Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: THX announces New Certification Program

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Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 03-07-2003, 12:50 PM:

In Post Industry, THX announces New Certification Program for Historic Cinemas. THX Ltd, the founder of quality assurance programs for cinema presentation, announced the launch of its Historic Cinema Certification Program. This first of its kind program will enable owners & operators of historic cinemas to provide their movie going audiences state of the art sound & picture experience.

http://www.uemedia.com/CPC/article_5709.shtml

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 03-07-2003, 01:24 PM:

Hey maybe this means that Creative Labs will offer THX Cert. for historic older Soundblaster cards!

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 03-07-2003, 02:00 PM:

So what does this mean on the bottom line?

How does this certification lead to filling the 2,000+ seats in front of the giant screen?

Will our customers say, "Oh! No! Now they are blasting us out of our seats here too!"?

I know what THX is about. I just feel that the sign in front of a couple of screens near here have given the impression that it stands for lots of volume.

If Bill has anything to say about it, the Senator will be an excellent example of sound and picture done perfectly. [thumbsup]

[ 03-07-2003, 09:49 PM: Message edited by: Kenneth Wuepper ]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 03-07-2003, 04:53 PM:

Ken, THX has never been about turning up the volume to blast the customers out of their seats. THX is a quality control standard which, when setup and maintained properly, results in a top notch audio presentation. It doesn't have to be played loud to have that quality, but frequently is since the system can reproduce the audio tracks properly. Lesser systems commonly can't be turned up anywhere near what they should be, which is probably where you are confusing things.

Anyway in a nutshell, THX Historic is going to start with the Senator Theater. It will specialize in taking those classic grand theaters and making acoustical (and equipment) upgrades to bring the sound up to today's standard without taking away from the decor.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 03-08-2003, 01:30 AM:

Is this done gratis for the theatre by THX? Most historic landmark theatres and movie palaces run an art house format, rarely are they first run, and almost ALWAYS they can barely keep their doors open. I know one theatre that considered it a great acheivement that they were able to install analog STEREO instead of their 30 year old mono system. Most often art houses are strapped for funds. It isn't a matter of the operators of these places not knowing what to do to produce top-notch sound and image quality, but almost always, it is that we can't afford to replace a worn rewind motor let alone "optimize equipment, room acoustics, background noise levels, and projection and viewing angles."

In today's economic climate, precious few top grossing first run mulitplexes can only afford to THX only a fraction of their screens. It would really be nice if THX was going to fund this new project, but if it isn't planning to donate some big piles of green stuff along with the THX Historic Cinema program, they may be waiting a long, long time for the sales department's phone to ring. I'd bet that if they can get a tenth of one percent of the existing old movie palaces -- the precious few that have managed to keep their doors open -- to buy into this new program, they will be lucky.

On the other hand, if THX, Ltd. IS going to donate this service and get the theatre suppliers and manufacturers to give equipment to the historic theatres or perhaps arranging lease-to-buy programs for them, well, that would be a THX of a different color and maybe it could go someplace.

Frank

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 03-08-2003, 10:09 AM:

Nope this isn't a free ride for the Historic theatre (I'm currently working on the Senator project too).

The idea of THX Historic is to make some allowances for a historical theatre (read bend the rules) so that the appearance of the theatre alone doesn't cause the theatre to fail THX criteria.

For instance, the procenium of the Senator only allows for a 38-foot or so wide screen. Following strict THX criteria, they would have to rip out the back 1/4 of their seats or cover over their front end in order to pass the minimum subtended angle requirement. This would certainly drastically change the appearance and feel of the theatre (from a looks standpoint).

The purpose of the Historic classification is not to penalize such a theatre.

However other areas will need to be satisfied just like any other THX theatre. Before an allowance can be made, it has to be evaluated as to what needs to be done versus its impact on the theatre's appearance or that which makes it historic...certainly not all "historical" theatres will have the same issues when trying to meet THX criteria.

Just because you don't have the money to fix up your theatre to THX standards, historical or not, should not allow you to receive a THX Historical classification. In fact, it would be a scam if they did. When you see the THX letters on any theatre, you should think you are getting state-of-the-art (hold your comments) performances. Buzzy, mono sound in a theatre with NC-50 doesn't really do that...even if it were in Radio City Music Hall.

Steve

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 03-08-2003, 06:46 PM:

You read my mind because that was exactly what I was wondering. One is willing to make allowances for a historic venue but if it doesn't meet the spec then it doesn't meet the spec and seems like if they are going to have special watered down spec for these places then it represents another step in an on-going and apparently deliberate process to dilute the name by sticking it on anything and everything (hence my Soundblaster comment). I'm sure if Tom Holman could somehow claim ownership of the letters T and H they would have long had to change their name to simply "X"! [evil]

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 03-08-2003, 09:05 PM:

quote:
The idea of THX Historic is to make some allowances for a historical theatre (read bend the rules)

Didn't they already do this back in the 80's for Mann's (now Grumaun's) Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and Mann's Village Theatre in Westwood? [Big Grin]

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 03-08-2003, 09:09 PM:

No, I wouldn't say that Steve...while I understand your dilute arguement...by stating up-front that THX-Historic is a subset of THX...it tells the patron up front that there are some items that do not meet spec due to the structure itself not that everything has been left to pot.

Many older theatres will run into the subtended angle problem (like the Senator). Personally, I question the validity of the arguement for it. If one tunes a room well, there shouldn't be any problem with perceived stereo separation.

There will be a difference between any old Historic theatre and a THX historic theatre since RT-60, NC and equipment will all be at or near THX requirements. You won't have non-THX approved equipment being used and every effort will have been made to bring the theatre into full compliance, Historic or no. Compare that to the old theatre that is still running mono films with their loud HVAC systems.

Steve

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 03-08-2003, 09:26 PM:

Yeah maybe so...but a good number of patrons are going to be thinking that THX is a sound format, not a set of theatre standards, a problem that has been exacerbated by the appearance of the THX logo on tapes, disks, and film credits.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 03-08-2003, 09:51 PM:

A great deal of patrons DO think that "THX" is nothing more than a button to push. You have no idea how close I came to putting a dead switch in a box with conduit running to it on the wall of the auditorium labeled "THX ON/OFF".

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 03-09-2003, 01:48 PM:

When Act III renovated the McDonald Theatre in Eugene around 1995, they tried to get it THX-certified but couldn't quite meet the specs due to "issues" related to its large balcony. At least that was their story.

Posted by Antonio Marcheselli (Member # 373) on 03-09-2003, 02:55 PM:

Brad,

Once in our THX theater I cabled a simple wire to the CP500 to select an SK from the box office since the automation didn't have the capability to select a different format to turn up the volume at the beginning of the feature.

I labelled that button "THX"!!! [ [Wink]

]

Bye
Antonio

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-09-2003, 03:41 PM:

After all of my THX experiences I still say its a bunch of tom foolery. As good, or even better systems can be built by a competant technician, and the 10K liscensing fee can be put to better use by far! A theatre is not visited just because it has THX...a theatre is visited, and re-visited because it has really good sound and picture, good comfortable seats, and great concessions....the name THX is not needed.

Sure the standards are good, but the problem is that they let too many locations slide too easily. Really now....those antique theatre specifications will REALLY apply to all future THX installs you know...
The best aspect of THX IMHO is the R-2 analyzer!! Beyond that it depends on how the front office at THX is feeling on a given day.....
Mark

Posted by Antonio Marcheselli (Member # 373) on 03-09-2003, 03:59 PM:

I have to agree with Mark.

If THX would follow their certified theater, the certification could make sense.

Since THX send to their theaters only the annual invoice, I would put that money elsewhere.

Bye
Antonio

P.S. The best aspect of THX is, IMHO, their trailers! [Wink]