THX: Difference between revisions

'''THX''' is a motion picture quality certification system (despite being branded as a "sound system" until 1997) founded by Tomlinson Holman and George Lucas in 1983 (in turn was then-owned by [[Lucasfilm Ltd.]] until June 2002, when spun-off as its present-day company - THX Ltd.), named after the first film Lucas directed, '''''THX''' 1138''. The first THX film was 1983's hit movie ''Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi''. THX officially stands for "'''T'''omlinson '''H'''olman's e'''X'''periment". THX certifies fine-tuned home theater equipment, TiVo DVRs, and some PCs. They have previously certified physical media such as VHS, LaserDisc, DVD and Blu-ray (and HD-DVD; [[THX#14th Trailer (Tex 3: Action) (June 9, 2006-2007)|''Brave Story'']] in Japan and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp2Ov3TDzBs ''Pan's Labyrinth''] in [[THX (France)|France]] only) until around late 2012, as well as [[THX Certified Games|video games]] until 2010. Previously owned by sound card manufacturer Creative Technology, THX was acquired by gaming peripheral manufacturer Razer on October 17, 2016.

** The LaserDisc variant was first used with the May 1994 LaserDisc release of the 1993 film of ''The Three Musketeers'', and on an animated film for the first time that September with ''Aladdin''.

** The first release to use the Lucasfilm Ltd. variant was the [[Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection|Masterpiece Collection]] edition of ''Fun & Fancy Free''. All THX certified Disney tapes would use this variant until around late 2001, and then alternated with the Digitally Mastered variant until December 2003, ending with the 2003 remake of ''Freaky Friday''.

'''Availability:''' Seen in THX-certified theaters at the time. Although the THX Ultimate Demo Disc claims the trailer debuted in late 1999, this trailer did indeed debut on ''Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace'' in May 1999. This also appears on ''The Adventures of Indiana Jones'' (2003 release only), ''The THX Ultimate Demo Disc'' and the ''Lucasfilm THX Surround EX Demonstration Disc''.

'''Visuals:''' In a darkly-lit environment, the screen zooms in toward a glassy {{color|deepskyblue|light blue}} sphere, which has clouds rolling and lightning flickering. As the environment illuminates is that the sphere is barely hovering over a textured {{color|dodgerblue|blue}} floor. Suddenly, the sphere shatters, and the sky is revealed to contain several rolling {{color|gray}} clouds. The glass then liquefies and gathers in the center. Some lightning strikes it and forms a {{color|silver}} THX logo. If one looks closely while the logo forms, one can see rain pouring down. Then, the environment fades to black as "LUCASFILM", spaced out to fit the width of the THX logo, fades in on top of it and a shimmering {{color|dodgerblue|blue}} rectangle (the same one from "Broadway") is drawn clockwise around the logo (like a laser). The logo fades out as the text "Digitally Mastered for Optimal Audio and Video Performance" (à la Broadway) fades in.

* A <u>4:3 matted version</u> exists, but only for fullscreen DVDs; it has ''never'' appeared on VHS.