It's good to see you back here again. After a week of being gone, I was afraid you'd never post here again.

I know you think I'm a THX detractor, but I assure you that's not the case. Since you are the manager of the THX Theatre Alignment Program, I just wanted to see how you would react to some observations I'd made. I'm sorry you thought they were unfair, and to all film-techers, I never intended to start a small flame war up above last Friday (August 4).

I know that THX has improved projection and sound quality, and that certified theatres are guaranteed to be built to certain architectural standards. I applaud the positive effect that THX has had on the industry.

There are some issues that still concern me, though, that left a really bad taste in my mouth last Friday. I'm not bashing THX by stating these issues.

Here are the issues I would like you to comment on. They're all based on things said in YOUR previous posts above.

1. Recertification: I have from several reliable sources that THX recertification does not always necessrily involve reinspection, just a payment of a recertification fee. If this is the case, then recertification in those specific cases does nothing to help keep certified auditoriums up to the proper standards over time. In these cases, THX certification guarantees that the auditoriums were originally in certifiable condition, and nothing more. Please correct me if I am wrong. Maybe you could tell us how many theatres have been recertified from January 1, 2000 through July 31, 2000 without a reinspection, and how many in that same time period were recertified with a reinspection.
By the way, I just talked to a booth person at Carmike 10 here in Huntsville and was told that their last recertification did not involve a reinspection, just a payment of the fee.

2. I just saw "The Replacements" at the Carmike 10 theatre here in Huntsville, AL on 2000/08/11 at the 19:00 CDT showing in auditorium 6. The "Let's See It In THX" trailer was shown. Auditoriums 1, 5, 6, and 10 are advertised as THX-certified. After the show, I spoke to Laura Fursdon, 2nd Assistant Manager. She has been the booth manager in the past and she still runs the booth. She has worked there a long time. She said that there were four THX-certified auditoriums there: 1, 5, 6, and 10. I mentioned that you posted here (publicly) about there only being one, and she insisted that there were FOUR. On Thursday night, I ran into another staff member from the theatre at Smokey's BarBQ and asked her the same question and got the same answer. Would you please recheck and be sure that the information you provided to me previously was correct. Even if you have not made an error, then there is cause for concern as well, since the theatre should have been notified. Another thing that concerns me is the following sentence from you in a previous post: "Sorry, that complex only has one THX Certified SCREEN, at that theatre, complex, whatever you want to call it. That is the fact of the matter, and I cannot discuss any of the politics or details of this on a public forum." Politics? Why should POLITICS have anything to do with it? Either they paid the fee and/or got reinspected or they didn't. I really think you should get these types of issues resolved and take politics out of it. The integrity of the THX TAP is at stake here.

Note on item 2: I will not put the THX vs. non-THX comparison back on my site, even if auditoriums 1, 5, 6, and 10 are indeed certified at Carmike 10.

3. You accused me of spreading misinformation. I'm not convinced that I spread any misinformation, except maybe assuming that THX was involved in certain parts of quality-control concerning film presentation and DVD that they aren't. That is a misconception, and not a deliberate spread of misinformation. Another thing: I know how to calibrate a DTS/Dolby Digital home theater sound system. I've had one since summer 1998 and it's not rocket science. I use a sound meter and adjust the levels until the test tones are all the same volume in the listening position. You brushed off of the mixing together of the left front and left rear channels on the original Tarzan DVD problem as a "creative decision by the content owners". (Sorry to film-techers for bringing this DVD issue up). Maybe some pressings were done properly and some weren't. I have that DVD and my friends noticed the "left-heaviness" due to this. Bob Banka of thebigpicturedvd.com reported this sound defect on their site, which is run by Jeff McNeal. (If you want to really get mad, read their statement about THX in their latest review of "The Sound of Music", but don't take it out on me.) Even if they calibrated their surrounds too loudly, as you said they did, then that still would not explain the mixing together of the left front and left rear channels. This problem was well discussed on USENET. I also have the special edition of Tarzan, which does NOT have the problem. In response, your stating that THX DMP people are gods (even with a capital G) and that no mistake will ever be found on a THX DMP title is a very bold statement.

I know that the above issues I'm presenting make it sound like I've got something against THX, but I assure you that's not the case. I just hate to keep seeing evidence that the integrity of THX is becoming less than I think it should be, and as a manager of THX TAP, you're the person that should have some power to correct some things that go wrong. By participating here, you're learning a lot about people's ideas and misconceptions concerning THX.

As I mentioned earlier, the general public as a whole have little technical knowledge concerning film projection and sound. Because of the huge success of Star Wars movies, people make the "THX, Lucasfilm, Star Wars" connection in their heads and have a huge respect for THX without knowing hardly anything about it. George Lucas was a genious for creating the THX division, since it is associated in the general public's minds with extremely high quality sound and picture, although it is probably the most poorly understood entity ever created. It is so well respected that even if recertification only involved payment of a fee for being able to use the logo, the average person will still choose THX over non-THX. The lack of knowledge on the part of the average person goes strongly in THX's favor.

Like I said at the beginning of the post, I'm glad you are still around, because I think this forum can benefit greatly by having a THX representative here. I know you and I got started off on the wrong foot, but I really hope that will change. My overall opinion of THX is positive, even if I feel there a few problems here and there.

On the "Chris Evert" note, I had a thought, wouldn't it make things confusing sometimes if a theatre had a projectionist named Christie, especially if they had Christie projectors?

My posts here represent myself and not my employer.

I might as well reply to Evans C. here... I can only avoid him for so long (ha, ha).

Evans:
Item #1, Re-certs: Yes, it has been difficult for THX to keep up on it's re-certifications... Frankly, there are so many screens out there, we've had some trouble keeping up. We are addressing this issue currently to come up with an adequate solution. Yet, presently, we are woking on it.

Item #2, Huntsville: Like I said, we de-certified 3 of the 4 screens the last time I posted, and whether or not they have corrected the issues leading to the de-certification or not, I do not know. If not, and they are still advertising THX, good for them. It is up to us to pull the marketing material, and if we haven't, so be it. I personally try to stay out of the Professional Theatres folks' hair unless it is absolutely necessary... here, I'm gonna leave it alone and let them handle this theatre and the use of the THX letters themselves. With the Chapter 11s happening as regularly as they have been, I'm not going to push anyone to pull our letters. When you can't pay the rent, paying extra for a quality presentation is not usually that high on a theatre chains list.

Issue #3, the THX Digital Mastering Program (DMP):
Did you see T2? It's such a great DVD that some older players are having minor navigational problems. I'm sure you're gonna give me that line, so I thought I'd beat you to it. It is a great DVD, and we have a customized THX logo on it (my favorite part). If I said that DMP "never makes mistakes", I apologize. Unfortunately, they are human beings, we still hire those here at THX, and as you know, human beings do occationally make mistakes. What I should have said was, "Having THX DMP certify a DVD is the consumers guarentee that they are getting the best quality product available, anywhere." Less mistakes. We give the studios an extra set of eyes and ears, and engineering testing equipment, that insures a quality product. Most studios that use DMP have their own DVD department that does the work, then we go through our steps to make sure nothing is missed, recommend fixes, and then, if it meets our standards, we slap our certification on it. We catch mistakes that otherwise would not be caught. Simple as that. And they are Gods.

Other than that, love you guys, take care, and keep up the quality presentations.

Re THX and video/DVD: it's been my experience that many of the films with the THX logo actually are of a better overall quality than the rest of the pack. I'm thinking especially of the Titanic VHS tapes that had great picture and sound, at least here in Sweden, but also of a number of other high-quality videos and DVDs bearing the THX mark. Therefore, I've sort of started expecting more from these tapes and DVDs.

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I'm curious as to why three of the auditoriums got decertified here. Was it due to improper maintenance or was it due to the chain not wanting to spend the money?

As for T2, I'm thinking about buying that set, but haven't because I've never seen the movie and don't know if I'd like it (I tend to like comedies and chick flicks). When a bad example of something is mentioned, you can always come back and say, well, look at this other one -- it was awesome. There are good and bad THX-certified transfers, and good and bad non-THX-certified transfers. One person mentioned THX-certified VHS tapes. It should be a sin to use "THX" and "VHS" in the same sentence. Ugh. The low resolution, the noise, the color smearing; it gives me nightmares.

Evans A Criswell http://home.hiwaay.net/~criswell/theatre/

What did the theatre owner say when the manager of the THX Theatre Alignment Program walked in?

"I'll bet that Ted's gonna Costas a lot of money!"

(Sorry, I couldn't resist. )