Surround Mode Types - Harman Kardon AVR 132 Owner's Manual

Harman kardon avr 132: owners manual
Hide thumbs Also See for AVR 132:
Table of Contents

Advertisement

Operation
Connections may be made to the Optical or
Coaxial inputs
on the rear panel or front
panel
.
To listen to a PCM digital source, first select the
input for the desired source (e.g., CD) to feed its
video signal (if any) to the TV monitor and to
provide its analog audio signal for recording.
Next press the Digital Select button
then use the
K
/
L
buttons
on the remote
until the desired choice appears in the Main
Information Display
, then press the Set
button
to confirm the choice.
When a PCM source is playing, a brief message
PCM will appear in the Main Information
Display
. During PCM playback you may
select any surround mode as described on pages
21, 22 and 23 except Dolby Digital or DTS.
Selecting a Digital Source
To utilize either digital mode you must have
properly connected a digital source to the
AVR. Connect the digital outputs from DVD
players, HDTV receivers, satellite systems or CD
players to the Optical or Coaxial inputs on the
rear or front panel
. In order to pro-
vide a backup signal and a source for analog
stereo recording, the analog outputs provided on
digital source equipment should also be
connected to their appropriate inputs on the AVR
rear panel (e.g., connect the analog stereo audio
output from a DVD to the DVD inputs
rear panel when you connect the source's digital
outputs).
When playing a digital source such as DVD, first
select its input using the remote or front panel
controls as outlined in this manual in order to
feed its video signal (if any) to the TV monitor
and to provide its analog audio signal for record-
ing. When the digital input appropriate with the
DVD player is not selected automatically (due to
the input settings made earlier during the system
configuration, see page 16), select the digital
source by pressing the Digital Input Selector
button
and then using the
K
on the remote to choose any of the
(OPT) or
OPTICAL
COAXIAL
(COAX) inputs, as they appear in the Main
Information Display
. When the digital
source is playing, the AVR will automatically
detect whether it is a multichannel Dolby Digital,
DTS source or a conventional PCM signal, which
is the standard output from CD players.
Digital Status Indicators
When a digital source is playing, the AVR senses
the type of bitstream data that is present. Using
this information, the correct surround mode will
automatically be selected. For example, DTS bit-
streams will cause the unit to switch to DTS
decoding, and Dolby Digital bitstreams will enable
Dolby Digital decoding. When the unit senses
PCM data, from CDs and LDs and some music
DVDs or certain tracks on normal DVDs, it will
allow the appropriate surround mode to be
selected manually. Since the range of available
surround modes depends on the type of digital
data that is present, the AVR uses a variety of
indicators to let you know what type of signal is
and
present. This will help you to understand the
choice of modes and the input channels recorded
on the disc.
When a digital source is playing, the AVR will
display a variety of messages to indicate the type
of bitstream received. These messages will
appear shortly after an input or surround mode is
changed, and will remain in the Main
Information Display
seconds before the display returns to the normal
surround mode indication.

Surround Mode Types

For Dolby Digital and DTS sources, a three digit
indication will appear, showing the number of
channels present in the data. An example of this
type of display is 3/2/.1.
The first number indicates how many discrete
front channel signals are present.
• A 3 tells you that separate front left, center and
front right signals are available. This will be
displayed for Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1
on the
programs.
• A 2 tells you that separate front left and right
signals are available, but there is no discrete
center channel signal. This will be displayed for
Dolby Digital bit streams that have stereo
program material.
• A 1 tells you that there is only a mono channel
available in the Dolby Digital bitstream.
The middle number indicates how many discrete
surround channel signals are present.
• A 2 tells you that separate surround left and
right signals are available. This will be
/
L
buttons
displayed for Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1
programs.
• A 1 tells you that there is only a single,
surround encoded surround channel. This will
appear for Dolby Digital bit streams that have
matrix encoding.
• A 0 indicates that there is no surround channel
information. This will be displayed for two-
channel stereo programs.
The last number indicates if there is a discrete
Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel. This is the
".1" in the common abbreviation of "5.1" sound
and it is a special channel that contains only bass
frequencies.
• A .1 tells you that an LFE channel is present.
This will be displayed for Dolby Digital 5.1 and
DTS 5.1 programs, as available.
• A 0 indicates that there is no LFE channel infor-
mation available. However, even when there is
no dedicated LFE channel, low frequency sound
will be present at the subwoofer output when
the speaker configuration is set to show the
presence of subwoofer.
An
UNLOCK
for about five
Lower Display Line
that the digital audio data stream has been inter-
rupted or is no longer present. When that occurs,
the unit's digital signal processor has no signal to
lock onto, and is thus "unlocked." You may see
this message when a DVD is first started until the
stream is playing and the processor determines
which mode to apply; or any time the data
stream is stopped or paused, such as when the
menus of some discs are displayed or when the
player is switching between the different sections
of a disc. You may also see the message when a
satellite receiver, cable set-top or HDTV tuner is
in use if the digital audio is temporarily interrupt-
ed when channels are changed or when a cable
box switches from a channel with a digital data
stream to a channel with analog audio only. The
UNLOCK
indicate any problem with your receiver. Rather, it
tells you that the incoming data has simply been
paused or is not present for a variety of possible
reasons.
When Dolby Digital 3/2/.1 or DTS 3/2/.1 signals
are being played, the AVR will automatically
switch to the proper surround mode, and no
other processing may be selected. When a Dolby
Digital signal with a 3/1/0 or 2/0/0 signal is
detected you may select any of the Dolby sur-
round modes.
It is always a good idea to check the readout for
the channel data to make certain that it matches
the audio logo information shown on the back of
a DVD package. In some cases you will see indi-
cation for "2/0/0" even when the disc contains a
full 5.1, or 3/2/.1 signal. When this happens,
check the audio output settings for your DVD
player or the audio menu selections for the spe-
cific disc being played to make certain that the
player is sending the correct signal to the AVR.
In addition to the Bitstream Indicators, the
AVR features a set of unique channel input indi-
cators that tell you how many channels of digital
information are being received and if the digital
signal is interrupted.
message may appear in the
. This is your indication
message is normal, and does not
OPERATION 25

Hide quick links:

Advertisement

Table of Contents
loading

Table of Contents