Thx; Thx Ultra; Thx Surround Ex - Klipsch THX ULTRA2 User Manual

Mono
Any DTS signal can be downmixed and reproduced by the center channel
of the system by pressing the Mono button. If the center channel is not
present, the mono signal will be reproduced by the left and right front
speakers. You can make the Stage One downmix any DTS soundtrack to
stereo or mono by pressing the corresponding button on the remote con-
trol's Modes page.
DTS ES Matrix soundtracks contain a surround back channel matrix
encoded into the two primary surround channels. The Stage One can
extract and reproduce this extra channel when surround back speakers are
present in the system. These soundtracks are backwards-compatible and
can be played on a system containing any number of speakers, but to
achieve the full effect you must have the full complement of speakers. The
Stage One will automatically detect the presence of a DTS ES Matrix bit-
stream and will decode the signal appropriately for the speaker configura-
tion in use.
DTS ES Discrete soundtracks contain a discrete surround back channel in
addition to the two primary surround channels. The Stage One can decode
and reproduce this extra channel when surround back speakers are pres-
ent in the system. These soundtracks are backwards-compatible and can
be played on a system containing any number of speakers, but to achieve
the full effect you must have the full complement of speakers. The Stage
One will automatically detect the presence of a DTS ES Discrete bitstream
and will decode the signal appropriately for the speaker configuration in
use.

THX

The Stage One can apply THX post-processing to Dolby Digital, DTS, and Pro
Logic II decoding.
THX Cinema Processing
THX is an exclusive set of standards and technologies established by the
world-renowned film production company, Lucasfilm Ltd. THX grew from
George Lucas' personal desire to make your experience of the film sound-
track, in both movie theaters and in your home theater, as faithful as possible
to what the director intended.
Movie soundtracks are mixed in special movie theaters called dubbing stages
and are designed to be played back in movie theaters with similar equipment
and conditions. This same soundtrack is then transferred directly onto
Laserdisc, VHS tape, DVD, etc., and is not changed for playback in a small
home theater environment.
THX engineers developed patented technologies to accurately translate the
sound from the movie theater environment into the home, correcting the tonal
and spatial errors that occur. On this product, when the THX indicator is on,
THX features are automatically added in Cinema modes (e.g. THX Cinema,
THX Surround).
Re-Equalization
The tonal balance of a film soundtrack will be excessively bright and harsh
when played back over audio equipment in the home because film sound-
tracks were designed to be played back in large movie theaters using very dif-
ferent professional equipment. Re-Equalization restores the correct tonal bal-
ance for watching a movie soundtrack in a small home environment.
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 sur-
round speakers so that the surround information is all around you. In a home
theater, you use only two speakers located to the side of your head. 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, but 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 speak-
ers–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 require-
ments cover every aspect of the product including pre-amplifier performance
and operation, and hundreds of other parameters in both the digital and ana-
log domain.

THX Surround EX

In a movie theater, film soundtracks that have been encoded with Dolby
Digital Surround EX technology are able to reproduce an extra channel, which
has been added during the mixing of the program. This channel, called
Surround Back, places sounds behind the listener in addition to the currently
available front left, front center, front right, surround right, surround left and
subwoofer channels. This additional channel provides the opportunity for more
detailed imaging behind the listener and brings more depth, specious
ambience and sound localization than ever before.
Movies that were created using the Dolby Digital Surround EX technology,
when released into the home consumer market may exhibit wording to that
effect on the packaging. A list of movies created using this technology can be
found on the Dolby web site at www.dolby.com. A list of available DVD
software titles encoded with this technology can be found at www.thx.com.
Only receiver and controller products bearing the THX Surround EX logo,
when in the THX Surround EX mode, faithfully reproduce this new technology
in the home.
This product may also engage the "THX Surround EX" mode during the play-
back of 5.1 channel material that is not Dolby Digital Surround EX encoded. In
such case the information delivered to the Surround back channel will be pro-
gram dependent and may or may not be very pleasing depending on the par-
ticular soundtrack and the tastes of the individual listener.
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