Yamaha RX-V4600 owner manual THX Cinema processing, THX Games Mode, THX Music Mode, THX Select2

GLOSSARY

■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).

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.

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.

Timbre matching

The human ear changes our perception of sound depending on the direction from which it 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.

■THX Games Mode

For the replay of stereo and multi-channel game audio the THX Games Mode should be selected. In this mode THX ASA processing is applied to the surround channels of all

5.1and 2.0 encoded game sources such as analog, PCM, DTS and Dolby Digital. This accurately places all game audio surround information, providing a full 360 degree playback environment. THX Games Mode is unique as it gives you a smooth transition of audio in all points of the surround field.

■THX Music Mode

For the replay of multi-channel music the THX Music Mode should be selected. In this mode THX ASA processing is applied to the surround channels of all 5.1 encoded music sources such as DTS, Dolby Digital and DVD-Audio to provide a wide stable rear soundstage.

■THX Select2

Before any home theatre component can be THX Select2 certified, it must incorporate all the features described in THX Cinema processing and also pass a rigorous series of quality and performance tests. Only then can a product feature the THX Select2 logo, which is your guarantee that the Home Theatre products you purchase will give you superb performance for many years to come.

THX Select2 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.

■THX Select2 Cinema mode

THX Select2 Cinema mode plays 5.1 movies using all

8 speakers giving you the best possible movie watching experience. In this mode ASA processing blends the side surround speakers and back surround speakers providing the optimal mix of ambient and directional surround sounds.

DTS-ES (Matrix and 6.1 Discrete) and Dolby Digital Surround EX encoded soundtracks will be automatically detected in THX Select2 Cinema mode if the appropriate flag has been encoded.

Some Dolby Digital Surround EX soundtracks are missing the digital flag that allows automatic switching. If you know that the movie that you are watching is encoded in Surround EX, you can manually select the THX Surround EX playback mode; otherwise, THX Select2 Cinema mode will apply ASA processing to provide optimum replay.

112