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Additional Information
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, only
two speakers located to the side of your head are used. 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, while 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 creates—with only two speakers—the
same spacious surround experience as in a movie theater.
THX Ultra2™:
Before any home theater component can be THX Ultra2
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 Ultra2 logo, which is your
guarantee that the Home Theater products you purchase will
give you superb performance for many years to come. THX
Ultra2 requirements cover every aspect of the product
including power amplifier performance, pre-amplifier
performance and operation, as well as hundreds of other
parameters in both the digital and analog domain.
In addition to improvements to the power amplifier with
respect to previous THX Ultra standards, three surround
modes have been added: the THX Ultra2 Cinema mode, THX
Music Mode and THX Games Mode.
THX Ultra2 Cinema:
THX Ultra2 Cinema mode plays 5.1 movies using all 8
speakers giving you the best possible movie watching
experience. In this mode, new THX 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
Ultra2 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 Ultra2 Cinema mode will apply
processing to provide optimum replay.
THX Music Mode:
For the replay of 5.1 multi-channel music the THX Music
Mode should be selected. In this mode new THX processing
is applied to the surround channels of all 5.1 encoded music
sources such as DTS and Dolby Digital to provide a wide
stable rear soundstage.
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 5.1 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 Games Mode is unique as it gives you a
smooth transition of audio in all points of the surround field.
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) placing
the two Surround Back speakers close together facing the
front of the room as shown in the diagram will provide the
largest sweet spot. If for practical reasons you have to place
the Surround Back speakers apart, you will need to go THX
Audio Set-up 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 new modes; THX Ultra2 Cinema, THX
Music Mode and THX Games Mode.
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. BGC can be selected by
choosing “THX Ultra2 Subwoofer–Yes” from the “Boundary
Gain Compensation” section of the THX Audio setup menu.
THX and Re-EQ, THX Timbre Matching, THX Adaptive
Decorrelation, and THX Advanced Speaker Array are
trademarks of THX Ltd. THX may be registered in some
jurisdictions. All rights reserved.