Techno Tidbits & Problem-solving
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 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 theater, a large number of surround speakers help create an enveloping surround sound experience, but in a home theater 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
THX Ultra™ :Before any home theater component can be THX Ultra 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 Ultra logo, which is your guarantee that the Home Theater products you purchase will give you superb performance for many years to come. THX Ultra requirements cover every aspect of the product including
THX Surround EX™ :THX Surround
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.
Advanced Speaker Array™ (ASA): When you set up your home theater system using all eight speaker outputs (Left, Center, Right, Surround Right, Surround Back Right, Surround Back Left, Surround Left and Subwoofer) and the two Surround Back speakers are placed close together as shown in the diagram on page 103, you can take advantage of THX's Advanced Speaker Array (ASA) technology.
ASA optimizes the surround sound experience using two new modes; THX Ultra2 Cinema and THX MusicMode. THX Ultra2™ Cinema mode: When presented with a multichannel digital signal (Dolby Digital, DTS, etc.) the
THX's ASA circuitry will automatically detect
Please note that some Dolby Digital Surround EX soundtracks are missing the digital flag that allows ASA to switch automatically. Therefore, if you know that the movie that you are watching is encoded in Surround EX, you may manually select the THX Surround EX playback mode.
THX MusicMode™: On some music DVDs the surround sounds are mixed quite differently than surround sounds mixed for movie soundtracks. ASA technology optimizes the play back of 5.1 encoded music sources such as DTS and Dolby Digital. Using all 8 speakers the THX MusicMode provides a wide stable rear soundstage, placing surround sounds best suited for music playback.
Boundary Gain Compensation™: Room boundaries (walls) or other characteristics (such as wall construction) may increase the perceived acoustics levels at low frequencies. Depending on the listener’s and the subwoofer’s position, the listener may experience an excessive bass effect. The purpose of this feature is to compensate for excessive bass resulting from a boundary gain effect. This feature is designed to operate when used with a subwoofer certified to THX Ultra2 specifications. If not used with a THX certified Ultra2 subwoofer then this feature will not operate correctly and its operation will be unpredictable. In the THX Audio setup menu choose “Ultra2 SW Setup”. Then choose “THX Ultra2
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