Harman-Kardon AVR45 owner manual Night Mode, PCM Audio Playback

Operation

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3/2.1: This message appears when a full complement of Dolby Digital signals is present: 3 front channels (left, center and right), 2 surround channels (surround left and surround right) and “1” channel, which is the dedicated Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel.

3/1: This message indicates the AC-3 system is decoding a standard Dolby Pro Logic signal with left, center and right front channels and a signal mono surround channel.

2/0: This message indicates that the AC-3 system is decoding a tradi- tional two-channel stereo signal and that no center, surround or LFE signals are present.

1+1: This is a monaural signal that plays the same information in both the left front and right front speakers. There is no sound sent to the center or surround speakers.

1/0: This is a monaural signal that plays through the center channel speaker only. There is no sound at the front left/right or surround speakers.

Night Mode

A special feature of Dolby Digital is the Night mode, which enables AC-3 input sources to be played back with their full range while reducing the minimum peak level by 1/4 to 1/3. This prevents abruptly loud transitions from causing distur- bances without reducing the impact of the digital source. The Night mode is available only when AC-3 signals with special data are being played.

To engage the Night mode, press the Night button jon the remote and note that the NIGHT indicator Kwill illuminate in the Information Display.

IMPORTANT NOTES ON DOLBY DIGITAL PLAYBACK:

1.When the digital playback unit is in a pause, fast forward or chapter search mode the digital audio data may momentarily stop, causing a NO DATA message to be displayed. This is normal and does not indicate a problem with either the AVR45 or the source machine. The AVR45 will return to Dolby Digital/AC-3 playback as soon as the data is available when the machine is in a standard play mode.

2.The AVR45 will decode digital audio sources with a sampling frequency of 32kHz, 44.1kHz and 48kHz. Although this will enable it to decode virtually all DVD movies and HDTV sources, it is pos- sible that some future digital sources may not be compatible with the AVR45.

NOTE: In order to play the Dolby Digital signals that are recorded on laser discs, you must have both a laser disc player with an RF output, and an optional, outboard RF-to-data demodulator. To listen to Dolby Digital LV discs, connect the AC-3/RF output of the player to the demodulator, and connect the output of the demodulator to the Coaxial or Optical inputs ¡á on the rear panel of the AVR45. DO NOT connect the AC-3/RF output of a laser disc player directly to the AVR45.

3.Note that not all programs recorded in Dolby Digital contain full 5.1 channel audio. Consult the program guide that accompanies the DVD or laser disc to determine which type of audio has been recorded on the disc. The AVR45 will automatically sense the type of digital surrround encoding used on an AC-3 program source and adjust to accommodate it.

4.When a Dolby Digital source is playing, you may not select any of the analog surround modes.

5.It is not possible to record the output of a Dolby Digital program.

PCM Audio Playback

PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) is the non-compressed digital audio system used for compact discs and non-AC-3 laser discs. The digital circuits in the AVR45 are capable of high-quality digital- to-analog decoding, and they may be connected directly to the digital audio output of your CD or LV player.

Connections should be made to the AC-3/PCM Optical or Coaxial inputs

¡á on the rear panel, using whichever input is not occupied by an AC-3 source such as a DVD player.

To listen to a PCM digital source, first select the input for the desired source (e.g., CD). Next press the Digital button

wö and then using the Ú/ Û buttons gon the remote or the Selector buttons üon the front panel until the desired choice of either COAXIALor OPTICAL, as it appears in the Main

Information Display S. Press the Set button i ÷ to enter the desired choice.