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'IMAX Enhanced' Promises Highest-Quality Image, Sound Experiences For Home Theater Setups (audioholics.com)
Audiofan writes: Just when we thought Sony learned their lessons from past formats DOA, they are at it again this time by teaming up with IMAX and select partners to certify the "IMAX movie experience" for home theater setups. Will Sony be on the losing side against already established Dolby Vision and HDR10 or will they leverage IMAX's immersive picture and sound quality on top of these other technologies? This smells like a format war or at the very least more consumer confusion. The new certification and license program from IMAX and DTS will give what they say to be the highest-quality image and sound experiences for home theater. "IMAX and DTS [as well as partners Denon, Marantz, Sony, and Paramount Studios] aren't clear as to whether this will be significantly different from DTS:X immersive 3D sound other than to say, 'The DTS:X codec technology (is) integrated in home audio equipment to deliver an IMAX signature sound experience,'" reports Audioholics. "To be accepted into the program, leading consumer electronics manufacturers will design top-of-the-line 4K HDR televisions, A/V receivers, sound systems and other home theater equipment to meet a carefully prescribed set of the highest audio and video performance standards, set by a certification committee of IMAX and DTS engineers and Hollywood's leading technical specialists."
The report notes that the program will use an IMAX post-production process "to digitally re-master content to produce more vibrant colors, greater contrast and sharper clarity," as well as "deliver an IMAX signature sound experience."
The report notes that the program will use an IMAX post-production process "to digitally re-master content to produce more vibrant colors, greater contrast and sharper clarity," as well as "deliver an IMAX signature sound experience."
And there's me with a barely-HD projector on an 8-foot white projection screen, with the audio coming out of it in what might as well be mono sound because the directionality makes no difference (i.e. the thing making the sound in the movie isn't off to my left, it's just on the left of the screen most of the time, which is... in front of me, and the box making the sound is behind me anyway), streaming the videos off my phone over a ChromeCast via a 4G connection on a "SD-only" package.
And you know what? It's not just as good as any cinema... it's better. Because an 8-foot screen from a sensible distance away (the calculator I found says 17 feet) fills your vision just the same while also offering a res that they'd need 8-16K or greater on an humongous screen to match, and most cinemas aren't that.
People also forget that "1080p" is really "2 Megapixel". 4K might be "33 Megapixel" but there is no way in hell it's 10+ times better, or that you can see 10 times more detail at any sensible distance.
Sorry, but cinema is dying in my country. Too expensive. Empty most of the time. Too much upselling and ads. No technical incentive to watch it compared to buying even the cheapest of projectors.