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GLOSSARY
ADDITIONAL
INFO
RMA
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THX Cinema processing
THX is an exclusive set of standards and technologies
established by the world-renowned film production
company, Lucasfilm Ltd. THX grew from George Lucas’
personal desire to make your experience of the film
soundtrack, in both movie theatres and in your home
theatre, as faithful as possible to what the director
intended.
Movie soundtracks are mixed in special movie theatres
called dubbing stages and are designed to be played back
in movie theatres with similar equipment and conditions.
This same soundtrack is then transferred directly onto
Laserdisc, VHS tape, DVD, etc., and is not changed for
playback in a small home theatre environment.
THX engineers developed patented technologies to
accurately translate the sound from the movie theatre
environment into the home, correcting the tonal and
spatial errors that occur. On this product, when the THX
indicator is on, THX features are automatically added in
Cinema modes (e.g. THX Cinema, THX Surround EX).
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Re-Equalization
The tonal balance of a film soundtrack will be excessively
bright and harsh when played back over audio equipment
in the home because film soundtracks were designed to be
played back in large movie theatres using very different
professional equipment. Re-Equalization restores the
correct tonal balance for watching a movie soundtrack in a
small home environment.
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Timbre Matching
The human ear changes our perception of a sound
depending on the direction from which the sound is
coming. In a movie theatre, there is an array of surround
speakers so that the surround information is all around
you. In a home theatre, you use only two speakers located
to the side of your head. The Timbre Matching feature
filters the information going to the surround speakers so
that they more closely match the tonal characteristics of
the sound coming from the front speakers. This ensures
seamless panning between the front and surround
speakers.
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Adaptive Decorrelation
In a movie theatre, a large number of surround speakers
help create an enveloping surround sound experience, but
in a home theatre there are usually only two speakers. This
can make the surround speakers sound like headphones
that lack spaciousness and envelopment. The surround
sounds will also collapse into the closest speaker as you
move away from the middle seating position. Adaptive
Decorrelation slightly changes one surround channel's
time and phase relationship with respect to the other
surround channel. This expands the listening position and
creates--with only two speakers--the same spacious
surround experience as in a movie theatre.
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THX Select
Before any home theatre component can be THX Select
certified, it must incorporate all the features above and
also pass a rigorous series of quality and performance
tests. Only then can a product feature the THX Select
logo, which is your guarantee that the Home Theatre
products you purchase will give you superb performance
for many years to come. THX Select requirements cover
every aspect of the product including power amplifier and
pre-amplifier performance and operation, and hundreds of
other parameters in both the digital and analog domain.
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THX Surround EX
THX Surround EX - Dolby Digital Surround EX is a joint
development of Dolby Laboratories and the THX Ltd.
In a movie theater, film soundtracks that have been
encoded with Dolby Digital Surround EX technology are
able to reproduce an extra channel which has been added
during the mixing of the program. This channel, called
Surround Back, places sounds behind the listener in
addition to the currently available front left, front center,
front right, surround right, surround left and subwoofer
channels. This additional channel provides the opportunity
for more detailed imaging behind the listener and brings
more depth, spacious ambience and sound localization
than ever before.
Movies that were created using the Dolby Digital
Surround EX technology, when released into the home
consumer market may exhibit wording to that effect on the
packaging. A list of movies created using this technology
can be found on the Dolby web site at www.dolby.com. A
list of available DVD software titles encoded with this
technology can be found at www.thx.com.
Only receiver and controller products bearing the THX
Surround EX logo, when in the THX Surround EX mode,
faithfully reproduce this new technology in the home.
This product may also engage the THX Surround EX
mode during the playback of 5.1 channel material that is
not Dolby Digital Surround EX encoded. In such case the
information delivered to the Surround Back channel will
be program dependent and may or may not be very
pleasing depending on the particular soundtrack and the
tastes of the individual listener.
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CINEMA DSP
Since the Dolby Surround and DTS systems were
originally designed for use in movie theaters, their effect
is best felt in a theater having many speakers and designed
for acoustic effects. Since home conditions, such as room
size, wall material, number of speakers, and so on, can
differ so widely, it’s inevitable that there are differences in
the sound heard as well. Based on a wealth of actually
measured data, YAMAHA CINEMA DSP uses
YAMAHA original sound field technology to combine
Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Digital and DTS systems to
provide the visual and audio experience of movie theater
in the listening room of your own home.
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