French architect and inventor Philippe Jaulmes developed his PANRAMA system for inclined hemispherical film projection in the late-1950s. Initially intended for use with 16mm film, Jaulmes announced the format in a public presentation at the World Exhibition in Brussels in 1958, but it was not until 1961 that the first dedicated PANRAMA auditorium was installed, in the basement of Jaulmes’s architect's office. It included a screen 4m (13.12 ft) in diameter, which was used for further refinement of the process, including studying variations in the inclination of the domed screen, as well as testing screen coatings and light reflectance. A 1.98mm Kinoptik fisheye lens was used on the camera, patented by Edgar Hugues in 1960. The format was upgraded to 35mm around 1963.

Initially, Jaulmes had developed the concept of projection on a hemispherical screen during his studies in architecture, and this concept had been the subject of his diploma, submitted in June 1955. In his dissertation, and first patent from 1958, the concept for his theater of “Total Projection” was described in some detail. The auditorium should be a circular room, with a spherical dome-shaped ceiling, the entire concave surface of which became the projection screen. The projection intensity should be bright enough for the entire dome space to be evenly lit. The side supporting walls should be limited in height as far as possible. These walls were to be lined with light- and sound-absorbing material, ideally “noirs et perforés” (“black and perforated”). The projection apparatus was to be mounted in the center of the auditorium, at a height of 1.2m (3.94 ft) above the floor. The audience would sit, or recline, to view the image above them. The floor was to have a circular incline of 5 degrees towards the center, to ensure that the field of vision for all members of the audience was clear. Therefore, the projection cone needed to be slightly less than 180 degrees, so that the heads of the audience, in a seated position, would not encroach into the projection frame. For a horizontal floor and a standing audience, Jaulmes recommended a height of 2m (6.56 ft) from the floor for the projection apparatus (Jaulmes, 1963: p. 88).

Jaulmes also proposed the possibility of synchronizing two projectors, and several loudspeakers placed behind the screen: a single loudspeaker at the zenith, four loudspeakers in a middle ring, and eight in a lower ring. The alignment of the speakers should be perpendicular to the screen. Stereo sound should reflect the “synesthésie des sons et des couleurs” (“synesthesia of sounds and colors”) (Jaulmes, 1963: p. 91).

In the early 1960s, Jaulmes finalized the PANRAMA system in its most advanced versions: in both 16mm and 35mm formats with a 30- to 45-degree tilted dome screen, 4m (13.12 ft) in diameter. The projector was mounted near the top of the dome and pointed down towards a concave spherical mirror, which reflected the image up onto the hemispherical screen (Jaulmes, 1963: fig. 18, p. 99).

Following a temporary installation at Expo ‘67 in Montreal, where the film La Grande Marée (1966) was exhibited, the first permanent PANRAMA installation came in 1969 in Clapiers, north of Montpellier, France, with a domed screen 12m (39.37 ft) in diameter and room for 50 people. A second, larger permanent PANRAMA theater, called Espace Gaîté, followed in Paris in 1981, which could seat an audience of 235. Jaulmes made his own dome films and collaborated with various artists, including Gilbert Comparetti. PANRAMA projection converted to digital in 1998, and continues to run to this day.