THX

In 1983, filmmaker George Lucas was preparing to release *Return of the Jedi*, the third film in his Star Wars saga. He wanted to ensure that audiences would experience the film's complex soundtrack exactly as it was designed in the studio. To solve this, he enlisted audio engineer Tomlinson Holman to develop a set of standards for cinematic sound. The result was a new company: THX, named after Holman and as a nod to Lucas's first feature film, *THX 1138*. THX wasn't a recording format but a quality assurance system. It created a certification program for theaters, guaranteeing that the acoustics, equipment, and calibration met their rigorous standards. This ensured a consistent and high-quality audio experience for moviegoers. The company soon expanded its certification beyond theaters to home audio systems, car stereos, and gaming consoles. In 2002, THX was spun off from Lucasfilm and acquired by Creative Technology, a company known for its Sound Blaster audio cards. This move pushed THX further into the consumer electronics space. A more significant shift occurred in 2016 when the gaming hardware company Razer Inc. acquired THX. This acquisition positioned THX to play a key role in the expanding markets of gaming and virtual reality, continuing its mission to deliver high-fidelity audio and visual experiences to audiences everywhere.