Digital Bitstream Indicators; Surround Mode Types; Pcm Playback Indications; Speaker/Channel Indicators - Harman Kardon AVR 335 Owner's Manual

Operation

Digital Bitstream 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 manu-
ally. 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 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 ˜ for about five 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 dis-
played for Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 pro-
grams.
• 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 pro-
gram 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 displayed
for Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 programs.
• A 1 tells you that there is only a single, sur-
round 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.
34 OPERATION
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.
• The information in the right side of the display
will tell you if the digital audio data contains a
special flag signal that will automatically acti-
vate the appropriate 6.1 or 7.1 mode. This will
be shown as or
EX-ON EX-OFF
Digital bitstreams and
ES-ON
for DTS bitstreams.
An message may appear in the
UNLOCK
Lower Display Line ˜. This is your indication
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 satel-
lite receiver, cable set-top or HDTV tuner is in use
if the digital audio is temporarily interrupted
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
message is normal, and does not indi-
UNLOCK
cate 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 surround 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 specif-
ic disc being played to make certain that the play-
er is sending the correct signal to the AVR.

PCM Playback Indications

PCM is the abbreviation for Pulse Code Modula-
tion, which is the type of digital signal used for
standard CD playback, and other non-Dolby
Digital and non-DTS digital sources such as Mini-
Disc. When a PCM signal is detected, the Main
Information Display ˜ will briefly show a
message with the letters PCM, in addition to a
readout of the sampling frequency of the digital
signal.
In most cases this will be
the case of specially mastered, high-resolution
audio discs you will see a
The
PCM 4 8 KHZ
when modes or inputs are changed for analog
sources. In those cases the system is telling you
the sampling frequency used internally at the
output of the analog-to-digital converters that
change the incoming signal from a VCR, tape
deck, the tuner, or other ana-log source to digital.
for Dolby
or
ES-OFF

Speaker/Channel Indicators

In addition to the Bitstream Indicators, the
AVR features a set of unique channel-input
indicators that tell you how many channels of
digital information are being received and/or
whether the digital signal is interrupted.
These indicators are the L/C/R/LFE/SL/SR/SBL/SBR
letters that are inside the center boxes of the
Speaker/Channel Input Indicators $ in the
front panel Main Information Display ˜.
When a standard analog stereo or matrix
surround signal is in use, only the "L" and "R"
indicators will light, as analog signals have only
left and right channels.
Digital signals, however, may have one, two, five,
six or seven separate channels, depending on the
program material, the method of transmission
and the way in which it was encoded. When a
digital signal is playing, the letters in these
indicators will light in response to the specific sig-
nal being received. It is important to note that
although Dolby Digital, for example, is referred to
as a "5.1" system, not all Dolby Digital DVDs or
audio tracks selected on DVD or other Dolby
Digital programs are encoded for 5.1. Thus, it is
sometimes normal for a DVD with a Dolby Digital
soundtrack to trigger only the "L" and "R"
indicators.
, though in
4 8 KHZ
indication.
9 6 KHZ
indication will also appear