Dolby Surround Settings; Default Modes - Harman Kardon AVR 145 Owner's Manual

ADVANCED FUNCTIONS

Dolby Surround Settings

In addition to the MODE line, the DOLBY SURROUND submenu includes
three settings that are active only when the Dolby Pro Logic II Music
mode has been selected.
Figure 66 – Dolby Surround Menu Screen
CENTER WIDTH: This setting affects how vocals sound through the
three front speakers. A higher number (up to 7) focuses the vocal infor-
mation tightly on the center channel. Lower numbers broaden the vocal
soundstage across the three speakers.
DIMENSION: This setting affects the depth of the surround presenta-
tion, allowing you to "move" the sound toward the front or rear of the
room. The setting of "0" is a neutral default. Setting "F-3" moves the
sound mostly toward the front of the room, while setting "R-3" moves
the sound mostly toward the rear.
PANORAMA: With the Panorama mode turned ON, some of the sound
from the front speakers is moved to the surround speakers, creating an
enveloping "wraparound" type of effect.
Night Mode
Night mode is available with some Dolby Digital programs, if it has been
encoded in the material. It compresses the peak sound levels, maintain-
ing the intelligibility of the dialogue and quieter passages, while reducing
the loudness of special effects and louder passages to avoid disturbing
others. Three levels of compression are available:
Table 5 – Surround Modes
Surround Mode Description
Dolby Digital Provides up to five separate main audio channels and a dedicated
low-frequency effects (LFE) channel. May be encoded for Night mode,
which allows the user to apply a compression setting that maintains
intelligibility of softer passages while reducing the loudness of dynamic
passages to avoid disturbing others.
Dolby Digital Stereo Delivers a two-channel downmix of Dolby Digital materials.
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OFF: At this setting, there is no compression, as the Night mode is
deactivated.
MID: A mild compression is applied.
MAX: More compression is applied.
We suggest that you experiment with the modes to find a setting that
meets your needs.
The Night mode may also be adjusted without using the full-OSD menu
system. With a Dolby Digital program encoded with Night mode playing,
press the Night Button on the remote. Each press of the button will
cycle through the three settings, with the selected setting being dis-
played on the front panel and in the semi-OSD display.
Upsampling
The last line of the Surround Select menu activates upsampling, only
available with the Dolby Pro Logic II Movie, Dolby Pro Logic II Music and
Dolby Pro Logic modes. Normally set to OFF, upsampling, when activat-
ed, processes digital sources at a higher resolution for improved sound
quality. This feature can be useful to eliminate distortion in some low-
resolution sources.

Default Modes

During initial use or after a processor reset, the AVR 145 will default to
the Logic 7 Music mode for all analog and PCM audio inputs. Subse-
quently, when a source input is selected and an analog or PCM signal is
received, the AVR will switch to the last surround mode used for that
source input/incoming signal combination.
Whenever a multichannel Dolby Digital or DTS signal is detected, the AVR
145 will automatically switch to that mode, unless the DEFAULT SURR
MODE setting in the System Setup menu has been changed to OFF. You
may observe that other surround modes are available for use with the multi-
channel digital bitstreams. If you would prefer the AVR 145 to use one of
those alternate modes any time the same digital signal is detected, then
select that mode while the multichannel bitstream is present, and then
change the DEFAULT SURR MODE setting in the System Setup menu to
OFF.
Incoming Bitstream or Signal
• Dolby Digital 1/0/.0 or .1, 2/0/.0 or .1,
3/0/.0 or .1, 2/1/.0 or .1, 2/2/.0 or .1,
3/2/.0 or .1
• Dolby Digital EX (played as 5.1)
• Dolby Digital 1/0/.0 or .1, 2/0/.0 or .1,
3/0/.0 or .1, 2/1/.0 or .1, 2/2/.0 or .1,
3/2/.0 or .1
• Dolby Digital EX