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Razer Acquires THX, the Audio Pioneer That George Lucas Started (venturebeat.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from VentureBeat: Most of us know THX as the logo that comes up when we hear that zooming sound at the start of a film in a surround-sound movie theater. The company is a pioneer in audio technology, and today, gamer gear maker Razer is announcing that it has acquired the majority of THX Ltd.'s assets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Irvine, Calif.-based Razer said that it has also hired the management team and employees of THX, which George Lucas started in 1983 to develop audio-visual reproduction standards for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, game consoles, and car audio systems. It will be an interesting match with Razer, which makes laptops and peripherals for game fanatics. THX will operate as an independent startup under its own management and apart from the ongoing business of its parent company. The audio technology business will have discretion to seek agreements with other product makers, service providers and financial partners apart from Razer.
Movie theaters that were THX certified used to be a big deal. It meant they met standards on equipment quality and maintenance. Projector bulbs were replaced - projectors were clean, you had to have decent quality screens with proper gain, and properly sized and tuned sound equipment for the theater.
Then they stopped caring. I remember seeing a movie at the only THX certified theater in the area in the late 90s. The movie was so dim half the picture was pushed to complete blackness most of the time, and one of the subwoofers was clearly shot (RATTLERATTLERATTLE)
Then came the multiple fiascos with THX certified DVDs released with screwed up matting, pulldown flags set incorrectly, and all kinds of color timing problems.
It was a good idea, marketed wrong and managed poorly.
My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
Having seen how much their keyboards and peripherals suck, I'm sure that that bought a shitty company that makes an obsolete audio standard.
Their keyboards use inferior and broken cherry clones, and cost more than the original switches.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/2d5uff/is_it_true_that_razer_keyboards_are_bad/?utm_source=mweb_redirect&compact=true
...but apparently we're now using it to describe companies which have been in business for three-plus decades and are simply changing ownership.
Tomlinson Holman, the TH in THX, left THX to co-found Audessey.
For those not in the know, the Audessey calibration system and hardware many home cinema receivers come with addresses the problems the great majority of users have: Room correction and EQ. It did to home cinema what THX did to the movie studio mixing room and movie theater.
Of course, just using Audessey is not going to be a magic bullet. You still need to have a room with good control over ringing, etc. You still have to know where to put your speakers. And you still need your speakers to be at least in the same family. But if you put in the effort, start with semi-competent hardware and maybe tweak a little what Audessey comes up with, you will have sound better than most has-been multiplexes.
In short, Tomlinson Holman has done more for movie sound in the cinema and in the home than people realize.
The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
Soon, THX will be a line of cheapo crap headphones and speakers sold at Wal-Mart. It was good while it lasted.
How ya like dat?
I remember the THX intro on the Terminator 2 LaserDisc. I'd crank up the volume and I could hear the DDOooooooooWWAHHHHH and my wife yelling at me all at the same time.
How come there is no mention of where they bought the majority of THX from? Didn't Creative Labs buy them originally? I think that was when we started getting the computer THX certified speakers. Also THX certified theaters and movies seemed to disappear at the same time. It's too bad because THX Theaters really did sound much better, evan than Dolby DTS Theaters.
Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
Remember when everyone had Top Gun on LD? And then had it again on DVD? Pepper... you know
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Most of us know THX as the logo that comes up when we hear that zooming sound at the start of a film...
Don't you see the problem with the current Slashdot? Summaries do not target nerds, or anyone minimally interested in technology. Some years ago, most of us would have known THX, many of us would have known the intricacies of multichannel digital sound encoding, and some of us would have indeed worked in the field, possibly in THX itself. Comments on the news would come in first person. But right know, news target a general audience, so there is not enough detail for people interested in the very details of the topics.
Any advice on alternatives to find news for nerds, with a good commenting and moderation system?
I stopped buying Razer when their mouse driver turned into always-on spyware which required an on-line account to work.
https://youtu.be/nu0R96OZy6w