the screen's scale. Yes, the IMAX screens in Malaysia aren't true IMAX size, but it's still darn impressive to witness every time I enter these halls. However, what harms IMAX a lot is the image quality. I won't regurgitate what this thread has mention many times about the outdated projectors, but yeah, it really sticks out like a sore thumb during few moments of the films, in particular with extreme wide-angle shots (landscape shots). You can really notice the blurriness and weak contrast during these landscape shots. For example, during the opening scene of Dr. Strange 2 with those colourful debris, you can notice how awkward the colours looked along with how noisy/messy the scene was contrast wise, as the camera shot zooms in towards the two characters.

Thankfully, Top Gun: Maverick didn't really suffer much from this problem. It could be due to how this film was shot when considering the aspect of aviation flights, and how they are able to mask a lot of the extreme wide-angle shots with speedy action and some scenes with colour filtering/post-processing. Despite this, the blurriness was primarily noticeable during a landscape shot of a snowy forest filled with coned-like trees. The greens of the trees looked quite washed out, especially when the camera's moved to zoom in. Honestly, most films look off when there's fast camera movement, especially during noisy scenes that pertains many objects, but this can't excuse how low resolution these extreme wide-angle shots look. I definitely feel like these problems can be minimized with higher resolution projectors. Do note that during my Onyx session with Dr. Strange 2, motion clarity was a bit harsh as well, but it was not as bad as IMAX & Maxx.

Aside from wide-angle shots, every other aspect of the films was very impressive to watch. Any shots smaller than wide angled ones looked sharp and crisp, and even though these landscape shots are distracting and somewhat low resolution, you still feel some wow and awe BECAUSE of the large screen size.

Image quality aside, audio is what many people here adore about IMAX. I did complain in prior posts about IMAX's audio volume before as it was uncomfortably loud at certain scenes during my The Batman session. It still kinda holds through but during my viewing of Dr. Strange 2 and Top Gun 2, it pleasantly comfortable. It was still loud, high octane and awe-inspiring, but not as harmful to me during The Batman. I mean, all films are post-processed differently as they are made by different people, but overall, I was very satisfied with IMAX's audio. The surround sound was definitely noticeable, though in my opinion, not as impressive as good Dolby Atmos halls. Despite that, IMAX makes up plenty with this... rumble sensation... I don't know man haha, I'm not a seasoned audiophile who knows the proper words to critically describe the audio sensations, IT JUST FELT BOMBASTIC!

I hate to admit it because I hate spending a lot of money to watch films in cinemas, especially when you can purchase tickets half the price of IMAX from big screen competitors, but man, there are films where you really have to experience them in IMAX, and to be honest, these two films are no exception, Top Gun: Maverick especially. I mean, the fact that I still harbor that wish to watch The Batman again in IMAX despite my complaints prior shows how captivating IMAX is. While I don't believe its image quality is the best (in terms of biggies, BigScreen is better than IMAX) nor is my favourite audio set up (I still prefer IOI City's Maxx Dolby Atmos' audio signature), IMAX for me contains a high level of consistency between impressive visual and audio quality, thus making 1-Utama's TGV IMAX my go-to cinema hall for the time-being (as Central I-City is way too far and complex for me to visit).

MAXX DA (Hall 11), IOI City Mall GSC - Dr. Strange 2

Formerly my go-to cinema hall, mainly because it is the closest one to my residence while being reasonably priced. It will still be my go-to hall ONLY for re-watches after IMAX.

In my opinion, there isn't much of a visual quality difference between MAXX and IMAX (digital which all Malaysian IMAX halls use), but because the latter is bigger (or at least feels bigger because of how close the seats are to the screen), IMAX comes out to be the more captivating experience. Both suffer from low resolution shots, primarily with extreme wide-angles. The small positive of MAXX is that because the screen size isn't as big as IMAX, the problems regarding visual quality isn't as jarring as the latter, but I will still prefer IMAX purely due to the screen's size and scale. That and again, IMAX still looks sharp and crisp in any shots smaller than extreme wide-angles, same can be said about MAXX, but again, won't feel as impressive as IMAX.

Now on to audio. It is slightly lower volume than IMAX, but it's still loud and impressive, and in my opinion, more comfortable than IMAX. It's only in IOI City Mall where a big screen is accompanied by an impressive Dolby Atmos speakers configuration. I would attribute this towards the THX certification these halls hold, as other big screen halls (Tropicana and Starling BigScreen in particular) advertises to have DA, but they don't have THX certifications, thus they have inconsistencies that I've complained about prior. IOI City's DA has great bass, better and pinpoint-able surround sound and decent rumble; I think it's less bombastic than IMAX but is more comfortable to the ears IMO.

While it is not as impressive as IMAX as a whole experience, it is still very compelling and a great value for the price. I still believe it is a way better value than IMAX (RM16 early bird vs RM33 no early bird discount offered, no competition), but IMAX still has that wow factor that other biggies haven't really inspired in me yet.

Quick summary of other cinema halls I've visited (more info about them can be found in previous posts here)

Mid Valley GSC Onyx: Great visuals, but I would treat this hall as a tech-intro to Onyx rather than a go-to cinema hall. It uses a JBL surround sound system, but honestly, it didn't sound as good as IMAX or DA. If you prefer Onyx, I would recommend the one in Tropicana Gardens Mall instead as that one comes with (not-so-great but still an improvement) DA speakers and a larger screen.

Starling and Tropicana Gardens GSC BigScreen: Starling's screen is bigger than Tropicana's, but IMO, the latter is way easier to visit (personally) because the mall is directly connected to the MRT station. Visually, you can't go wrong with both screens as they use 4k projectors compared to IMAX's dual 2k (which I believe MAXX uses as well), and among the biggies, BigScreen is visually the best. The only downsides are their DA configuration. They are pretty low volume and have less noticeable surround sound accuracy. The audio signature here tends to be flat and clear, which you may prefer. Do note that I'm basing my info about BigScreen mostly from Tropicana's, as I've only visited Starling's BigScreen once (and never again) and apparently, quite a few people here along with OP have praised Starling's sound system quite significantly, so I would advise you to visit and judge for yourself.

Sunway Velocity TGV IMAX: I think it is the 2nd biggest IMAX screen in Malaysia, only behind Central I-City, but like any other IMAX halls, it is has the quality assurance. The downside is that the air-conditioning blows very loud from above and is audible during quiet moments of films. Otherwise, this would be my go-to IMAX hall since it is the closest one to my residency... but... oh man... the God damn seating arrangements are TRASH, HORRIBLE! (Reference: "Stephen A. goes on EPIC RANT after Knicks blow 28-PT lead to Nets | NBA Countdown," Youtube). More info of my rant can be found in prior posts. I would recommend this hall if you live near it and most importantly have a partner to go with. Otherwise, not great for a solo movie goer.

Classic halls, GSC vs TGV: TGV classic halls are better as the audio tends to be higher quality there. They balance their audio much better than GSC, which the latter may have certain audio tracks be louder than the dialogue ones; GSC tends to be more imbalance. In regards to dialogue censoring, TGV censors cusses better than GSC as the former silences dialogue only whereas GSC just cuts all the audio during the cussing moment (biggest and recent example is Dr. Strange 2 where Strange swears as he faints. TGV muted the dialogue but maintained the background audio while GSC just cuts that whole audio segment out in general, leaving the cinema hall awkwardly silent for a short moment).

I did visit other cinema halls in the past such as Mid Valley's DA and Sunway Pyramid's IMAX, but that was many years ago, before I became a cinema enthusiast as of recently.

TLDR of my personal thoughts

Visual quality: Onyx > BigScreen > IMAX > MAXX (note that IMAX still wins out for that large screen awe factor, just not visually)
Audio quality: IOI City's MAXX DA > IMAX > Tropicana Garden's ONYX DA > BigScreen DA

I may try 4DX and MX4D in the future, but I'm not too fond of the idea of moving seats while watching a film. I still prefer sitting idly while enjoying a large screen experience with impressive audio. I don't think those motion halls contain special speakers like DA but who knows. There's 1U's ScreenX and DA only halls as well but again, not too interested. I hope you guys can share more about your experience with these halls and hope some of you can convince me like how many here convinced me about IMAX despite the price. Thanks again for reading and I hope this helps!

Hi guys, this post is pretty late considering Top Gun: Maverick is no longer in the 4DX rotation. Nevertheless, I have watched the film in 4DX and ScreenX for the first time and would like to share my thoughts. (Shoutout to @ericling for the recommendation for 4DX)

4DX, IOI City Mall GSC



First of all, the screen for 4DX is slightly bigger than normal halls, although it could be because the screen is closer to the seats. There are 7 rows of seats, and I recommend sitting in C and D for a better field of view of the whole screen. However, despite its size, the image quality is mediocre. It doesn't handle light rays well as characters standing under the sun rays makes the image quality look washed (the scene in the office between Maverick, Warlock and Cyclone). I could barely tell the character's facial expression in this scene. Again, could be movie to movie and scene to scene basis, but just don't go in expecting consistent crisp image quality.

However, people don't go to 4DX halls for the image quality, it's for the physical experience.



Starting with the chair, the only customization you can make is turning the water effects on/off, no motion intensity level. Top Gun: Maverick only has a brief scene containing water so this feature wasn't used often. The only thing it did was spray water vapours at you (a bit annoying for glasses wearers, but thankfully not wetting them with large droplets) from the back of the chairs in front of you. Chair motion is what you're mainly getting and oh boy was it an experience. Honestly, it is one of the most fun and immersive moments I had in a cinema-hall ever. The seat vibrates to loud background noises like the jets flying in the background or engines starting that keeps you on edge. Then during scenes containing a lot of movements (jet flying and maneuvering), it vigorously moves you according to the jets' directional movement on screen. The motion borders the line between comfortable and uncomfortable, to me, it didn't extend to the latter and was able to keep me in a rush without feeling stressed or sick.

The backrest has interesting features as well. Like ericling said, it has two air holes at the headrest area, blowing a straight, sharp wind towards your earlobes/left and right side of your neck area. This primarily happens during certain sections of aviation but they are quite uncommon. They do give you a surprise though when it happens and is likely rare to prevent annoyances of over usage. The lumbar area has a mechanism in it that nudges your back during the flights as well. They are mostly noticeable during the dogfights and aren't intrusive. Lastly, you may notice a white string-like object attached at the middle-bottom of the seat. That thing wiggles to stimulate your legs and occurs during heavy machine gun firings. One more thing, the fans are equipped with light bulbs as well. The flash when guns are shot and explosions happens, basically when there is a sudden and quick bright flash in the scene, adding to the intensity and shock-value of gun-fights/explosions.

All of these tiny features combining with the seat's motion adds to a very compelling experience.

The image on the right shows the fans and yeah, they do be blowing hard and loud during fast motion sequences. Similarly to my assessment of the seat's motion, it is just slightly behind the point of irritating; comfortably immersive and a fun physical experience. The fan noise directly correlates to my thoughts on the audio and that it adds to it. The hall's audio isn't special as I believe it uses the same speaker configuration as normal halls, so not much directional sounds, but the fan noise though... Imagine those animated shows where the characters are moving at fast speeds, and the animators add these whitish lines at the edges of the screen that represents wind piercing to invoke excitement? Yeah, that's how the fans blowing felt like to me during the fast jet flights in the film, especially during close-up shots of the characters inside the jet's cockpit while flying.

Again, audio is not as good as IMAX or Dolby Atmos, but this isn't a hall targeting that aspect. The fan noise gimmick do be working though XP.



One last feature that occurred during Top Gun Maverick 4DX is the weather effect simulation... or at least a hilariously weak attempt of one is the snow. So, at the start of this snow scene, the fans closest to the screen (image above) started blowing "snow" out loudly and after a few seconds, stopped and never occurred. It just happened so randomly and the snow looked so fake that the cinema hall was filled with surprised, awkward laughter. I do not know how it is feasible to accurately simulate weather in a cinema hall without high tech and high cost of implementation, but then you have to address the concerns of making the viewers uncomfortable. The hall didn't feel colder during the snowy scene too, though I think I have become accustomed to cinema halls and their air conditioning.

Overall, it was a high recommendation to watch this film in 4DX or maybe D-BOX for the seat motion alone as it suits the film's topic of fighter jets well. The seat's extra tiny features along with the fans adds a lot to the film's enjoyment. Unfortunately, it is now out of the 4DX rotation, but hopefully this input may convince you to try this cinema hall out for other movies that have a lot of high octane action sequences like Top Gun 2. I wouldn't really bank on the environmental effects all too much. Maybe there was something special in Jurassic World Dominion for the environmental effects, or the upcoming Avatar sequel that may actually utilize this feature a lot but as it stands, it's very underwhelming.

ScreenX, 1Utama GSC



The projector above that displays the side screens




Not recommended. Like man, it is really gimmicky and bad. First of all, the two sides of the screen don't project any image outside of the aviation sequences. Roughly 1/3 of the film actually utilized the side screens and even then, not all of the jet flying and specific IMAX captured scenes (widened aspect ratio of top and bottom) are displayed. The awesome, opening sequence of the film on that flight carrier didn't utilize the side screens at all, along with the sea scene on the boat which was captured in IMAX aspect ratio. When they do project though, I admit, it does look pretty cool and unique at first, but after a while, the flair rubs off and I honestly wished I was watching this film in a big screen hall instead (IMAX, MAXX, BigScreen) as the side screens turns on and off depending on the scenes and it's just jarring and distracting to witness.

Regarding the side screens, it's very much like having a triple monitor set-up, and the vertical bezels in-between the screens look distracting during content consumption. But unlike a typical triple monitor set-up, the side-screens are 90 degree angled in a different directions, all while slightly stretching the side image out. Honestly you may not catch the details there depending on your seating arrangement; too far back and the middle screen looks small, middle or front, you're missing images on the side which you will catch when watching a large, middle screen only.

What's worse is that WHEN the hall actually uses the two side screens, the image quality of the middle screen, which holds majority of what the scene is displaying worsens. Projectors emits a display onto a surface, in this case, the large projector screen with light, and that light on the screen reflects to our eyes so we can see the movie. This light reflection then hits the middle screen as well as they are so close, and thus the edges of the middle screen gets washed out due to an over-emittance of light and saturation. You will frequently notice a difference in colour tone of the same scene between the middle and side screens due to this problem. If by the middle screen itself, it's okay, comparable to MAXX. Do note that the screens are big, so I assume they are using some high quality non-laser projectors, but man in execution with the 3 screens, this shit is ass.

Audio wise, aside from the occasional rumble you feel in your chest during those jet engines startups, it's what you would expect from a normal cinema hall. Actually, I felt it was worse cause at least normal cinema halls have some side (left and right) speakers to display a bit of directional sound. This hall only has speakers in the front and that's all of the sound I can actually hear from (please correct me if I'm wrong about this speaker detail).

Maybe other films will actually utilize the side screens for the whole duration of those films, but when the image quality becomes so atrocious because of the side screens' set-up? This hall is a hard pass. A ticket cost RM30.50, RM22 for early bird. Add a few more ringgit and you can enjoy a better experience in IMAX, less if you choose MAXX or BigScreen, all of which contain a larger image with better visual quality and audio experience than ScreenX.

Summary

I've written quite a lot so TLDR: 4DX yay. ScreenX? More like Screen-Trash. Again, thanks for taking to the time to read this long post and I hope it helps!

Quick thing, my account is still in probation and so I can't edit my previous post which I feel explained something poorly while having some grammar errors. I did proof read it but I was quite exhausted writing this post, thus missing some mistakes. Anyway, the bolded text with the asterisk is the fix.



Ps. The fans with the light bulb part is awkwardly placed as it should have been in the fans' paragraphs area, so yeah, oops.

Aye yoooooooo!!!

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.

@ericling Sorry for the late reply. I'd watched Avatar 2 in December of last year in Sunway Velocity's IMAX hall. I chose the twin middles seats in row H. This time around, I took the time to inspect the size of the screen and yes, the screen is massive. However, I noticed the height very high while the width was quite narrow. This made Avatar 2 have severe letterboxing (black bars at the top and bottom) as I thought the film only used 1/3 the size of the screen. It still looked good and spectacular in 3D but yeah, the disproportioned width and height made it a big ooof in terms of film to screen real estate. Central I-City's IMAX still holds the best IMAX hall for the amount of movie that can actually fit the screen (depending on the film's aspect ratio.)

Some math to back up my claim on the movie experience via screen aspect ratios cause I have no life (if I get anything wrong, feel free to reply with the proper corrections):

Majority of movies are filmed in a 2.39 (W) : 1 (H) aspect ratio while IMAX films/footage are 1.9:1. This means that IMAX films tends to be higher, while normal films are wider. Sunway Velocity's IMAX size (Source: LFExaminer) is 25.9m (W) x 19.4m (H). 25.9m ÷ 19.4m = 1.33. This means that Velocity's IMAX screen is only 33% wider/longer than it's height (1.33:1). That is quite narrow and an 1.9:1 film won't be able to utilize the extra height space as the film's image will have to shrink to fit the screen's width. Calculating the exact screen actually being used (1.33 ÷ 1.9), only 70% of the screen is used. The unused space of (0.30 x 19.4) 5.82m divided by 2 since the film's image is centered on screen would mean the top and bottom letterboxes' length is 2.91m. Avatar 2 was filmed in 1.85:1 but eh, it's very close to 1.9:1 anyway so the criticism still holds true.

2.39:1 films are worse as they lose around 44% (8.5m / 2 = 4.25m) of screen space using Velocity's screen, yikes. I have not watched a 2.39:1 film in Velocity's IMAX (The Batman for example) as the ones I did were No Time to Die, Spider-Man: No Way Home & Dune as they are 1.9:1 (Dune has 1.43:1 scenes which I will touch on later).

Compared to I-City's IMAX of 24.4m x 13.8m and the aspect ratio being 1.76:1, you can see that while still needing to shrink the 1.9:1 films a bit width wise (a mere 7% of unused space) to fit it's screen, the films' image will still look larger than Velocity's. To be more certain, Velocity's screen is 502m squared(2). I-City is 337m2, because Velocity loses 30% of screen space (351m2 total used) whereas I-City is 7% (313m2 total used). While Velocity has a 38m2 lead over I-City, the latter will look and feel bigger because the screen is utilized more than Velocity's.

However, despite my complaints of Velocity, it's screen has a big advantage over I-City's when it deals with tall aspect ratios, notably 1.43:1 IMAX films. Dune for example is a win for Velocity as certain sections of the film were filmed in 1.43:1, thus it was able to utilized more of the height. I noticed back when I watched this film in Velocity that it was breathtaking in terms of its sheer size.

I assume higher aspect ratio films displayed on a wider screen like I-City's will have letterboxing on the left and right side? I don't know, hope you guys can share your experiences on this.

In conclusion, research the aspect ratio of the IMAX films you want to watch beforehand, so you can get a better idea on which Mall's IMAX halls are more suitable for it. Dune 2 and Oppenheimer will have 1.43:1 scenes in them, so Velocity would be the better choice for them. Otherwise, films like the current Avatar 2 and upcoming Antman 3 is more suited for the likes of Central I-City.

Regarding the GSC IMAX Laser at IOI City Mall 2.

Yeah... the screen looks smaller than what TGV has to offer. @OfficiallyAhmad did link the tweet about the screen's height measurements of 11 meters. While not great, it could hint closely to 1Utama's size (L:22m x H:12.5m) which is my current go-to IMAX hall in Selangor. I will definitely make a visit to this hall soon as it is the closest IMAX hall to my residence, and to be honest, even if I am disappointed by it's size, it will still be my new go-to IMAX hall since it's more convenient and has Laser technology (only one in Malaysia unless Lalaport makes case).

Overall, slightly let down but still poggers news, I don't have to ride an hour long mrt train to 1U anymore to watch IMAX movies!

Yo, why does IMAX tickets keep increasing in price? From RM30 last year to RM35. This is primarily TGV btw but GSC alsl priced their IMAX tickets at RM34.50.

Got you, fam xd

IOI City Mall 2 GSC Laser IMAX - Ant-Man 3 (3D), Creed 3 and John Wick Chapter 4

First of yes, the Laser IMAX screen is smaller than TGV's Selangor offering of IMAX (but still bigger than Sunway Pyramid). So, if you are a stickler for size, then I-City (for better 1.9:1 aspect ratio films) and Velocity (better for 1.43:1 films) would be better for you. The estimate height of the screen is around 11 meters (according to IMAX sales VP Preetham Daniel's Twitter), so roughly similar to 1U's but is still slightly smaller.

However, IOI's laser screen size is exactly 1.9:1 in aspect ratio, so majority of the IMAX films which are filmed at this aspect ratio will fully utilize the whole screen. It is efficient in terms of screen usage.

What makes this hall special is the Laser Tech. The films I watched there were bright and sharp, especially the colours. Creed 3's boxing moments were extremely pretty to watch with the stadium lights and all like damn, this is a major leap in image quality compared to the outdated dual 2k Xenon projectors of the older IMAX halls here.

The audio here is the same as other IMAX halls: amazing with great surround imaging. So the only advantage of this IOI IMAX hall is the laser tech which is a huge positive for me.

When it comes to John Wick 4, things become a bit different. The film's aspect ratio is 2.39:1 so there will be letterboxing from the top and bottom of the screen since it's shot widely. The film's audio was also mixed for Dolby Atmos which honestly, shouldn't really matter as IMAX's DTS:X audio format should adapt it fine, but holy crap. the audio is too loud for my liking.

Yes, like @ericling hinted at, the start of the film was shocking and exciting as the loud punch resonated throughout the hall. The action packed sequences too sounded tight and epic, but good gracious, they were too loud. I was slightly nauseated for a while after leaving the hall and was anxious for my hearing's health (temporary tinnitus).

Honestly, I also this complaint too of The Batman last year in 1U's IMAX (I written a post about it in this thread few pages back) and that film too was adapted for Dolby halls.

This complaint is not true for IMAX mixed films, by the way. Creed 3 and Ant-Man 3 were high quality while having reasonable and comfortably loud audio. Same can be said for the other IMAX halls in Malaysia from my past experience.

In conclusion, this hall is dope and highly recommended for films specifically shot and audio mixed for IMAX (mainly 1.9:1) films. You can still have a great time for non-IMAX shot films but the screen will not be fully used and the audio may not be optimized well (subjective).

Ps. I guess I did not talk about Ant-Man 3 a lot. It was fine. Colours were bright and great but I think the film's 3D was not that great. This should not be the case for other films, mainly the James Cameron films that aired few months ago ala Avatar 2 and Titanic. That and also Ant-Man 3 was an ass, below average compared to Mavel films prior to phase 4.

MyTown GSC Big Screen Dolby Atmos with THX certification - John Wick chapter 4

This is also an update from my previous post about this hall. Yeah... The audio here for John Wick 4 imo is better than IMAX's. The surround imaging is great and the audio is crisp and punchy while being comfortably loud. The screen is also big, very similar to IOI's IMAX laser's size. The screen image quality though is the slight downfall. The colours are not as bright and vibrant as laser IMAX even though it is using laser tech (4k Barca laser).

While the visual experience is not as good as laser IMAX, the audio was definitely more enjoyable and highly recommended for this film as it is mixed for DA.

Hey guys, I want to give a shoutout to the GSC BigScreens available in the Klang Valley area. These halls have actually come a very long way to be an amazing yet affordable alternative to IMAX for large screen size and surround audio. In 2022, I visited Klang Valley's only two BigScreen halls ala Tropicana Gardens Mall and Starling, and while both had amazing visual quality with their Barca 4k Laser projector and large screens, especially Starling's, they were lacking in the audio section. You can find my previous posts in this thread about these halls, mainly my complaint with Tropicana's showing for The Batman and Starling's Uncharted, but overall, unless the Dolby Atmos halls had THX certification, the audio experience in GSC's in other DA halls may vary in quality. However, recently with the rebranding of BigScreen, mainly the Hong Leong Bank sponsorship, they really had stepped up their game on the audio end.

MyTOWN GSC BIG DA - John Wick 4, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Super Mario Bros. and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

I spoken a lot about this hall already in previous posts, so TLDR: this hall is great and my go-to. Second largest screen among the other BIG halls in Klang Valley, retains its great THX certified DA speakers from its Maxx days and just easier to access ala MRT. However, I discovered a distinct negative about this hall and is that its speakers sometimes rattle audibly, and can be heard during the screening. It is not loud and honestly isn't very distracting, but I remembered reading old posts here about this hall having that rattling issue, way back when it was a Maxx screen and it is sad to see that they have not fixed that issue during the few years of renovation.

Overall, it is still a fantastic hall and I highly recommend people check this out... or don't cause the less people in this hall means the less chance I would witness possible loud/rude audiences xd.

Tropicana Gardens Mall GSC BIG DA - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

My last visit of this hall was last year with The Batman and it left me underwhelmed with it's audio. It was low volume, had weak audio surround imaging, and just lacking in rumble and impact. The visuals were phenomenal sure, but audio is also a key aspect for a film's enjoyable. I revisited this hall recently to watch Guardians 3 here and I'm glad to say that they really improved their audio optimization. Great surround imaging, high impact bass, rumble and loud in volume... honestly too loud lol that I had minor ear discomfort after the viewing. If they could reduce the audio volume by a small percentage, then man, it becomes a fantastic hall to visit.

Out of the 3 BigScreens in Klang Valley, Tropicana Gardens' is the smallest among them, but man, I am so glad they improved this hall because this GSC chain is fantastic. It has great aesthetics, well maintained and hosts multiple unique cinema halls like the largest Onyx screen with DA, MX4D, Playplus and of course, Big DA.

Closing notes

Unfortunately, I have not revisited Starling's BigScreen for review, and likely will not as it is inconvenient for me to travel there, but considering the improvements that occurred with Tropicana Gardens's Big hall, I am optimistic that this one also received an improvement too. I sure hope so as this screen is gigantic, like damn. It has like what? 14 rows of seats, each row containing 30 seats?

Lastly, in terms of the BigScreen vs IMAX discussion, in my opinion, BigScreen is the better value option (Big ticket priced RM26.50, RM17 for early bird or on Wednesdays vs IMAX's RM35/35.50, no discounts except for Maybank card holders). The TGV IMAX halls still use the dual 2k Xenon projectors so their image quality is slightly worse than BigScreen, but they do compensate by having bigger screens than GSC's Big. IOI City Mall 2's GSC has IMAX Laser, but the screen is smaller compared to TGV's IMAX screens in Selangor. Some films will benefit more with IMAX, mainly if they are shot with IMAX cameras (1.9:1 or 1.43:1 aspect ratio) and optimized for DTS:X audio. My recommendation is to check out a film's technical specs before viewing as the extra money spent on IMAX may not be justified as you would get an equal quality viewing in the BigScreen.

Hello. Nah, I haven't been to Atria's BigScreen, too inconvenient as I mainly take the MRT for KL travels. It should be good though. Hey, you can inform us about the hall's quality .