THX Demo Trailers HD and SD

THX Demo Trailers HD Types

Although the original plan was to be a certificaction for cinemas, nowadays there is a classification of the certifications for a greater variety of products according to type. This helps us acquire the products that best adapt to our necessities. Therefore, it is important to know each of these classifications before making a purchase.


These are some examples of THX Demo Trailers HD:

• THX Ultra. For those components which doesn’t depend on the size of the room, such as Blu-ray players, cables and projectors.
• THX Ultra2. It covers the components designed for big rooms where viewers are very distanced from the screens and the speakers. These are audio receivers, acoustic boxes, high power amplifiers and systems of 7.1 channels, among others.
• THX Select and THX Select2. Components for smaller rooms belong to this category, such as a TV room of an average house, where viewers are from 3 meters from the screen. It covers low power amplifiers, simpler speakers and 5.1 systems.
• THX I/S Plus Systems. For example, equipment for smaller rooms like a bedroom.
• THX Certified Multimedia. Products for a short distance, such as audio cards and computer speakers.

Everything you need to know about the THX certification

If you pay special attention to details, you’ll have noticed the distinguishing logotype of the THX certification on a great variety of audiovisual material: DVDs, Blu-ray, VHS tapes, videogames, TVs or car and home audio equipment. Besides, depending on the country where you live, you have probably seen this acronym in your favorite cinemas. A common confusion of the general public is believing that THX is an audio coding format, which is not right. The purpose of this mark is to indicate that the final product that has it complies with a group of standard requirements. During its production the THX certification guarantees a high-fidelity sound.

Quality control

This quality control has its origin at the beginning of the 80s next to the Star Wars Episode V. That was the time when George Lucas, the owner of Lucas film, the company that would create the THX, noticed that the audio quality of movies in most cinemas didn’t fulfill the movie producer’s expectations in terms of fidelity.

These deficiencies led George Lucas to hire Tomlinson Holman, an audio expert, to perform several studies during the production of Star Wars: Episode VI, determine the ideal acoustic condition for cinemas and supervise the mixing techniques in the postproduction of the movie. The objective was clear: the original soundtrack of the final product had to represent what the director and the composer wanted to transmit faithfully. Both the first cinema room and the first movie with a THX certification, Star Wars: Episode VI (Los Angeles in 1983).


The origin of this acronym is uncertain. It makes reference to George Lucas’ first movie, THX 1138. It is also commonly believed that it stands for Tomlinson Holman experiment.

Animations, THX surround sound demonstration. History and evolution.

Those cinemas that have a THX certification often show some kind of THX Demo Trailers HD before the movie. Those are basically short presentations through which you can test the sound systems and the acoustic conditions of the room. Sometimes, these THX Demo Trailers HD tend to reach a very high volume, and it is easy to find testimonials who post comments around the internet to say that this type of THX demonstration caused them fear when they went to the cinema.

The THX intro is another element that has evolved since its first appearance; there was a small introduction titled “Wings”, which was followed by a text explaining how the audio systems in cinemas hadn’t changed much in the last 35 years and that they were about to experience this brand new system. Some years later, several versions of this intro appeared, and each of them finished with the common Deep Note Sound. This was shown even with some popular cinema characters, such as Shrek and Horton the elephant. One of the most relevant ones has been the THX Amazing Life and THX tex, a visual and audio wonder. You can see more THX Demo Trailers HD by clicking the THX intro section.

THX Test: Sound Tests

Actually, to check and calibrate the multiple equipment with a THX certification, THX Ltd. provides the THX Demo Trailers HD. These are discs that include a group of THX Audio tests that cover the different registers of the audible sounds range by humans with the purpose of setting and equalizing our equipment to achieve the best quality according to the place where they are and the type of content.

Also, to check the bass and subwoofers capacity, there are THX Bass tests. This audio tracks have frequencies that sound very low or deep, only for the best quality equipment. The fact that a machine doesn’t have a THX certification doesn’t mean it is bad. However, the presence of this mark indicates that it has been produced by complying with a quality standard supported by an important company with wide experience. Besides, thanks to its classification system, we have a clearer panorama to choose the equipment that best adapts to our necessities.