Harman Kardon DVD 50 Owners Manual - Page 24

Setup Menu Dynamic Range Setting With the DVD format you have the opportunity to hear a program's soundtrack in the most accurate and realistic presentation possible, thanks to the use of digital audio technology. However, in certain instances you may wish to slightly compress the dynamic range of the audio output (the difference between the loudest sounds and the quietest ones) so that you may listen to a movie at a lower volume without losing dialog intelligibility. In most cases it is desirable to leave the Dynamic Range setting at "OFF" so that no compression is applied to the audio, but if you wish to change to a compressed setting, follow these steps. First, you must be viewing the Setup Menu (Figure 1), which is available by pressing the Menu Button 28 while the unit is in the Stop mode. At the Setup Menu, press the ¤ Navigation Button e until the Dynamic Range option is highlighted. Next, press the Enter Button ` and select one of the two choices in the options box using the ⁄/ ¤ Navigation Buttons e (Figure 13). The choices are as follows: Figure 13 s Off: Select this option to turn off the Dynamic Range compression and have the soundtrack presented exactly as it was authored. s On: Select this option to turn on the Dynamic Range compression circuitry so that the dialog will remain clear even at low volume levels. When you have made your selection using the ⁄/ ¤ Navigation Buttons e to highlight the desired option, press the Enter Button ` and note that the circle next to your choice will fill in. The menu system will then automatically return to the status listing. If you have no other changes to make after setting this default, press the Menu Button 28 to remove the Setup Menu from the screen, or press the Play Button g/# to begin or resume playback. Note that the performance of the Dynamic Range function is dependent on the audio format of the disc being played, and whether or not the disc's soundtrack is capable of this feature. Digital Audio Out DVD players accommodate a variety of audio formats, including Dolby Digital, DTS and the PCM audio format used by conventional CD discs and some DVD playback. Depending on the type of equipment your DVD 50 is connected to, you need to set a default for the type of audio outputs accommodated. Although the DVD 50 will play all of these disc types, this setting creates a default that tells which way to present the soundtracks when there is a choice. In addition to compatibility with both Dolby Digital and DTS multichannel soundtracks, the DVD 50 also accommodates the latest 96kHz DVD recordings. This menu section allows you to select how 96kHz audio programs are handled so that they are compatible with your A/V receiver or surround processor. To select a Digital Audio Output default, you must be viewing the Setup Menu (Figure 1), which is available by pressing the Menu Button 28 while the unit is in the Stop mode. At the Setup Menu, press the ¤ Navigation Button e until the Digital Audio Out option is highlighted. Next, press the Enter Button `. Select one of the three choices in the options box (Figure 14) using the ⁄/ ¤ Navigation Buttons e. The choices are as follows: Figure 14 s Stream/PCM: Choose this option if your A/V receiver or surround processor is capable of decoding both Dolby Digital and DTS audio. With this selection, either Dolby Digital or DTS will be output according to the choice made in the Audio Menu options provided by the DVD disc. s Dolby Digital/PCM: Choose this option if your A/V receiver or surround processor has a digital input, but is only capable of decoding Dolby Digital. With this selection, when both a Dolby Digital and DTS program are present, the DVD 50 will automatically output the Dolby Digital data stream. s PCM: Choose this setting if you are using only the left/right Analog Audio Outputs £, or if the Digital Audio Outputs ¶/• are connected to a processor that is capable of decoding only conventional PCM audio for CDs. Remember, regardless of the option chosen, you may still have to adjust the settings on your audio equipment or in a specific disc's menus to match the output of the DVD 50. In addition, the choice of which audio formats are available is limited by the type of material recorded on the disc when it was authored. Use the ⁄/ ¤ Navigation Buttons e to make your selection, as noted by the circle to the right of your desired choice turning orange. Once a selection has been made for the type of digital audio data streams that the DVD 50 outputs, you may also need to adjust the way it handles the various sampling frequencies used in the production of digital audio for DVD. The DVD 50 is compatible with both 48kHz and 96kHz sampling, but some early A/V receivers and surround processors are not. If your audio system is NOT capable of handling 96kHz audio signals in their native form, do not make any changes to the bottom part of the Digital Audio Out menu, and press the Enter Button ` twice to return to the Main Menu Settings option. However, if your audio system can handle these signals, change the setting to achieve the greatest audio fidelity possible. 24 SETUP MENU