To my understanding, the Audio format (Dolby, etc.) is carried on the DVD disk itself and the 990 picks this up automatically.

What about audio format on cable TV? I will be using a digital HD box - do different channels have different audio flags that the 990 will pick up on??

Thanks for the help,
kgt

Dolby Digital is the standard for broadcast HD programming. Having said that, the actual DD mode varies from program to program. I've seen DD 2.0, 2.1, 4.0, 5.0 and 5.1 signals off of the various HD programs out there. Haven't seen 1.0 yet, but I'm sure it's out there somewhere for all the mono purists

I'm posting from the road tonight (about 300 miles from home, checking work e-mail in a college library), so I'll be brief...

Sluggo's right that for HD, Dolby Digital is the standard audio format. For regular digital cable, you'll get a mix - analog stations will be converted to PCM stereo (if your box is well behaved, as I think most are these days) while the digital channels will be either PCM or Dolby 2.0.

The 990 (and any other surround processor) is able to recognize and identify any incoming signal format and decode it accordingly. Just trust the 990, and it'll take care of you.