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Author Topic: THX completely out of business ??? Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 10-31-2003 01:03 AM                     Supposedly one of our houses was THX certified, but I never saw ads or anything for it since the place has been open. It was, however, the best sounding theater I've ever been in. Now, after a year of neglect, it is a shadow of its former self. You also know it's bad when the manager does not even care about that fact. They also think that nobody cares in general about good presentation. AJG  |  IP: Logged Mark Lensenmayer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1605 From: Upper Arlington, OH Registered: Sep 1999 posted 10-31-2003 06:33 AM                     I never understood the point of getting THX certification and then not advertising it. Showcase Cincinnati had a THX certified room and you would never know it unless you had checked the THX website. (I'm assuming here that the THX website was correct in the early '90's) There is an all THX 8-Plex here run by an independent, and they promote THX all the time, as they are trying to compete with the suburban theatres (this is downtown next to the hockey arena...you know...the mighty Columbus BlueJackets...and we don't know what a bluejacket is either). Nice theatre...they show THX and Dolby Digital sound promos before every movie. Very challenging location, though.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-31-2003 07:34 AM                     Just in case no one has mentioned it...THX is NOT out of business. It still exists as before for cinema though it has very few people on staff for the Cinema aspects. I just did a recertification of the NCTA theater in Washington DC...still up to standards. In fact, I would use it as an example of THX working really well. Over the years I had noted that the HVAC system was getting progressively louder. Last year, it was on the threshold of NC-30 and I informed them that if this keeps up, they will fail in 2003. This year, it was fixed and they are down to something like NC-23 with the A/C ON! Without THX...something like that would never be caught since, after all, the HVAC still worked. Another thing I've noted on doing regular THX recerts is that H.F. diaphragms fatigue. If you did a plot over say 10-years, you will find that the H.F. response will continue to fall off over time. Another nifty thing THX seems to be doing on initial certifications or initial evaluations is to measure the surround response uniformity over various frequencies. I saw a recent 3-D plot that showed one's prominant person's idea of a good surround system does not have a uniform coverage throughout the theatre. Steve  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-31-2003 08:16 AM                     "Another thing I've noted on doing regular THX recerts is that H.F. diaphragms fatigue. If you did a plot over say 10-years, you will find that the H.F. response will continue to fall off over time." _________________________________________________________________ Steve, I also noticed this, usually starts after about 2 years of the HF driver going into operation. What do you think causes this phenomonon?. Loosening up of the diaphrams surround edge, normal fall of of magnetization of the magnet structure, or both? It never bothered me much as a little hf tweek always puts it back to normal. MArk @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged Per Hauberg Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 883 From: Malling, Denmark Registered: Jul 2000 posted 10-31-2003 05:49 PM                        I've said it before, and I'll be happy to say it again: THX is protection money. Mario Puzo's Mafia is kindergarden stuff in compare. p.  |  IP: Logged John Scott Master Film Handler Posts: 252 From: Oakdale, MN, USA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 10-31-2003 10:12 PM                     At the theatre I work at, we used to have 4 THX certified screens, although all 16 screens in the complex were built to the THX standard. At the last renewal it was decided to drop the certification. We probably advertised the standard about 50% of the time. When we didn't, the main reason was due to the fact that we were concerned as to auditorium placement, and didn't want to be locked into the screen due to advertising requirements if something else needed the larger auditorium. That said, we haven't seen any backlash at all since dropping the certification. The couple guests who asked about it after no longer seeing the THX trailers seemed to understand and accept that nothing is different with the auditorium from before, but that we just decided not to pay for the recertification.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-31-2003 10:22 PM                     I would say the HF reponse is purely mechanical fatigue. To see it more dramatically...go to a 5-screen channel theatre and note how LC and RC responses are compared to Left and Right...LC and RC are almost always better in the HF since they are used less. Also, replacement of the diaphragm always fixes the problem. As such, I wouldn't factor the magnet into it...only the ALNICO magnets tended to loose the magnatism and then normally only when mishandeled, not just from sitting there. Steve  |  IP: Logged Edward Jurich Master Film Handler Posts: 305 From: Las Vegas USA Registered: Jul 2003 posted 10-31-2003 11:27 PM                     I don't think the public in general, except for a few audio types, even know what THX is and would go to a particular theater just to see a movie in THX. Digital is the buzz word everyone knows now.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 11-01-2003 01:41 AM                     The difficulty with THX is very few average theater customers have a proper understanding of the concept. Most believe it is a sound recording format like Dolby Digital or DTS. Lucasfilm didn't do much to correct that misunderstanding either, especially since they got a weird kind of name brand benefit out of it. I mean, think about it, if everyone really understood the root of THX simply being a presentation standards program they might not be quite as impressed by it. To give an example of how THX hype is misunderstood, the Carmike 8 in Lawton was built with two THX screens. Carmike dropped the certification on screen #5 a couple years ago but kept #4 certified. There are times where the theater will get 2 prints of a big film and put both prints on #4 and #5. There will be times where a customer missed the showtime on #4, but wants to see the film in a THX house. It is difficult for the box person to make them to realize house #5 is just as good a room without having the manager take the customer up into the booth to see the equipment racks. The only difference is you'll see a THX trailer in #4.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-01-2003 12:26 PM                     I wonder who the promenent persons surround array they did the model of  |  IP: Logged Martin Brooks Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 900 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 11-01-2003 04:08 PM                        quote: It is difficult for the box person to make them to realize house #5 is just as good a room without having the manager take the customer up into the booth to see the equipment racks. The only difference is you'll see a THX trailer in #4 Not necessarily. As described above, if the tweeters are dying and the HVAC system is noisier than it once was, then house #5 may no longer be as good a room as #4 providing that #4 was properly recertified. Also, if a house is decertified, do they still get to use the THX crossovers? But I agree that THX did a lousy job marketing the concept, for the numerous reasons I've already expressed. However, most patrons don't know much of anything regarding technical specifics -- they really don't know what Dolby, SDDS and DTS is and they usually don't even really know what anamorphic is or the true differences between 35mm and 70mm. They don't even know what aspect ratio really means. This is why they complain when they get black bars on their sets at home. However, that's not to say that they don't recognize in general terms, a better presentation.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 11-01-2003 04:28 PM                        quote: if a house is decertified, do they still get to use the THX crossovers? Question: Does that matter anymore? I've been told that several companies make better crossovers now, though that may not have been the case in the early THX days. ?????  |  IP: Logged Per Hauberg Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 883 From: Malling, Denmark Registered: Jul 2000 posted 11-01-2003 05:36 PM                        According to THX, it is certified, that theatres with the THX logo get custumers from "far away", because everyone, just a bit interested in "films done right" will be willing to go so and so many more miles to get to the real thing. And the two twelve-year old kids, standing there in front of the cinema with the expensive logo in neon commets: "I've got that on my pc, too" THX sure is around, and many THX theatres are great, but can anybody say without lying, that a non-THX theatre can't be just as good/better even, if made by the right people...? P.  |  IP: Logged Martin Brooks Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 900 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 11-01-2003 06:33 PM                        Of course not, but that's not the point. The point is to let one know in advance which theaters are better than most by meeting certain standards and that's what THX intended to do. If someone else had set up a ratings system, that would have been fine as well. SMPTE tried to rate theaters some years back, but IMHO, the program didn't go far enough and it eventually disappeared. And for the most part, THX theaters were generally better than non-THX theaters, although there are many exceptions. In NYC for example, I've always enjoyed seeing films at the Ziegfeld, even though it was never THX certified.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-01-2003 08:15 PM                     The analogue crossover you buy the frame (monitor included) and lease the cards when the decert occurs you return the card CE makes plugin replacements  |  IP: Logged

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