|
|
 
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Is THX still relevant?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
|
posted 03-01-2011 09:12 AM
At the risk of sending this thread even further off the track it originally started on, there are some misconceptions about THX in the home that I feel compelled to attempt to clarify.
(This went long, so feel free to skip to the bottom if your eyes start to glaze over. I bring the discussion around on-topic at the end!)
When I first got into the home theater hobby in the early 90's, I followed THX's home theater efforts closely, as I was already a fan of their efforts in the movie theater market. I sought out and purchased THX speakers, and my current dedicated home theater still uses the first ones I bought, and I added to them when I designed and built my dedicated room.
VHS, LD, and DVD's were certified by THX through a process that monitored the quality of the audio and video signal through the various steps of the mastering process. Much like what was happening in theaters in the early 80's, LucasFilm saw a deficiency in the process of creating home video releases that they could help with (and probably make some money in the process). I don't remember all the specifics (I'd have to go digging through my archives), but it had to do with some test signals that were injected into the first step of the transfer, and then they were able to monitor the quality of each of the steps by watching those signals to make sure they weren't corrupted somewhere along the way.
This introduced more consistency in the quality of the releases, and just as with commercial movie theaters, their efforts raised the bar of the industry, and their services weren't as necessary as they once were.
THX-certified home theater speakers were designed specifically to work in the smaller home theater environments, where challenges of near-room reflections were making it difficult for "musical" speakers to reproduce movie soundtracks effectively.
Front channel THX speakers were designed to have very minimal vertical dispersion, so that their sound was not reflecting off the floor and ceiling. Think of a flashlight with a narrow vertical beam. This worked very well, but required that the speakers be aimed properly so that the listener wasn't off the vertical axis of the speakers. I used a laser level on the top of my speakers to aim them properly, which worked very well.
Surround THX speakers probably caused the most angst of anything they did, because of the dipolar radiation pattern that THX advocated. Purists got their undies in a bundle (especially Gary Reber from Widescreen Review) because the dipolar speakers diffused the sound so that it wasn't directly sent to the listener's position. That pattern included a null area in the middle, so if you positioned the speakers immediately to the left and right of the listening position (their recommended placement), no sound would reach your ears directly.
Some people prefer that approach, while others insist that the surrounds must be fired directly, just as with the front channels. Bipolar designs were created by some home theater manufacturers that were a compromise between the two (but only dipolar surrounds are Home THX certified). I have my THX-certified left and right surrounds positioned to the left and right and just above the listening position, and two additional THX-certified surrounds are mounted on back wall for the rear surround channel.
My experience with this setup has been phenomenal. I'm very happy with it, and I've never felt like the surround sound is muddy in any way. I am able to enjoy split surround effects, and the demo tracks that show off all the different channels do not sound indistinct when the effect heads off into the surrounds and around the back. In a perfectly-controlled environment (such as the primary home theater room that Widescreen Review created at much expense), I think that direct radiating speakers at perfectly positioned angles and heights have the potential of creating a great multi-channel surround field with the perfect source material. However, we don't live in that perfect world, and I think the THX surrounds do a great job fitting into the world most people live in. Even then, some living rooms don't have surfaces on which the surrounds can bounce off of, so direct radiating speakers are going to be the best situation for those environments. I try not to get too wrapped up in theoretical maximums when the practical reality is more important.
THX-certified home theater receivers started out as a single certification. At a time when manufacturers were taking all kinds of shortcuts with multi-channel sound, and the high-end music-oriented companies were trying to deny that anything beyond stereo was ever necessary, THX came in and set some pretty strict standards for performance in the receiver market. A lot can go wrong when you have 6 channels all sharing the same transformer, and 6 channels of sound can get pretty screwed up if people aren't paying attention to the way they design their circuitry.
THX also developed their Re-EQ requirements, which modified the sound for the smaller home theater environment. As far as I know, engaging Re-EQ was always optional (it was on my receiver), as it was not always needed in all situations.
These strict standards meant that THX-certified units were expensive, and out of the reach of many people. THX saw this, and either through a desire for more of the licensing potential or for honest reasons, they created the "THX Select" certification. This was done for equipment that was going into smaller rooms (less than 3,000 cu. ft., I think), and the watts per channel requirements were relaxed in the amplifier section, as well as a few other things that I don't recall off-hand. I think this is what Tom is referring to.
While some may scoff at THX certifying computer speakers, it's the same situation. Computer speakers sucked when they first became popular. Many were tinny single-driver models that did fine with the blips and boops of computer programs, but they weren't going to do very well with higher quality material, and if you wanted 5.1 sound, good luck finding a woofer box that didn't sound like a kick drum.
THX saw the opportunity and came in and did the same thing they've done in all the other markets they entered. They developed specs, set standards, and the results were pretty good. I have a set of Altec Lansing computer speakers that I bought in the 90's and still have today. I know Logitech made some nice units as well.
As with everything that THX has done in the past, one must appreciate the past to understand why THX was important at the time. Many commercial theaters weren't up to playing Return of the Jedi, so THX helped improve that situation. LD's and early DVD's weren't as good as they could have been, so THX came in and helped improve that. The same goes for home theater equipment and even computer speakers.
Has THX raised the bar in those categories to the point where they've put themselves out of a job? Perhaps, and if so, we should all be very grateful for their efforts.
To bring this thread back on topic, I still think that THX is relevant. No other program exists that does what it sets out to do. Sure, some theaters may take some of the same steps during construction, they may use good equipment, they may even do some calibrating of their sound system.
But how is the public supposed to know? Many in the public cannot appreciate the finer points of what makes great sound or a great picture unless they are shown the difference and are exposed to the higher quality long enough to then be able to notice when it isn't there anymore.
I can't appreciate what a really good wine offers all by myself. But there is a whole segment of the population that are very wrapped up in the subtle differences between vintages and areas of the world that the grapes came from. I would miss all of that by picking up a glass of the good stuff and not knowing any better.
However, if someone bothered to educate me on the differences, and if all I drank was the good stuff, my guess is that the $5 bottle of Zinfandel that I used to think was good would hardly be drinkable after knowing what good wine can taste like.
That, my friends, is how THX can still be relevant. Set good standards, stick to them, and educate the public as to why it's so good. It's said time and time again, that an informed consumer is best kind. It creates a win-win scenario for theaters that deliver the really high quality presentations.
People can learn with time what makes for a good presentation. Bad theaters will suck no matter how much time passes.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Manny Knowles
"What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???"
Posts: 4247
From: Bloomington, IN, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 03-01-2011 06:41 PM
Scott, you're actually bringing us back on track.
My guess is you'd have a very good room even if you didn't put the THX stuff in it. I say that because it seems you have the interest, knowledge, patience and financial wherewithal to do it.
The average customer does not.
Tom Petrov, for instance, seems to believe all he had to do was buy the stuff and push the THX button.
And, back in the day, I used to have customers that would say "the THX isn't turned on" and, when pressed to explain what they meant, they would say "we can't hear the surrounds."
Back to you, Scott: As good as your home theatre may sound, my second guess is that it is probably not a THX theatre. Even if it is -- and there's an outside chance that it is -- yours would be the exception, and not the rule.
Whatever.
Here's why I question THX in the home: It took a lot for a real movie theatre to meet the THX spec. So, if the average consumer did not know what THX was, how it worked and how much it would really cost to implement properly, what chance did they have of getting those results in the home? Practically zero.
Whatever improvement THX might bring to the gear and software -- and I question some of this, too -- I seriously question whether most "THX Home Theatres" would pass an honest-to-goodness THX certification test. (Do they even bother testing them?)
And this, I believe, is where THX stumbled into the land of marketing confusion:
If consumers are encouraged to believe that their home theatres come anywhere near the (real) THX standard, then we have a problem because anything with a bigger screen and louder speakers (than what they have at home) will likely suffice.
What ends up happening is that the very fans of THX actually lower their standards, and they -- the consumers who arguably have the best shot at appreciating THX -- end up appreciating something less than THX which, (in)conveniently enough is called...THX.
Hence -- for a real movie theatre -- there is no financial incentive to obtain THX certification. Just make it bigger and louder than what they've got at home and "call it something fancy."
And that, my friends, is real.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Per Hauberg
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 883
From: Malling, Denmark
Registered: Jul 2000
|
posted 03-01-2011 07:13 PM
THX, SR-D, DTS, Widescreen, Cinemascope, 3-D, even Feature Films themselves would all be relevant for cinemas, if just cinemas could be allowed to have all these nice things for themselves, but as soon as the greed takes over, and the same stuff is available for the home cinema consumer market - Puff ! The End is near !
Don't expect the average cinema-goer to see the difference (remember, they often even find it OK to watch a whole movie on YouTube). Why pay big money to watch a film in the cinema, when there is THX in the living room back home....
Soon, even 3-D will be standard on the TV, and similar release has allready proved its worth for the cinema.
Much of, what we have been working with and for, may soon not be relevant... ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aaron Garman
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1470
From: Toledo, OH USA
Registered: Mar 2003
|
posted 03-01-2011 09:48 PM
quote: Steve Guttag
Then again, I had a person from Universal on a large premier exclaim to me about how fantastic the movie was going to sound "When the DTS kicked in."
Maybe the timecode was jacked up and the discs didn't sync until the next reel change. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
In all honesty, if I heard an executive say that, I'd puke.
I also own a THX receiver, and it is definitely better than the non-THX one I had that was in a similar price range. Of course, I blame this more on it having Audyssey and possibly a better amplifier. I perhaps have bought into the notion that if it is THX select, then it will perform "well" in a room my size. With my old receiver, I had no idea if it was really designed for a room my size or not.
I also know that having a THX receiver does not mean I'm going to get what a true THX room would get me. Is it nice for the home? Sure.
If anyone has it laying around, Tom Holman gives a nice overview of the home THX system on the THX Wow LaserDisc from way back when. I just watched it recently, and it was pretty enlightening.
AJG
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
|
This topic comprises 12 pages: 1 2 3 ... 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion
and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.
|
Home
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic