You said you have it connected per the instructions. Just want to make sure that you have an optical cable running from your dvd to your reciever... right... I think the reciever comes in an auto mode which will detect the signal coming from your dvd, and if it's dolby digital 5.1/dts, etc. it will play it back to you provided you have the speakers set up to play it. That being said some older movies are recorded in dolby digital 5.1 but you have to go into the movie menu and set it up... You should have a button on your remote labled for dolby digital... You can press this button several times to different types of dolby digital (ex, for enhanced)...