THX tune-up

THX Ltd.

About this app

THX tune-up is a two screen app that helps you check and properly adjust your TV, projector and speakers so you get the most out of your home entertainment system. THX tune-up is completely interactive and you can go through it at your own pace - in any order.

Before you download and get started, please ensure you have the correct equipment and adapters to enjoy and utilize this app. Read Device & Connection Requirements, Sound Adjustments below.
https://www.thx.com/tune-up-app/

THX tune-up features custom video test patterns, photos and tutorials to help you adjust and confirm the best picture settings on your display based on room light conditions. Using special audio tests, THX tune-up also allows you to check external speakers to confirm they are in phase and are working properly for 2-channel stereo or 5.1 sound systems.

To get started, connect your device to your TV or AVR, locate the adjustment buttons on the remote control(s) and follow the steps which will walk you through your “THX tune-up.”

Video adjustments
• Aspect ratio – ensures your TV displays shapes and sizes correctly
• Brightness – ensures shadow details and night scenes are clearly visible
• Contrast – ensures white detail is visible on your television
• Color – ensures colors are bright and vibrant but not cartoonish
• Tint – ensures skin tones look natural and are not too green or red

THX tune-up uses the Android device’s rear-facing camera to set color and tint with a special built-in color filter. Point your device’s camera at the TV screen and see if your color and tint settings are adjusted correctly.

Audio adjustments
• Speaker assignment – confirms speakers are connected properly to the correct AVR outputs
• Speaker phase – confirms that speaker cables are connected correctly and all speakers are in phase

THX Extras
• Play extraordinary THX trailers to show off your newly tuned TV and sound system
• Show off your audio system with the push of a button by playing “THX Deep Note” in 5.1 surround, just like in the cinema (phone or tablet must be connected via HDMI cable)
• Turn your phone or tablet into a “moo can” - tilt it to hear the “moo”
• Have a question for THX, or just want to provide feedback? Ask Tex!

Device Requirements
THX tune-up supports the following mobile devices with Android OS 4.2.2 or later.

• HTC Droid DNA (HTC6435LVW)
• HTC One, One Max, One X, & One X+
• LG G2 & LG G Pad
• Motorola Moto X
• Nexus 4, 5, 7-2013 & 10
• Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, Mega, Mega 6.3, Grand, Grand 2, Grand Duos, Grand Neo, Galaxy Nexus
• Samsung Galaxy Note 2 & Note 3
• Sony Xperia Z, Z1, ZL & Z tablet

Connection Requirements
To connect your Android to your TV, projector or AVR you must use an HDMI cable & an HDMI adapter that is compatible with your specific Android device. You should be able to see the Android screen on the TV or projector and hear audio from it BEFORE you use THX tune-up.

Sound Adjustments Note
To run the sounds tests with an AVR, set the AVR to Direct, Auto Detect mode or equivalent. If your AVR does not have this mode, it may not accurately process AAC 5.1 audio tones. Also, check the specs for your Android device. Some Android devices “virtualize” surround sound audio and will mix and play audio on multiple speakers, even though audio signal may only be on one or two channels – as in the Speaker Assignment and Speaker Phase tests in THX tune-up. In either or both of these cases, the results of the 5.1 speaker/sound adjustments may not be accurate. This is not a problem with the app but due to audio processing of the AVR or Android device.

This app is not a professional calibration tool and is not intended to replace an in-home professional calibration.

Ratings and reviews

This app was helpful, once I figured out how to get it to work with my Roku TV. I just had to use 2 phones when I got to the color/tint adjustment sections - 1 to display the test pattern on the TV via Miracast, and the other to use the red filter camera. I feel like it did help the picture quality on my TCL, even if getting there was a bit of a pain.

This app wouldn't even open. It asked for permission to do everything on my phone including manage phone calls? What's that all about? After I gave it permission. It would open up the splash screen and then crash. I uninstalled and reinstalled three times, and it kept crashing. I'm on a pixel 2 XL running Android 11. I get an error message when I try to deny permissions saying that this version of the app was built for an older version of Android and won't work properly on my phone.

Works to adjust displays, but I could not get it to play any audio to make adjustments to tune my receiver or sound bar. Apparently I do pretty well calibrating displays without the app, because I didn't have to adjustment anything other than tint. And even that didn't need to be changed much, so I uninstalled the app. If you're not good at calibrating your TV on your own, this could help you, but I wouldn't bother trying to help with audio.

What's new

Added support for Chromecast connection to TV.