THX Announces Media Director Partners

Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 1/23/2012

LAS VEGAS - THX used International CES to unveil a list of the first THX Media Director-enabled products from manufacturers, including Dune HD, Epson, Indy Audio Labs and Sharp.

THX Media Director is a technology that enables playing a wide range of media formats by allowing CE devices to automatically select the most appropriate audio and video settings.

The technology can be encoded into most CE devices and media formats including streaming content, Blu-ray and DVD discs, CDs, audio files, downloads and more.

THX Media Director captures specific creative and technical characteristics of audio and video content, including: content type, aspect ratio or size, film grain (for effect), 2D or 3D (and which form of 3D), and room size, to determine optimal audio surround sound.

Creators and content editors are able to record these specifics according to how the content was intended to be seen and heard, allowing THX Media Director enabled devices-such as Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, AVRs, and HD displays to automatically select the most appropriate playback settings.

The THX Media Director technology enables devices to automatically select the right settings from an experiential perspective, and allows post-production teams to set specific color parameters to ensure that a dark movie utilizes the appropriate black levels, allowing viewers to differentiate images and shades in darkened areas.

THX said the approach turns any kind of digital media into "smart content."

The technology is now being applied to a wide array of devices, chipsets and media formats from manufacturer partners.

"In continuing to partner with leading CE manufacturers, chip developers, content creators and authoring facilities, THX is delivering on its promise to bring this technology to consumers' living rooms," said Rick Dean, THX senior VP. "THX Media Director technology is a key contributor to the CE ecosystem, enabling the newest CE devices to deliver on the wow factor that consumers demand when they invest in home entertainment equipment."

Selected THX Media Director implementation partners and products including: Dune HD media players - the Dune HD Max and the Dune HD Smart B1, which will add the capability through a firmware upgrade.

Epson showed THX Media Director in an Epson projector and announced support in future models.

Indy Audio Labs demonstrated its Acurus products, including the Acurus ACT 4 THX Media Director enabled preamplifier and Acurus A2000 series multi-channel amplifiers.

Sharp showed new Elite TVs with THX Media Director technology.

THX also announced THX Media Director partnerships with JVC, LG and Onkyo.

Meanwhile, THX said it has established new THX Media Director authoring facilities for the content community to make more THX Media Director enabled Blu-ray, DVD and streaming titles available in 2012.

BluFocus - whose clients include Fox Home Entertainment, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Walt Disney Home Entertainment, Warner Brothers Home Video and others - is a developer of smart content, required to support THX Media Director.

BluFocus is also the first THX Media Director quality control facility, adding to its current menu of services for apps, digital downloads, Blu-ray, DVD and more

Deluxe Digital Studios is the first authoring facility in the U.S. to offer THX Media Director encoding with the delivery of the THX Certified and THX Media Director Enabled, Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray in September 2011.

Re:fine is the first THX Media Director partner in the U.K., authoring content for 3D Blu-ray Discs and delivering digital content to BT Vision, Hulu and iTunes. re:fine's first THX Media Director Enabled Blu-ray title, Truth or Dare, by Showbox Media Group, is scheduled for release in February, 2012 


Additional THX Media Director enabled devices and content are expected to launch throughout 2012.