Yamaha RX V365 Owner's Manual - Page 50

Glossary ■ Audio information Dolby Digital Dolby Digital is a digital surround sound system that gives you completely independent multi-channel audio. With 3 front channels (front L/R and center), and 2 surround stereo channels, Dolby Digital provides 5 full-range audio channels. With an additional channel especially for bass effects, called LFE (Low Frequency Effect), the system has a total of 5.1-channels (LFE is counted as 0.1 channel). By using 2-channel stereo for the surround speakers, more accurate moving sound effects and surround sound environment are possible than with Dolby Surround. The wide dynamic range from maximum to minimum volume reproduced by the 5 full-range channels and the precise sound orientation generated using digital sound processing provide listeners with unprecedented excitement and realism. With this unit, any sound environment from monaural up to a 5.1-channel configuration can be freely selected for your enjoyment. Dolby Pro Logic II Dolby Pro Logic II is an improved technique used to decode vast numbers of existing Dolby Surround sources. This new technology enables a discrete 5-channel playback with 2 front left and right channels, 1 center channel, and 2 surround left and right channels instead of only 1 surround channel for conventional Pro Logic technology. There are three modes available: "Music mode" for music sources, "Movie mode" for movie sources and "Game mode" for game sources. Dolby Surround Dolby Surround uses a 4-channel analog recording system to reproduce realistic and dynamic sound effects: 2 front left and right channels (stereo), a center channel for dialog (monaural), and a surround channel for special sound effects (monaural). The surround channel reproduces sound within a narrow frequency range. Dolby Surround is widely used with nearly all video tapes and laser discs, and in many TV and cable broadcasts as well. The Dolby Pro Logic decoder built into this unit employs a digital signal processing system that automatically stabilizes the volume on each channel to enhance moving sound effects and directionality. DTS Digital Surround DTS digital surround was developed to replace the analog soundtracks of movies with a 5.1-channel digital sound track, and is now rapidly gaining popularity in movie theaters around the world. DTS, Inc. has developed a home theater system so that you can enjoy the depth of sound and natural spatial representation of DTS digital surround in your home. This system produces practically distortion-free 5.1channel sound (technically, left, right and center channels, 2 surround channels, plus an LFE 0.1 channel as a subwoofer, for a total of 5.1channels). LFE 0.1 channel This channel reproduces low-frequency bass signals. The frequency range of this channel is from 20 Hz to 120 Hz. This channel is counted as 0.1 because it only enforces a low-frequency range compared to the full-range reproduced by the other 5 channels in Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1-channel systems. PCM (Linear PCM) Linear PCM is a signal format under which an analog audio signal is digitized, recorded and transmitted without using any compression. This is used as a method of recording CDs and DVD audio. The PCM system uses a technique for sampling the size of the analog signal per very small unit of time. Standing for "Pulse Code Modulation," the analog signal is encoded as pulses and then modulated for recording. Sampling frequency and number of quantized bits When digitizing an analog audio signal, the number of times the signal is sampled per second is called the sampling frequency, while the degree of fineness when converting the sound level into a numeric value is called the number of quantized bits. The range of rates that can be played back is determined based on the sampling rate, while the dynamic range representing the sound level difference is determined by the number of quantized bits. In principle, the higher the sampling frequency, the wider the range of frequencies that can be played back, and the higher the number of quantized bits, the more finely the sound level can be reproduced. ■ Sound field program information CINEMA DSP Since the Dolby Surround and DTS systems were originally designed for use in movie theaters, their effect is best felt in a theater having many speakers designed for acoustic effects. Since home conditions, such as room size, wall material, number of speakers, and so on, can differ so widely, it is inevitable that there are differences in the sound heard. Based on a wealth of actually measured data, Yamaha CINEMA DSP uses Yamaha original DSP technology to combine Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Digital and DTS systems to provide the audiovisual experience of movie theater in the listening room of your own home. SILENT CINEMA Yamaha has developed a natural, realistic sound effect DSP algorithm for headphones. Parameters for headphones have been set for each sound field program so that accurate representations of all the sound field programs can be enjoyed on headphones. Virtual CINEMA DSP Yamaha has developed a Virtual CINEMA DSP algorithm that allows you to enjoy DSP surround effects even without any surround speakers by using virtual surround speakers. It is even possible to enjoy Virtual CINEMA DSP using a minimal two-speaker system that does not include a center speaker. ■ Video information Component video signal With the component video signal system, the video signal is separated into the Y signal for the luminance and the PB and PR signals for the chrominance. Color can be reproduced more faithfully with this system because each of these signals is independent. The component signal is also called the "color difference signal" because the luminance signal is subtracted from the color signal. A monitor with component input jacks is required in order to output component signals. Composite video signal With the composite video signal system, the video signal is composed of three basic elements of a video picture: color, brightness and synchronization data. A composite video jack on a video component transmits these three elements combined. 46 En