Watch the THX Amazing Life Trailer

THX trailers have wowed movie going audiences for more than two decades and have become synonymous with great entertainment experiences. The storyline for Amazing Life provided a fun and entertaining way to demonstrate the power and performance of a THX Certified Cinema’s surround sound and projection system, while getting audiences excited for the feature presentation.

Original Artist Sketches from Eyestorm Productions

Amazing Life explores the lives of photo-realistic organisms growing from a metallic surface. As the story unfolds, the organisms grow to cover the surface of the metal, with each one communicating through their own unique sound. These sounds build upon each other, becoming more harmonious, and eventually culminate into the THX Deep Note crescendo. A final panning shot reveals the metallic surface to be the THX logo covered by these vibrant, living, musical creatures.

Early Graphic Comps

The creative and visual effects were led by Eyestorm Productions. Eyestorm Productions is a Venice Beach creative production company founded by former Lucasfilm artists, Kyle Ruddick and Michael Klima. Eyestorm also worked with Ohio-based band Low in the Sky to develop sound elements for the musical score.

Gary Rizzo and Marco d'Ambrosio at Skywalker Sound creating final mix of THX Amazing Life

THX turned to veteran composer, Marco d’Ambrosio, to perfect the more than 160 sound tracks featuring voices of “Speaker Flowers,” “Helicopter Plants” and other unique organisms. The final mix was completed at Lucasfilm’s Skywalker Sound under the direction of d’Ambrosio and award-winning re-recording mixer, Gary Rizzo. Rizzo gained recent acclaim for his work on “Batman: The Dark Knight” and “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

Watch more THX Trailers

THX Certified Runco Q-750 Projector

A few years back at CEDIA 2006, THX and Runco partnered to develop the world’s first THX Certified Projectors. This marked the launch of the THX Certified Display program for projectors and flat panel TVs, signaling to the world that THX was now focused on the visual side of home entertainment products…..as well as the audio.

Now, the two visionary companies have teamed to bring THX certification to the Runco VX-33i and VX-33d DLP® home cinema projectors and the QuantumColor™ Q-750i and Q-750d lampless LED home theater projectors.

Runco’s revolutionary QuantumColor™ projectors pair energy-saving LED technology with proprietary Runco engineering to create unsurpassed performance. In a recent review of the Runco Q-750d, Home Cinema Choice editor Steve May said the Runco LED technology “redefines what we can expect from projected color.” This is no surprise. Runco has defined projection quality for premium home theater installations for decades.

“We are thrilled to partner with Runco for these newest high performance projection systems, including the world’s first THX Certified LED projectors,” said Rick Dean, senior vice president of THX. “THX testing and certification aims to reproduce the detailed images, accurate colors and deep black levels found in the filmmaker’s studio, ensuring Runco projectors can deliver stunning visual experiences that are true to director’s vision.”

The new THX Certified projectors from Runco are only available through Runco’s Authorized Dealer Network. These dealers are trained by Runco to design, build and integrate custom home theaters into the most discriminating homes in the world to ensure precise and pristine performance.

For more information or to locate a local Runco dealer please visit www.runco.com.

Beaverton, OR – March 3, 2010 – Runco®, the leading brand in luxury home theater video solutions and pioneering partner that offered the first THX® Certified home theater projectors and display products, is pleased to announce that the Runco VX-33i and VX-33d DLP® home cinema projectors and the QuantumColor™ Q-750i and Q-750d lampless LED home theater projectors have each received THX Display certification. The goal of THX certification, which was founded by legendary filmmaker George Lucas, is to recreate the power and performance of the cinema in a home theater and these new Runco THX Certified projectors are precisely engineered to bring the ultimate video experience to exceptional home theaters.

Leveraging its expertise in the cinema and movie post-production, THX ensures that certified projectors perform to the rigorous standards outlined in the THX Certified Display program. THX is concerned purely with video performance; their design and testing standard is precise, rigorous and only the best video products achieve THX certification. The THX program is an assurance to buyers that high-definition (HD) and standard-definition (SD) content can be projected with accurate color, luminance levels and video processing capabilities.

The Runco VideoXtreme™ VX-33i and VX-33d home cinema projectors feature the most advanced display technology featuring an ingeniously-engineered 3-chip DLP™ light engine with 1080p SuperOnyx™ DMD™, and Runco-proprietary Vivix™ video processing and scaling to create a truly enveloping and realistic experience. Utilizing proprietary O-Path™ technology and Imaging Science Foundation (ISF™) exacting calibration standards, Runco ensures that light is efficiently culminated in the VX-33i and VX-33d to project ultra-high resolution and brightness, making the VX-33i and VX-33d the perfect projectors to complement even the largest projection screens (greater than 120-inch diagonals) found in the spectacular home cinemas of today’s luxury residences.

The revolutionary QuantumColor lampless LED projectors maximize the benefits of Runco’s new InfiniLight™ illumination technology and pair it with proprietary engineering breakthroughs to create energy-efficient home theater projectors that deliver must-see performance. Runco’s proprietary technologies enable the QuantumColor Series to achieve a new level of customized HD video performance, color production and color management that, until now, has been unachievable in home theater projection. QuantumColor projectors produce immeasurable black/white contrast, deliver definitive ColorContrast™ and redefine projector specifications in the industry today.

THX has created a wide range of tests for projection and display products based on cinema and video industry best practices and proprietary THX methodologies. This includes tests for signal processing and image quality. During the certification process, Runco projectors are thoroughly analyzed by THX to ensure that they can present content at the best possible resolution with the correct levels. If necessary, THX also identifies and minimizes sources of motion artifacts, image ghosting, dropped frames and picture noise, and makes recommendations for improving product performance.

“We are thrilled to partner with Runco for these newest high performance projection systems, including the world’s first THX Certified LED projectors,” said Rick Dean, senior vice president of THX. “THX testing and certification aims to reproduce the detailed images, accurate colors and deep black levels found in the filmmaker’s studio, ensuring Runco projectors can deliver stunning visual experiences that are true to director’s vision.”

THX Certified Display testing is summarized at www.thx.com and includes the following:

Image Quality Testing
• Luminance
• Contrast
• Color Gamut
• Gamma
• Uniformity
• Max Resolution

Video Signal Processing Testing
• Scaling
• De-interlacing
• Motion/Video Conversion
• Contouring
• Noise Reduction

Runco THX Certified projectors are only available through Runco’s Authorized Dealer Network, which is comprised of the best custom home theater integrators in the world. These dealers are trained by Runco to design, build and integrate custom home theaters into the most discriminating homes in the world to ensure precise and pristine performance. For more information or to locate a local Runco dealer please visit www.runco.com.

About Runco

Founded in 1987 and acquired by Planar Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLNR) in 2007, Runco is a market leader in state-of-the-art home theater projection, flat-panel plasma and LCD displays, video processors and other components for the custom home theater market. Runco’s innovations have won numerous awards and citations from the world press. Runco continues to be a pioneer in custom video displays.
Planar Systems, Inc is a global leader of specialty display technology providing hardware and software solutions for the world’s most demanding environments including hospitals, space and military programs, utility and transportation hubs, shopping centers, banks, government agencies, businesses, and home theaters.

CineWall, CineWide, CinOptx, ConstantContrast, DMD, InfiniLight, InstallerDependent, InstantOn, Personal Color Equalizer, QuantumColor, Runco SmartColor, SuperOnyx, and Vivix , are trademarks of Runco International. ISFccc is a registered trademark of the Imaging Science Foundation.

TiVo has changed the way we all watch television with its easy-to-use interface and unrivaled playback quality. Today, at a press conference in New York, TiVo unveiled two new HD DVRs boasting a totally revamped user interface, enhanced search features and QWERTY remote.

According to Engadget, the new TiVo Premiere and Premiere XL let you search and sort for programs by season, episode and cast members. They also let you search across media sources, including cable programming, Amazon, Netflix and YouTube. This means if you type in “THX,” you might just find THX trailers on YouTube or the classic Lucasfilm flick “THX 1138” (along with other THX Certified titles) on Netflix.

The TiVo Premiere XL is THX Certified for audio and video quality. THX certification includes in-depth analysis of image quality and signal processing to ensure the TiVo DVRs record and replay with accurate color, contrast, and black/white levels.

The TiVo Premiere HD XL is also the first HD product to feature THX® Optimizer™, a video calibration tool that lets users fine tune color, black levels and other settings to improve picture quality. Hailed by critics for its ease-of-use, the exclusive THX Optimizer for TiVo is found in the features section of the DVR. A pair of THX Optimizer Blue Glasses, designed for adjusting Color and Tint settings, is included with the TiVo owner’s manual.

Other tech specs include 1080p output, a single multi stream CableCARD slots and eSATA jacks for expanded storage.

The new TiVo Premiere and XL DVRs will be available in Best Buy stores in April. The price? The $299 Premiere allows for 45 hours of HD recording on the 320GB hard drive, while the $499 XL can handle up to 150 hours with one terabyte + THX certification.

LG INFINIA Series TVs

LG has completely redesigned its 2010 LED LCD and Plasma TV line-up with the introduction of the INFINIA Series. Combining a slim design and thin bezel with enhanced connectivity options, including Skype and Netflix 2.0, the LG INFINIA LED LCDs and Plasmas deliver the perfect blend of style, sophistication and stunning visual performance.

The new LG INFINIA 9500 and 8500 LED LCD series, and LG INFINIA PK950 and PK750 Plasmas are among the world’s top performing TVs that have what it takes to be called THX Certified. They are also the first TVs to feature THX Bright Room, a new playback setting that lets you recreate cinematic image quality in home theaters with abundant ambient light.

LG Infinia LE9500 LED LCD TV

Product Spotlight: LG INFINIA LE9500

The INFINIA LE 9500 Series are the only LED LCD TVs to receive THX certification in the U.S. market and will be LG’s first 3D-ready models.

The LE9500 features include:
• Uni-layer design with ultra-slim (8.5MM) bezel
• Full LED Slim technology with Local Dimming, TruMotion 480Hz
• LG Magic Wand Remote
• NetCast Entertainment Access: Skype, Vudu, Netflix, Youtube, Yahoo! Widgets, and more
• THX Display Certification, featuring THX Movie Mode and THX Bright Room Mode

The THX Advantage

Filmmakers work hard to bring their vision to life. When their films are mastered in the studio, the color, black levels and other video parameters are carefully monitored and adjusted so that movies play back a very specific way in the home. THX certification helps recreate the filmmaker’s vision in your living room.

• THX Certified image quality: LG TVs are designed and tested to meet the rigorous THX standards for image quality and signal processing performance.
• Studio color, out-of-the-box: THX Movie Mode comes as close as possible to reproducing the HD Color Standard used by filmmakers in the studio.
• Optimized settings for ambient room lighting: THX Bright Room Mode sets luminance, black levels, gamma and backlighting for typical bright room conditions.

For more information about LG TVs, visit www.lgusa.com

Phil Hinton and David Mackenzie of the AV Forums visited THX after CES in January to uncover the “secret sauce” behind THX testing and certification.

With more than 4 million monthly visitors, AV Forums is the UK’s most popular online community for electronics and home theater enthusiasts. Everyday, Hinton and his colleagues review new displays, receivers and speaker products, moderate forums discussions and produce behind-the-scenes video tours of studios and manufacturing facilities.

During their visit to THX, AV Forums interviewed Rick Dean, Andrew Poulain, Laurie Fincham and other THX experts about the standards behind THX Certified Cinemas and Displays. They also learned a bit more about THX Media Director, a new technology for simplifying AV setup and operation.

Check out the latest AV Forums THX interviews at AVforums.com

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