IMAX Enhanced is a certification program created in 2018 by IMAX and audio technology company DTS. This program guarantees the highest quality of movie playback (at home) in three key aspects: image, sound and scale.
On the imaging side, IMAX Enhanced uses digital media remastering technology that reduces film noise and grain to optimize the image for 4K HDR displays on smart TVs. Thanks to this, the film will look sharper and brighter.
In the sound field, this certification seeks to offer the best experience through its association with DTS. To do this, it uses a variant of the DTS:X immersive audio format that has the ability to reproduce deeper bass sounds and the dynamic range is wider, that is, it projects a wide variety of mid and high tones, which is ideal for bedrooms and living rooms.
As for scaling, this applies only to movies that were shot with IMAX-certified cameras or edited to have an aspect ratio of 1.44:1 or 1.9:1. This allows you to see the movie in full size on the TV screen because it occupies the four frames of the panel, making the black stripes that compress the image disappear completely.
Where to watch movies with IMAX Enhanced
Currently, IMAX Enhanced is not a common certification and therefore is not available on the vast majority of platforms, however, it is expanding little by little. Right now, the service with the most compatible content is Disney+, which offers several movies with this technology such as “The Lion King”, “Spider-Man: Far From Home”, “Alien Romulus”…
Also in other services such as Paramount+ and Sony Pictures Core, which is enabled on some Bravia smart TVs and the PlayStation 5, there are movies that use IMAX Enhanced, such as “Bumblebee”, “Crawl”, “Bad Boys For Life”…
Identifying compatible films is easy, since in the content description you will see the “IMAX Enhanced” certification which will indicate that the production uses this technology. Additionally, if you want to know which films are compatible with this certification, you have the official information available on the IMAX Enhanced website (https://www.imax.com/films).
What is needed to play IMAX Enhanced content
To have IMAX Enhanced support you need equipment that is compatible with this certification. You should pay attention to the following points:
-Sound
To make the most of DTS technology you will need a 5.1.4 sound system, that is, five speakers in a horizontal plane, a subwoofer and four height speakers. However, if you do not have this configuration, DTS can remap the sound space to be compatible with the equipment you have at home.
Now, it is mandatory that the speaker have a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz with a sensitivity of 89 dB and in the case of the subwoofer it must have the ability to go down to 20 Hz and reach peaks of 115 dB.
Also, if you want to ensure full equipment compatibility, the following sound bars are IMAX Enhanced certified: Polk Audio Reserve Series, Polk Audio Legend Series, LG S95QR, Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8, Sony Bravia Theater Bar 9 and Philips B97.
-Smart TV
You will need to have an IMAX Enhanced compatible TV to use this certification. The following models have the ability to use this technology: Sony Bravia 8, Sony Bravia XR A95L, Sony Bravia 7, Sony Bravia 9, Sony Bravia
Ideally, the TV has good HDR so that the contrast of dark and light shades is as precise and sharp as possible. Furthermore, so that you can appreciate the full quality of the image optimized with IMAX Enhanced, it is recommended that the panel have a size of at least 55 inches or more.
On the other hand, the only projectors compatible with this certification are the Sony XW5000ES, Sony Bravia Projector 8, Sony Bravia Projector 9 and Sony GTZ380 models.
You can check the updated list of devices compatible with IMAX Enhanced here: https://www.imax.com/imaxenhanced-products#tvs.
How to use IMAX Enhanced
It is very simple, if you have a device compatible with this technology, it will be activated and applied to the film automatically, you will not have to do anything else.
However, if you have a Disney+ subscription, you can find all the films with IMAX Enhanced support as follows:
– Enter your Disney+ profile and select the “Movies” category located in the top menu.
– Now, press the “Like in the movies: IMAX Enhanced” box so that the platform will only show you the movies that have this certification.
