Harman-Kardon 347 - Manual (Page 42)

42 OPERATION
Operation
When the digital source is playing, the AVR will
automatically detect whether it is a multichannel
Dolby Digital or DTS source or a conventional
PCM signal, which is the standard output from
CD players.
Note that a digital input (e.g. coaxial) remains
associated with any analog input (e.g. DVD) as
soon as it is selected, thus the digital input need
not be re-selected each time the appropriate
input choice (e.g. DVD) is made.
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 manually. 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
Ò 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 displayed for Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1
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 bit streams that have stereo
program 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 dis-
played for Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 pro-
grams.
• 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 chan-
nel information. This will be displayed for two-
channel stereo programs.
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 frequen-
cies.
• 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
information available. However, even when
there is no dedicated LFE channel, low fre-
quency 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
activate the appropriate 6.1 or 7.1 mode. This
will be shown as EX-ON or EX-OFF for Dolby
Digital bitstreams and ES-ON or ES-OFF for
DTS bitstreams.
An UNLOCK message may appear in the
Lower Display Line Ò. This is your indication
that the digital audio data stream has been
interrupted 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 start-
ed 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 satellite 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
UNLOCK message
is normal, and does not indicate 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.
For incoming Dolby Digital signals, the following modes are available:
Incoming Bitstream Available Surround Modes
Dolby Digital 1/0/.0 or 1/0/.1 Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Virtual Speaker Reference (2 Speaker), Dolby Virtual Speaker Wide (2 Speaker)
Dolby Digital 2/0/.0 or 2/0/.1 Dolby Pro Logic II (Movie, Music or Game), Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Digital, Dolby Virtual Speaker Reference (2 or 3 Speaker),
Dolby Virtual Speaker Wide (2, 3, 4 or 5 Speaker), Dolby Pro Logic IIx (Movie, Music or Game)
Dolby Digital 3/0/.0 or 3/0/.1 Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Virtual Speaker Reference (2 or 3 Speaker), Dolby Virtual Speaker Wide
(2 or 3 Speaker)
Dolby Digital 2/1/.0 or 2/1/.1 Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Virtual Speaker Reference (2 or 3 Speaker), Dolby Virtual Speaker Wide
(2, 3, 4 or 5 Speaker)
Dolby Digital 2/2/.0 or 2/2/.1 Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Virtual Speaker Reference (2 Speaker), Dolby Virtual Speaker Wide
(2 or 4 Speaker), Dolby Digital EX1, Dolby Pro Logic IIx1 (Movie or Music)
Dolby Digital 3/2/.0, 3/2/.1 Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Virtual Speaker Reference (2 or 3 Speaker), Dolby Virtual Speaker Wide
(2, 3, 4 or 5 Speaker), or EX Dolby Digital EX1, Dolby Pro Logic IIx1 (Movie or Music)