Denon Flagship AVC-X8500H AV Amplifier First To Support IMAX Enhanced Gold Standard

Denon has become the first AV receiver manufacturer to comply with the newly announced IMAX Enhanced standard. At CEDIA Expo, it confirmed that its flagship 13.2 AVC- X8500H amplifier would be compatible, via a firmware update. Additional Denon AVRs will also be brought into line.

The AVC-X8500H is an obvious hero for the new standard. It already supports all current 3D sound formats (Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Auro-3D), and can run in a 7.2.6 or 9.1.4 configuration. The

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and AirPlay enabled amplifier includes Dolby Vision compatibility, along with support for 4K/60 Hz full-rate pass-through, 4:4:4 colour resolution, HDR and BT.2020.

A collaboration between DTS and IMAX,

IMAX Enhanced is a licensing and certification program for high-end TVs, soundbars and AV receivers. Products will be required to meet a set of audio and video performance markers, as decided by a committee made up of IMAX and DTS engineers, and content creators.

There will also be IMAX Enhanced software releases, mastered using a proprietary post production software process designed to offer the very best 4K sound and vision.

Playback and display devices will feature an IMAX Enhanced playback mode. In many ways, IMAX Enhanced appears to be an updated version of the original THX certification program, which has appeared to flounder in the UHD age.

Sony and Marantz have also been named as launch partners for IMAX Enhanced.