Harman Kardon AVR 520 Owner's Manual page 30

Operation
AVR520 will automaticallydetect whetherit is
a multichannelDolbyDigital, DTS source,MP3
or a conventionalPCMsignal,which is the
standardoutput from CDplayers. A Bitstream
Indicator [] will light in the Main
Information Display [] to confirmthat the
digital signal is DolbyDigital, DTS or PCM.
Digital Status Indicators
When a digital sourceis playing,the AVR520
senses the type of bitstreamdata that is pres-
ent. Usingthis information,the correctsur-
round modewill automaticallybe selected.For
example,DTS bitstreamswill causethe unit to
switchto DTS decoding,and DolbyDigitalbit-
streamswill enable DolbyDigitaldecoding.
Whenthe unit sensesPCMdata from CDsand
LDs, i t will allow the appropriatesurround
sourcesto be selectedmanually.Sincethe
rangeof availablesurroundmodesis depend-
ent on the type of digital data that is present,
the AVR520 usesa varietyof indicatorsto let
you know what type of signal is present. T his
will help you to understandthe choiceof
modes.
When a digital sourceis playing,a Bitstream
Indicator [] will light to show whichtype of
signal is playing:
DOLBY D:When the DOLBY D indicator
lights, a DolbyDigital bitstreamis being
received.Depending on the settingson the
sourceplayerandspecificsurroundinformation
and numberof channelson the disc,a number
of surroundmodesare possible.Fordiscswith
full 5.1 audio,only the DolbyDigitalandVMAx
modesare available.
DTS: When the DTSindicatorlights,a DTSbit-
streamis being received. W henthe unit senses
this type of data, only the applicableDTSmode
may be used.
PCM: When the PCMindicatorlights,a stan-
dard PulseCode Modulation,or PCM,signal is
being received. T hisis the type of digital audio
usedby conventionalcompactdiscand laser
discrecordings. W hen a PCMbitstreamis pres-
ent, all modesexceptDolbyDigitaland DTS are
available.
_®: Whenthis indicatorlights in con-
junction with the PCMindicator,the CDthat is
playingis encodedthrough the specialHigh
DefinitionCompatibleDigital ® process.HDCD ®
discsuse 20-bit encodingandother proprietary
processing to providethe ultimate in CDlisten-
ing. Notethat HDCDprocessing is only avail-
able in the Stereo(SurroundOff) mode.
MP3: Whenthe MP3indicatorlights,a com-
patible MPEGl/Layer 3 digital signalis being
received. T his isthe popularaudioformat used
by manycomputerprogramsfor recordingcom-
pressedaudiofiles.When an MP3bitstreamis
present,the soundwill automaticallybe played
in the Stereo(SurroundOff)mode.Thesur-
round modesare not availableduring MP3
playback.
In addition to the bitstreamindicators, t he
AVR520 featuresa set of unique channel-input
indicatorsthat tell you how manychannelsof
digital informationare beingreceivedand/or
whetherthe digital signalis interrupted.(See
Figure8.)
El-el]
rm
Figure8
Theseindicatorsarethe L/C/R/LFE/SLISR/SBL/
SBRlettersthat are insidethe centerboxesof
the Speaker/Channel Input Indicators []
in the front panel Main Information Display
[]1 When a standardanalog signal is in use,
onlythe "L" and "R" indicatorswill light, as
analogsignalshaveonly left and right channels.
Digitalsignals,however, m ay havetwo, five,six
or sevenseparatechannels, d ependingon the
programmaterial,the methodof transmission
andthe way in which it wasencoded. W hen a
digital signal is playing,the letters in theseindi-
catorswill light in response to the specificsig-
nal being received. I t is importantto notethat
although DolbyDigital,for example, i s referred
to asa "5.1" system,not all DolbyDigital
DVDsor programsare encodedfor 5.1.Thus,it
is sometimesnormalfor a DVDwith a Dolby
Digitalsoundtrackto trigger only the "L" and
"R" indicators.
NOTE:ManyDVDdiscsare recordedwith both
"5.1" and "2.0" versionsof the samesound-
track.Whenplayinga DVD,alwaysbe certain
to checkthe type of materialon the disc.Most
discsshowthis informationin the form of a
listingor iconon the back of the discjacket.
Whena discdoesoffer multiplesoundtrack
choices, y ou mayhaveto makesomeadjust-
mentsto your DVDplayer(usuallywith the
"Audio Select"button or in a menu screenon
the disc)to senda full 5.1 feed to the AVR
520. It is also possiblefor the type of signal
feed to changeduringthe courseof a DVD
playback.In somecases,the previewsof special
materialwill only be recordedin 2.0 audio,
whilethe main feature is availablein 5.1 audio.
TheAVR520will automaticallysensechanges
to the bitstreamand channelcount and reflect
them in theseindicators.
The lettersusedbythe Speaker/Channel
Input Indicators [] alsoflash to indicate
when a bitstream hasbeen interrupted. This
will happenwhen a digital input sourceis
selectedbeforethe playbackstarts,or when a
digital sourcesuchasa DVDis paused. T he
flashing indicatorsremindyouthat the play-
back hasstoppeddueto the absenceof a digi-
tal signal and not through any fault of the
AVR520.Thisis normal,andthe digital play-
backwill resumeoncethe playbackis started
again.
Night Mode
A specialfeature of DolbyDigitalis the Night
mode,whichenablesspeciallyencodedDolby
Digitalinput sourcesto be playedback with full
digital intelligibility while reducingthe mini-
mumpeak levelby 1/4 to 1/3.Thisprevents
abruptlyloud transitionsfrom disturbingothers,
without reducingthe impactof the digital
source. T heNight modeis availableonlywhen
DolbyDigitalsignalswith specialdata are
beingplayed.
The Night mode may be engagedwhen a Dolby
Digital DVDis playingby pressing the Night
Mode Button _ on the remote.Next,press
the AtV Buttons_ to selecteither the
middlerangeor full compression versionsof
the Night mode.Toturn the Night modeoff,
pressthe AtV Buttons_ until the mes-
sagein the lower third of the video displayand
the Main Information Display [] reads
D-Range Off.
The Night mode mayalso be selectedto always
be on at either levelof compression usingthe
optionsin the Surround Select
menu.Seepage 22 for informationon using
the menusto set this option.
[-_---51_, HDCD ®,HighDefinition CompatibleDigitaP and PacificMicrosonic{_' a re either registeredtrademarksor trademarksof PacificMicrosonics,Inc., in the United States
and/or other countries.HDCDsystemmanufacturedunder licensefrom PacificMicrosonics, I nc.
30 OPERATION
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