Pioneer PDK-1014, VSX-2014i

Additional information

About THX

The THX technologies are explained below. See

www.thx.com for more detailed information.

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).

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 theaters using

very different professional equipment. Re-Equalization

restores the correct tonal balance 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 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.

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.

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 pre-amplifier and

power amplifier performance and operation, and

hundreds of other parameters in both the digital and

analog domain.

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.

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.

THX is a trademark or registered trademark of THX Ltd.

Surround EX is a jointly developed technology of THX and

Dolby Laboratories and is a trademark of Dolby

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