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Revision as of 17:09, 6 July 2009
| THX logo | |
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Audio |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Headquarters | San Rafael, California, United States |
Key people | Tomlinson Holman, Developer David Pierce, General Manager Richard Dean, VP Technology Robert Hewitt, VP Sales |
| Products | Digital Audio Certifications Digital Audio and Video Mastering Technologies |
| Website | www.THX.com |
THX is a trade name of a high-fidelity sound reproduction standard for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, gaming consoles, and car audio systems. THX stands for Tomlinson Holman's eXperiment[1] and is a throwback to George Lucas' first feature film, THX 1138. THX was developed by Tomlinson Holman at George Lucas's company, Lucasfilm, in 1983 to ensure that the soundtrack for the third Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi, would be accurately reproduced in the best venues. The distinctive crescendo used in the THX trailers, created by Holman's coworker James A. Moorer, is known as the "Deep Note".
The THX system is not a recording technology, and it does not specify a sound recording format: all sound formats, whether digital (Dolby Digital, SDDS) or analog (Dolby Stereo, Ultra-Stereo), can be "shown in THX." THX is mainly a quality assurance system. 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. THX also provides certified theaters with a special crossover circuit whose use is part of the standard. 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.
Applications
The first theater THX was used in was at the University of Southern California's Eileen L. Norris Cinema Theatre as a part of USC's noted film school.[2]
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.[citation needed] 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.
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.
The THX II Certified Car Audio System can be found in many Lincoln automobiles produced since 2003. 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.
The world's largest THX cinema is the Colosseum Kino in Oslo, Norway.
The distinctive crescendo used in the THX trailers is known as the "Deep Note".
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. It was released on their 1985 album Astra.
The character in the THX trailers is called "Tex" and was created by John Lasseter at Pixar.
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".
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).
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 and at Bjorn's Audio Video retail store in San Antonio, TX in the Bjorn's "Ultimate Theater Experience" demonstration room.
Logo variations
- Shrek (series)
- Toy Story
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- The Simpsons Movie
- Fantasmic! (Computer animated film version)
Parodies
- In the Simpsons Episode Burns' Heir, the advert (with Deep Note) plays before a film, causing destructive effects for the audience. Grandpa calls the audience to turn the volume up.
- In Over the Hedge, one of the characters accidentally steps on a remote control, causing the TV to turn on, revealing the THX logo and Deep Note crescendo.
- In Back at the Barnyard (TV series), the characters see the logo, but there is a parody of the Deep Note and reads "CMX".
- The Curse of Monkey Island video game from Lucas Arts begins with a bumper that contains a similar logo except with the initials to the game, CMI, and the tag line "The Monkeys are listening"
- At the beginning of the movie Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, there is a short animated skit in which Kyle and Jack smoke marijuana and propel themselves to flight with farts, followed by the Deep Note and the letters "THC" (the active ingredient in marijuana) instead of "THX", paired with the subtitle "The Audience Is Baking".
- An extra documentary on The IT Crowd Series One DVD has various male voices vocalise the Deep Note sound. As they reach the end of the sound, some of the voices in the background end up screaming. The first captions state that the video is "shittily mastered for minimal sound and picture quality". This is followed by the logo where "THX" is replaced by "KEN", which when fully read in the context of the captions on the screen reads "Mastered by "KEN" on a VCR".
- In the feature length Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation film, a parody of the THX Deep Note (THUD Sound Systems: A Division of Mucasfilm LTD) is shown as being so loud it features a magic wand, which casts a magic trick to blow the audience to the back of the theater. The message then reads "The audience is now deaf".
- In the short "How to Hook Up Your Home Theater", Goofy loves to press the remote with educational home theater and stereo sound Deep Note.
- The movie Reposessed opens with crescendo similar to Deep Note with the logo "BFD" parodying the THX logo.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.joehallock.com/?p=77
- ^ [www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/0809/USC_self_guided_tour0809.pdf USC Self-Guided Tour], University of Southern California, Accessed June 8, 2009.