NEW YORK & SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IMAX Corporation (NYSE: IMAX) and audio leader, DTS®, a wholly owned subsidiary of Xperi Corporation (Nasdaq: XPER), today announced a significant expansion of their IMAX® Enhanced program to offer consumers a new level of quality in home entertainment. Streaming leaders, Tencent Video, FandangoNOW and Rakuten TV, and global device partners, Arcam, Elite, Integra, Lexicon, Onkyo, Pioneer, TCL and Trinnov have joined the IMAX® Enhanced program. The companies also announced the first IMAX Enhanced blockbuster titles from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Paramount Pictures to be released in 2019.
As part of today’s announcement, Tencent Video (China), FandangoNOW (U.S.), and Rakuten TV (Europe) will stream IMAX Enhanced content to certified devices beginning in 2019. Additionally, Privilege 4K (U.S.) will stream IMAX Enhanced content to select Sony BRAVIA televisions beginning this year. Only digital retailers that meet the highest standards for 4K HDR streaming will be authorized to distribute IMAX Enhanced content.
The companies also announced the first IMAX Enhanced titles to be released on streaming platforms and Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release “Venom” and “Alpha” amongst 15 confirmed launch titles via participating digital retailers. Additionally, Paramount Pictures will make its initial titles available in 2019. In early December 2018, the IMAX documentaries, “Journey to the South Pacific” and “A Beautiful Planet,” were the first IMAX Enhanced Ultra HD Blu-ray discs to be released. They are available for purchase through Amazon and major retailers.
Arcam, Elite, Integra, Lexicon, Onkyo, Pioneer, TCL and Trinnov join Sony Electronics and Sound United brands, Denon and Marantz, as IMAX Enhanced device partners. Arcam, Elite, Integra, Lexicon, Onkyo, Pioneer and Trinnov will offer IMAX Enhanced-certified A/V receivers and TCL will debut IMAX Enhanced-certified televisions in select regions beginning in 2019. Additional information about specific products and availability will be forthcoming.
“We’re encouraged by the significant momentum and high-caliber partners that are embracing the IMAX Enhanced program in just the first few months of its launch,” said IMAX CFO and Head of Corporate Strategy & Development Patrick McClymont. “These premium partners and the blockbuster titles announced today extend our product and content offering and advance our efforts to deliver the best at-home entertainment experiences to more consumers around the world.”
“We are pleased to announce the growth of the IMAX Enhanced ecosystem with leading studios, streaming services, and device partners who share our vision of raising the bar for home entertainment by delivering the highest quality content to premium devices,” said Xperi EVP and Chief Products and Services Officer, Geir Skaaden.
The IMAX Enhanced program, announced in September 2018, combines the highest-end consumer electronics products with IMAX digitally re-mastered 4K HDR content and DTS audio technologies to offer consumers a new level of quality in immersive sight and sound experiences for the home. Televisions, projectors and A/V receivers from Sony Electronics, A/V receivers from Denon and Marantz, and content collaborations with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Paramount Pictures were announced at launch.
The IMAX Enhanced program uses the newest, proprietary post-production process developed by IMAX to digitally re-master content to produce more vibrant colors, greater contrast and sharper clarity. IMAX and DTS have also partnered with award-winning Hollywood sound mixers to use a special variant of the DTS:X codec technology integrated in home audio equipment to deliver an IMAX signature sound experience with more immersive, powerful sound. The companies are also designing an IMAX Mode or suggesting the most suitable picture mode for the enhanced devices that will be meticulously optimized to play the digitally re-mastered content as the filmmaker intended in the home.
For more information about the IMAX Enhanced program, please visit www.IMAXenhanced.com.
About Xperi Corporation
Xperi Corporation (Nasdaq: XPER) and its brands, DTS, FotoNation, HD Radio, Invensas and Tessera, are dedicated to creating innovative technology solutions that enable extraordinary experiences for people around the world. Xperi’s solutions are licensed by hundreds of leading global partners and have shipped in billions of products in areas including premium audio, automotive, broadcast, computational imaging, computer vision, mobile computing and communications, memory, data storage, and 3D semiconductor interconnect and packaging. For more information, please call 408-321-6000 or visit www.xperi.com.
DTS, FotoNation, HD Radio, Invensas, Xperi and their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of affiliated companies of Xperi Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other company, brand and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
About IMAX Corporation
IMAX, an innovator in entertainment technology, combines proprietary software, architecture and equipment to create experiences that take you beyond the edge of your seat to a world you’ve never imagined. Top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theaters to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and, as such, IMAX’s network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe.
IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with additional offices in London, Dublin, Tokyo, and Shanghai. As of September 30, 2018, there were 1,443 IMAX theatre systems (1,346 commercial multiplexes, 13 commercial destinations, 84 institutional) operating in 79 countries. On Oct. 8, 2015, shares of IMAX China, a subsidiary of IMAX Corp., began trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code “HK.1970.”
IMAX®, IMAX® 3D, IMAX DMR®, Experience It In IMAX®, An IMAX 3D Experience®, The IMAX Experience®, IMAX Is Believing® and IMAX nXos® are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information about the Company can be found at www.imax.com. You may also connect with IMAX on Facebook (www.facebook.com/imax), Twitter (www.twitter.com/imax) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/imaxmovies).
Xperi Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ significantly from those projected, particularly with respect to the IMAX and DTS partnership and the expected features, benefits, characteristics and launch of the IMAX Enhanced program. Material factors that may cause results to differ from the statements made include the plans or operations relating to the businesses of Xperi; market or industry conditions; changes in patent laws, regulation or enforcement, or other factors that might affect Xperi's ability to protect or realize the value of its intellectual property; the expiration of license agreements and the cessation of related royalty income; the failure, inability or refusal of licensees to pay royalties; initiation, delays, setbacks or losses relating to Xperi's intellectual property or intellectual property litigations, or invalidation or limitation of key patents; fluctuations in operating results due to the timing of new license agreements and royalties, or due to legal costs; the risk of a decline in demand for semiconductors and products utilizing our audio and imaging technologies; failure by the industry to use technologies covered by Xperi's patents; the expiration of Xperi's patents; Xperi's ability to successfully complete and integrate acquisitions of businesses; the risk of loss of, or decreases in production orders from, customers of acquired businesses; financial and regulatory risks associated with the international nature of Xperi's businesses; failure of Xperi's products to achieve technological feasibility or profitability; failure to successfully commercialize Xperi's products; changes in demand for the products of Xperi's customers; limited opportunities to license technologies due to high concentration in applicable markets for such technologies; the impact of competing technologies on the demand for Xperi's technologies; pricing trends, including Xperi's ability to achieve economies of scale; and other developments in the markets in which Xperi operates, as well as management's response to any of the aforementioned factors. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release.
The foregoing review of important factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included herein and elsewhere, including the Risk Factors included in Xperi's recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and other documents of Xperi on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Xperi's SEC filings are available publicly on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Any forward-looking statements made or incorporated by reference herein are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments anticipated by Xperi will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Xperi or its business or operations. Except to the extent required by applicable law, Xperi undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
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