Before Making Connections - Arcam AV9 User Manual

Before making connections

Before connecting your equipment it is important to think about the following points, as these will affect
your choice of connections and subsequent use of the system.
Audio
Wherever possible, connect both analogue and digital outputs of digital sources. This enables use of
a digital input for the main zone with the corresponding analogue input used for recording onto an
analogue tape deck or VCR, or for the Zone 2 output.
Analogue video
The AV9 does not provide conversion between different video formats as this would result in degradation
of the video signal. This means simply that the AV9 does not convert between composite, S-video or
component video signals.
For example, if you are watching a composite input from a VCR you must view it from the composite
output of the AV9, as there will be no picture on the other outputs. Connect as follows:
< VCR (composite) input and Monitor out (composite)
or, for a device with an S-video output, such as a DVD player, connect:
< DVD (S-video) input and Monitor out (S-video)
The video quality hierarchy is as follows:
< Component/RGB – highest
< S-video – middle
< Composite – lowest
If all the video inputs are connected simultaneously from one device, e.g., a DVD player, the AV9 will
select automatically the best format available.
Digital video (HDMI)
The AV9 is fitted with five HDMI inputs and one HDMI output, allowing switching of HDMI signals.
In most cases, HDMI provides the highest quality video connection between your source and
your display. The AV9 does not perform conversion between analogue audio/video and HDMI.
HDMI signals cannot be routed to Zone 2. If you are using an HDMI connection and you wish to
have the same audio and video in Zone 2, then you will need additionally to provide analogue
audio and video connections (as described above).
Zone 2
A line-level signal from the stereo analogue audio together with the composite video inputs are
available for Zone 2. The analogue inputs from source components are required because the AV9
provides no analogue-to-digital, DSP processing or digital-to-analogue conversion; the composite
video connections are required since the AV9 does not convert video formats.
For these reasons, we recommend that source devices that have a digital connection are also
connected to the analogue inputs. High quality YUV/RGB and S-video sources should also have
their composite outputs connected to the AV9 for use in Zone 2.
General
The inputs are named to make it easier to reference when connecting (e.g., 'DVD' or 'VCR').
They all have the same input circuit, however, so there is no reason why you should not connect
a different device to any of the inputs. For example, if you had two DVD players and the AV input
was not being used, then the second DVD player could be connected to the AV input.
HDMI (High Definition
Multimedia Interface)
supports both video
and audio on a single
digital connection for
use with DVD players,
digital TV, set-top
boxes, etc. HDMI was
developed to combine
the technologies of
High-bandwidth Digital
Content Protection
(HDCP) and the Digital
Visual Interface (DVI)
in one specification,
with the addition of
transmission of digital
audio information; HDCP
is used to protect digital
content transmitted to
DVI-compliant displays.
AV9
E-5