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192
Appendix
THX
THX is a series of specications for the accurate reproduction of movies
propounded by the lm director George Lucas. THX listening modes include
the THX Cinema mode, etc. Using technology such as THX Loudness Plus and
Timbre Matching, the sound of a movie theater is reproduced accurately.
• The speaker calibrations measured with Dirac Live are disabled.
THX technology:
A movie soundtrack is mixed in a large-scale theater specially made for mixing
that is called a dubbing stage on the assumption that the soundtrack is played
in such theaters with similar equipment and conditions. These soundtracks
are recorded as is, even when recording to a DVD-Video, for example, without
making any modications to suit a home theater environment. THX technology
is able to reproduce the movie theater sound accurately in a home theater
environment by minimizing acoustic and spatial deviation.
• THX Loudness Plus
THX Loudness Plus is a new volume control technology mounted on THX Ultra
and THX Select-certied AV receivers. With THX Loudness Plus, home theater
audience can experience the rich details of surround sound at any volume level.
If the volume is turned down below the reference level, elements of sound in a
certain range are lost, or the sound is perceived differently by audience. THX
Loudness Plus compensates for the tonal and spatial shifts that occur when the
volume is reduced, by intelligently adjusting ambient surround channel levels
and frequency response.
• Re-EQ
The speakers for the front channel in a movie theater are installed behind
the screen. For this reason the high range is enhanced in the sound track of
the front channel in view of acoustic characteristics such as the necessity to
penetrate the screen. Re-EQ adjusts the soundtrack with the enhanced high
range to make it suitable for a home theater.
• Timbre Matching
The perception of human ears differs depending on the sound direction. Movie
theaters have many surround speakers installed, so they are excellent at
surrounding the viewers with natural sound, but home theaters have only two
surround speakers installed. The Timbre Matching function lters the signals
sent to the surround speakers, and adjusts the tonal characteristics of front
speakers and surround speakers to create smooth sound movement from front
speakers to surround speakers.
• Adaptive Decorrelation
While movie theaters have many surround speakers to enable the experience
where viewers are surrounded with sound, home theaters normally have only
two surround speakers. Such two surround speakers give a headphone-like
sound, which is not a broad and embracing surround sound. If a listener moves
away from the middle position between the surround speakers, the sound from
the surround speakers is absorbed into the sound from the nearby speakers,
and cannot be distinguished any more. Adaptive Decorrelation changes the time
axis and phase between the surround channels so that you can enjoy the same
spatial sound with two surround speakers as in a movie theater.
• ASA (Advanced Speaker Array)
ASA is a technology patented by THX to provide a broad surround sound
experience by adjusting the sounds of two surround speakers on the sides and
two surround speakers at the back. When installing the surround back speakers,
be sure to select the distance between the two surround back speakers in the
THX Audio settings. This setting optimizes the surround sound environment.
THX listening modes:
– THX Cinema: Use this mode in a home theater environment to play the
soundtrack that was recorded on the assumption that it is played in a movie
theater or similar large area. In this mode, THX Loudness Plus is set to the
theater level, and Re-EQ, Timbre Matching and Adaptive Decorrelation are all
enabled.
– THX Games: Use this mode for high-delity spatial reproduction of game
sound. THX Loudness Plus is set to a level suited to the audio level of the
game, and Timbre Matching is enabled.
– THX Music: This mode mainly adjusts the playback of music sources that are
mastered to a much higher quality obviously than movie audio. In this mode,
THX Loudness Plus is set to a level suited to the playback of music, and
Timbre Matching is enabled.
– THX Sel Cin (THX Select Cinema): The THX Select Cinema mode provides
a high-quality surround sound experience by expanding movie sources
recorded in 5.1 ch for 7.1 ch playback. In this mode, the THX ASA processing
technology gives smooth transition between side and back surround sounds,
creating the best atmosphere and directional sense of surround sound.
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