But if lexicon is able to obtain THX certification without meeting its requirements, it's also possible that panasonic, lg, etc., can obtain it with a so-so calibration as long as they pay THX
Ok, couple of things. David and I have seen the THX facilities and met the people who spend vast amounts of time and effort testing the kit sent for certification. I have been told and seen for myself that strict testing procedures are in place and it's a pass or fail testing process. Usually kit is submitted a few times before it is passed - all at the expense of the manufacturer. They have testing procedures for all different types of equipment and that includes Blu-ray players. The guys working for THX are real professionals with a love of what they do and going against popular held beliefs the certification process is not a huge money spinner for them. The certification process means that kit tested has to meet strict guidelines and once certified it means that those items reach a certain level of performance. I personally think this is a welcome way of doing things IF the certification does what it is supposed to do, and I have personally not yet found any kit that has had issues and a badge attached for what it is supposed to do. That's not to say that THX is perfect - I think they would be the first to acknowledge that it's impossible to be perfect. That's the same with kit - it is not perfect and never will be. But at least if its tested properly, (be it THX or some other body) and those tests and procedures are of a high quality and independent, then what you can then give the consumer is a bench mark that the kit has to achieve and offer. That has to be a good thing and in terms of displays is long overdue.
It's the same for items such as PC speakers. Why do they certify them? Well I asked that very question of a few engineers and THX employees and the answer was the same. It means that those items reach a certain performance level that ensures that the kit can reach or surpass the laid down certification rules for that sector and offer a great performance level.
I have seen loads of comments about the fact that now that THX certify lower home theatre products and not the high end exclusively, then THX is worthless. Well I happen to personally think that's a rather elitist attitude to have, why can't equipment in different market sectors offer great performance and have testing and certification to show that? What THX happen to have is criteria for differing sections of the market and aim for the same goals possible with that kit. I fail to see what could be wrong with that. It is a marketing goal for companies and I don't think anyone has said otherwise, but it is marketing a useful level of performance in my opinion. It's basically saying that the company involved has faith in their product and has sent it to the THX labs for certification so consumers then have a bench mark. It doesn't mean non-certified kit is bad or is different, just that a consumer can look and see that the THX badge product has reached a certain level. Like I say, that's got to be useful to the consumer - especially with TVs as it's hard to get a picture that is close to the standards out of the box - THX mode does just that and about time someone did.
Whether the Lexicon a straight clone or not, that's not really a problem for THX though, as all they have done is test the player against their performance requirements for certification and it passed (we don't know what that certification process requires. Maybe the question should be what do THX include for the tests and if that covers the bass management or not. Although, I do understand the reasoning why the certification process is secret. It stops claims that some kit not certified reaches the same levels - just like silly contrast claims it would soon become a mess). Oppo have never sent theirs (that we know about) so that kind of makes the whole THX argument redundant in my opinion.
I'm not going to start arguing about the costs and clones etc as that's not what the OP was getting at; it was whether THX is worthless and from what I have seen I would say that it is a valuable, but not fool proof process. I guess it depends on how far the testing can reasonably go and that includes man hours and costs if you start looking at it from a business point of view.
In terms of the picture preset and certification of panels, I have also seen the lab and the process they use. In terms of measuring and evaluation they use exactly the same approach as we use for the reviews (albeit with more expensive and slightly more accurate kit). The THX mode is also determined during this testing process and the TV must be able to display the mode correctly and accurately to gain certification. I cannot say who's TVs were being tested when we were there, but the testing procedures were easy to follow. I can honestly say after my experience seeing this done in person that the THX certification process is very in-depth and does what it sets out to do. That is to add a mark of approval to kit that meets or exceeds their testing and gives a seal of assurance that it has been tested fully to a certain level. Why every manufacturer doesn't send kit for testing and certification is really down to them, but those who have - certainly with TVs - offer a performance level that benefits the end user in terms of picture quality. (Which we have measured in our reviews and found to be as accurate as possible.) That's not to say that manufacturers who don't send kit for certification cannot meet the same preset performance, but in our experience that is rare. At least with the certification process the consumer can have some faith that it will reach a certain level or performance towards the industry standards.
I happen to think that THX certification is useful and now that I have seen what they do with my own eyes, I think it is a valuable bench mark for consumers to use. That doesn't mean that kit not displaying the badge is any less capable or indeed inferior, but it does give an indication that it has been tested to a certain level which is important for consumers - especially with the TV and projector market where standards are hard to get.
What we don't hear about are those who have tried to get certified and given up because they couldn't match the criteria - that's more interesting but of course political and obviously will never be in the public domain.
And if you can give me a week or so to edit them, we will have a series of videos taking you behind the scenes and show you what we saw on our THX visit.