Operation
Speaker/Channel Indicators
In addition to the Bitstream Indicators, the AVR features a set of unique channel-input indi- cators that tell you how many channels of digital information are being received and/or whether the digital signal is interrupted. (See Figure 9.)
Figure 9
These indicators are the L/C/R/LFE/SL/SR/SBL/SBR letters that are inside the center boxes of the Speaker/Channel Input Indicators Ein the front panel Main Information Display ˆ. When a standard analog stereo or matrix sur- round signal is in use, only the “L” and “R” indi- cators will light, as analog signals have only left and right channels.
Dolby Digital signals, however, may have one, two, five, six or seven separate channels, depend- ing on the program material, the method of transmission and the way in which it was encod- ed. When a digital signal is playing, the letters in these indicators will light in response to the spe- cific signal being received. It is important to note that although Dolby Digital, for example, is referred to as a “5.1” system, not all Dolby Digital DVDs or audio tracks selected on DVD or other Dolby Digital programs are encoded for
5.1.Thus, it is sometimes normal for a DVD with a Dolby Digital soundtrack to trigger only the “L” and “R” indicators.
NOTE: Many DVD discs are recorded with both “5.1” and “2.0” versions of the same sound- track. When playing a DVD, always be certain to check the type of material on the disc. Most discs show this information in the form of a listing or icon on the back of the disc jacket. When a disc does offer multiple soundtrack choices, you may have to make some adjustments to your DVD player (usually with the “Audio Select” button or in a menu screen on the disc) to send a full 5.1 feed to the AVR or to select the appropriate audio track and thus language. It is also possible for the type of signal feed to change during the course of a DVD playback. In some cases the pre-
views of special material will only be recorded in
2.0audio, while the main feature is available in
5.1audio. As long as your DVD player is set for 6-channel output, the AVR will automatically sense changes to the bitstream and channel count and reflect them in these indicators.
Important Note: When a digital surround source (Dolby Digital, DTS) is played, the letters SBL/SBR for the Surround Back channels will appear only when a DTS ES DISCRETE 6.1 source is played. Then this surround mode will be indi- cated in the Lower Display Line Bon the front panel. With all other recordings the icons for the surround back speakers may light (when those speakers have been configured) to indicate that a signal will be fed to them but no letters inside will light as the unit will not receive an input signal for the surround back channels.
The letters used by the Speaker/Channel Input Indicators Ealso flash to indicate when a bit- stream has been interrupted. This will happen when a digital input source is selected before the playback starts, or when a digital source such as a DVD is put into a Pause mode. The flashing indicators remind you that the playback has stopped due to the absence of a digital signal and not through any fault of the AVR. This is nor- mal, and the digital playback will resume once the playback is started again.
Night Mode
A special feature of Dolby Digital is the Night mode, which enables Dolby Digital input sources to be played back with full digital intelligibilty while reducing the maximum peak level and lifting the low levels by 1/4 to 1/3. This prevents abruptly loud transitions from disturbing others without reducing the impact of the digital source. The Night mode is available only when the Dolby Digital mode is selected.
The Night mode may be engaged when the Dolby Digital Surround mode is selected by press- ing the Night Button Bon the remote. Next, press the ⁄/¤ buttons Dto select either the middle range or full compression versions of the Night mode. To turn the Night mode off, press the ⁄/¤ buttons Duntil the message in the lower third of the video display and in the Lower Display Line Breads D-RANGE
OFF.
The Night mode may also be selected to always be on as soon as the Dolby Digital mode is acti- vated at either level of compression using the options in the DOLBY menu. See page 26 for information on using the menus to set this option.
IMPORTANT NOTES ON DIGITAL PLAYBACK:
•When the digital playback source is stopped, or in a pause, fast forward or chapter search mode, the digital audio data will momentarily stop, and the channel position letters inside the Speaker/ Channel Indicators Ewill flash. This is normal and does not indicate a problem with either the AVR or the source machine. The AVR will return to digital playback as soon as the data is avail- able and when the machine is in a standard play mode.
•Although the AVR will decode virtually all DVD movies, CDs and HDTV sources, it is possible that some future digital sources may not be compatible with the AVR.
•Note that not all digitally encoded programs and not all audio tracks on a DVD contain full
5.1 or 6.1 channel audio. Consult the program guide that accompanies the DVD or laser disc to determine which type of audio has been record- ed on the disc. The AVR will automatically sense the type of digital surround encoding used, indi- cate it in the Surround Mode/Bitstream Indicators ¯and Channel Input Indicators
Eand adjust to accommodate it.
•When a Dolby Digital or DTS source is playing, you normally may not be able to select some of the analog surround modes such as Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby 3 Stereo, Hall, Theater, 5CH/7CH Stereo or Logic 7, except with specific Dolby Digital 2.0 recordings that can be played with the Pro Logic II modes too (see page 35).
•When a digital source is playing, it is not possi- ble to make an analog recording using the Tape
or Video 1 or Video 2 record outputs, if the source is connected to any digital input of the AVR only. But the analog two channel signal of that source, the ”Downmix” to Stereo or Dolby Surround, can be recorded by connecting its analog audio outputs to the appropriate ana- log inputs (e.g. DVD) of the AVR, even if the digital input of the AVR remains selected. Additionally, the digital signals will be passed through to the Digital Audio Outputs
(Ô.
