THX is a certification system for theatres. It is like quality control for the movie-going experience. It is a system developed by the sound people at LucasFilm, a company founded by the man behind the Star Wars movies, George Lucas.
Background Information
Depending on who you ask, "THX" stands for a couple of things. Some say that it comes from George Lucas' first film, THX 1138; while others say that it stands for the "Tomlinson Holman eXperiment".
Tomlinson Holman is a sound engineer that worked for LucasFilm back around the time that Return of the Jedi was being filmed. George Lucas was putting a lot of effort into making the Star Wars films sound as good as they possibly could, but was continually disappointed in how they sounded once they got to your local theatre. So Mr. Holman came up with this certification process for theatres that will guarantee the best possible reproduction of what was heard in the mixing room when the film sound was recorded.
What THX Certification Means
The THX certification process starts with the actual theatre design. Sound from external sources such as heating and air conditioning, the adjacent theatres and even from the road out front must be at an absolute minimum. Otherwise the movie goer would be distracted from the on screen performance.
Other items that the THX certification process looks at are the angle at which the image is projected onto the screen. How bright the image looks from certain seats in the theatre and how all of the speakers are aimed and calibrated. In fact, the THX certification process even specifies the type of speakers and amplifiers that must be used!
After the theatre is built and all of the equipment installed, THX Technicians must come out and make sure that all of these specifications have been met. They use sensitive microphones and other assorted equipment to take all of the measurements. If a theatre passes all of this, it becomes "THX Certified". But that is not quite everything. Every year, technicians return to re-check the theatre and make sure that everything is still properly aligned, calibrated, and soundproofed.
All of this ensures that you, the movie goer, will receive the best possible movie-going experience when you are seeing a film presented at a THX Certified theatre. Is it possible to have a bad experience at a THX theatre? Sure, but it's much less likely than with non-certified theatres.
If a theatre has Dolby Digital or DTS, do they still need THX?
Simply put, yes. THX is not a sound system, it is a process that certifies many things, including the installed sound system, from the amplifiers to the speakers, to how the theatre is constructed. For the best performance, you want Dolby Digital/DTS digital sound in a THX-certified auditorium.
Have you ever gone to see a drama, only to have the explosions of the action movie next door disturb the best moments of the movie? This is called sound leakage, and it's just one of the annoyances that you won't experience in a THX-certified auditorium.
Have you ever heard the projector running during quiet periods of a movie? That's another annoyance you won't have when going to a movie in a THX-certified auditorium. Special care is taken to make sure that outside noises don't disturb your enjoyment of the movie.
While non-THX theatres can also provide good presentations, it's very difficult for the average person to know one way or another just by looking at show times for a list of theatres. Look for the THX logo to the right when viewing our show times to find the movies and theatres featuring THX-certified performance.
