Has Anyone Tried the new Imax Enhanced format yet?

[Travis Ballstadt]

It's not so much you "try IMAX Enhanced", but you either gear your equipment purchases to it or you don't. My Anthem AVM60 processor added IMAX Enhanced capabilities in the latest firmware update, but my projector is obviously not "IMAX Enhanced" certified, so all it really does, as far as I can tell, is change the OSD to "DTS: IMAX" instead of "DTS: X" when I put in a title that is certified.

Considering the tech is only going to show what the rest of your system will allow, meaning that you must have an IMAX Enhanced display to get the extra oomph, etc., it is what it is.

I wouldn't make any purchase decisions based on this certification at this point, but I wouldn't avoid anything based on it, either.

Regarding content, all future Sony/Columbia releases are said to be coming as IMAX Enhanced content. Fandango (which just purchased VUDU) has begun offering IMAX Enhanced streaming titles, so there will be more content coming.

I don't think of it as a solution for a "non-existent problem", it's just another variation on DTS:X, and the upcoming DTS: Pro, as far as I can tell.

I think we'll come to discover in the future that this is really just like Panasonic's "Vieralink" with a splash of THX certification thrown in, which boiled down to Panasonic-specific branding of HDMI and CEC functionality.

That's just my two cents. I think the more important thing to watch for is DTS Pro.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Good summary by Thrillcat. I've experienced it at trade shows and my theater room has a receiver capable of IMAX Enhanced (although my projector isn't certified).

Um... yeah... I have to be totally honest, I have yet to hear or see any kind of incredible demo on an IMAX Enhanced system. That's not to say the demos I've experienced aren't amazing (they were), but if you sent me into a home theater, blind, and asked me to identify IMAX Enhanced versus a 4K/Atmos or 4K/DTS:X, I don't think I'd be able do anything but guess.

My sense is that IMAX Enhanced is just another marketing avenue to help sell more gear. And, as stated above, don't avoid gear with it. But, at this time, there's no reason to build a system around it.