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For other uses, see THX (disambiguation).
THX Ltd.
TypePrivately held company
Founded1983
HeadquartersSan Rafael, California,Flag of the United States United States
Key peopleDavid Pierce, General Manager
Richard Dean, VP Technology
Robert Hewitt, VP Sales
IndustryAudio
ProductsDigital Audio Certifications
Digital Audio and Video Mastering Technologies
Websitewww.THX.com

THX is the trade name of a high-fidelity sound reproduction standard for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, gaming consoles, and car audio systems. The term privately held company refers to ownership of a business company in two different ways first referring to ownership by non-governmental organizations and second PLEASE DO NOT DELETE EMPTY FIELDS UNTIL JUNE 1 2007--THIS WILL TAKE A WHILE--> San Rafael (ˌsænrəˈfɛl originally sɑn rɑfɑˈɛl The United States of America —commonly referred to as the For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" Sound' is Vibration transmitted through a Solid, Liquid, or Gas; particularly sound means those vibrations composed of Frequencies In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages THX stands for Tomlinson Holman's eXperiment. Tomlinson Holman is an American Film theorist audio engineer and inventor of film technologies notably the Lucasfilm THX sound system In scientific inquiry an experiment ( Latin: Ex- periri, "to try out" is a method of investigating particular types of research questions or THX was developed by Tomlinson Holman at George Lucas's company Lucasfilm in 1982 to ensure that the soundtrack for the third Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi, would be accurately reproduced in the best venues. Tomlinson Holman is an American Film theorist audio engineer and inventor of film technologies notably the Lucasfilm THX sound system George Walton Lucas Jr (born May 14, 1944) is an Academy Award -winning American Film director, producer, Screenwriter Lucasfilm Limited' is an American Film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in San Francisco California Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Star Wars is an epic Space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas during the 1970s and significantly expanded Star Wars Episode VI Return of the Jedi is a 1983 Space opera Film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas

The THX system is a recording technology, and it does not specify a sound recording format: all sound formats, whether digital (Dolby Digital, SDDS) or analog (Dolby SR, Ultra-Stereo), can be "shown in THX. Dolby Digital is the marketing name for a series of lossy audio compression technologies developed by Dolby SDDS stands for Sony Dynamic Digital Sound which is a cinema Sound system developed by Sony The Dolby SR noise reduction format ( Spectral Recording) was developed by Dolby Laboratories and has been in common use in professional audio since 1986 " THX is mainly a quality assurance system. Quality assurance, or QA for short refers to planned and systematic production processes that provide confidence in a product's suitability for its intended purpose THX-certified theaters provide a high-quality, predictable playback environment to ensure that any film soundtrack mixed in THX will sound as near as possible to the intentions of the mixing engineer. Audio mixing is the process by which a multitude of sound sources are combined into one or more channels THX also provides certified theaters with a special crossover circuit whose use is part of the standard. Audio crossovers are a class of Electronic filters designed specifically for use in audio applications especially Hi-fi. An electronic circuit is a closed path formed by the interconnection of Electronic components through which an Electric current can flow Certification of an auditorium entails specific acoustic and other technical requirements; architectural requirements include a floating floor, baffled and acoustically treated walls, no parallel walls (to reduce standing waves), a perforated screen (to allow center channel continuity), and NC30 rating for background noise. Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of Sound, Ultrasound and Infrasound (all mechanical waves in gases liquids and solids A Floating Floor is a Floor that does not need to be nailed or glued to the subfloor A standing wave, also known as a stationary wave, is a Wave that remains in a constant position In Acoustics and specifically in Acoustical engineering, background noise is any Sound other than the sound being monitored

Contents

Applications

THX sets strict standards for high quality sound and images.

According to Tomlinson Holman, the inventor of the THX system, the name of the technology was deliberately chosen because it contained both a reference to his name, and to Lucas's early film THX 1138. THX 1138 is a 1971 Science fiction film directed by George Lucas, from a screenplay by Lucas and Walter Murch. The original name was "Tom Holman's Crossover" (Crossover being sometimes referred to as Xover) or the "Tom Holman eXperiment. "

THX Ltd. , the company that licenses THX and the associated technology, is based in San Rafael, California, but has offices in Burbank and Hollywood. PLEASE DO NOT DELETE EMPTY FIELDS UNTIL JUNE 1 2007--THIS WILL TAKE A WHILE--> San Rafael (ˌsænrəˈfɛl originally sɑn rɑfɑˈɛl

THX launched a certification program for HD video products to ensure HD projectors, LCDs, plasmas and DVRs meet high standards for quality. The TiVo Series3 HD DVR and a number of projectors from Runco and Vidikron became the first THX Certified HD products. TiVo corporation designed a number of Digital video recorders which have been produced and sold by a number of other companies

The THX II Certified Car Audio System can be found in many Lincoln automobiles produced since 2003. Lincoln is an American Luxury car manufacturer operated under the Ford Motor Company. The system was recently recognized among the Best Car Audio Systems of 2006 by the editors of CNET.

THX Ltd. started a licensing program for home screening rooms in 2005, which requires standards similar in concept, though not in detail, to its cinema certification program; before this happened, there was a very small number of (very expensive) home theatres which were actually constructed to THX Cinema standards, most notable of actor and comedian Eddie Murphy. Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy (born April 3 1961 is an Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe - Screen Actors Guild Award -winning American

The world's largest THX cinema is the Colosseum Kino in Oslo, Norway. The Colosseum Kino in Oslo, Norway is the largest cinema in Northern Europe and the largest THX cinema in the world (called Christiania from 1624 to 1878 and Kristiania from 1878 to 1924 is the Capital and largest city of Norway. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional

The distinctive crescendo used in the THX trailers is known as the "Deep Note". Deep Note is the name of THX 's audio Logo, a distinctive synthesized Crescendo sound

This same "Deep Note" sound effect is almost identical to the opening sound effect in the song "Countdown To Zero", by the progressive rock group Asia. Progressive rock (often shortened to " progressive " " prog " or " prog rock " is a form of Rock music that evolved Asia is a rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a supergroup and included former members of veteran Progressive rock bands It was released on their 1985 album Astra, and predates the "Deep Note" by approximately three years. Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) Astra is a 1985 album by rock supergroup Asia. Started in 1984 Astra is the last Asia album to feature John Wetton on lead vocals until

The character in the THX trailers is called "Tex" and was created by John Lasseter at Pixar. Tex is a computer-animated Red / Silver Robot that appears in some of the THX film trailers John Alan Lasseter (born January 12 1957 is an Academy Award -winning American Animator and the chief creative officer at Pixar and Pixar Animation Studios is a CGI animation production company based in Emeryville California.

The THX trailer entitled "Cimarron" which first appeared at the start of the 1988 film Willow, used music composed by James Horner which featured a variation of the "Deep Note". Willow is a 1988 Fantasy film directed by Ron Howard, based on a story by George Lucas. James Roy Horner (born August 14 1953) is an American Composer of orchestral and film music

The THX broadway logo on a DVD has a lower-pitched deep note, while the VHS/Laserdisc logo had a higher-pitched deep-note that was similar to "Wings" (1983).

The first theater THX was used in was at the University of Southern California's Eileen Norris Cinema Theatre as a part of USC's acclaimed film school. The University of Southern California (commonly referred to as USC, SC, Southern California, and incorrectly The Norris Theatre's THX system is currently second-best in California to that of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Grauman's Chinese Theatre is a movie theatre located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.

Other Tom Holman innovations

THX inventor Tomlinson Holman has continued his work in entertainment technologies under his current company, TMH Corporation.

While distinct from the THX Certification, the 10. 2 surround sound system has also been spearheaded by Holman. 10. 2 includes a front-left, top-front-left, front-right, top-front-right, surround-left, top-surround-left, surround-right, top-surround-right, center, "god" (top-center, above the screen), and front and back subwoofers. A 10. 2 surround system is currently installed at the Integrated Media Systems Center at USC.

Film references

Some trailers have references to, or are stylized to match, various films. Examples include:

Parodies

In Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation, a film within the movie begins with a hand holding a wand as if to call an orchestra to order, which then touches off a dischordant, ridiculously loud, powerful trailer. Tiny Toon Adventures How I Spent My Vacation is a direct-to-video (though it was briefly considered for theatrical release animated movie made in 1991 and released in The force of the sound is shown blasting characters from their seats. As the trailer comes to a close, text appears on the screen reading: "THUD Sound Systems, a division of Mucasfilm LTD". The trailer ends with a voice speaking the words "The audience is now deaf. "

In The Simpsons episode "Burns' Heir", the THX logo plays extremely loudly causing the ground to shake, people's teeth to shatter and one man's head to explode. " Burns' Heir " is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons ' fifth season, first aired on April 14, 1994. Despite this, Grampa Simpson still demands that they turn the volume up. Abraham "Abe" "Grampa" J Simpson (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) is a Fictional character featured in the Animated cartoon Television This scene was made into an actual THX trailer.

The Simpsons Movie DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases have an unauthorized parody of the THX "Tex" trailers as an easter egg, where Homer Simpson becomes annoyed by a "Tex" caricature and eventually smashes it. The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated Comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is Tex is a computer-animated Red / Silver Robot that appears in some of the THX film trailers Homer Jay Simpson is a main fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and father of the eponymous family. A disclaimer after the trailer explains that neither the trailer nor The Simpsons Movie itself involved THX's input. The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated Comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons Because of this, an imitation of the "deep note" sound is used and the logo used in the parody reads "TH\".

During the scene where the animals are in a house in the film Over the Hedge, one of the characters accidentally steps on a television remote control, turning the TV on to reveal the THX logo and the "Deep Note" crescendo. Over the Hedge is a 2006 computer-animated film based on the characters from United Media comic strip of the same name. A remote control is an electronic device used for the remote operation of a Machine.

In the Boondocks episode . The boondocks is a remote usually brushy rural area or a term for a remote city or town that is considered unsophisticated . . Or Die Trying, Grandpa mimics the THX deep note crescendo when reassuring Jazmin that the theater they are going to is a quality theater.

At the beginning of the video game The Curse of Monkey Island the THX logo is replaced with the letters CMI and instead of the "Deep Note" crescendo we can hear a "Monkeys Screaming" crescendo. A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The Curse of Monkey Island is an Adventure game developed and published by LucasArts, and the third game in the Monkey Island series At the end text appears on the screen reading: "The monkeys are listening".

Before each episode of the Swedish Science Fiction comedy series Kenny Starfighter there is a THX-like logo but with the letters NDE replacing the original and a caption reading "Near Deaf Experience". Kenny Starfighter is a Swedish Television Mini-series from 1997 that follows the titular hero as he fights against the evil lord Dr

In the beginning of the film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Kyle Gass emits a long fart that reproduces the THX sound, and the logo THC shows on screen. Fart is an English language Vulgarism most commonly used in reference to Flatulence. The tag line underneath has been changed from "The audience is listening" to "The audience is baking".

During a period of time a lot of the pirated DVD-rips contained a trailer with the THX crescendo but instead of the THX logo this DiVX logo would emerge and the tag line underneath would read "the audience is leeching". In Computing and specifically on the Internet, being a leech or leecher refers to the practice of benefiting usually deliberately from others' information [1]

See also

References

  1. ^ DiVX the audience is leeching. Home cinema, also called home theater, are entertainment systems that seek to reproduce cinema quality video and audio in a private home AV receivers or audio-video receivers are one of the many Consumer electronics components typically found within a Home theatre system

External links

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