Audio Video News

First we had Dolby Digital with 5.1 channels (five speakers plus one subwoofer) for DVDs, then the THX and Dolby Digital Surround EX 6.1 format, which added a center channel in the rear. Now comes word that THX is ready to start certifying 7.1 channels with their new Ultra2 format.

In a press release, THX claims that the Ultra2 specification provides uncompromised eight-channel playback over the widest possible seating area and that all Ultra2 controllers and receivers will incorporate video switching capable of handling all wide-bandwidth sources, including HDTV and progressive scan DVD, without degrading the picture.

THX says that Ultra2 uses seven channels of amplification to play back any multi-channel–encoded program through a single fixed seven-speaker/one-subwoofer layout. The company adds that in the new THX Ultra 2 Cinema mode or THX MusicMode, all program material with 5.1 channels or more is "auto-detected and proprietary processing is applied that blends the directional and ambient surround information prior to replay through four surround speakers—two at the side and two at the back." The company says that Ultra2 receivers and controllers also feature switchable Boundary Gain Compensation (BGC) to alleviate “boomy” bass performance that can occur with near-wall listening positions.

THX explains that the directional characteristics of the Ultra2 LCR and rear surround speakers have been revised to minimize any changes in perceived timbral balance over the "widest possible listening area," and that Ultra2 subwoofers now have bass extension down to 20Hz "to better reproduce the very low frequency information increasingly found in modern digital multi-channel recordings."

According to THX, the first Ultra2 certified products to be marketed will be two AV receivers from Pioneer Elite—the VSX-49TX and VSX-47TX, both scheduled for October delivery—and, pending certification, a home theater speaker system from Snell Acoustics coonsisting of the XA1900 LCRs, the AMC900 in-wall dipole surrounds, and a new dual 12-inch powered subwoofer.