ADVANCED FUNCTIONS

“3” is used with DTS-ES bitstreams to represent the presence of the discrete surround back channel in addition to the side surround left and right channels.

The third number is used for the LFE channel:

“0” indicates no LFE channel.

“.1” indicates that an LFE channel is present.

The 6.1-channel signals – Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES Matrix and Discrete – each include a flag meant to signal the receiver to decode the surround back channel.

For Dolby Digital EX materials, the incoming bitstream will be displayed as 3/2/.1 EX-ON. For older discs, the display may show EX-OFF, but you will still be able to select the Dolby Digital EX mode manually by pressing the Dolby button on the remote repeatedly, or using the front- panel controls.

For DTS-ES materials, the incoming bitstream will be displayed as 3/3/.1 ES-ON.

Please refer to Table 8 for more information on which surround modes are available with different bitstreams.

When a PCM signal is received, the PCM message, followed by the sampling rate of the signal (32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz or 96kHz), will scroll once across the front-panel display.

In addition, the Speaker/Channel Input Indicators will indicate the number of channels discretely encoded in the signal by displaying a letter inside that channel’s speaker box. A line will connect the SBL and SBR boxes when a 6.1-channel signal is detected, indicating that the same signal is playing through both speakers. The letters flash when no signal is present, such as when a DVD is paused. See Figure 82.

L

C

R

 

 

 

 

LFE

 

 

SL

 

SR

 

SBL

 

SBR

Figure 82 – Speaker/Channel Input Indicators

Even when only two channels – left and right – are present in the signal, the analog surround modes may be used to decode the signal into the remaining channels.

NOTE: Dolby Digital 2.0 signals may also include a Dolby Surround flag indicating DS-ON or DS-OFF, depending on whether the 2-channel bitstream contains only stereo informa- tion, or a downmix of a multichannel program that can be decoded by the Dolby Pro Logic decoder in the AVR. By default, these signals are played in Dolby Pro Logic IIx Movie mode, but you may select another Dolby surround mode manually.

Surround Modes

As mentioned in the Introduction to Home Theater section, surround mode selection is dependent upon the format of the incoming audio signal, as well as personal taste. There is no harm in experimenting with all of the modes available with any given source material. Table 8 offers

a brief description of each mode the AVR 247 is capable of using, and also indicates the types of incoming signals or digital bitstreams the mode may be used with. Additional information about the Dolby and DTS modes is available on the companies’ Web sites: www.dolby.com and www.dtsonline.com.

When in doubt, check the jacket of your DVD for more information on which surround modes are available on the disc. Usually nonessential sections of the disc, such as trailers, extra materials or the disc menu, are only available in Dolby Digital 2.0 (2-channel) or PCM 2-channel mode. If the main title is playing and the letters in the Speaker/Channel Input Indicators are not lit for all speaker locations, look for an audio setup section in the disc’s menu. Also, make sure your DVD player’s audio output is set to the original bitstream rather than just PCM. Check the DVD player’s output setting by stopping play of the disc and checking the DVD player’s menu system.

As indicated in Table 8, different surround modes may only be available with certain input signals or bitstream formats. For any incoming signal, only a limited number of surround modes are available. Although there is never a time when all of the AVR 247’s surround modes are available, there is usually a wide variety of modes available for a given input.

There are three methods of manually selecting one of the available surround modes:

1.From the front panel, press the Surround Mode Button until the desired mode group (Dolby, DTS, DSP, Stereo, Logic 7) is selected, and the last-used mode from that group will be activated. Then press the Surround Select Button repeatedly to scroll through the modes available within that group.

2.Using the remote, press the button for the desired mode group:

Dolby Sur for Dolby modes DTS Sur for DTS Digital modes

DTS Neo:6 for the DTS Neo:6 modes Logic 7 for the Logic 7 modes

Stereo for the Stereo or Surround Off modes

Surr for the DSP Surround modes (Hall 1, Hall 2, Theater)

Press the mode button repeatedly to scroll through the modes available within that group.

3.The full-OSD menu system allows access to submenus for each of the mode groups through the Surround Setup menu. See Figure 81.

Figure 81 (repeated) – Surround Setup Menu Screen

46

46

Page 46
Image 46
Harman-Kardon AVR 247 owner manual Repeated Surround Setup Menu Screen