THX - What is it good for?

[The Kipnis Studios]

THX corporation was first started by George Lucas with engineering by Tomlinson Holman in order to preserve the complex picture and sound experience inherent in the Star Wars films, and other productions from LucasFilm LTD.

A breakthrough approach to picture and sound standards, THX would begin small but end up huge and very influential in the movie, entertainment and internet industries.

From the THX website: THX was created in the early 1980's "when many commercial cinema venues around the world suffered from poor acoustics and had inadequate audio systems. Cinema loudspeakers hadn’t seen significant improvements since World War II, audience viewing angles were poor, and noise from adjacent theaters and the street often interfered with the on-screen presentation. According to George Lucas, the company’s founder, most theaters were failing to deliver a sound and picture presentation that matched the artistic vision of the filmmaker. He believed the filmmaking and cinema industries could benefit from a quality control standard to deliver a consistent level of performance. Lucas soon formed THX and developed a specification for how theaters should be designed, and how films should be presented to movie-going audiences."

Here is the entire THX PR Package:

http://www.thx.com/company/index.html

The system debuted for the first time with the release of "Return of the Jedi" in 1983, and the THX brand can now be found everywhere from movie theaters to home theater components, even in car audio, video games, the internet, and the like.

How do you feel THX has changed the movie (and home theater, personal entertainment) experience - either for the better or worse over the last 25 years?