A clip from the Avatar 3D trailer. The 2009 theatrical release of Avatar was presented in two aspect ratios: 1.78:1 for the 3D version and 2.39:1 Cinemascope for the 2D version. For 3D, James Cameron felt the taller image provided by 1.78 was more immersive (Billington 2009). The 3D release for IMAX theaters was also windowboxed (projected with black bars on all sides) so the image didn't fill the IMAX screen horizontally. I haven't found anything definitive, but apparently Cameron wanted to reduce the width to give IMAX viewers towards the sides of the theater a better 3D experience (yodathekid 2022). Several commentors have mentioned seeing the windowboxed version in theaters, with one user commenting that the windowboxing was built into the print ( unintelligblealpaca 2022). This print supports that view.

The CGI was rendered at 2K resolution.