34
OPERATION
Operation
To select a digital source such as DVD, first select
its input using the remote or front panel
Input
Selector
4
%
as outlined in this manual in
order to feed its video signal (if any) to the TV
monitor and to provide its analog audio signal for
recording. When the digital input associated with
the input selected (e.g. “DVD”) is not selected
automatically (due to the input settings made
earlier during the system configuration, see page
21), select the digital source by pressing the
Digital Input Selector
button
G
Ú
and
then using the
⁄
/
¤
buttons
D
on the remote
or the
Selector
buttons
7$
on the front panel
to choose any of the
OPTICAL
or
COAXIAL
inputs, as they appear in the
Main Information Display
Y
, Source
Indicator
BF
or on-screen display.
When the digital source is playing, the AVR 4500
will automatically detect whether it is a multi-
channel Dolby Digital or DTS source or a MP3 or
conventional PCM signal, which is the standard
output from CD players. A
Bitstream Indicator
A
will light in the
Main Information Display
˜
to confirm that the digital signal is Dolby
Digital, DTS, MP3 or PCM.
Note that a digital input (e.g. coaxial) remains
associated with any analog input (e.g. DVD) as
soon as it is selected, thus the digital input need
not be re-selected each time the appropriate
input choice (e.g. DVD) is made.
Digital Status Indicators
When a digital source is playing, the AVR 4500
senses the type of bitstream data that is present.
Using this information, the correct surround mode
will automatically be selected. For example, DTS
bitstreams will cause the unit to switch to DTS
decoding, and Dolby Digital bitstreams will enable
Dolby Digital decoding. When the unit senses
PCM data, from CDs and LDs and some music
DVDs or certain tracks on normal DVDs, it will
allow the appropriate surround mode to be select-
ed manually. Since the range of available surround
modes depends on the type of digital data that is
present, the AVR 4500 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 and the input channels recorded on the
disc.
When a digital source is playing, a
Bitstream
Indicator
A
will light to show which type of
signal is playing:
DOLBY D
: When the DOLBY D indicator
lights, a Dolby Digital bitstream is being received.
Depending on the audio track selected on the
source player and number of channels on the
disc, different surround modes are possible. Note
that only one channel without subwoofer, called
”1.0” audio, or all five channels with subwoofer
(”5.1” audio) or all steps between can be record-
ed on digitally surround encoded audio tracks
(see NOTE below). With all those tracks, except
”2.0” audio, only the Dolby Digital and VMAx
modes are available. When the Dolby Digital sig-
nal is only two channel (”2.0”) these two chan-
nels (l and r) often contain Pro Logic surround
informations.
With those tracks the AVR 4500 automatically
switches to the Dolby Pro Logic II Movie mode (in
addition to the Dolby Digital mode), but you may
also select the Vmax mode. When the D.D. 2.0
signal contains no Pro Logic information, the
pure Dolby Digital mode will be selected auto-
matically, but you may also select any Pro Logic II
mode (only Music or Emulation should be used
then) or any Vmax mode.
D T S
: When the DTS indicator lights, a DTS bit-
stream is being received. When the unit senses this
type of data, only the DTS mode may be used.
P C M
: When the PCM indicator lights, a standard
Pulse Code Modulation, or PCM, signal is being
received. This is the type of digital audio used by
conventional compact disc and laser disc record-
ings. When a PCM bitstream is present, all modes
except Dolby Digital and DTS are available.
M P 3
: When the MP3 indicator lights, a compat-
ible 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
A
, the
AVR 4500 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.
(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
Q
in the
front panel
Main Information Display
˜
.
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 4500 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
2.0 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 4500 will automatical-
ly 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 front display and on-screen display
after the
DTS Surr. button
6
N
has been
pressed. 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 (Matrix decoded
with NEO:6, LOGIC 7 or 7 CH Stereo), but no let-
ters 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
Q
also 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
