IMAX Enhanced has arrived on TVs and streaming boxes: a home theater upgrade worth having

IMAX and DTS came up with IMAX Enhanced as a certification program, and it’s now available on TVs, projectors, and streaming boxes. What it most reliably gives you isn’t a guaranteed jump in quality, but a taller picture.

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The label applies to movies and shows, along with TVs, projectors, AV receivers, and speakers. To qualify, content and hardware have to hit IMAX mastering requirements plus picture and sound targets, which can mean remastering, 4K HDR, and sometimes DTS:X, not a radically different presentation.

The part most people will actually notice is the 1.90:1 IMAX aspect ratio. Scenes that would normally run at 2.39:1, with black bars on a 16:9 TV, can show up to 26% more image. That’s the draw on Disney+ Marvel titles. Streaming bitrate still matters, though, so an IMAX Enhanced stream can still fall behind a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray.

If seeing more of the frame matters to you, IMAX Enhanced is worth seeking out. You don’t need certified hardware to get that taller image, though, and Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos are still the better bet because support is much wider. You can get IMAX Enhanced on Disney+, with DTS:X for select Marvel titles on some Sony, Hisense, Sharp, and Xiaomi Android TV devices since May 2024; Sony Pictures plans to add more ad-supported titles in 2025, and lower-priced Hisense and Toshiba sets are expected in the UK and Germany in early 2026.