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THX is an exclusive set of standards and technologies established
to make your experience of the film soundtrack as faithful as pos-
sible to what the director intended. Movie soundtracks are mixed in
special movie theaters called dubbing stages and are designed to
be played back in movie theaters with similar equipment and condi-
tions. The soundtrack created for the movie theater is then trans-
ferred directly onto Laserdisc, VHS tape, DVD, etc., and is not
changed for playback in a small home theater environment. THX
engineers developed patented technologies to accurately translate
the sound from the movie theater environment into the home, cor-
recting the tonal and spatial errors that occur. When the THX mode
is on, the following three THX technologies are automatically added
after the decoded signal:
Re-Equalization™ - The tonal balance of a film soundtrack will be
excessively bright and harsh when played back over audio equip-
ment in the home because the film soundtracks were designed to
be played back in large movie theatres using very different profes-
sional equipment. Re-Equalization restores the correct tonal bal-
ance for watching a movie soundtrack in a small home environment.
Timbre Matching™ - The human ear changes our perception of a
sound depending on the direction from which the sound is coming.
In a movie theater, there is an array of surround speakers so that the
surround information is all around you. In a home theater, you use
only two speakers located to the side of your head. The Timbre
Matching feature filters the information going to the surround speak-
ers so that they more closely match the tonal characteristics of the
sound coming from the front and surround speakers.
Adaptive Decorrelation™ - In a movie theater, a large number of
surround speakers help create an enveloping surround sound ex-
perience, but in a home theater there are usually, only two speak-
ers. This can make the surround speakers sound like headphones
that lack spaciousness and envelopment. The surround sounds
collapse into the closest speaker as you move away from the middle
seating position. Adaptive Decorrelation slightly changes on sur-
round 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 theater.
When you select the AC-3 THX, DTS THX, or PROLOGIC THX
modes, all three enhancements are active (On). When you select
the AC-3 RE-EQ, DTS RE-EQ, or PROLOG RE-EQ modes, the re-
equalizer is active (On) and the Timbre Match and Decorrelation
filters are off.
Pro Setup - THX - Re-EQ, Timbre Match, & Decorrelate
The Cinema Rhapsody
permits you to selectively
engage the Re-Equalization,
Timbre Match, and
Decorrelation filters
individually. These
enhancements, when all three
are on, are equal to full THX.
Thus, you can more simply
turn all three enhancements to
on by simply selecting either
the AC-3 THX, DTS THX, or
PROLOGIC THX modes using
the MODE knob.
You can also directly select
the AC-3 RE-EQ, DTS RE-EQ
or PROLOG RE-EQ modes
using the MODE knob. Please
note, that these
enhancements are only
available on a Dolby Digital
(AC-3) mode, DTS Mode, or
Dolby Pro Logic mode.