IMAX emulates PalmPilot software to power Oppenheimer's 70mm version

Enlarge / Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer. IMax/Universal Picture/YouTube

It's been a big week for IMAX, which has been promoting today's release of Oppenheimer. This is especially significant for IMAX as the film is the first to get a 70mm IMAX release since 2020's Tenet. So you can see why the company took to social media to brag about the size and scale of the film's making, which is said to be 11 miles long and 600 pounds. But in addition to the blockbuster IMAX release, there's something that hasn't been a hit in ages: a PDA.

And you can't talk about personal digital assistants (PDAs) without mentioning PalmPilots. Palm computing devices were once the epitome of portable tech organization. But Palm Computing, which underwent a series of acquisitions before HP ended the brand in 2011, made other devices besides PalmPilots. One of them is the Palm m130, which is apparently the ideal controller for IMAX projectionists to run 70mm films.

As the TikTok video from IMAX shows below, the 70mm impression for Oppenheimer is so big they had to expand their film set. That's fascinating and all, but so is the emulated PDA from 2002 apparently :

@imax Constantly pushing the boundaries of cinema. #Oppenheimer #ChristopherNolan #IMAX ♬ original sound - IMAX

The m130 wasn't even high-end when it came out in 2002. It did, however, bring color (12-bit, to be exact) to Palm's M series of handhelds. It debuted at $279 with a 2-inch, 160×160 screen and a Motorola Dragonball VZ 33 processor. But that was just the magic needed for IMAX's purposes, and so it didn't change anything. The only difference is that it uses emulations in at least some cases. According to The Verge, the TikTok video shows the PDA being emulated on a 10.1-inch Windows tablet for business, the Winmate W10IB3S-PCH2AC-POE Panel PC. It's easy to find Palm OS emulators online, as noted by Vice's Motherboard.

PDA emulation controls the cinema's Quick Turn Reel units (where workers load the physical film reels), which may also have built-in controllers instead.

Motherboard contacted IMAX about the age and a company spokesperson said, "The original fast-spinning reel units ran on PalmPilots. Prior to the release of Oppenheimer, IMAX Engineering designed and manufactured an emulator that mimics the look and feel of a PalmPilot to keep it simple and familiar for IMAX movie projectionists."

Some IMAX theaters may still have physical PDAs. Ars Technica has reached out to IMAX for clarification and will update this story if we receive a response. As noted by The Verge, a YouTuber named Yves Leibowitz, who shares video of an IMAX theater in an aquarium with 70mm media, has physical Palm devices in his videos.