THX Certified Home Audio

The THX Certification programs provide consumer electronics manufacturers with specifications and technologies for improving the design of high performance home theater products. The goal? To help manufacturers create audio/video products that accurately translate movie, music and video game content to the home environment. The THX engineering team works closely with its manufacturing partners to incorporate the THX standards and technologies into a variety of products, including A/V receivers, speakers and pre-amplifiers. THX also analyzes and pre-qualifies new technologies and components for integration into these products—significantly reducing manufacturers’ research and development costs. Once a product is designed, tested and certified by THX, it carries an internationally recognized performance endorsement, one that helps consumers navigate the complex world of home electronics and make more informed purchasing decisions.

There are three performance categories for home theater products—THX Integrated Home Theater Systems, THX Select and Select2, and THX Ultra and Ultra2. THX Select2 is an upgrade to the company’s original THX Select™ Certification for AV receivers. THX Select2 Certified receivers are designed to address the growing needs of the newest generation of home entertainment enthusiasts, those who crave immersive DVD, music and video game experiences, but don’t require the full benefits of a large, dedicated home theater environment. In addition to providing product design and performance specifications to manufacturers, THX Select2 offers additional playback features, including THX Surround EX™ and THX listening modes such as THX Cinema, THX Music and THX Games.

While THX Select2 Certified products are designed for small-to medium-sized residential rooms (2,000 cubic feet in size with 10-foot viewing distances), THX Ultra2 is for the acoustics of larger home theaters. THX Ultra2 Certification is reserved for high-end home theater products, specifically those that have the power to distribute sound to dedicated home theater rooms—3,000 cubic feet or larger with 12-foot viewing distances.

THX Certified Integrated Home Theater Systems are geared to small home theater environments and residential living rooms, a space currently filled by home theater-in-a-box (HTiB) products. Because this THX specification is developed and successfully tested by THX as a system, its components—receiver, speakers and amplifier—are optimized to work together to deliver a THX quality audio experience in an affordable “all-in-one” package.

Each THX certification requires manufacturers to build products that meet or exceed the THX standards for presentation excellence, and include such THX features as Timbre Matching™, Bass Management™ and Re-equalization™ (Re-EQ™). Each THX certification category enables manufacturers to feature popular THX listening modes, which incorporate the company’s proprietary Adaptive Speaker Array (ASA) technology for optimizing playback of multi-channel movies, music, and video games in the home.

THX Certified Displays

When it comes to buying HDTVs, consumers are confused. According to a recent Forrester Research report, close to one-half of consumers shopping for a new TV say they don’t know whether they want flat-panel, projection, or picture tube. With so many choices and no formal standards bodies governing quality, consumers are forced to wade through a sea of specs and product categories when making a new TV purchase.

THX is bringing some order to this chaos by delivering a certification program and performance benchmark that ensures quality across every HDTV technology and product category. The THX Certified Display Program represents a natural evolution for THX, and serves as an extension of its work in home theater and DVD mastering. When creating the program, THX developed proprietary testing methodologies based on cinema, video and post-production standards. This testing is focused on video signal processing and front of screen analysis to ensure that each display can present all HD and standard definition content at the maximum resolution with the correct color and luminance levels.

THX Certified DVRs

The TiVo® Series3 HD™ Digital Media Recorder is the world’s first THX Certified DVR. To address this “must-have” product for HDTV buyers, the THX team developed an in-depth video and audio specification for HD DVR record and playback performance. Working closely with TiVo, THX engineers analyzed the TiVo box for key performance features, including frequency response, signal to noise ratios, color levels and deinterlacing, as well as audio playback. THX also performed a series of subjective evaluations, similar to the tests used during the mastering of films to THX Certified DVDs. The TiVo box was subjected to side-by-side analysis of recorded content versus original “over-the-air” material. Together, all of this THX testing ensures sound and visual quality will always remain true to the original broadcast — making for superb HDTV performances.

THX Certified Games

Since sound and visual quality are critical to the success of today’s video game titles, THX has applied its expertise and standards for producing and editing audio and video content to the video game industry. Launched in 2003, the THX Certified Games Program is applied throughout the critical stages of game sound and visual image development. The program provides game publishers and developers with standards for how audio and video production facilities should be designed and maintained, as well as how production equipment is installed and performs. THX sets guidelines for studio acoustics, background noise and lighting, providing video game developers a means to present a consistent visual and sound experience across a variety of end¬user game systems and consoles.

Through partnerships with leading game publishers, the first THX Certified Games debuted in 2003. Today, some of the most popular titles, including Atari’s The Matrix: Path of NEO, EA Sports™ Madden NFL 06™, and NAMCO’s SOULCALIBUR®III are THX Certified. In addition, THX is working to develop innovative new technologies for improving how games are created by game developers, as well as how game sound and visuals are experienced by gamers in the home.

THX Certified Multimedia Products

Today’s high-performance personal computing systems enable users to experience feature films and play graphically intense video games. As PC technologies, video game systems and home theater products improve their functionality, and move toward working together seamlessly, users are demanding higher quality sound from their systems. At the same time, manufacturers and application developers are all looking for ways to improve sound and picture output, and deliver extreme entertainment experiences. THX Certified Multimedia Products answer industry demands, bringing studio-quality reproduction to the desktop. THX has created performance standards specific to the challenges of multimedia systems and applications, and the demands of increasingly sophisticated consumers. Dozens of high-performance products, from manufacturers including Altec Lansing, Creative, Logitech and Klipsch, now carry THX Multimedia Certification.

Learn more at THX.com