■THX Ultra2 Cinema mode

THX Ultra2 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. This mode permits the playback of a non Surround EX/ES encoded 5.1 movie to be played back over a

7.1system. DTS-ES (Matrix and 6.1 Discrete) and Dolby Digital Surround EX encoded soundtracks will be automatically detected, 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 Ultra2 Cinema mode will apply ASA processing to provide optimum replay.

■THX Ultra2 Music mode

For the playback of multi-channel music the THX Ultra2 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 Ultra2 Games mode

For the playback of stereo and multi-channel game audio the THX Ultra2 Games mode should be selected. In this mode THX ASA processing is applied to the surround channels of all 5.1 and 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 Ultra2 Games mode is unique as it gives you a smooth transition of audio in all points of the surround field.

■THX Loudness Plus

THX Loudness Plus is a new volume control technology featured in THX Ultra2 Plus™ and THX Select2 Plus™ Certified receivers. With THX Loudness Plus, home theater audiences can now experience the rich details in a surround mix at any volume level. A consequence of turning the volume below Reference Level is that certain sound elements can be lost or perceived differently by the listener. THX Loudness Plus compensates for the tonal and spatial shifts that occur when the volume is reduced by intelligently adjusting ambient surround channel levels and frequency response. This enables users to experience the true impact of soundtracks regardless of the volume setting. THX Loudness Plus is automatically applied when listening in any THX listening mode. The new THX Cinema, THX Music, and THX Games modes are tailored to apply the proper THX Loudness Plus settings for each type of content.

■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.

Glossary

■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.

■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.

■BGC (Boundary Gain Compensation)

If your chosen listening room layout (for practical or aesthetic reasons) results in the most of the listeners being close to the rear wall, the resulting bass level can be sufficiently reinforced by the boundary that the overall sound quality becomes “boomy”. THX Ultra2 receivers and controllers contain the BGC (Boundary Gain Compensation) feature to provide an improved bass balance. “Bndry Gain Comp” can be selected by setting “THX Ultra2 SWFR” to “Yes” in “THX Set” of “Manual Setup”.

■ASA (Advanced Speaker Array)

ASA is a proprietary THX technology which processes the sound fed to 2 side and 2 back surround speakers to provide the optimal surround sound experience. 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), be sure to go to the “THX Set” screen and choose the setting that most closely corresponds to the speaker spacing, which will re-optimize the surround sound-field. ASA is used in three modes; THX Ultra2 Cinema, THX Ultra2 Music and THX Ultra2 Games.

■Dialogue normalization

Dialogue Normalization (Dial Norm) is a feature of Dolby Digital, which is used to keep the programs at the same average listening level so the user does not have to change the volume control between Dolby Digital programs.

When playing back software which has been encoded in Dolby Digital, sometimes you may see a brief message in the front panel display which will read “Dial Norm X dB” (X being a numeric value). The display is showing how the program level relates with THX calibration level. If you want to play the program at calibrated theatrical levels, you may wish to adjust the volume. For example, if you see the following message: “Dial Norm + 4 dB” in the front panel display, to keep the overall output level at THX calibrated loudness, just turn down the volume control by 4 dB. However, unlike a movie theater where the playback loudness is preset, you can choose your preferred volume setting for best enjoyment.

Information

Additional

 

 

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