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Razer Acquires THX as Both Expand Focus to Virtual Reality

S

Stabby McSter

Member
THX
COURTESY OF THX
OCTOBER 17, 2016 | 02:30PM PT
Gaming accessory maker Razer has acquired THX and will continue to run the audio company as an independent subsidiary, both companies announced Monday. Razer is acquiring the company from Creative Labs; terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.

The acquisition will help THX to expand its business both overseas, with a special focus on China, as well as toward new device categories, including virtual reality (VR) headsets, said THX CEO Ty-Ahmad Taylor. “We will be exceptionally well capitalized moving forward,” Taylor told Variety.

THX was founded by George Lucas in 1983, and spun off from Lucasfilm in 2002. The company is best known for certifying movie theater sound systems, and has also been offering the same services in the home theater and automotive space. More recently, it has been looking to certify VR headsets, according to Taylor.

Razer on the other hand is best known for making gaming PCs, keyboards, mice, and other gamer-focused accessories. The company has also been aiming to expand into VR, and developed an open source-based VR software platform.

Asked whether this could potentially lead to conflicts of interest, Taylor said that he didn’t foresee any problems. “We are not constrained as to who we work with,” he said.
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source

i didn't realize razer was that big
 
S

Skel1ingt0n

I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
Guys, THX isn't a Lucasfilm property or anything. They've been owned by Creative (sound cards) for a long while. And razed is definitely bigger than Creative.
 
Acrylic7

Acrylic7

Member
Is there another THX I dont know about? They couldn't possible be able to afford that THX, right?

Skel1ingt0n said:
Guys, THX isn't a Lucasfilm property or anything. They've been owned by Creative (sound cards) for a long while. And razed is definitely bigger than Creative.
Click to expand...

oh
 
MrCunningham

MrCunningham

Member
Spyder_Monkey said:
Wait, that THX?
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1v9WA2e.gif


Yes that THX.
 
Sorcerer

Sorcerer

Member
Oh alright, It was acquired through Creative Labs, not George directly. I would have thought it was part of Industrial Light and Magic and owned by Disney.
Maybe Creative is not doing so hot lately and had to unload it?
 
R

rrs

Member
THX seems odd unless Razer wants in on the high end audio market or thinks more of a capital injection into THX would make Razer $$$
 
Sorcerer

Sorcerer

Member
rrs said:
THX seems odd unless Razer wants in on the high end audio market or thinks more of a capital injection into THX would make Razer $$$
Click to expand...

Their decision to by Ouya was odd as well. Who knows what they are plotting over there.
 
L

LowSignal

Member
Wow I would have thought THX was big enough not to be bought out by Razer. I mean Razer seems like a cool company and all and I'm interested in their new stargazer camera for streaming but I didn't think they had that typer of cash.
 
E

EhoaVash

Member
hmm I haven't seen a THX logo infront of a movie in a LONG ass time, before 2010 (?) shit used to be in every movie, what happened?
 
Sorcerer

Sorcerer

Member
EhoaVash said:
hmm I haven't seen a THX logo infront of a movie in a LONG ass time, before 2010 (?) shit used to be in every movie, what happened?
Click to expand...

Apparently George sold it a while ago. In the meantime Dolby and DTS proved good enough and most likely THX fell into obscurity, Creative can't seem to find a good use for it. (My uneducated guess)
 
R

rrs

Member
Sorcerer said:
Their decision to by Ouya was odd as well. Who knows what they are plotting over there.
Click to expand...
Ouya made a bit of sense, for patents and a ready to go android storefront for their own less of a disaster hardware launch. Ouya Inc found out the hard way that infrastructure costs big bucks, and being priced outside of the impulse buy zone left their audience nothing more than emulator users for the most part.
 
A

Adam Tyner

Member
Sorcerer said:
And probably no one wanted to pay for that Certification anymore.
Click to expand...
I remember THX certification still having some prestige in the first few years of DVD, but I couldn't tell you the last time I saw their logo or heard anyone talk about 'em, and I spend way too much time in home theater message boards.
 
Sorcerer

Sorcerer

Member
Adam Tyner said:
I remember THX certification still having some prestige in the first few years of DVD, but I couldn't tell you the last time I saw their logo or heard anyone talk about 'em, and I spend way too much time in home theater message boards.
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I'm sure Dolby and Dts have got to the point where no one needs to worry about it being certified.
Perhaps it was a selling point when Surround Sound was a new tech. But I am sure theater goers don't need to see that logo anymore.
Maybe it was part of the George Lucas extortion that his movies could only be played at theaters certified by his standard of quality?
I remember something like that but I could be wrong.
 
MrCunningham

MrCunningham

Member
Adam Tyner said:
THX isn't an audio format/codec/etc. It's basically certification to say "yes, this product/theater/whatever offers the high quality video-and/or-audio you demand".
Click to expand...

Yeah, THX is something that isn't really required anymore. It did serve a purpose as a certification system in the early 1980's when movie cinemas didn't have any set standards for visual or audio quality and movie experiences were all over the place. It was launched with Return of the Jedi originally to ensure that audiences would get the best possible sound and visual quality possible or at least be met with some sort of minimum requirement for a passable experience. It did also become a selling point for home entertainment systems as well that would get certified with this requirement.

At the moment, I'm not really sure what THX means in context to current sound quality systems. I guess it could still be some sort of gold standard label reassurance for headphones and audio set-ups?
 
Woo-Fu

Woo-Fu

Banned
So one company that is 99% marketing acquires another one that is 99.5% marketing. At least they'll have lots of redundancies to cut in marketing.
 
L

Lockjaw333

Member
People are forgetting the visual side of thx certification. Remember the crude TV calibration patterns on THX certified DVDs?

My Panasonic plasma is THX certified, and the THX picture mode is basically a calibrated mode, excellent picture. I wonder how the visual side of THX might play into what Razer has planned.

You know we are going to see Razer headsets that are "THX certified for the best audio quality experience". I expect if to be nothing more than marketing on the box though.

Seems like a really strange marriage regardless.
 
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