The NBA finals, for the first time in IMAX cinemas

IMAX puts its StreamSmart On-Air technology to the test for the live broadcast of up to seven matches of the finals of the NBA in select theaters.

The first alliance between IMAX y NBA is taking place from the past June 6 in locations of Hong Kong and Taiwan, and seek to provide fans with “a unique immersive experience” in the most important games of the American basketball league. In turn, this initiative represents the first time that IMAX China offers a live sports broadcast to your audience.

“Due to the lack of dedicated private network connectivity in the market,” IMAX employs its own technology StreamSmart On-Air to improve the broadcast experience of the 2024 NBA Finals. This solution allows IMAX not to depend on dedicated high-bandwidth private networks, which makes it possible to broadcast live content in the world while maintaining top-level quality based on two pillars: one advanced video compression, which allows a reduction of up to 40% in bandwidth dedicated to the transmission of this content, and the StreamSmart On-Air technology, which “further” reduces the bit rate by more than 20% on average “without compromising quality.”

StreamSmart On-Air utiliza VisionScience, an Emmy-winning IMAX technology that uses AI to comprehensively map the human visual system to preserve “exceptional” video quality in live content, while further reducing file sizes, in addition to existing optimization methods. The system integrates into existing encoding and packaging workflows for minimal disruption to the technology stack using a simple “manifest manipulation” approach, making it codec, encoder and configuration agnostic.