# Worth spending more for Premiere XL because of THX?



## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

I am upgrading from S3 to a Premiere. I don't need the extra HD space or tuners.

Is it worth going from Premiere to Premiere XL for the THX certified feature?

I do have issues with having to turn the sound up/down when watching shows/movie with loud sound effects.

Would the THX help at all? If not, I would spend the extra $ for Premiere XL.

Please let me know. Thanks.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

All the Premieres have identical audio and video output. They just paid for THX certification for those models. You won't see or hear any difference with them over the non THX certified Premieres.


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

The value of the features for me (and this is a judgement call for each person):
1. THX certification $5 (No one has shown any hardware differences between the box saying that the vanilla box couldn't be certified, just that it isn't. It does come with a calibration video on it, that is not retrievable after deletion.)
2. Harddrive size $50 (It would be nice to have a larger harddrive, and it is a bit of a hassle to do it yourself.)
3. Glo-remote $20 (I haven't used one but it seems people tend to like them.)

So that makes $75. The price difference is $100 right now, so I would have to say that for myself it isn't worth getting. However, the difference is only $25, which isn't a whole lot of money either... I think you have to value the feature differences for yourself.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

Thank you for clarifying. I don't need any of those 3 items so I will stick with regular premiere.

I am upgrading solely for the ability to stream shows from my other premiere. From what I read, you can stream any show from premiere to premiere.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

atomarchio said:


> Thank you for clarifying. I don't need any of those 3 items so I will stick with regular premiere.
> 
> I am upgrading solely for the ability to stream shows from my other premiere. From what I read, you can stream any show from premiere to premiere.


Not Amazon Downloads though. Of course you could just download those to a different box.


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## DonaldBurns65144 (Jan 11, 2011)

I bought the XL since I wanted to use the THX setup to tweak the LCD TV's video setup. The THX setup process did correct the factory brightness/contrast quite a bit and is worth it if you've never adjusted your TV, IMHO. Takes a bit of back and forth of some settings to get the best overall picture, but once done the result was worth the extra few bucks for me. If you've set your system up with some other calibration disk/program then the three items others have listed are all you are getting. 

If you do purchase a XL then DO NOT delete the THX programs before or after use - you can not bring them back! Ever! Not even from the recently deleted program list or by downloading from Tivo.com. You end up with more-or-less a std. Premiere if you do delete them. So be forewarned!


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

DonaldBurns65144 said:


> I bought the XL since I wanted to use the THX setup to tweak the LCD TV's video setup. The THX setup process did correct the factory brightness/contrast quite a bit and is worth it if you've never adjusted your TV, IMHO. Takes a bit of back and forth of some settings to get the best overall picture, but once done the result was worth the extra few bucks for me. If you've set your system up with some other calibration disk/program then the three items others have listed are all you are getting.
> 
> If you do purchase a XL then DO NOT delete the THX programs before or after use - you can not bring them back! Ever! Not even from the recently deleted program list or by downloading from Tivo.com. You end up with more-or-less a std. Premiere if you do delete them. So be forewarned!


What do you mean by "delete the THX programs"? I am not familar with this.

My only possible interest in THX was to improve the audio through my center channel speaker/Sony 3500ES receiver.


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## severe (Dec 12, 2009)

DonaldBurns65144 said:


> If you do purchase a XL then DO NOT delete the THX programs before or after use... ....*You end up with more-or-less a std.*


Yikes!! I've heard of software viruses, but this is cRaZy!


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## rhettf (Apr 5, 2012)

atomarchio said:


> What do you mean by "delete the THX programs"? I am not familar with this.
> 
> My only possible interest in THX was to improve the audio through my center channel speaker/Sony 3500ES receiver.


You will see no improvements in your audio/video quality (besides what you would get from optimizing the input if you do calibration.

You just get a THX Optimization/calibration video on the TiVo in My Shows and blue glasses (though many TV's have a blue mode thats much more reliable and accurate).

If you want to improve picture quality check out the iScan Duo, its the best consumer level video processor that I know of.

The THX certification is helpful if you have never calibrated your system and need a simple walkthrough.


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## minimeh (Jun 20, 2011)

DonaldBurns65144 said:


> If you do purchase a XL then DO NOT delete the THX programs before or after use - you can not bring them back! Ever! *Not even from the recently deleted program list* or by downloading from Tivo.com.


I have an Elite. The THX calibration video was inadvertently deleted, but it was recoverable from the deleted program list, thankfully. If I had waited until after it was permanently deleted to free disk space, then I would have been SOL.

So now I find myself doing a quick check that it's there just about every time I switch to the Elite!


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## ltxi (Feb 14, 2010)

atomarchio said:


> I am upgrading from S3 to a Premiere. I don't need the extra HD space or tuners.
> 
> Is it worth going from Premiere to Premiere XL for the THX certified feature?
> 
> ...


No...


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

minimeh said:


> I have an Elite. The THX calibration video was inadvertently deleted, but it was recoverable from the deleted program list, thankfully. If I had waited until after it was permanently deleted to free disk space, then I would have been SOL.


This is the first time I'm hearing about this. I have deleted the THX video on all three of my Premieres, and have not noticed any adverse affects. What supposedly happens?


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

DonaldBurns65144 said:


> You end up with more-or-less a std. Premiere if you do delete them. So be forewarned!





gweempose said:


> This is the first time I'm hearing about this. I have deleted the THX video on all three of my Premieres, and have not noticed any adverse affects. What supposedly happens?


nothing, other than you no longer have the THX video, really that's it, no idea why DB thinks it changes anything other than no longer having the video.


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## rhettf (Apr 5, 2012)

gweempose said:


> This is the first time I'm hearing about this. I have deleted the THX video on all three of my Premieres, and have not noticed any adverse affects. What supposedly happens?


The only adverse affect is that you cant use the THX Calibration Video anymore since you removed it. Nothing actually stops working since the THX certification only gives you tools to calibrate your system.

Side Note: With MRS/MRV you can move the Calibration Video to a non THX Certified TiVo. You can also record HDNet at 8AM for test patterns.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

rhettf said:


> The only adverse affect is that you cant use the THX Calibration Video anymore since you removed it. Nothing actually stops working since the THX certification only gives you tools to calibrate your system.
> 
> Side Note: With MRS/MRV you can move the Calibration Video to a non THX Certified TiVo. You can also record HDNet at 8AM for test patterns.


You think your moving the file but for me the moved file would not play, others have reported the same thing, if that has changed with this new update that is good news.


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## rhettf (Apr 5, 2012)

lessd said:


> You think your moving the file but for me the moved file would not play, others have reported the same thing, if that has changed with this new update that is good news.


I copied it from a elite to the old 45 HD Hr Premiere


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## minimeh (Jun 20, 2011)

lessd said:


> You think your moving the file but for me the moved file would not play, others have reported the same thing, if that has changed with this new update that is good news.


I can play the file on my non-THX Premiere using MRS. Trying to download the file for safe-keeping using kmttg failed, so I never tried moving the file from Premiere to Premiere thinking that there is a do-not-copy flag on the file.

Maybe the older HD models don't honor the flag and allow moving?


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Also, if you think you might want to sell off your XL in the future, removing the THX calibration video might cause a dispute in the sale, unless you disclose that fact up front.

I can just imagine a buyer claiming:
"I was buying an XL. All XLs come with a THX calibration video from the factory. The unit I received did not have a calibration video. The XL branding on the case is irrelevant. The seller could have switched out the guts in order to scam me. Oh BTW, I didn't get my blue glasses either".


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

minimeh said:


> I can play the file on my non-THX Premiere using MRS. Trying to download the file for safe-keeping using kmttg failed, so I never tried moving the file from Premiere to Premiere thinking that there is a do-not-copy flag on the file.
> 
> Maybe the older HD models don't honor the flag and allow moving?


I just tried to play the THX file from my TPXL to a normal TP and MRS worked great, but i got an error when I tried to xfer the file to the non TPXL.
That my experience, I will try to xfer the THX file to and older Series 3 I have and see if that works.


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## Quake97 (Apr 24, 2006)

Buying the XL over the regular Premiere depends on how much space you think you're going to need. I bought two regular Premieres because I don't keep stuff on my TiVo very long. Anything I want to keep, I move off to my laptop via TiVo Desktop. As for the THX videos, you can easily buy better calibration blu-rays online. Now, if you think you'll need the HD space, than spend the extra cash versus getting a MyBook DVR Expander.

Joe


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

But with the BD you are calibrating from the BD player. You use the thx calibration on the TiVO to tweak that spefic input the TiVO is on. The same goes when using. BD. It will calibrate the input the BD player is on. Different devices typically need different settings for things to be optimized.


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## rhettf (Apr 5, 2012)

aaronwt said:


> But with the BD you are calibrating from the BD player. You use the thx calibration on the TiVO to tweak that spefic input the TiVO is on. The same goes when using. BD. It will calibrate the input the BD player is on. Different devices typically need different settings for things to be optimized.


Thats only true if you don't use a AV Receiver and your TV is your input switch hub. Anyone who uses one usually only has one HDMI cable running to the TV.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

rhettf said:


> Thats only true if you don't use a AV Receiver and your TV is your input switch hub. Anyone who uses one usually only has one HDMI cable running to the TV.


I've been getting my main HDTV professionally calibrated for eleven years now. I would always schedule the calibration after getting new components since every component is different. There would always be a main calibration of the set, and then each individual device would be tweaked since they all behave differently. A global calibration does not translate 100% to every device so each device needs to be tweaked to get the optimal picture quality. And the TiVo is no different. By having calibration patterns that can be sent from the actual devices enables you to tweak the calibration the best to optimize the picture for that individual device.


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## rhettf (Apr 5, 2012)

aaronwt said:


> I've been getting my main HDTV professionally calibrated for eleven years now. I would always schedule the calibration after getting new components since every component is different. There would always be a main calibration of the set, and then each individual device would be tweaked since they all behave differently. A global calibration does not translate 100% to every device so each device needs to be tweaked to get the optimal picture quality. And the TiVo is no different. By having calibration patterns that can be sent from the actual devices enables you to tweak the calibration the best to optimize the picture for that individual device.


Definitely agree that global calibrations don't work. Are you using your AVR to do the calibrations for individual inputs and then have one cable go to your TV? or do you plug in each input to your TV and then use optical cables for audio?

I personally use a iScan Duo for all my calibration (Connects to SpectraCal) and it has a HDMI audio only out which goes to my AVR and a HDMI Video Out that goes directly to my TV, keeping the video signal from getting processed by my AVR.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

rhettf said:


> Definitely agree that global calibrations don't work. Are you using your AVR to do the calibrations for individual inputs and then have one cable go to your TV? or do you plug in each input to your TV and then use optical cables for audio?
> 
> I personally use a iScan Duo for all my calibration (Connects to SpectraCal) and it has a HDMI audio only out which goes to my AVR and a HDMI Video Out that goes directly to my TV, keeping the video signal from getting processed by my AVR.


Everything goes to my DUO and then to my Denon Receiver before going to my TV. My receiver does not do any processing to video unless I turn the processing on. I have always left it off plus I've been relying on external scalers/video processors for the past ten years.

I've been thinking about getting the Chromapure video processing software(along with the X-Rite Display 3 Colorimeter) for the auto calibration feature with the DUO. At this point I figure the money that will go into another professional calibration will be better used toward everything involved to be able to auto calibrate with the DUO.


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## DonaldBurns65144 (Jan 11, 2011)

dianebrat said:


> nothing, other than you no longer have the THX video, really that's it, no idea why DB thinks it changes anything other than no longer having the video.


I didn't imply it changes anything. You just don't have the video to use in the future.


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## rhettf (Apr 5, 2012)

aaronwt said:


> Everything goes to my DUO and then to my Denon Receiver before going to my TV. My receiver does not do any processing to video unless I turn the processing on. I have always left it off plus I've been relying on external scalers/video processors for the past ten years.
> 
> I've been thinking about getting the Chromapure video processing software(along with the X-Rite Display 3 Colorimeter) for the auto calibration feature with the DUO. At this point I figure the money that will go into another professional calibration will be better used toward everything involved to be able to auto calibrate with the DUO.


Nice, I love my DUO, isn't the DUO Amazing? Everyone who watches my TV asks me how it looks so good and then I show them that.

The Oppo BDP-93 with source direct is the ultimate IMO.

The Auto Calibration is great and so easy with SpectraCal and a Colorimeter, I have never heard of Chromapure though. Personally I ended up buying the equipment for calibration since I wanted to teach myself and now I do it for friends. I would recommend DIY its easy and much cheaper.

We seem to be in the small minority by using stand alone video processors at home, which is why I first made the comment that most non tech people do one general calibration (no one I know calibrates), your the first person I have ever spoke with that uses the DUO.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

I kind of feel like an idiot now for deleting the TXH calibration video from all my Premieres. I don't happen to care about it, but I never stopped to think about how it might affect the resale value down the line. It does seem pretty silly that TiVo doesn't offer a way to re-download it if you so desire.


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## ltxi (Feb 14, 2010)

I wouldn't worry about it. I doubt 95% of buyers understand any of this. And another 4%, like myself, don't really care. Two and a half years into my PXL and I haven't quite gotten around to feeding the audio through my home receiver and Bose 901 based speaker system....still using the Sony flat panel's speakers.


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