Disney has unveiled Infinity Vision, a new certification for premium large format (PLF) theatres, announced on stage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this week.
Despite early reports framing it as a new projection format, Infinity Vision is a quality certification rather than a proprietary technology. Disney is branding existing PLF theatres that meet its technical standards: the largest screens, laser projection for brightness and clarity, and premium immersive audio. There are reported to be 75 qualifying screens in the United States and around 300 globally — compared with IMAX’s 416 US screens, approximately 20 in the UK, 10 in Australia (with more opening this year), and four to five in Singapore.
The timing is no coincidence. Reports have suggested Warner Bros. already locked up IMAX screens many months in advance for Dune: Part Three, which opens on the same day as Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday — 18 December 2026. With its biggest film of the year shut out of the biggest screens, Disney built its own premium tier.
Andrew Cripps, Head of Theatrical Distribution for The Walt Disney Studios, said:
Disney’s standards for production quality are second to none, with every single detail of a film finely tuned for an immersive experience. Infinity Vision certification extends that commitment to the theaters themselves, representing a shared effort between The Walt Disney Studios and the exhibition community to help audiences quickly find the very best screens in their area to experience our films in exactly the way they’re designed to be seen — on a huge screen with the sharpest, clearest color and sound.
The initiative launches in September with a re-release of Avengers: Endgame, followed by Avengers: Doomsday in December. Participating theatres will carry Infinity Vision branding online and on-site.
Infinity Vision joins an increasingly crowded field of premium cinema certifications — IMAX, Dolby Cinema, ScreenX, 4DX, RPX, and various chain-specific formats. Each carries its own branding, quality tier, and ticket premium.
The pattern mirrors what is happening in the television market right now. The same core innovation — independent red, green, and blue LEDs behind an LCD panel — is branded Micro RGB by Samsung, Micro RGB evo by LG, True RGB by Sony, and RGB mini-LED by Hisense and TCL. Each manufacturer positions the technology differently in its lineup, and Sony claims meaningful differences in LED density and driver implementation set its approach apart. HDR formats face similar fragmentation: Dolby Vision 2 Max, HDR10+ Advanced, and their various sub-tiers compete for support across platforms and content providers.
As display and audio technology converges, the differentiation increasingly happens through branding rather than engineering. For consumers navigating both the cinema lobby and the television showroom in 2026, the challenge is going to be looking past the badge and focusing on what the technology actually delivers.
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