IMAX believes it’s owning the theatrical space, and now it wants to improve the home cinema experience.
Partnering with DTS, IMAX has launched a new licensing and certification home entertainment program, IMAX Enhanced, designed to create the very best AV experience in the living room. Watch out Dolby?
The new program will certify products that meet a set of audio and video performance criteria set by a certification committee made up of IMAX and DTS engineers and technical specialists working in Hollywood.
As for content, there will be IMAX Enhanced versions of 4K HDR movies and programming, which will be digitally re-mastered by IMAX and will utilise DTS audio technologies.
There will be an IMAX Mode for the supported devices, and owners will have access to content from Hollywood studios as well as select IMAX documentaries through its IMAX Home Entertainment division.
IMAX Enhanced content is designed to look its very best on an IMAX Enhanced device, although it will supposedly still deliver owners of non-IMAX TV ‘the best possible version’ it.
At launch, the new certification program is being backed by Sony Electronics, Sound United (parent company of Denon and Marantz), Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures, with IMAX inevitably hoping more electronics and entertainment brands will follow.
While it certainly has the potential to generate the best audio-visual living room experience available to the living room – an intention we are all for – it also gives manufacturers and consumers another certification to contend with.
With the likes of the existing HDR10+ and Dolby Vision and Atmos technologies already fighting it out in the consumer AV space, IMAX's battle looks to be an uphill one.
Needless to say, we look forward to seeing how this one plays out.
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