Editing THX (section)

{{short description|Theater standard and American audio company founded in 1983 by George Lucas}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox company
| name = THX Ltd.
| logo = [[File:THX logo.svg|frameless|class=skin-invert]]
| logo_alt = The logo, depicting the underlined capital letters "THX", with a taller "T" top extending over the other two letters.
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| founders = [[George Lucas]]<br />[[Tomlinson Holman]]
| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|Tuyen Pham ([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])|Aaron Endo ([[Chief financial officer|CFO]])|[[Tomlinson Holman]] (original developer)|[[George Lucas]]}}
| industry = [[Motion picture industry]]
| services = {{Unbulleted list|[[Sound recording and reproduction]]|[[Quality assurance]]|[[Audio crossover]]}}
| revenue = 
| num_employees = 
| parent = {{Plainlist|
* [[Lucasfilm]]<br />(1983–2002)
* [[Creative Technology]]<br />(2002–2016)
* [[Razer Inc.]]<ref name="Razer buys audio-visual firm THX to cash in on growing Chinese cinema market">{{Cite news|url=http://www.scmp.com/business/article/2028759/razer-buys-audio-visual-firm-thx-cash-growing-chinese-cinema-market|title=Razer buys audio-visual firm THX to cash in on growing Chinese cinema market|newspaper=South China Morning Post|access-date=2016-10-17}}</ref><br />(2016–present)
}}
| homepage = {{URL|thx.com}}
| foundation = {{start date and age|1983|5|20}}
| location_city = [[San Rafael, California]]
| location_country = U.S.
}}

'''THX Ltd.''' is an American audio company based in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]]. It is known for its suite of digital [[high fidelity]] audiovisual reproduction standards for [[movie theater]]s, screening rooms, [[home theater]]s, [[computer speaker]]s, [[video game console]]s, [[car audio system]]s, and [[video game]]s. The THX trailer that precedes compliant films is based on the [[Deep Note]], with a distinctive [[glissando]] up from a rumbling low pitch.

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's initials, with the "X" standing for "[[audio crossover|crossover]]"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rinzler |first1=J.W. |title=The Sounds of Star Wars |year=2010 |publisher=Chronicle Books |location=San Francisco |isbn=978-0-8118-7546-2 |page=146}}</ref> or "experiment". The name is also an homage to Lucas's first film, ''[[THX 1138]]'' (1971). Deep Note was created by Holman's co-worker [[James A. Moorer]].

THX is a [[quality assurance]] system, not a [[recording technology]]. All sound recording formats, whether digital ([[Dolby Digital]], [[DTS, Inc.|DTS]], [[Sony Dynamic Digital Sound|SDDS]]) or analog ([[Dolby Stereo]], [[Ultra Stereo]]), can be reproduced in a THX system. THX-certified theaters provide a high-quality, predictable playback environment to ensure that any film soundtrack [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixed]] in THX will sound as near as possible to the intentions of the mixing engineer. THX also provides certified theaters with a special [[audio crossover|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]], [[Sound baffle|baffled]] and [[acoustical treatment|acoustically treated]] walls, non-parallel walls (to reduce [[standing wave]]s), a perforated screen (to allow [[center channel]] continuity), and NC 30 rating for background noise ("ensures noise from air conditioning units and projection equipment does not mask the subtle effects in a movie's soundtrack").<ref name="THXatCC">{{Cite web| title= THX Certified Cinemas| url=http://www.thx.com/professional/cinema-certification/thx-certified-cinemas/| publisher=THX, Ltd.| access-date=2013-07-29}}</ref>

On June 12, 2002, THX was [[Corporate spin-off|spun off]] as a separate company from Lucasfilm<ref name="NewGalaxy">{{cite web |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hollywoodreporter/convergence/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1513406 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020811013001/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hollywoodreporter/convergence/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1513406 |archive-date=2002-08-11 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |title=Lucas' THX stakes out new galaxy |first=Sheigh |last=Crabtree |date=2002-06-12 |access-date=2013-04-19}}</ref> and sold to the [[sound card]] manufacturer [[Creative Technology Limited]], which held a 60% share of the company.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maclife.com/article/columns/law_apple_ifone_defeats_iphone_thx_targets_apple |title=Law & Apple: iFone Defeats iPhone, THX Targets Apple |first=Adrian |last=Hoppel |publisher=[[MacLife]] |date=2013-03-20 |access-date=2016-10-25 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907061706/http://www.maclife.com/article/columns/law_apple_ifone_defeats_iphone_thx_targets_apple |archive-date=2015-09-07 }}</ref> Under Creative Technology, the company developed several further innovations, such as the first THX-certified audio card for computers, the [[Sound Blaster Audigy 2]]. In 2016, THX was acquired by American-Singaporean video game hardware company [[Razer Inc.]]<ref name="Razer buys audio-visual firm THX to cash in on growing Chinese cinema market"/><ref name="Razer buys THX">{{Cite web|title=Razer buys THX|date=17 October 2016 |url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/17/13309346/razer-buys-thx-lucasfilm}}</ref>

On September 12, 2024, THX announced Tuyen Pham would lead the subsidiary as chief executive officer.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 September 2024 |title=Immersive Audio Industry Leader, Tuyen Pham, Named as THX Ltd. Chief Executive Officer |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240912122385/en/Immersive-Audio-Industry-Leader-Tuyen-Pham-Named-as-THX-Ltd.-Chief-Executive-Officer }}</ref>