B&K AVR202 Plus Owner's Manual - The Basics

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5

THE BASICS

The following is intended to familiarize users with common terms and applications of Home Theater equipment. 

Sources - 

your receiver

can directly provide audio from

its built-in AM/FM tuner. It can also provide limited video 

from its on-screen menu system. Typically you will want to connect a number of additional sources (VCR, DVD 

player, etc.) to your receiver. Your receiver is designed to accommodate a wide range of audio and video signals.  

The following table lists the most popular home theater media and how the audio information is stored.  

Source Media

Analog

PCM

Dolby Digital

DTS

Audio Cassette 

X 

Video Cassette 

X 

Laser 

disc 

(LD) 

X X X 

X 

Compact Disc (CD) 

X X 

X 

Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) 

X X 

X 

Satellite Broadcast 

X X 

Digital Audio Tape (DAT) 

X 

X 

X 

X 

Digital Compact Cassette (DCC) 

X (compressed) 

Mini disc (MD) 

X (compressed) 

Analog vs. Digital Audio - 

This refers to the method used to place audio information on the source material and 

how they are delivered to your receiver from the source. Analog signals exactly represent the sound you will hear 

through a continuously varying voltage. Audio and video cassettes are analog recordings and are normally 

delivered to your receiver over a pair of coaxial audio cables.  

Digital signals closely approximate the original audio signals with a set of numbers referred to as a bitstream. CDs 

and DVDs are sources of digital audio and are normally connected to your receiver through a coaxial or optical 

digital cable. There are several different bitstream formats available. The simplest format is called Pulse Code 

Modulation (PCM). In PCM, the bitstream directly represents the original 2-channel audio. In Dolby Digital and 

DTS (see “Surround Formats” below) bitstreams are modified using a process called compression to squeeze 

more information into limited space. DTS squeezes 5.1 channels into the space normally required for two 

uncompressed channels, while Dolby Digital squeezes 5.1 channels into about ¼ the space required for two 

channels. Your receiver automatically detects the bitstream currently being provided from the source and 

performs the required decompression and surround processing.  If no digital signal is present your receiver will 

automatically switch to analog processing. 

All sounds that you hear from your speakers are analog. Digital signals are automatically converted to analog by 

your receiver before being output to your the speakers. 

If analog signals exactly represent the audio, while digital signals only approximate it, why would I want to 

use digital? 

All analog sources add some amount of noise and distortion to the audio signal. Additional noise can be 

picked up through the cables from the source to your receiver. It is impossible for the receiver to tell the 

difference between the desired signal and the added noise and distortion, so it reproduces both of them. 

The result is increased background noise and decreased dynamic range and fidelity. Digital signals are 

virtually immune to noise and distortion. The receiver can, therefore, reproduce the signal with the 

greatest possible fidelity. We recommend you use digital signals wherever possible. Also Dolby Digital 

and DTS (see “Surround Formats” below) work only with digital signals.  

Audio and Surround Formats

 - Your source material will be in one of seven possible formats described below. 

Monaural

(Mono)

- This is the oldest format available. It contains a single, full range audio channel. Modern 

recordings are seldom made in this format, but most older movies and music are available only in this format. You 

may get mono from any source - digital or analog. Sound will normally come from the seven speaker channels, 

but your receiver can produce mono in one to seven channels (see “Audio Modes under Operation”). Since all 

modern sources are stereo, the mono information is usually replicated from both the left and right channels.