For most users, IMAX movies have always been the "industry benchmark" of blockbusters. Ordinary people need to pay a huge cost if they want to experience IMAX at home. Now IMAX can finally enter the families of ordinary users with a wider range of applications.
XPERI, the parent company of DTS, held an exchange meeting on the IMAX Enhanced program in order to let IMAX audiophiles in China know more about the IMAX Enhanced program. At the exchange meeting, Geir Skaaden, the global chief product and service officer of XPERI, and Mr. Lang Zhengwu, the general manager of Greater China, revealed many of the next steps of IMAX Enhanced, And many questions about the IMAX Enhanced program.
What is IMAX Enhanced?
In order to reach the unified high standard of "high-quality equipment, clear picture quality and perfect sound quality", IMAX, DTS and Hollywood top color mixers have strictly formulated a set of performance requirements. TV, projector, bar speaker and A/V receiver must meet these requirements before they can pass the IMAX Enhanced certification.
At the same time, in terms of content, IMAX Enhanced also reproduces high-quality content in IMAX format digitally, presenting viewers with 4K HDR clear picture quality and immersive powerful sound quality that film makers expect.
What are the advantages of IMAX Enhanced products?
IMAX will provide some carefully selected documentaries and films, and IMAX engineers will use the most sophisticated and cutting-edge algorithms to more accurately reduce the noise and graininess of the picture, bringing viewers the high-quality and clearer 4K HDR picture that the filmmakers expect to present.
IMAX will provide some selected films, documentaries and other excellent source programs, and use its independent research and development of the latest post production process, together with its global studios and other content partners, to provide consumers with a stable series of IMAX Enhanced films and programs.
At the same time, shoot with IMAX camera or for IMAX ® Selected IMAX Enhanced products specially made for cinemas will also include the function of "extended aspect ratio", so that users can enjoy more picture content in home cinemas.
IMAX and DTS will also cooperate with the award-winning Hollywood mixer team to integrate a special DTS: X encoding and decoding technology into home audio equipment, so that consumers can enjoy an IMAX landmark sound feast.
IMAX will release a series of IMAX Enhanced movies in the form of 4K HDR streaming media and ultrahigh definition Blu ray discs.
How is the IMAX Enhanced certified display device different from the 4K display devices currently on the market?
The display equipment with IMAX Enhanced certification shall meet the certification standards in terms of calibration, resolution, color, brightness, contrast, image proportion and sound performance, so as to present the best picture quality for users. In order to ensure that the equipment with IMAX Enhanced logo can present the sound and picture quality expected by the filmmaker for users,
The certification committee composed of IMAX and DTS engineers and Hollywood top technical experts has elaborately formulated a series of audio and video performance standards.
What devices will IMAX Enhanced support?
At present, Sony Electronics, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Sound United have joined the IMAX Enhanced program. The plan will continue to cooperate with more leading consumer electronics and entertainment companies, aiming to improve the performance and performance of some high-end 4K displays, AV power amplifiers, Soundbar and other home theater equipment and content.
Does IMAX Enhanced require a full set of IMAX Enhanced products to view IMAX Enhanced content?
Users can also use only a single IMAX Enhanced product. In design, the products with IMAX Enhanced certification will not affect their best performance even if they are not used in sets. However, if IMAX Enhanced products can be used in sets, users can also enjoy high-quality IMAX viewing experience at home.
In addition to answering the above five questions at the sharing meeting, we also interviewed Geir Skaaden and Lang Zhengwu about their questions about IMAX Enhanced.
Q1: If you use a Blu ray player or projector without IMAX Enhanced certification to play IMAX Enhanced content, can you play the video content?
A1: The content can be played normally, but the effect, color, sound and other aspects cannot reach the restore effect certified by IMAX Enhanced.
Because we have IMAX Enhanced models on our IMAX Enhanced certified hardware products, when all IMAX Enhanced content is played on the terminal, we will detect in advance whether the device is an IMAX Enhanced certified product.
If it is detected that the product has passed the IMAX Enhanced certification, the IMAX Enhanced hardware will open the IMAX Enhanced Mode, and the terminal hardware after opening the IMAX Enhanced Mode will become the environment in which we had better restore the IMAX after debugging.
Q2: At present, the IMAX Enhanced certification is only for the devices that will be released in the future, or can the devices that have been released also obtain the IMAX Enhanced certification?
A2: Mainly new products (products to be released soon).
Q3: For the upcoming 8K standard, can IMAX Enhanced adapt to the market?
A3: The 8K standard will not cause any problems for IMAX Enhanced content production. At present, as long as the content is shot by IMAX camera, its original resolution is completely true 4K, and even the highest resolution of the film master can be 16K! Therefore, the difficulty of IMAX Enhanced content production will not increase because of the upcoming 8K standard.
