Harman Kardon AVR 140 Owner's Manual page 30

OPERATION
separate from the other channels, but since it is inten-
tionally bandwidth-limited, sound designers have given it
that unique designation.
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is a standard part of DVD, and is also
available on specially encoded LD discs and satellite
broadcasts, as well as being a part of the high-definition
television (HDTV) system.
An optional, external RF demodulator is required to
use the AVR 140 to listen to the Dolby Digital sound-
tracks available on laser discs. Connect the RF output
of the LD player to the demodulator and then connect
the digital output of the demodulator to the Optical or
Coaxial Inputs *(·d of the AVR 140. No
demodulator is required for use with DVD players or
DTS-encoded laser discs.
DTS
DTS is another digital audio system that is capable of
delivering 5.1 or 6.1 discrete or matrix sound field
reproduction. Although both DTS and Dolby Digital are
digital, they use different methods of encoding the sig-
nals, and thus they require different decoding circuits
to convert the digital signals back to analog.
DTS-encoded soundtracks are available on select DVD
and LD discs, as well as on special audio-only DTS
discs. You may use any LD or CD player equipped
with a digital output to play DTS-encoded discs with
the AVR 140. All that is required is to connect the
player's output to either an Optical or Coaxial Input
on the rear panel ·d or front panel *(.
In order to listen to DVDs encoded with DTS sound-
tracks, the DVD player must be compatible with the
DTS signal as indicated by a DTS logo on the player's
front panel. Early DVD players may not be able to play
DTS-encoded DVDs. This does not indicate a problem
with the AVR 140, as some players cannot pass the
DTS signal through to the digital outputs. If you are in
doubt as to the capability of your DVD player to handle
DTS discs, consult the player's owner's manual.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Many DVD players have a default
setting that does not pass through the DTS data, even
though the machine is capable of doing so. If your
DVD player has the "DTS Digital Out" logo but does
not trigger DTS playback in the AVR 140, change the
player's settings in the "Audio" or "Bitstream" configu-
ration menu so that DTS playback is enabled. The
method for doing this will vary with each player. In
some cases, the proper menu choice will be "Original,"
while in others it will be "DTS." Consult the owner's
manual for your player to find the specific information
to find the proper setting.
30 OPERATION
Selecting a Digital Source
To utilize either digital mode, you must have properly
connected a digital source to the AVR 140. Connect
the digital outputs from DVD players, HDTV receivers,
satellite systems or CD players to the Optical or
Coaxial Inputs *(·d. In order to provide 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 140 rear panel (e.g., connect the analog stereo
audio output from a DVD to the DVD Audio Inputs i
on the rear panel when you connect the source's
digital outputs).
If you have not already configured an input for a
digital source using the on-screen menus as shown
on page 17, first select the input using the remote or
front-panel controls as outlined in this manual. Next,
select the digital source by pressing the Digital
Select Button q# and then using the
Buttons n on the remote or the ‹
/
Buttons ) on the front panel to choose any of
the OPTICAL or COAXIAL inputs, as they
appear in the Upper Display Line
screen display. When the digital source is playing, the
AVR 140 will automatically detect which type of digital
data stream is being decoded and display that infor-
mation in the Upper Display Line
The AVR 140's Auto Polling feature searches both the
digital and analog audio inputs assigned to a source
for an incoming signal. Although the digital input is the
default, if the digital stream is not present or is inter-
rupted, the unit will automatically switch over to the
analog inputs. If you wish to disable the auto-polling
feature for any source, follow the instructions shown in
the Input Setup section of this manual on page 17.
Digital Bitstream Indications
When a digital source is playing, the AVR 140 senses
the type of bitstream data that is present. Using this
information, the correct surround mode will automati-
cally be selected. For example, DTS bitstreams 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 or LDs, it
will default to Logic 7 Music mode, although you may
select any of the standard surround modes, such as
Dolby Pro Logic II or Logic 7. Since the range of
available surround modes is dependent on the type of
digital data that is present, the AVR 140 uses a variety
of indicators and messages to let you know what type
of signal is present. These messages will appear shortly
after an input or surround mode is changed, and they
will remain in the Lower Display Line ı for about
five seconds before that portion of the display returns
to the normal surround mode indication.
Surround Mode Channel Indications
For Dolby Digital and DTS sources, a three digit indi-
cation 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 5.1- and 6.1-channel Dolby Digital and DTS
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 bitstreams that have stereo program
material.
• A "1" tells you that there is only a mono channel
⁄ / ¤
available in the Dolby Digital bitstream.
›
Selector
The middle number indicates how many discrete sur-
round channel signals are present.
or in the on-
• A "2" tells you that separate surround left and right
signals are available. This will be displayed for 5.1-
and 6.1-channel Dolby Digital and DTS programs.
.
• A "1" tells you that there is only a single, surround-
encoded surround channel. This will appear for
Dolby Digital bitstreams that have matrix encoding.
• A "0" indicates that there is no surround channel
information. This will be displayed for two-channel
stereo programs.
NOTE: The surround back channels in 6.1/7.1-chan-
nel bitstreams, such as Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES
Discrete and Matrix programs, are not indicated using
this numbering system. Instead, a message will appear
to indicate whether EX or ES information is present
(see below).
The last number indicates whether there is a discrete
low-frequency effects (LFE) channel. This is the ".1"
in the common abbreviation of "5.1" sound and 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 and DTS
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 a 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 activate the appropriate