Parasound Halo C1 Controller - Manual (Page 15)

Using the Status and Info Buttons and the Displays
The C 1 controller’s front-panel display screen can be set to show the current main-zone operat-
ing status (source, audio and video signal types, audio mode, and volume setting) continuously.
If you wish to see this information when the display is showing the video program currently
selected for the main zone, pressing the STATUS button on the front panel or the Master
remote, or the INFO button on the SideKick remote, will bring that information to the screen
for 5 seconds. The same information will appear on any TV set or projector connected to the
composite or S-Video “OSD” output on the rear panel of the C 1.
The same signal will be echoed to the “OSD” composite and S-Video outputs on the rear panel,
for display on a video screen. You can choose whether to view the status information against
a plain background or superimposed on the current video program, and whether the information
will stay on-screen at all times or switch off after 5 seconds. (For this and other adjustments,
see “Display Setup,” in the chapter after next.) Pressing STATUS or INFO on the remotes will
bring it back again (or shut it off, if you finish with it before the 5 seconds have elapsed).
Information is also displayed whenever you change a control setting; you can select whether
it will fill the screen or only appear near the bottom of the on-screen display.
The built-in and on-screen displays are extremely important and useful in the Setup modes (see
“Adjustments, Menus, and Setup”).
The DIM button selects four levels of brightness for the C 1’s built-in 5" display screen. Pressing
the DIM button once dims the display; pressing it again selects minimum brightness. Pressing
DIM a third time selects maximum brightness, and pressing it a fourth time restores the factory-
set brightness. Display brightness will remain at your last selected setting so you don’t need to
readjust it each time you turn on the C 1. To turn off the built-in display, press the DISPLAY MAIN
or ZONE button, depending on which zone’s video you are previewing.
(Note: The built-in display screen’s brightness and clarity are greatly diminished when viewed
off-axis from above, below, or to the sides. Brighter display settings will make video programs
clearer and menu text more legible.)
Display brightness will increase temporarily when you press the front panel MUTE button.
We chose a traditional 4:3 aspect ratio for the C 1’s built-in screen to make setup menus easier
to read. Widescreen video programs will appear “letterboxed,” with black horizontal bands at the
top and bottom of the display screen, the same as with any 4:3 format TV or video screen.
Dual-Zone Operation
The C 1 controller can provide different audio and video signals to two rooms, or “zones,” in your
home; the second, or remote, zone can incorporate one room or several, depending on your instal-
lation. Only analog unbalanced audio and composite video outputs are provided for the second
zone; analog surround soundtracks fed to the remote zone can be decoded by a suitable amplifier
or controller in that zone. All composite video sources can be sent to the second zone. Digital audio
signals are not fed to the second zone, but signals from the analog outputs of digital components
(e.g., CD and DVD players) can be selected and fed there. So if you want to enjoy digital sources in
the remote Zone, connect your digital players’ analog as well as digital outputs to the C 1.
Pressing the ZONE button next to the on-off switch, or the key next to the Zone legend on the
Master remote’s C1/C2 Page 1, switches the C 1 to control one zone or the other. Switching
between the main and Zone control modes does not affect the signal fed to either one, and
changing settings for one zone does not affect settings for the other. The C 1 will switch from
remote-zone to main-zone mode 10 seconds after your last control input.
The controls and commands are the same for either zone, and whatever you do with the
controls will affect only the zone you have currently selected. If you turn the C 1 off while the
remote zone is in use, the front-panel display will show “ZONE B ON”, until you press the
ON-OFF panel button (or the OFF button on either remote).
USING THE MAIN CONTROLS continued 15