DVD TERMINOLOGY
Since the DVD players share some of the characteris- tics 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 player, 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 27.
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, making it almost square. Newer
Chapter: DVD programs are divided into chapters and titles. Chapters are the subsections programmed into a single title on a disc. Chapters may be compared to the individual tracks on an audio CD. Press the Disc Menu Button Pto see a listing of the chapters 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” signal channel) and two
JPEG Files: JPEG stands for the Joint Photographic Experts Group, which developed a standard for com- pressing 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 com- pact disc. The DVD 27 is among the few DVD players that are capable of recognizing JPEG files and enabling you to view them on your video screen.
MP3 Files: MP3 is an audio compression format that was developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group as an adjunct to the
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
Progressive Scan: Progressive scan playback takes the original video signal on the disc and formats it as a
Reading: This is a message that you will see when you first press the Play Button 2L. It refers to the fact that the player must first examine the contents of the disc to see whether 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 4N on the DVD 27 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 27, however, you have two options when playing most discs. Pressing the Stop Button 4Nonce will stop the playback, but it actually puts the unit in the Resume mode. This means that you can turn the machine off and, when you press the Play Button 2Lthe next time, the disc will resume playback from the point on the disc where the Stop Button 4Nwas 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 4Ntwice 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 Harman Kardon screen will appear, and the RESUME message will appear in the Information Display B. The resume function is not available for WMA files. For DVDs, CDs, MP3 files, JPEG files, and VCDs with PBC (Playback Control) only, the resume function will be retained even after the DVD 27 has been placed in Standby mode by pressing the Power Off Button 2 U, but not after the unit has been unplugged from AC power.
Title: For a DVD, a title is defined as an entire movie or program. There may 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 or to include other special features. Press the Title Button Sto see a listing of the titles on a disc. When a disc has only one title, pressing the Title Button Smay show a list of the chapters.
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 27 is among those DVD players capable of play- ing discs containing WMA files. Note that Windows Media Player uses other file formats; however, the DVD 27 is only capable of playing files that end in the “.wma” extension. See page 5 for more information on WMA file support.
