Tomlinson Holman

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Tomlinson Holman is an American film theorist, audio engineer, and inventor of film technologies, notably the Lucasfilm THX sound system. He developed the world's first 10.2 sound system. Earlier, Holman developed what was known as the Holman Preamplifier, for the Apt Corporation. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1968).^[1]

One of the first 10.2 implementations for public demonstration was installed in 2001 at Bjorn's Audio Video in San Antonio, TX in the Bjorn's "Ultimate Theater Experience", alongside a high-end 6.1 home theater system. Initially, the 10.2 system at Bjorn's used the Mac OS to store and run the demonstrations. This system uses 14 Whise speakers and 6 Whise subwoofers which are tuned using a complex equalizer that fills a hidden rackserver about three feet tall.

Some demonstration soundtracks were developed exclusively for the 10.2 system, while others were mixed (under Tom's direct supervision and instruction) by taking original, unmixed recordings and splicing them together into a unique 10.2 soundtrack. One demonstration that showcases the 10.2 system's capability to envelope the listener is a soundtrack that has a ping-pong ball hit back and forth at different points around the room, and then rotates around the room in complete circles. The added ability to switch between un-equalized 10.2 sound and equalized 10.2 sound with this setup allows listeners to experience demonstrations without custom configuration, or exactly as Tom intended. Tom claims that places in the demonstrations where audio was cut and/or put together are entirely undetectable and challenges listeners' ears to hunt for any imperfections.

Tom Holman currently teaches film sound at the University of Southern California, and his book Sound for Film and Television is required reading in many college film courses.

In 2007 he received the IEEE Masaru Ibuka Award.