India’s premium large format market is beginning to look considerably more competitive, with Qube Cinema planning a major expansion of its homegrown EPIQ format just as two new direct-view LED concepts arrive in the country.

Qube currently operates around 12 EPIQ screens and expects to reach approximately 20 by the end of 2026. More significantly, the Chennai-based cinema technology company plans to roll out 30 EPIQ screens equipped with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos over the next three years. The first location featuring both technologies is expected to open in Kerala later this year.

Qube co-founder Senthil Kumar says the expansion is being driven by demand for premium experiences, which are generating higher occupancy and per-screen revenue. EPIQ is currently limited to India, though Qube ultimately hopes to expand the format internationally once it gains broader support from Hollywood studios. Sony recently supported EPIQ for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” but Qube says it will need similar backing from the other majors to take the format abroad.

And EPIQ suddenly has more company at home. As the Indian exhibition industry gathered in Chennai for Big Cine Expo, GDC Technology announced that Vettri Theatres had installed India’s first acoustically transparent Tricorne Premium LED screen at its VOLT auditorium. Meanwhile, HeyLED, developed by Timewaying and supplied through UFO Moviez, is powering the first Magnova PLF auditorium in Kochi with a 14-metre 4K direct-view LED screen and Dolby Atmos.

The technologies and business models differ, but the direction is the same. Indian exhibitors are increasingly betting that audiences will pay more for a demonstrably premium theatrical experience—and suppliers are lining up with plenty of different ideas about what that experience should look like.