Why Disney Plus Marvel movies go from black-bar widescreen to fullscreen

Netflix, Disney Plus and Prime Video are all competing for viewers’ attention. New hooks have been created for home entertainment viewing. These include high-definition video, deluxe sound, and ways to share content with your friends. But perhaps the most well-intentioned-but-confusing feature to roll out in the post-pandemic years is Disney Plus’ “IMAX Enhanced” viewing experience. This feature was promoted by Disney Plus’ “IMAX Enhanced” viewing experience in the late 2021s. It continues to confuse casual customers.

What’s IMAX Enhanced? Why does it do so? Wakanda for Ever: Black PantherTo suddenly shift from widescreen black bars to fullscreen throughout the movie? The short answer is: This is how the movie was actually made — but you can turn it off.

What’s IMAX Enhanced?

IMAX Enhanced launched via Disney Plus, Nov. 12, 2021. The premiere was of Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten RingsIt was enabled along with 12 other Marvel films: Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Civil War Captain America, Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and The Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers: EndgameAnd Black Widow. Marvel released subsequent Marvel movies like Doctor Strange and Eternals are part of the Multiverse of MadnessAnd Thor: Love and ThunderAll of them had this feature available at rollout.

The collaboration between Disney and IMAX promised that any film viewed in the IMAX Enhanced format would expand into the 1.90:1 aspect ratio when appropriate, adding “26% more picture for select sequences — meaning more of the action is visible on screen, just as the filmmakers intended,” Disney said in a news release at the time. For more recent movies, much of that footage was shot in native IMAX using the company’s preferred camera systems. This film is one of many. Iron Man make use of IMAX Enhanced by taking advantage of the “open matte” style of shooting, where more picture is captured during filming and ultimately cropped out when widescreen mattes are applied. Jon Favreau couldn’t have predicted that Iron ManHe would stream in IMAX Enhanced via Disney Plus, but he accidentally shot with open matte instead of a constructive widescreen framing.

How to make IMAX Enhanced turn on or off

While Disney clearly labels Marvel movies — and potentially other future IMAX-ready tentpoles, like planned Star Wars movies and the Avatar films — as “Now streaming in IMAX Enhanced,” the streaming service also sets the feature as a default when you hit play. If a person isn’t mentally prepared to be watching the picture bounce between widescreen and fullscreen, the format might catch then off guard.

Turning the feature on and off isn’t obvious, but it is easy: To find the settings, navigate below the play screen to additional options. Squeezed between “Suggested,” “Extras,” and “Details” is a “Versions” tab where viewers can select the IMAX Enhanced or theatrical formats.

Image: Disney Plus

IMAX Enhanced is a theatre-driven technology company that aims to be a long-lasting player in a streaming-driven world. This is not the only play the company has made either: In September 2022, IMAX acquired SSIMWAVE, a tech company that has “mapped the human visual system to produce one of the most accurate measures of perceptual quality, which its AI-driven software applies to enhance video streams and files in real time,” according to a news release at the time. The hope is that SSIMWAVE’s innovations in the AI visuals space would allow IMAX to increase resolution and image fidelity across all mediums — including any platforms enabled with IMAX Enhanced.

While big movies can be enjoyed at home in the future, there is still a lot to consider. For now, it’s easy to toggle on or off, whatever a Marvel-loving heart may please.