THX Ltd. is an American company founded in 1983 by George Lucas and it is headquartered in San Francisco, California. It develops the "THX" high fidelity audio/visual reproduction standards for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, gaming consoles, car audio systems, and video games. THX Ltd. is a subsidiary of Razer Inc.. The current THX was created on June 12, 2002 when it spun off from Lucasfilm Ltd. THX was developed by Tomlinson Holman at George Lucas's company, Lucasfilm, in 1983 to ensure that the soundtrack for the third Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi, would be accurately reproduced in the best venues. THX was named after Holman, with the "X" standing for "crossover" or "experiment" as well as in homage to Lucas's first film, THX 1138. The distinctive glissando up from a rumbling low pitch used in the THX trailers, created by Holman's coworker James A. Moorer, is known as the "Deep Note". The THX system is not a recording technology and it does not specify a sound recording format: all sound formats, whether digital or analog, can be "shown in THX". THX is a quality assurance system. THX-certified theaters provide a high-quality, predictable playback environment to ensure that any film soundtrackmixed in THX will sound as near as possible to the intentions of the mixing engineer. THX also provides certified theaters with a special crossover circuit whose use is part of the standard. Certification of an auditorium entails specific acoustic and other technical requirements; architectural requirements include a floating floor, baffled and acoustically treated walls, non-parallel walls, a perforated screen, and NC30 rating for background noise. In 2002, THX was owned by sound card manufacturer Creative Technology Limited, which held a 60% share of the company. The company has had a long history with Creative, which was responsible for the creation of the first THX-certified audio card for computers, the Sound Blaster Audigy 2. In 2016, THX was acquired by videogame hardware company Razer Inc., with Razer owning all of THX and its intellectual property.
THX has created a certification process for additional products including home audio, home theater, video, and automotive sound components and products. THX certification extends to home audio receivers, speakers, desktop systems, soundbars, acoustic materials, microphones, and HDMI cables.
Ultra2
THX's Ultra2 certification is given for home theater components said to be good enough for a large home cinema of or more.
Select2
THX's Select2 certification is given for home theater components said to be good enough for medium-sized rooms, up to in size, with a viewing distance from the screen.
I/S Plus Systems
THX's I/S Plus systems include an AV Receiver + Speaker Bundle and are certified to fill a small home theater or dorm room where the viewing distance from the screen is. These THX certified home theater in a box systems are so far exclusively made by Onkyo. and Enclave Audio.
Multimedia Products
THX Certified Multimedia Products are designed and engineered for PC gaming and multimedia on the desktop.
Video
THX-certified video displays include a THX mode which allows users to see a program or movie as the creator intended.
