THX manages AV settings for pros and consumers with Cinespace HD and Media Director

The Star Wars Blu-ray boxed set was the first movie to ship with THX's Media Director technology built-in, which works with compatible hardware to automatically configure AV settings for optimal quality on that title, so it's no surprise the Lucasfilm produced Red Tails is next up for the treatment. Of course, the key element there is compatible hardware, and unfortunately there's not much new to report there since it announced deals with HDI and a few others at CES, although we're assured the team is working on expanding support for its metadata from embedded chip manufacturers. On the content creation side THX also has something to offer with its cineCube HD, a slimmed down edition of its cineSpace offering designed to control color management at every step of the production process for the way it will eventually appear on Blu-ray. There's more details on exactly what it does and how in the press releases, although the real proof will likely be seen in the movies and TV shows it's used on.

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THX MEDIA DIRECTOR™ BECOMES MORE READILY AVAILABLE TO CONSUMERS WITH UPCOMING LUCASFILM AND TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX TITLE, RED TAILS ON BLU-RAY™, DVD

Additional Partnerships with Industry's Top Quality Assurance Facilities Broaden Accessibility of THX Media Director Titles for Artistically Accurate, Shockingly Simple, High-Quality Home Entertainment
LAS VEGAS (NAB 2012 – Booth # SL14407) – April 16, 2012 – THX Ltd. today announced new additions to its THX Media Director™ ecosystem, including the upcoming Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment release of Red Tails on Blu-rayTM and DVD, and new quality assurance partners, The Testing Group and Testronic Labs. THX Media Director is a technology that transforms digital media into smart content, enabling CE devices (i.e., Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, AVRs, HD displays) to automatically select the audio and video settings that best represent the director's vision, vastly simplifying the home entertainment experience and preserving artistic intent.

Slated for release on May 22, the Red Tails Blu-ray set is the second Lucasfilm and Fox title to feature THX Media Director; the first being Star Wars: The Complete Saga, released in September 2011. THX worked with both companies to capture the picture and sound characteristics specific to this movie and encode that information on the THX Media Director enabled Red Tails Blu-ray and DVD products, so fans will be able to sit back and enjoy the high-flying, action-adventure film as its creators intended.

The promise of delivering a premium home entertainment experience to consumers around the world doesn't end there. THX recently partnered with The Testing Group and Testronic Labs, two of the world's top disc testing companies, to oversee the quality assurance of THX Media Director enabled content. In working with these types of facilities, THX enables content creators and artists to more easily preserve the ideal audio and video settings for movies, games, music and more – while taking the guesswork out for consumers.

The Testing Group – As a fully operational state-of-the-art testing facility serving the digital content and commerce marketplace, the Testing Group has partnered with THX as a testing lab that can verify THX Media Director technology, helping to support a more heightened and seamless consumer experience. With more than 30 years of experience, owners Lauren Evers and James Richardson have brought invaluable innovations and standards that have helped pave the way for rapid critical mass acceptance of DVD, Blu-ray and other digital applications.

Testronic Labs – The global leader in quality assurance services for film, television and a notable array of other industries, Testronic enjoys a close collaboration with major studios and premier content owners in safeguarding the consumer experience. An expert supplier of testing services for 18 certification programs, Testronic is uniquely positioned to ensure the highest quality consumer deliverables and now fully supports THX Media Director.

In the last year and a half, THX has grown its list of THX Media Director partners and customers to encompass leading CE manufacturers, chip developers, content creators, authoring facilities, streaming media content and Blu-ray Discs. THX continues to deliver on its promise to bring its technology to consumers' living rooms and intends to introduce additional THX Media Director enabled titles and devices to simplify and enhance the home entertainment experience.

THX At NAB 2012:
THX will be showcasing THX Media Director through demos and new THX Media Director enabled partners at NAB booth # SL14407. In addition THX will be showcasing its new cineCube™ HD application and its full suite of THX cineSpace™ color management tools.

THX ANNOUNCES NEW THX CINESPACE™ COLOR MANAGEMENT OFFERING
More In: NAB 2012, THX cineSpace, THX cineSpace Software
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THX cineCube™ HD Provides Cost-Effective, Ideal Solution for Facilities Specializing in HD Video Applications

LAS VEGAS (NAB 2012 – SL14407) – April 16, 2012 – THX Ltd. today announced a new component to its THX cineSpace™ Color Management Suite, the de facto standard in film and television post-production for achieving color accuracy and consistency through display calibration and profiling. THX cineCube™ HD is specifically designed to emulate the ITU-Rec. 709 (HD video color standard) color space for facilities specializing in television commercials, music videos, corporate videos and television programs.

The THX cineSpace toolset is used by production companies, post facilities, animation studios, VFX companies, game developers, DI facilities and others to produce and render near-perfect representations of how images will appear in final form. It is a cost-effective way to implement precision color management at every stage of content production, post-production and delivery. With specific requirements from creative artists about the way color is displayed, color matching is a lengthy, iterative cycle in post-production. THX cineSpace cuts down on these cycles by removing the guesswork when dealing with film images and producing accurate image representations which can be viewed and manipulated on a digital workstation monitor or projector.

The new THX cineSpace module, cineCube HD, offers all the functionality needed to calibrate and profile displays of any type – projectors, plasmas and LCDs so artists can color grade material confidently, knowing that what they see in the suite will be duplicated in the target viewing environment. cineCube HD licenses include the full version of cineProfiler™, a THX cineSpace component that optimizes and profiles output devices and creates accurate profiles for all viewing equipment including CRT, LCD screens, plasma displays, digital projectors and broadcast monitors.

"THX cineSpace technology has brought a new level of confidence to monitoring at our facility with its high-precision color management toolset. Managing color with THX cineSpace across all of our finish and color suites provides quality assurance for our customers and increased workflow efficiency," said Mark Pruett, owner of Nashville's Storyville Post. "The introduction of an affordable, simplified solution that offers the same quality as THX cineSpace is exciting. cineCube HD makes THX cineSpace technology more cost-effective to boutique operations like ours – facilities that may have a narrower range of color management concerns, but still require the same precision and results that the original THX cineSpace software provides."

THX At NAB 2012:
THX will be showcasing its new cineCube HD application and the full suite of THX cineSpace color management solutions at NAB booth #SL14407. In addition, THX will be demonstrating THX Media DirectorTM and highlighting its latest partners.

cineCube HD is available today through THX cineSpace resellers for $1,895 (one seat node).