Harman Kardon AVR 220 Owner'S Manual Download Page 27

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OPERATION

Operation

When playing a digital source such as DVD, first
select the input using the remote or front panel
controls as outlined in this manual. Next, select
the digital source by pressing the

Digital

Input Selector Button

pÚ

and then

using the

⁄

Buttons

on the

remote or the

Selector Buttons

on the

front panel to choose any of the

OPTICAL

COAXIAL

inputs, as they appear in the

Main Information Display

, the

Digital

Input Indicators

or the on-screen dis-

play. When the digital source is playing, the
AVR 220 will automatically detect whether it is
a multichannel Dolby Digital or DTS source, an
MP3 signal or a conventional PCM signal,
which is the standard output from CD players. A

Bitstream Indicator

will light in the

Main Infor-mation Display

ÛS

to confirm

that the digital signal is Dolby Digital, DTS, PCM
or MP3.

Digital Status Indicators

When a digital source is playing, the AVR 220
senses the type of bitstream data that is pres-
ent. Using this information, the correct sur-
round mode will automatically be selected. For
example, DTS bitstreams will cause the unit to
switch to DTS decoding, and Dolby Digital bit-
streams will enable Dolby Digital decoding.
When the unit senses PCM data from CDs or
LDs, you may select any of the standard sur-
round modes, such as Dolby Pro Logic II or
Logic 7. Since the range of available surround
modes is depen-dent on the type of digital data
that is present, the AVR 220 uses a variety of
indicators to let you know what type of signal
is present. This will help you to understand the
choice of modes.

When a digital source is playing, a

Bitstream

Indicator

will light to show which type of

signal is playing:

: When the DOLBY D indicator lights, a

Dolby Digital bitstream is being received.
Depending on the settings on the source player
and specific surround information and number
of channels on the disc, a number of surround
modes are possible. For discs with full 5.1
audio, only the Dolby Digital and VMAx modes
are available. When the Dolby Digital signal is
only two-channel, you may also select from the
Logic 7 Cinema/Music, Hall 1/2, Theater, Dolby
Pro Logic II Movie, Music or Emulation, or
Dolby 3 Stereo Modes. When the AVR 220
senses a 2.0-channel Dolby Digital signal, the
unit will automatically select Dolby Pro Logic II
as the surround processing mode, and both the

Dolby Digital

and

Dolby Pro Logic II

indicators will light in accordance with the

requirements of Dolby Laboratories.

DTS

: When the DTS indicator lights, a DTS

bitstream is being received. When the unit
senses this type of data, only the DTS mode
may be used.

PCM

: When the PCM indicator lights, a stan-

dard Pulse Code Modulation, or PCM, signal is
being received. This is the type of digital audio
used by conventional compact disc and laser
disc recordings. When a PCM bitstream is pres-
ent, all modes except Dolby Digital and DTS are
available.

MP3

: When the MP3 indicator lights, a com-

patible MPEG 1/Layer 3 digital signal is being
received. This is the popular audio format used
by many computer programs for recording com-
pressed audio files. When an MP3 bitstream is
present, the sound will automatically be played
in the stereo (surround off) mode. The surround
modes are not available during MP3 playback.

In addition to the bitstream indicators, the
AVR 220 features a set of unique channel-input
indicators that tell you how many channels of
digital information are being received and/or
whether the digital signal is interrupted.

These indicators are the L/C/R/LS/RS/LFE letters
that are inside the center boxes of the

Speaker/Channel Input Indicators

the front panel

Main Information Display

. When a standard analog signal is in use,

only the “L” and “R” indicators will light, as
analog signals have only left and right chan-
nels, respectively.

Digital signals, however, may have two, five or
six separate channels, depending on the pro-
gram material, the method of transmission and
the way in which it was encoded. When a digi-
tal signal is playing, the letters in these indica-
tors will light in response to the specific 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 programs are encoded with 5.1 channels.
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 sound track
choices you may have to make some adjust-
ments 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 220. It is also possible for the type of sig-
nal feed to change during the course of a DVD
playback. In some cases the previews of special
material will only be recorded in 2.0 audio,
while the main feature is available in 5.1 audio.
As long as your DVD player is set for 6-channel
output, the AVR 220 will automatically sense
changes to the bitstream and channel count
and reflect them in these indicators.

The letters used by the

Speaker/Channel

Input Indicators

also flash to indicate

when a bitstream 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 paused. The
flashing indicators remind you that the play-
back has stopped due to the absence of a
digital signal and not through any fault of the
AVR 220. This is normal, and the digital play-
back will resume once the playback is started
again.

Night Mode

A special feature of Dolby Digital is the Night
mode, which enables AC-3 input sources to be
played back with full dialogue intelligibility
while reducing the minimum peak level by

. This prevents abruptly loud transitions

from disturbing others, without reducing the
impact of the digital source. The Night mode is
available only when Dolby Digital signals with
special data are being played.

The Night mode may be engaged when a Dolby
Digital DVD is playing by pressing the

Night

Mode Button

on the remote. Next, press

the

⁄

Buttons

to select either the

middle range or full-compression versions of
the Night mode. To turn the Night mode off,
press the

⁄

Buttons

until the mes-