As Senior Director of Finance at THX Ltd., Margaret Schopp brings more than 20 years finance experience to the company. Schopp is responsible for managing all financial related activities including analysis, budgeting, reporting and identifying areas of fiscal improvement.

Prior to joining THX, Schopp was the founder of Schopp & Associates, an accountancy corporation, where she specialized in business valuations prepared in accordance with all applicable professional standards. Before starting Schopp & Associates, Schopp spent six years with Wild Brain, Inc., a media company, where she held positions as vice president of finance, corporate secretary and subsidiary CFO. Previous to that, Schopp served in various finance and accounting roles at Bank of America, Chiron Corporation, Deloitte, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and Snowball.com.

Schopp is a certified public accountant (CPA) and accredited in business valuations (ABV) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from California State University, East Bay, with an emphasis in accounting.

As Vice President of Engineering at THX Ltd., John White runs the engineering department leading product development within the company and oversees technical evaluation of new business and emerging technologies. As a recent addition to THX, White brings his experience of building and managing high performance engineering teams across consumer electronics, professional audio and entertainment technology markets to the company.

Prior to joining THX, White served as director of engineering at Digidesign/Avid, a leading creator of audio and video production tools, where he managed engineering on the VENUE console product line. Before that he co-founded and directed the technology development group at Dolby Laboratories, where he led the creation of Dolby Digital Plus and other coding algorithms. Previous to Dolby, White was part of the senior technical staff at Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development. Prior to that, White was touring audio engineer for musical artists including Pink Floyd, Paul Simon, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, Yes and others.

White is a Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) by the Scrum Alliance. White has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from University of Florida, a MSEE in Electrical Engineering from University of Florida and a BSEE from University of Virginia.

As Vice President of Technology Operations at THX Ltd., Peter Vasay oversees the THX Certification program as well as all product testing operations. He is responsible for managing a team of certification engineers and technicians that works with the world’s leading CE manufacturers including Epson, JVC, LG, Onkyo, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sharp, amongst others, to offer the highest quality audio and video home entertainment products. Vasay has expanded THX certification standards to include new categories that address current and future trends, such as THX Speaker Bar and THX Compact Speaker System Certification Programs.

With more than 15 years at THX, prior to Vasay’s current role, he served as technical operations and certifications manager, where he managed and directed engineering operations to test, analyze and evaluate a variety of CE products. He was also involved in new hardware product development, prototype construction and A/V demonstrations for business development. Vasay was also systems engineer at THX where he was responsible for conducting tests, recording data and analyzing results for CE manufacturers and partners.

Vasay holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering from California State University, Long Beach.

As Senior Vice President of Audio Research and Development at THX Ltd., Laurie Fincham manages all audio direction and research for the company, in addition to designing and developing new audio technologies. Fincham introduced Steerable Line Array technology in early 2011, which garnered significant attention from the industry for its innovation, unique design and variety of applications. With more than 13 years at THX, Fincham continues to pursue a lifetime passion for designing speaker systems and associated electronics.

Fincham has spent most of his working career in audio engineering, specializing in the theory and design of loudspeakers. He has designed drivers and systems for professional, domestic and musical instrument applications. Prior to THX, he worked for Celestion, Goodmans Loudspeakers and KEF Electronics in the United Kingdom before moving to the United States to work for Infinity Systems. In 1971, while at KEF Electronics, Fincham co-developed the first FFT based measurement system for stationary signal analysis.

Throughout his career, Fincham has received numerous honors and accolades including Lifetime Achievement awards from HiFi News and ALMA, The International Loudspeaker Association; he was also inducted into Home Cinema Choice’s Hall of Fame. Fincham is a life fellow of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) and a current member of the Acoustical Society of America. He has held several positions in numerous industry organizations, including chairman of the British Section, and governor and vice president international of the AES.

Fincham holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom.

As Senior Vice President at THX Ltd., Rick Dean brings more than 20 years of experience in the motion picture industry to help guide the strategic development of new technologies and THX certification programs. Dean is responsible for spearheading the development of all THX 3D certification initiatives and THX Media Director, a technology that aims to simplify home theater setup and operation, and preserve artistic intent.

Over the years, Dean has worked on numerous groundbreaking entertainment projects, including the DVD and D-cinema releases of Star Wars Episodes I, II and III. He served as technical director for the post-production of the Star Wars Trilogy DVDs, a project that has set new standards for sound and picture excellence in the DVD format. Dean transformed the THX mastering program from Laser Disc to standard definition DVD, D-cinema and Blu-ray disc formats.

Prior to joining THX, Dean was vice president of engineering at Deluxe Labs, Video Division. During his tenure there, he oversaw and performed mastering operations for Twentieth Century Fox.

Dean currently serves as Chairman the 3D@Home Consortium which represents consumer electronics manufacturers, studios, games developers and 3D technology providers to help drive standards for enabling the 3D market in the consumer’s home and commercial applications. He previously served as governor of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). In addition, Dean is a regular industry spokesperson, presenting papers and delivering speeches on various entertainment technologies across the globe.

As Associate Vice President of Sales at THX Ltd., Mary Crebassa is accountable for growing revenue worldwide for the company’s automotive, cinema, consumer electronics and education divisions. She leads a team in negotiating worldwide software licensing contracts with leading manufacturers, partners and customers. Prior to becoming associate vice president of sales, Crebassa was responsible for building and managing the THX Media Director partner program.

Previously, Crebassa was with Microsoft Corporation where she was an industry analyst in the media and entertainment group. Prior to that, she was the worldwide senior partner development manager in the communications division for the company. Before Microsoft, Crebassa was the Pacific Northwest regional sales vice president for GENUiTY, where she led regional sales and in less than a year, grew the region by more than 300 percent, recording sales with several Fortune 500 companies. Crebassa has also held sales and marketing leadership roles for companies including Bank of America, Digital Equipment Corporation, Pacific Bell, and most notably Aspirity, where she was tasked to sell the company within five years and successfully did so in less than two years to Hitachi Data Systems.

Crebassa has received numerous sales awards throughout her career including the “Sales Achiever Award” from Pacific Bell in 1995, 1996 and 1997; as well as Digital Equipment Corporation’s “San Francisco Sales District Pacesetter,” awarded twice, and the “DEC100,” awarded three times. Crebassa is a founding member of California Polytechnic State University’s (Cal Poly) Foundation Board and currently resides as assistant to the chair of the development committee. She is currently a member of Cal Poly’s President’s Council and Alumni Advisory Board for the College of Liberal Arts. In 2006 Crebassa was selected as the “Liberal Arts Alumnus of the Year” at Cal Poly.

Crebassa holds a Bachelor of Science in Speech Communications from California Polytechnic State University. She is also a graduate from the Data Communications Institute and from the Harvard Business Executive Negotiation Workshop.

The THX testing process usually begins early in product development. Manufacturers ship samples to the THX Testing Lab in Northern California where a team of expert technicians carefully analyzes each sample and produces reports on their findings. Big reports! They cover hundreds of data points and virtually every aspect of the product’s operational performance.

These findings are then sent to the manufacturer with suggestions for fixing any problems that could prevent certification. In many cases, THX requires the manufacturer to adjust the product’s design or firmware and integrate THX playback features to improve performance and meet the THX spec. Further testing, modifications, tweaks and upgrades are done, and the manufacturer sends back the product for final evaluation.

THX certification is either pass or fail. And product pricing is never a driving factor. If a product meets the THX testing standards, then certification is granted. With all of this testing from THX, the consumer is assured that the TV, receiver or speaker system they are purchasing meets the highest standards for quality and compatibility right out of the box.
Click here to find a THX Certified product.

Born out of the Star Wars legacy and tied to one of the world’s most acclaimed filmmakers, no other brand resonates with consumers as deeply, and with greater trust than THX.

One week after “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back” debuted in theaters, George Lucas hired audio scientist, Tomlinson Holman, to design the audio mixing facilities at Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in Northern California. To begin the project, Lucas gave Holman one year to examine film audio throughout the entire production chain—from the set to the theater, and everything in between. Holman’s goal was to find a way to improve cinematic sound production and create specifications to design the state-of-the-art audio mixing rooms that would eventually house Skywalker Sound.

During that year, Holman was shocked to discover the state of most commercial cinemas. While Dolby Laboratories had made significant contributions to how sound was recorded and played back on film, no one had control over what happened on the production set or in the theater itself. Holman found that most commercial theaters had not seen significant technology improvements since World War II. Viewing angles were poor, inadequate light levels distorted images, and the quality of sound systems and auditorium acoustics made it impossible to hear the dialogue, let alone experience the filmmaker’s vision.

Bringing the THX Experience to Moviegoers

After the Skywalker Sound audio facilities and Stag Theater were completed, Lucasfilm began receiving requests from visiting commercial theater owners and Hollywood studio executives to incorporate the Ranch’s performance standards into their cinema auditoriums and aging mixing rooms. Realizing that this could change the way moviegoers experienced feature films, Lucas and the soon-to-be THX team designed a certification program to go beyond the walls of Skywalker Ranch. Thus, THX was born, and made available to movie audiences to coincide with the release of Lucas’ next film, “Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi” in 1983.

“While filmmakers were spending millions of dollars and using new computer technology to perfect the sound and picture in the post-production studio, the quality was being lost on movie audiences,” said John Dahl, director of education and resident historian at THX Ltd. “By creating a set of standards for theater design and enforcing performance levels of presentation equipment, THX was ensuring that the film experience would translate from studios to every theater.”

From a technical standpoint, the THX Cinema Certification specifications consolidated presentation technologies from various sources into one set of design standards. These standards extend the frequency range of cinema loudspeakers, resulting in an even distribution of sound throughout the auditorium. They also allow sound designers to extend the dynamic range of sound effects and create a more enveloping presentation.

THX also sets guidelines for room acoustics, reverberation time and background noise, and noise isolation to ensure that every detail of the sonic presentation is accurately delivered the way the filmmaker intended. But it’s not just about sound. THX sets standards for viewing angles, projectors and onscreen lighting levels, to make sure that the best possible image is always displayed.

THX Certified Premier Screening Room - By Ambleside Logic

After revolutionizing the movie experience, THX realized that it needed to also focus its attention to the burgeoning home entertainment industry in the early 1990s. Why? There are a number of challenges that go along with presenting movies in the home. For example, movies are created in large mixing studios for playback in large, powerful cinema auditoriums. However, when played back in the home with just a couple of surround sound speakers and a receiver, a movie soundtrack does not sound the same.

With that knowledge in mind, THX began developing playback technologies and design standards to improve the way home audio and video products translate movies from the cinema and studio to your living room.

If you have a THX Certified AV receiver, you will notice that “0” represents a very loud volume level. This is what THX calls Reference Level. The goal of this setting is to mirror the exact volume level used by the filmmaker in the professional studio. So, when you are watching a movie and set the playback volume level at “0” on a THX Certified receiver, you will experience the soundtrack exactly like it was produced in the studio—with the same fidelity.

THX Does Video

We’re not just an audio company. THX has been working with video for years with its DVD mastering business, certifying hundreds of the world’s top DVD and Blu-ray disc releases—including the Star Wars trilogies and many Disney films. However, THX started playing a more visible role in HD consumer products with the launch of the THX Certified Display program in 2006. This certification program defines video quality and performance thresholds for plasma, LCD and projection HDTVs.

Much like THX audio certification, the THX Certified Display program provides the first true quality benchmark that consumers will be able to easily recognize when shopping for a new HDTV. THX display certification with THX Movie Mode recreates the cinema experience at home with vivid color and the deepest blacks. In fact, the certification is designed to recreate the same color levels used in the Blu-ray mastering studio, allowing you to experience every jaw dropping vista and explosion exactly like it was produced in the studio.

Regardless of the technology or price point, candidates for THX certification must meet or exceed acceptable performance thresholds. It’s either pass or fail. So, when you see an HDTV, home theater speaker or car audio system with a THX Certified logo, THX promises that it will be a truly great sound and video experience.

The Road Ahead

THX certification programs have defined quality and performance for a wide range of products and playback venues. Now, THX is developing technologies, such as THX Slot Speaker, THX Loudness Plus and THX Media Director™, that reach beyond its traditional product certifications to streamline content delivery and simplify AV setup and operation.

As new innovations shape our digital lifestyles and change the way entertainment is created, delivered and experienced, the expectations for high quality experiences will go hand in hand. Through collaborations with partners to produce and certify new products and venues, technologies for improving device usability, and training to spread knowledge throughout the world, THX will continue the quest for delivering the very best entertainment experiences—in the cinema, the home and on the go.

The famous THX crescendo, Deep Note, is like no other audio mark in the world. But where did it come from?

When THX was founded, the company was looking for a truly unique sound effect. A sound that would test the frequency and dynamic range of a theater’s acoustics and surround sound system, while also letting the audience realize that they weren’t in just any typical movie theater.

Working with the artists and engineers at Lucasfilm’s Skywalker Ranch, THX developed an algorithm that produced a beautiful and mysterious electronic sound. This creation continues to wow and impact audiences around the world and sets the stage for a superior entertainment experience.

A THX trailer consists of stunning audio and visual effects, with each trailer taking on its own personality. A few of the artists that have brought these trailers to life include, John Lasseter at Pixar, who conceived the animated character Tex; Gary Rydstrom, the seven-time Academy Award®-winning sound designer whose credits include “Jurassic Park” and “Finding Nemo;” Skywalker Sound’s Gary Rizzo and Steve Boeddeker; veteran composer, Marco d’Ambrosio; and Van Ling, the renowned visual effects supervisor.