Tell me about THX
THX is a division of the company Lucasfilm Ltd, that's right, the company behind the Star Wars movies. It's a division with a single aim, the aim to ensure the highest standards of audio/visual presentation in both movie theatres, and in recent years, our homes.
First thing you must learn? THX is not a digital sound format like Dolby Digital and DTS. Think of THX more as the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" for theater and home theater related products
For home theatre, THX comes in a number of forms. You may perhaps own a DVD that is THX certified, we'll come to that in a moment, but first we'll look into THX certification of home theatre hardware components.
The
THX Website states:
Quote:
Movies are mixed in movie theatres called dubbing stages over equipment and under standards carefully specified. The soundtracks created are designed to be played back in movie theatres using the same type of equipment and under the same standards. No wonder it was difficult to get the same sound over the test hi-fi system!
Home THX was created to solve this problem. First, circuitry had to be designed to accurately translate the sound from the movie environment into the home, correcting the tonal and spatial errors that occurred. Second, refinements in speaker designs had to be researched since most hi-fi equipment is designed to reproduce only 2 channels of sound in a home, and not the 4, 5 or more channels present in a movie soundtrack.
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For a few years now, THX has been branded on numerous hardware components bet it processor, amplifiers, speakers, DVD players and most recently, PC surround systems! They also certify a number of cables and projection screens.
For basic hardware, you will see THX branding available in two flavors. Some mid-end components are often marked with the THX Select badge indicating it is a product meeting THX's quality standards, but more suited for casual living room home theatre set ups. However, on higher-end components the common badge is that of THX Ultra (and soon THX Ultra2) and is what they claim
"combines Lucasfilm Ltd. entertainment expertise with world class product design by leading consumer electronics manufacturers. The result: the ultimate Home Theatre experience."
You're going to wonder if THX certified components are worth the additional asking price that is asked of the buyer... This is subject for much debate, and like many cases with home theatre it's usualy best to judge for yourself.
It is important to mention that many excellent products DO NOT carry the THX mark of approval, and equipment may very well live up to all the high standards of THX and not bother to attain THX certification. So, while THX does offer a certification process to help you insure excellent components- buying THX certified is not the only way to achieve HT bliss.
For a complete overview of what THX certified hardware components aim to offer, click
here
And so onto DVD certified software. The many DVD titles out there that come certified by THX come at no extra cost to the consumer. Indeed, it's the studio's who help foot the hefty bill required for THX quality mastering on their releases, and this is perhaps why so few studios release THX mastered disc (you'll find Fox and Disney give THX the strongest support on DVD). Once again THX's aim for the highest quality standards in the product, in this case the audio and video mastering of the DVD, is subject for much debate.
Again, it is important to note that there are many excellent DVD releases that excel in both picture and sound that
ARE NOT THX approved. There are even a few THX certified DVD titles out there that cause some to question THX quality control...
At the end of the day, THX's goal is clear, to offer the highest standards in quality control of hardware and software for home theatre ensuring the most faithful presentaion of a film's audio and video in the home. In wanting to build your home theatre, only you can decide whether a THX certified component is truly solid assurance that you are getting the best and nothing but the best.
For more information on THX's history and the quality control processes for home theatre hardward and software (as well as their quality control for movie theatres) visit the
Official THX Website