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.
Full HD and HD Ready
High Definition (HD) is the future broadcast stan- dard, delivering much higher video resolution. The "HD ready" logo is introduced by the European Industry Association for Information Systems (EICTA). It is a quality sign for the differentiation of display equipment, capable of processing and displaying these new HD signals, awarded on the basis of minimum functionality requirements.
High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI): HDMI has emerged as the digital standard for connecting High Definition devices, displays and components, and provides for the pristine transmission of high-definition digital video. HDMI is the first and only digital interface for Consumer Electronics devices that can carry uncompressed high-definition video, and com- mand data, allowing customers to obtain pure digital high-definition video.
Digital Visual Interface™ (DVI) Input
The DVI input provides a high speed, digital con- nection for visual data types. The interface is pri- mary focused at providing a connection between a computer and the display.
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP)
HDCP is a specification developed to protect digi- tal entertainment content across the DVI/HDMI interface. The HDCP specification provides a robust, and transparent method for transmitting and receiving digital entertainment content from our Harman Kardon Cinema Lounge DVD- Audio/Video player to the DVI/HDMI-inputs on the Harman Kardon Digital Lounge display.
USB On-The-Go:Due to its widespread accept- ance, USB is becoming the de facto industry stan- dard for connecting peripherals to PCs and lap- tops. Many of the new peripherals using USB are also portable devices.
As these portable devices increase in popularity, there is a growing need for them to communicate directly with each other when a PC is not avail- able, for instance in consumer electronics prod- ucts. The USB On-The-Go technology addresses this need for mobile interconnectivity.
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 interlaced). This allows all of the lines in each frame (odd and even) to be shown at the same time. Harman Kardon Digital Lounge comes with true progres- sive scan video output resulting in a 40% greater light output than a conventional TV and a stun- ningly detailed, high definition image with absence of visible scanlines and motion artifacts.
Advanced Analog Signal Conversion (AASC) Technology
Standard definition analog TV tuners broadcast an image of 576 lines; LCD screens have a resolution that have much more available scan lines. If an analog tuner signal is not handled appropriately, the picture quality of analog tuner signals on higher definition screens risks looking distorted, with pixels being clearly visible, sharp edges and a loss of definition.
Our systems use Advanced Analog Signal Conversion technology to optimize the picture coming from analog tuners. The result is a very defined and smooth picture that is comparable with digital images coming from higher resolu- tion, digital tuners.
DVB-T
DVB-T stands for Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial and it is the European consortium stan- dard for the broadcast transmission of Digital ter- restrial television.
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 multi- ple-angle information, pressing the Angle button will enable you to switch between these different views. Note that at present, few discs take advan- tage of this capability and, when they do, the mul- tiple-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 multi- ple viewing angles.
Reading: This is a message that you will see after you´ve loaded the disc. 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 new video codec which is based on the MPEG-4 compression standard for video. This DVD player will playback 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.
