DIMENSION THX

A Mouse Pad That Roared!...

Lucasfilm THX and DELL have jointly announced the marketing of the first PC’s including the new Intel Pentium 4 processor, certified THX.

It’s thus under the Dimension 8100 and Dimension 4100 series that these two big-hitters presented the fulfilment of their programme for the optimisation of image and sound for PC by THX.

Marketing studies having indeed put the spotlight on the increasing demand of the consumer for digital multimedia and audiovisual, it was thus suitable to satisfy this new consumerist trend: from where the claimed will to present innovative products has stemmed, benefiting moreover from the best audio/video reproduction quality possible. In fact, it should be known that this programme took seed within the minds of the THX sound and video engineers some time ago, and in fact took 18 months to see the light of day.

It could be said that this new range of products should greatly favour the direct relationship with the consumer – avid for performance – and the computer version of Home Entertainment "à la Third Millennium"...

And to propose, for this reason, this new programme of certification, which covers the entire system. The search for optimisation thus not only touches certain specific elements (such as the speakers or the graphic adapter and sound boards), but the entire PC: in concrete terms, this goes from the simple mouse right up to video diffusion, including the DVD and other audio and video decompression boards. This is all in an attempt to guarantee the best interaction possible between all the elements pre-selected for the occasion, thus making this process the key to THX PC certification.

According to Lucasfilm THX, the optimisation of these "complex" interactions between computer components, between hardware and software, was preferable to individual quality labelling of certain components, not allowing the guarantee of a perfect accordance with the specifications set down by the very honourable Mr Lucas.

This first programme of THX certification for PC’s thus prefigures a new race of computers. It should, moreover, thanks to its "coherence", allow the user to best configure his or her system (countless options are proposed to this end): a programme delivered with the machine should notably guarantee an optimal configuration of one’s system, from the calculation of the placing of the speakers in the room, right up to the video configuration of the monitor (a detail which is not by any means innocent, with the full set of THX trailers included in the package, to offer the user a first opportunity to discover the bliss of this level of sound quality).

One is, however, permitted to question the real utility of this new certification: while it is without doubt judicious to work towards a better coherence in PC systems dedicated to digital leisure activities, it seems nevertheless that some might be leaping on this as a new marketing and commercial ploy. Unless some revolutionary new research techniques effectuated on super-calculators have allowed the discovery of a direct link between the quality of a keyboard and the machine’s audio and video performance, which is reasonable to doubt, one thing is sure… the year end accounts of Lucasfilm and Dell shouldn’t be suffering from too much negative interference!

For more information, check out the site of DELL computers, where you’ll discover all the specifications. A cute little Flash demo has even been prepared for the occasion!

We will keep you informed of the European availability of the 8100 and 4100 series, sold respectively in the USA for (at last check) for US$2590 and $1990 for the base models.

The price of the Mouse-pad with the "THX certified" label has not yet been communicated. But… how silly of us! It can’t be sold separately, because there isn’t sufficient INTERACTION with a "vulgar" non-certified PC. Unless… Who knows? The mouse pad market might not be lined-up in the "sights" of the Lucas Empire…