Sony G90 manual After DSP Digital to Analog Conversion, InterFacing the User

Page 31

copy-protection problem), DVD-Audio and

SACD players will have six analog outputs for

reproducing multi-channel music discs. Unless

your controller has a discrete six-channel ana-

log input, you won’t be able to play high-reso-

lution multi-channel music through your sys-

tem until the copy-protection dust has settled.

The six-channel analog input approach has its

drawbacks: You’re paying for six DACs in the DVD-

A or SACD player and for six DACs in the controller. It

would obviously be better and more cost effective if multi-

channel DVD-A or SACD was provided to the controller in a

single digital data stream. Until then, the most important

thing to look for is that the analog bypass is available for the

DVD-A and SACD signals. Adding extra layers of conversion

will only degrade the sound. The issue becomes more com-

plicated when you add bass management to the mix, since

bass management is done in the digital domain.

After DSP – Digital to Analog

Conversion

Every 5.1-channel controller has six digital-to-analog con-

verters (DACs) and six analog output stages built into it. The

DACs convert the digital data for each channel into analog

signals. The quality of these DACs and the subsequent ana-

log output stage (which drives the power amplifier through

interconnects) is crucial to realizing good sound quality.

DACs vary greatly in their sound, and a poor-sounding DAC

(or a poor implementation of a good one) can ruin an other-

wise excellent controller. More expensive controllers use

higher quality parts and design techniques, including metal-

film resistors, polystyrene capacitors, four-layer circuit-

boards, and exotic circuit board material. Also look for ana-

log stages made from discrete transistors instead of inex-

pensive operational-amplifier chips. Some High End compa-

nies now have considerable expertise in designing cutting-

edge digital converters, expertise they can apply to building

multi-channel digital controllers.

Don’t be swayed by marketing hype that touts the DACs as

“24-bit.” Although the DAC may have 24 resistor “rungs” on its

“ladder,” that doesn’t mean it has 24-bit resolution. The last

four bits often contain just noise, not real information.

Because real-world DAC technology is limited to 20-bits, those

last four bits are known in the industry as “marketing bits.”

The best minds working today in digital conversion cite

the historical “two bits per decade” rule of con-

verter advancement. Assuming this rate contin-

ues, consider this: 24-bit digital audio has a the-

oretical noise floor of –144 dBV, but the thermal

noise produced by a single 1,000 ohm resistor

(generated by random movement of electrons)

at room temperature is –125 dBV, a noise floor

19 dB higher than a 24-bit converter’s theoretical

limit. I doubt that converter technology will

advance beyond 21 bits without a fundamental break-

through employing new DAC architectures.

(Inter)Facing the User

Most of this article has been concerned with the path of a sig-

nal from input to output and the wide variety of turns

between. But how the user operates a controller with all

these features is just as important as the raw technology that

makes the magic. A controller can be easy to set up initially

and a joy to use on a daily basis. Or it can be a confusing

nightmare that makes you feel lucky to get any sound at all

from your speakers – never mind fine-tuning the controller

for the best performance. Which of these scenarios comes to

pass is determined by the controller’s user interface, a term

that encompasses the front-panel controls and display, the

remote control, and the on-screen display. Some products are

easy and intuitive to use; others are frustrating and complex.

Before buying a controller, ask the salesman to run through

the system set-up; if he has a hard time, watch out. Second,

play with the unit yourself in the store; you’ll not only get a feel

for how it works, you can ask questions before you take the

controller home. Third, take a close look at the remote; if it is

covered by a sea of identically sized, shaped, and colored but-

tons, it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the user interface. The

buttons should be color coded, grouped by function, and fea-

ture different sizes according to their frequency of use or func-

tion. And it’s all to the better if they light up in the dark.

Do not underestimate the importance of a well-designed

user interface. It could make the difference between loving

and hating the component that is the heart and brain of your

multi-channel system.

For more information about controllers and other home

theater topics, check out Robert Harley’s book Home The-

ater for Everyone. For information, or to order a copy, call

800-848-5099. Website: www.hifibooks.com

Component-Video Switching

ne feature lacking on even some

trollers with component-video switching,

High End controllers is compo-

however, have no on-screen display from

Onent video input and output jacks.

the component-video output.

Component video, carried on three sepa-

If you have a single component-video

rate cables, offers vastly improved picture

source (a DVD player, for example) and a

quality over composite video, and is even

video monitor with component-video

better than S-Video. As more and more

input, you can simply run the component-

products with composite-video connec-

video cables directly from the DVD play-

tions become available (DVD players,

er to your video monitor, bypassing the

HDTV set-top boxes, video monitors),

controller’s video-switching function. This

component-video switching becomes an

technique requires that you switch inputs

increasingly important feature. Most con -

on your video monitor to watch a DVD.

Even if your controller has component- video switching, however, none available today offer cross-format conversion (i.e., S-Video input to component-video out- put), meaning you still must switch inputs on your video monitor when watching a component-video source. Although component-video switch- ing will

become increasingly common, multiple

RCA jacks take up valuable rear-panel real estate. Some products just don’t have

the room.

RH

Image 31
Contents Sony G90 Size Does Matter Sound and vision at the same time every time Ingly just beyond reachThan ever we needed in strange, dark caves Experience before he finds a little of ItBergman’s The Seventh Seal DVD Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut HPBarco Vision Watch Follies & FrolicsEditor Editors will respond next issueCan All That Counts Be Counted? a Forum Begins II Janet’s IndexTargeting 14-Year-Old Boys? Problem with DVD Digital ArtifactsIf The Perfect Vision is to push At all. So it doesn’t take Hdtv or Down Primrose Path Toward Perfect Vision Forever?Azine Widescreen Review perhaps? TV Is TV What Not To See on DVDDigital Cinema The Good Bad of It John Eargle Lossy Data Compression & DVD SoundSeries such as Star Trek The Next Generation . Each I L L E RDVDs Gaining Momentum Movie TriviaE G E G S a N D O W S I C & M U L T I M E D I aViaTV VC 105 Videophone Panasonic DVD-L50D PalmTheaterM M a R T I N Encountered R R Y R a W L I N S O NInfocomm World of displays Significant New Products and TrendsReport Tunately, there are trade-offs for the small size of ultra To recreate the theater experience in the homeOgy near its limit and its days are numbered. The display Light projected on the screen. These considerations haveAn Ideal Cinema? Leges, its perks, as it were. If you’re the script super Real movie where there was none before, or at leastOmetimes I think that every position on a Moviemaking crew comes with its special priviFootage One way or another when it comes to working withIty between when they are and when Assistant directors, service people,Directors seem to trust me to use my Into any trouble Certainly a serviceable way to editMovies Likely to get youEnjoy prelaps to pull the narrative Allowing for camera setups, lighting, and rigTakes and setups meaning the master It’s a funny thing about matching in editing. Most laySion? In Understanding Media, McCluhan Sonic Flavors To Slake Every Thirst Lexicon MC-1 ControllerR L E Y Lexicon’s Music Surround Modes Logic 7 Digital Signal Processing for Movies and MusicListening to Movies Listening To Music Surround Ing the Denon Anechoic Orchestral Music Recording CD ConclusionControllers Surround Decoding and Digital Signal Processing DSP Two-Channel Bypass ModeDSP and the Future-Proof Controller Bass Management THX-Certified ControllersFuture… High-Resolution Digital Audio…the controller represents Radical new path toInterFacing the User After DSP Digital to Analog ConversionM M I I L L E R Revel Ultima Speakers From 2 to 7.1 ChannelsEpisode One The Ancient Enemy Meet My Enemy59 by Deploying the Troops RPG Room Optimizer SoftwareTion coefficient for the surfaces that is comparable to Revel Ultima Salon Noble WarriorStart and go get a beer, or two You wanted to cross over your subwoofer at 40 HzResearch effort to quantify in-room speaker behavior Our noble warrior against the ancient enemyLikewise for the 15-inch woofer in the Sub-15 Essary to achieve the Revel design team’s led by KevinSpeaker? Removing the bottom octave from the Salon’s Direct radiator to bloated. The Salon’s soundstage comBy Keith Johnson for Reference Recordings Nal processing in controllers hadn’t made subwooferCians often use emphasis in the intensity Woofer, when it is well integrated with your main speakersFormance. Orchestral music, for example, is performed Get that the fight for the lowlands was far from over Cy, phase, and time. It then develops adaptive filters thatBattle Summary Stand-off Episode Two a War On Two FrontsSearch of the Mythical Beast LINN-AV5103 Aktiv Multi-Channel SystemQuest Begins Company of the BeastRemote Interface Working the EnvironmentI L G a D E R NAD T770 Audio-Video ReceiverJust the Basics, Done Well Summing UpGaines’ Stormy Monday I’ve Got the T-Bone Walker Das Boot, The Director’s Cut Wolfgang Peterson, directorDesigns go, the NAD T770 is all steak Steering in DD mode is precise and smoothManufacturer’s Corner RPG Diffuser Systems Inc., Room OptimizerMajor Labels’ Plans for Classical Music on DVD Want My DVDI D I W a L E S O N Tan Opera Guide to Opera on Video and executive direc Have been considered typical indeed, good for a Audience, he says. We fed that information to the rearTion from the main mikes as well as the spot mikes From the two main mikes and brought it to the rear onesComputer and TV combined See review, this issueQuering technology issues, Moorhead says. Most of our Fall was so high. This was an elaborate jointOriginal, so they’re not going to fake it for DVD Made for DVDStars. God, was I skeptical Ple either turning cynical, or lusting for more blood Dramatic confrontation, in the second scene of Act TwoMust answer three riddles. If his answers are correct, she To Turandot’s collection the Chinese nation, ruled by anMoon onstage we see a corps of Chinese dancers, wearing Turandot. And why would there be? Yes, Puccini conscienPreoccupation like that made more sense, but Tucks into a tiny corner of the staging. Hordes of ChineseDVD-ness Classical DVD SamplerPerformances Ment of that, and when I listened, I found I’d chooseWith the sound either way, or with the sound of the Scala Full of pomp and circumstance, but much less lifelikeThat’s simply ravishing This performance is broad Role mostly as a force of nature, powerful but blankStart of each one, there’s Karajan on screen, his face Like institutional persona, Herr Music Director of AllExperiment in a New Medium Roger Reynolds Watershed Mode 70, DVDSurrounded JargonAreas of music rhythm, loudness, and tone color, for Are so new that we all need orientationThough, is that Reynolds is way too impressed with Yes, theorists can find all sorts of relationships amongThat, while Otto is allegedly creating syntax by moving Musical scoreMaybe, succeeded by metallic effects But in rhythms he himself creates. In practice, these, toPerformance we see on DVD begins with a film Pop With a TwistB G E N D R O N Ments of a Clockwork Orange What Ever Happened to BabyHorizon, probably to his death. It is a scene that demands Perfect timing and careful choreographyBelow-average vocal performance Son’s Dead to the World. NopeLy slurs the tune’s climactic line,What DVD, with its digitally clear resolutionTabloid, because of its sensational pur Insignificance of the media and with aGodzilla, Armageddon, Instrument is better than Dent films Gods and Monsters, Cookie’s Fortune thatWith 1991’s In on the Kill Voices of Light/The Passion of Joan of Arc Close EncounterD R E W Q U I N T Special presentation of Voices of Light/The Passion of Joan By much of the sound reinforcement heard in Broadway Obvious. The movie is about as complete as it can be.Other instances, were not merely happy coincidences, nor Each other. Seen together, they seemed inseparable yetHuman Color Perception An Introduction to Digital VideoPart 2 Video Color Concepts Physics of ColorHue and Saturation ColorblindnessColor Concepts for Video Additive Color LuminanceDisplay Color Accuracy RGB Primaries The Color Triangle CIE Chromaticity DiagramGrayscale Color Temperature White Reference Color TemperatureColor Measurement Color Bars Instrument known as a color analyzer or a spectro Other color signals will alsoColor errors. Are used in some circumstancesColor and Hue AdjustmentsAvia Guide to Home Theater pro Physical Sony VPH-G90U Multiscan ProjectorE G R O G E R S Operating Functions Installation and Set-upConnections Scan RatesSummary PerformanceRunco DTV-930 Multiscan Projector SpecificationsDescription Inputs/Outputs Formats can be selected directly from the remote Convergence Labs Test Report Greg RogersCombination is about the reasonable limit to achieve an Horizontal and vertical scan frequencies and other sourceBe noticed RangeIEV Turboscan 1500 Line Doubler Remote ControlLine Doubling = Deinterlacing 3Dfusion do each in different ways. The Turboscan Video outputs. As a progressive video reference, I used aCreates progressive video without deinterlacing artifacts Ics-grade front projectorLook and Feel Pioneer Elite DVL-91 Combination CD/LD/DVD PlayerL L C R U C E Meaning clear Up menus allow you to configure such things as onscreen lanWrong one in the dark DVD PerformanceLD Performance Ly, the remote of the DVL-91, like thatDvdo iScan Plus Line Doubler Celebrate Film L M & M O V I E S Classic Comedy’s Second Coming Roberto BenigniQuently escape was Benigni’s first American and English Though a number of films in which BenigniRoberto on the Internet Original Pink Panther film go figure. Sad to say Cute cameo which perhaps hints at a sequelAspect ratio and running time incorrectly SoundSet consists of Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001 a Special Editions Kubrick and The Space MonstersFirst wave of anger and incredulity. The DVD set was No thanks to Warner’s folks Small wonderBoth Clockwork and Full Metal Jacket exhibited pinkish What Dreams May Come Special Editions Few Weird ThoughtsNavigator a Medieval Odyssey, the other is Map Human Heart Worth a Look Relatively Recent ArrivalsSmooth as could be and given the importance How beautiful she was when she was married to RogerMovie would have had the solid foundation it needed To say that the film is developing a cult following someLove.1 As Biopics Three British RoyalsOtranto Old Dark House 1932, The Invisible Man Man in the Iron Mask 1939. But it is hisHP Comments Food-storage room Ic in this context in cloud cuckooland, with theirYou have an idea of what’s really going on in the film Mon with The Shining than with any other Kubrick opusN a T H a N V a L I N From Art to CultFace the questions that vexed and haunted Only later goes on to give them human dimensions. EvenSuch blatant symbolism can sustain an entire movie Not content to present us with an allegory of the eternalIssues 111 Editorial Submissions Back Issues Website Change of AddressQuestions About Your Subscription Letters to the EditorName Company Address CITY, State , ZIP A S S I F I E D a D O R D E R F O R MVision Watch