Terminology
Since they share some of the characteristics and technology of CD players, many of the terms and operational concepts used in a DVD player are similar to what you may be familiar with from CD players and changers, or older video disc formats such as Laser Disc. However, if this is your first DVD product, some of the terms used to describe the features of a DVD player may be unfamiliar. The following explanations should solve some of the mysteries of DVD, and help you to enjoy all the power and flexibility of the DVD format and the DVD.
With the arrival of DVD, disc data capacity has increased dramatically. On a DVD Video disc most of this capacity is taken up by MPEG 2 video and the multichannel movie soundtrack in Dolby Digital and/or DTS. This information is compressed.
Aspect Ratio: This is a description of the width of a video image in relation to its height.
A conventional video screen is four units wide for every three units of height, that’s why the ratio is called ”4:3”. Newer wide aspect ratio video displays are 16 units wide for every nine units of height, making them more like the screen in a movie theater. The program material on a DVD may be recorded in either format and, in addition, you may configure the DVD to play back in either format, depending on the features recorded on a disc.
Component Video: This form of video signal eliminates many of the artifacts of traditional composite video signals by splitting the signal into a separate luminance channel (the “Y” sig- nal channel) and two color-difference signals (the Pr and Pb signal channels). With a component video connection, you will see greater picture resolution and eliminate many picture imperfec- tions such as the moiré patterns often seen on check-patterned cloth. However, in order to ben- efit from component video, you must have a video display with Y/Pr/Pb component video inputs. Do not connect the component video out- puts of the DVD 28 to the standard composite or S-video inputs of a TV or recorder.
HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection): HDCP is the specification for pro- tecting digitally encoded content from unautho- rized copying when it is transmitted from a DVD player (or other video source) to a video display using HDMI or DVI connections. In order to take advantage of the high-resolution output of the DVD 28 via its HDMI output, your display must be HDCP-compliant. Virtually all displays with HDMI inputs are HDCP-compliant, but not all DVI-equipped displays are. If you are using the DVD 28 with an optional HDMI-to-DVI cable or adapter, check the owner’s manual for your dis- play to determine whether it is HDCP-compliant.
HDMI™ (High-Definition Multimedia Interface™): HDMI is a serial-bus form of com- munication between the DVD player and the video display or audio/video receiver. With 5Gbps of bandwidth, it is capable of passing uncom- pressed digital audio and high-definition digital video using a single cable. With HDMI, the DVD 28 is capable of outputting high-resolution (720p or 1080i) video and 5.1-channel Dolby Digital or DTS digital audio, with the convenience of just a single cable connection.
JPEG Files: JPEG stands for the Joint Photographic Experts Group, which developed a standard for compressing still images, such as photographs. JPEG files may be created on a personal computer by importing images from a digital camera, or scanning printed photographs. These files may be burned onto a compact disc. The DVD 28 is capable of recognizing JPEG files and enabling you to view them on your video screen.
Title: For a DVD, a title is defined as an entire movie or program. There can be as many chapters within a title as the producers decide to include. Most discs include only one title, but some may have more than one, to give you a “Double Feature” presentation.
Chapter: DVD programs are divided into chapters and titles. Chapters are the sub-sections programmed into a single title on a disc. Chapters may be compared to the individual tracks on an audio CD.
Progressive Scan: Due to the immense data storage capacity of DVD, images are nowadays stored progressively (intact, rather than inter- laced). This allow all of the lines in each frame (odd and even) to be shown at the same time. Harman Kardon Cinema Lounge comes with true progressive scan video output resulting in a 40% greater light output than a conventional TV and a stunningly detailed, high definition image with absence of visible scanlines and motion artifacts.
WMA Files: WMA (Windows Media® Audio) is an audio compression format that was developed by the Microsoft® Corporation for use with its Windows Media Player. WMA files can be even smaller in size than MP3 files, while maintaining similar quality. The DVD 28 is among those DVD players capable of playing discs containing WMA files. Note that Windows Media Player uses other file formats; however, the DVD 28 is only capable of playing files that end in the “.wma” extension. See page 5 for more information on WMA file support.
Multiple Angle: DVDs have the capability to show up to four different views of the same scene in a program. When a disc is encoded with multiple-angle information, pressing the Angle button will enable you to switch between these different views. Note that at present, few discs take advantage of this capability and, when they do, the multiple-angle technology may only be present for short periods of time within the disc. Producers will usually insert some sort of icon or graphic in the picture to alert you to the availability of multiple viewing angles.
Reading: This is a message that you will see after you´ve loaded the disc and the tray has closed. It refers to the fact that the player must first examine the contents of the disc to see if it is a CD or DVD, and then extract the information about the type of material on the disc, such as languages, aspect ratios, subtitles, number of titles and more. The slight delay while the contents of the disc are read is normal.
Resume: The operation of the Stop Button on the DVD works differently from what you are used to on CD players. On a traditional CD player, when you press the Stop button, the unit does just that: it stops playback. On a CD player, when you press the start button again, the disc starts from the beginning. With the DVD, however, you have two options when playing DVD discs. Pressing Stop once will stop playback, but it actually puts the unit in the Resume mode. This means that you can turn the machine off and, when you press play the next time, the disc will resume or continue from the point on the disc where the Stop button was pressed. This is helpful if you are watching a movie and must interrupt your viewing session but wish to pick up where you left off. Pressing the Stop button twice will stop the machine in a traditional manner and, when the disc is played again, it will start from the beginning.
In resume mode, the cover of the DVD will be displayed, if available. Otherwise, the Harman Kardon screen will appear.
DivX
DivX is the name of a revolutionary new video codec which is based on the MPEG-4 compres- sion standard for video. This DVD player will play- back discs created with DivX software. The DVD player’s playback functionalities of DivX video discs will vary depending on the DivX software version used for creating your movies. For more information about the different software versions of DivX, please go to www.divx.com.
