Immersive home entertainment tech: what’s not to love? You flop down on your sofa, fire up your device, and as the content plays, all sorts of good feelings come up.
IMAX Enhanced is a prime example. This standard can deliver what we all wish for, or feel entitled to: a cineplex-quality experience in our own homes.
The overview below defines IMAX Enhanced, its benefits, and the role Unified Streaming plays in making the standard available to audiences worldwide.
What’s IMAX Enhanced?
In short, IMAX Enhanced is a certification and licensing program created by IMAX and DTS. Launched in September 2018, IMAX Enhanced aims to deliver the rich visuals and soaring sound of IMAX at home.
There’s lots of video and audio standards, codecs, and formats out there. Lots. How IMAX Enhanced first distinguishes itself from the herd is by flaunting its pedigree. Most people know IMAX. The format’s name is kinda synonymous with a rare, exuberant moviegoing experience.
The IMAX Enhanced program promises:
* IMAX Enhanced content, digitally remastered to enhance picture quality;
* IMAX Enhanced sound delivered by DTS for an immersive 3D-sound experience; and
* an array of certified devices that meet rigorous performance standards.
When choosing IMAX Enhanced content, viewers hope for a movie experience with the clarity, richness, and impact filmmakers intend them to have.
Benefits of IMAX Enhanced
IMAX Enhanced offers advantages that not every high-quality streaming standard can. Here’s how the certification and licensing program improves the sofa-as-cinema-seat experience.
🍿 Superior picture quality
4K HDR Mastering
IMAX Enhanced content is optimized in 4K HDR, providing enriched color depth, contrast, and sharpness. Viewers see vibrant colors and lifelike textures on a display that mimics cinematic realism.
Expanded aspect ratio
Content certified as IMAX Enhanced keeps the IMAX aspect ratio, which displays up to 26% more of the original picture. The big plus of this expanded view is its immersive, detailed quality. The aspect ratio packs a punch during action-stuffed scenes, which can show a larger field of vision (and thus, more action). Many Marvel movies come in IMAX Enhanced versions.
Digital remastering with IMAX DMR (Digital Media Remastering)
Remastering with IMAX’s DMR tech optimizes every frame for clarity. The tech manages grain and noise. It preserves detail, too, even in the most complex scenes.
🍿 IMAX Enhanced sound with DTS:X for immersive audio
DTS technology brings a multidimensional sound experience to IMAX Enhanced content. Unlike traditional surround sound, DTS conjures up a “3D” sound environment that makes viewers feel like they’re sitting smack-dab in the center of the scene. The audio senses and adapts to room acoustics, lending lifelike depth and directionality to all sorts of sounds — from whispers of sweet nothings to jarring explosions.
DTS provides the spectrum of dynamic audio that IMAX theaters are known for, so viewers can hear effects and dialogue in their manifold layers. Movies and shows become more engaging, and stick with you.
🍿 Certified devices for authentic playback
IMAX Enhanced certification extends to displays, projectors, A/V receivers, sound systems, streaming devices, and other playback appliances. Each certified device meets the rigorous requirements for processing IMAX Enhanced content, so it can display the high-resolution visuals and render DTS sound accurately. It also adds dedicated playback modes (IMAX mode) for picture and sound for the best experience on any certified device.
In the A/V receiver category alone, brands including Denon, Marantz, JBL, Arcam, Mcintosh, Onkyo, and Pioneer all sell IMAX Enhanced-capable AVRs and processors. And it’s not just DTS:X sound you get, but IMAX Enhanced-specific DTS:X audio mixes, too.
Why does IMAX Enhanced matter?
If you like to watch films and documentaries shown in the sort of quality mainly reserved for theaters, then IMAX Enhanced definitely matters.
For buyers who invest in high-quality home systems, IMAX Enhanced fulfills the potential of their devices by delivering content at the highest standards.
For streaming companies looking for a leg up in the jungle of market competition, IMAX Enhanced offers an edge by letting them appeal directly to audiences with discriminating tastes. Attracting home theater aficionados who feel that a premium feature is worth ponying up for is a pro, not a con. Extra quality can bring extra revenue.
For filmmakers, IMAX Enhanced allows them to showcase their work as they envisioned it. Nothing like the genuine article.
Industry support and growing adoption
IMAX Enhanced has gotten support from studios, electronics manufacturers, and streaming platforms.
Sony Pictures, Paramount, Disney, and Warner Bros. have begun releasing IMAX Enhanced titles, including franchises that really pop with immersive, high-quality playback.
On the display side, companies like Sony, TCL, and Hisense offer certified TVs compatible with IMAX Enhanced content, ensuring that viewers experience premium visuals and goosed-up DTS:X sound.
Streaming services have also started adopting IMAX Enhanced. Disney+ introduced IMAX Enhanced versions of select Marvel movies, providing subscribers with premium versions of blockbuster titles. With broader adoption by major streaming services, IMAX Enhanced is expected to become a sought-after feature for premium streaming packages.
Unified Streaming’s role in enabling IMAX Enhanced
Unified Streaming helps bring viewers this next-gen quality by enabling seamless, secure, and reliable distribution and playback of IMAX Enhanced content.
Here’s how Unified Streaming supports the IMAX Enhanced standard:
Optimized content delivery
Unified Streaming’s adaptive bitrate streaming technology adjusts to a viewer’s internet connection in real time, ensuring that IMAX Enhanced content can be delivered without buffering and maintain top-tier quality, whether in 4K HDR or DTS:X for IMAX Enhanced sound.Dynamic content packaging
Unified Streaming’s packaging solutions allow for dynamic delivery of IMAX Enhanced content. By supporting multiple streaming formats like HLS and DASH, Unified Streaming makes sure that IMAX Enhanced files are compatible with various devices. Thus, distribution for streaming services is simplified.Scalability and compatibility
Unified Streaming provides scalability, making it possible to distribute IMAX Enhanced content to a global audience without compromising performance. Unified Streaming’s tech is also compatible with certified IMAX Enhanced devices, delivering a consistent experience across platforms.Content protection
To secure premium content, Unified Streaming supports A/B watermarking, DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection, and other security features. These measures effectively play bouncer so unauthorized viewers can’t gatecrash the IMAX Enhanced content party.
Enhanced conclusion
IMAX Enhanced represents a new pinnacle of home viewing, offering enhanced visuals, immersive DTS audio, and certified devices for a movie theater-esque experience.
As more studios, electronics makers, and streaming platforms embrace IMAX Enhanced, viewers can anticipate more movies and shows optimized for premium viewing and listening at home.
With Unified Streaming, IMAX Enhanced content can be streamed smoothly and securely to viewers around the world. Unified Streaming’s tech enables the high standards of IMAX Enhanced.
If you’re a streaming provider wanting to meet consumer demand for top-notch home entertainment, just get in touch.