THX

For other uses, see THX (disambiguation).
THX Ltd.
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryMotion picture industry
FoundedMay 20, 1983; 41 years ago (1983-05-20)
FoundersGeorge Lucas
Tomlinson Holman
Headquarters
San Rafael, California
,
U.S.
Key people
Services
Parent
Websitethx.com

THX Ltd. is an American audio company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is known for its eponymous suite of high fidelity audiovisual reproduction standards for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, video game consoles, car audio systems, and video games. The THX trailer that precedes compliant films is based on the Deep Note, with a distinctive glissando up from a rumbling low pitch.

THX was developed by Tomlinson Holman at George Lucas's company Lucasfilm in 1983 to ensure that the soundtrack for the third Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi, would be accurately reproduced in the best venues. THX was named after Holman's initials, with the "X" standing for "crossover"[2] or "experiment". The name is also an homage to Lucas's first film, THX 1138 (1971). Deep Note was created by Holman's co-worker James A. Moorer.

THX is a quality assurance system, not a recording technology. All sound recording formats, whether digital (Dolby Digital, DTS, SDDS) or analog (Dolby Stereo, Ultra Stereo), can be reproduced in a THX system. THX-certified theaters provide a high-quality, predictable playback environment to ensure that any film soundtrack mixed in THX will sound as near as possible to the intentions of the mixing engineer. THX also provides certified theaters with a special crossover circuit whose use is part of the standard. Certification of an auditorium entails specific acoustic and other technical requirements; architectural requirements include a floating floor, baffled and acoustically treated walls, non-parallel walls (to reduce standing waves), a perforated screen (to allow center channel continuity), and NC30 rating for background noise ("ensures noise from air conditioning units and projection equipment does not mask the subtle effects in a movie's soundtrack").[3]

On June 12, 2002, THX was spun off as a separate company from Lucasfilm[4] and sold to sound card manufacturer Creative Technology Limited, which held a 60% share of the company.[5] Under Creative Technology, the company developed several further innovations, such as the first THX-certified audio card for computers, the Sound Blaster Audigy 2. In 2016, THX was acquired by video game hardware company Razer Inc.[1][6]

On September 12, 2024, THX announced Tuyen Pham as Chief Executive Officer.[7]

  1. ^ a b "Razer buys audio-visual firm THX to cash in on growing Chinese cinema market". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  2. ^ Rinzler, J.W. (2010). The Sounds of Star Wars. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-8118-7546-2.
  3. ^ "THX Certified Cinemas". THX, Ltd. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
  4. ^ Crabtree, Sheigh (2002-06-12). "Lucas' THX stakes out new galaxy". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2002-08-11. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
  5. ^ Hoppel, Adrian (2013-03-20). "Law & Apple: iFone Defeats iPhone, THX Targets Apple". MacLife. Archived from the original on 2015-09-07. Retrieved 2016-10-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ "Razer buys THX". 17 October 2016.
  7. ^ "Immersive Audio Industry Leader, Tuyen Pham, Named as THX Ltd. Chief Executive Officer". 12 September 2024.