General Features
Disc Playback Features
Tuner Features
Audio Features
External Device Controls
Audio/Video Inputs and Outputs

General Features

2-DIN Chassis: The DDX512 has a 2-DIN chassis (also known as "Double DIN" or size DD), and will fit in many vehicles with a large dash opening. Unlike many in-dash monitors, there is no hideaway box; all the inputs and outputs are included within the unit's chassis. The unit can be ISO-mounted using factory brackets, or Euro-mounted using the supplied mounting sleeve. As always, please check the Crutchfield Vehicle Selector to verify fit with your vehicle.

Motorized Touchscreen Display: The Kenwood DDX512 features a motorized 6.1" wide, 16:9 touchscreen display with a TFT active matrix system. The screen has a resolution of 480 x 234 with 336,960 total pixels (480H x 234V x RGB). This unit has touch screen controls with interactive video graphics, making menu navigation easy. The unit has a front-loading disc-slot to make loading your disc easier because there is not panel to slide or fold-down. The screen is non-glare and smudge-resistant.

Selectable Screen Viewing Modes: You can choose from the following screen modes for DVD, Video, iPod, USB and Rear-camera playback.

• Normal: displays 16:9 widescreen format pictures that fill the entire screen width, and 4:3 (conventional TV) pictures display with black bars on either side
• Full: expands 4:3 pictures horizontally to fill the entire width of the screen, distorting the picture slightly but retaining full image height
• Justify: expands 4:3 pictures horizontally only at the edges
• Zoom: expands 4:3 pictures both horizontally and vertically, filling the screen without distorting the picture but cutting off the top and bottom edges

Display Adjustment: You can adjust the unit's display brightness, contrast, and black level to suit your viewing needs.

Custom Backgrounds: You can download still images for use as the unit's background from a connected USB thumbdrive.

Front Panel Controls With Changeable Illumination: In addition to the touchscreen controls, the unit includes frequently used buttons and a rotary-dial along the left edge of the screen. You can adjust the headunit's button illumination from the following preset colors -  Blue, Purple, Sky Blue, Aqua Blue, Yellow, Green, Amber, Red, Pink, White or Scan (Scans through all preset colors). You can also select three custom user colors that are adjusted between Red, Green, and Blue values from 0-31 each.

Security Code: You may program the unit with a 4 digit security code. Once the unit has been programmed with a security code, the code must be entered to use the unit after it has been disconnected from power.

Source Tone Memory: This feature allows you to store System Q-EX and bass, middle and treble tone settings for each source (DVD, CD, Aux, FM, AM).

Dual Zone Capability: The unit's dual zone control allows you to independently set the source for the front and rear channels. You can set the front channels to Tuner, Sirius, XM, DVD, Video, USB, iPod, Bluetooth, , Navigation or Standby. You can se the rear channels to DVD, Video, iPod, USB, or Off. You can adjust the volume of the 2nd Zone independently from 0 to 35.

Dimmer: The dimmer function will dim this unit's display automatically when the vehicle light switch is turned On when you connect orange/white Illumination wire of this player's harness.

Disc Playback Features

Compatible Discs: The Kenwood DDX512 supports playback of DVD-Video, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD-/+R DL, CD-Audio, CD-R/RW, CD-ROM, DTS-CD, and VCD discs.

AAC-LC/MP3/WMA Playback: This unit can play AAC-LC (.M4a), MP3 and WMA files recorded on CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW and DVD+/-R/W discs in ISO9660 Level 1/Level 2, Joliet, Romeo and Long file name formats. Each disc should have a maximum of 8 directory levels, 254 folders per disc, and 255 files per folder. During MP3/WMA playback, the unit displays any recorded ID3 Tag information.

JPEG/MPEG Playback: In addition to MP3/WMA/AAC discs, this unit can play discs with JPEG still image files or MPEG video files. The unit supports MPEG1 and MPEG2 NTSC video formats.

CD Read Setting: If there is a problem with the CD player reading a disc with a special format, you can switch to a second CD Read setting which "forces" the player to read the disc. CD Read setting 1 is for normal CDs and MP3/WMA discs, while CD Read setting 2 cannot read MP3/WMA/AAC discs or VCD.

DVD Display Setup: You can setup the monitor to display a 16:9, 4:3 Letter-Box, or 4:3 Pan&Scan aspect ratio when viewing a DVD disc.

Control Screens: During DVD playback, you can control certain operations simply by touching an area of the screen. You can touch the left one-third of the screen to start the current chapter over, or the right one-third of the screen to skip to the next chapter. Pressing the top center of the screen activates the DVD Disc Menu control buttons, while pressing the bottom center briefly displays the information screen. For VCD playback, the top center is the Zoom control area.

Direct Search: By entering its number with the optional remote (sold separately) you can directly access title, chapter, time, track, channel, or frequency.

Video Display Adjustments: During playback of a video or still image you can reverse the picture horizontally and rotate the picture clockwise or counter-clockwise.

Zoom: The DDX512 features a four level zoom when playing back video and still images. You can select from 4x, 3x, 2x, or Off.

Parental Control: Parental Control allows you to restrict DVD playback according to a predetermined level. You can select a parental control rating from 0-8, which is protected by a 4-digit password.

Tuner Features

CR-2 Tuner: The DDX512 uses Kenwood's CR-2 tuner provides high signal strength for clear radio reception. The tuner features the Clean Reception System Circuit (CRSC) for improved rejection of distortion due to multi-path. You can choose one of three tuning modes: Auto 1 (seek tuning), Auto 2 (cycles through and tunes the selected band's preset stations only with each button press), or Manual.

Radio Data System (RDS): The unit's tuner features RDS (Radio Data System). RDS is a service used by some radio stations to transmit data outside of normal radio broadcast signals. When an RDS station is received, you can immediately find out what kind of data is being transmitted by looking at the program service name which appears in the display after the frequency. RDS features an emergency transmission function which interrupts regular programming to broadcast an emergency announcement (such as a tornado or severe storm). There is also a switchable Traffic Information function, which will automatically tune a traffic bulletin when it is broadcast, even when you're not listening to the radio.

Station Name Preset (SNPS): This feature allows you to assign names to radio stations. Up to 30 AM and FM stations can be named. Each name can be up to 16 characters in length. The Preset Select menu will display the six presets in each band either by name or frequency.

Audio Features

24-Bit D-A Converter: For superb quality audio playback from DVDs and CDs, the DDX512 is equipped with a 24-bit digital-to-analog converter.

System Q EX Sound Control: Seven EQ curves are preset into memory, allowing you to recall the best preset EQ curve for different types of music. The preset curves are named "Natural", "Rock", "Pops", "Easy", "Top 40", and "Jazz". In addition, you may store your own settings under the "User Memory" EQ curve. Each preset has its own adjustment for the bass center frequency (40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 100, 120, or 150Hz), bass level (-8 to +8), bass Q factor (1.00, 1.25, 1.50 or 2.00), bass extension (On or Off), middle center frequency (500Hz, 1.0kHz, 1.5 or 2.0kHz), middle level (-8 to +8), middle Q factor (1.0 or 2.0), treble center frequency (10.0, 12.5, 15.0 or 17.5kHz), and treble level (-8 to +8). The System Q EX can be turned off in the menu, still allowing you to adjust the bass, middle and treble levels only.

Speaker Type Setting: This feature tailors the System Q EX Sound Control settings according to the type of front speakers in your vehicle. You may select Standard (for speakers with a general diameter), Narrow (for speakers with a small diameter), Middle (for speakers with a medium diameter), or Wide (for speakers with a large diameter).

Selectable Preamp Output: The DDX512 features front and rear preamp outputs. The rear preamp output allows you to adjust from a full-range rear speaker preamp output to a low-pass non-fading subwoofer preamp output.

System E's+ Advanced Crossover System: TheSystem E's+ Advanced Crossover system allows you to tailor your system with selectable crossover points for all channels. For the front and rear channels (using either speaker level or preamp output), there is a high-pass filter with independently selectable crossover points of 40Hz, 60Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz, 120Hz, 150Hz, 180Hz, 220Hz or Through (no filter). If you select the non-fading preamp output setting for the rear channel to use with subwoofer amplifiers, the unit features a low-pass filter with adjustable subwoofer output level control.

Dolby Digital: The DDX512 supports playback of Dolby Digital and DTS 2.0 DVD discs and will convert multi-channel Dolby Digital sources to 2-channel.

Dynamic Range: The dynamic range can be adjusted by selecting either Normal, Wide or Dialog. Dialog makes the total sound volume become larger as compared with Wide and Normal, allowing you to listen to the movie's dialogue more clearly. This is effective only on Dolby Digital software.

Loudness: The Loudness feature compensates for low and high tones during low volume. You can turn this feature either on or off. Only the low tone is compensated for when the tuner is selected as a source.

Volume OffsetControl: The level of each source may be independently adjusted to prevent radical leaps in output volume when switching from one source to another. The available settings rangefrom -15 to 0.

Setup Memory: Audio Setup and AV Interface settings can be memorized and recalled at any time. When the settings are cleared when the unit is disconnected from the battery, they can be restored.

External Device Controls

USB Port: The Kenwood DDX512 features a rear panel 2.0 USB type-A port that is attached to the chassis with a 36" cord to allow for various placement options during installation. The USB port enables playback of MP3, WMA, and AAC files as well as JPEG files from connected portable USB mass-storage players, USB thumb drives and portable digital audio players. The USB port is compatible with all USB mass storage class devices that support the FAT16 or FAT32 file system. Your USB device's rechargeable battery will recharged while it's connected to the USB port and the DDX512 is turned on.

iPod High Speed Connection: The USB port and the rear panel 3.5mm A/V AUX inputs are compatible with iPod devices when used with the optional KCA-iP300V adapter (part # 113IP300V, sold separately). The USB Direct Connection enables high-speed iPod data communications of 12MB/bps via the optional KCA-iP300V (3-Wire) interface. One end of the cable plugs directly into your iPod's dock connector while the other end of the cable uses three connectors that plug into the back of the DDX512. The USB type-A connector portion of the cable plugs into the receiver's USB port and handles the control and charging of your iPod, so you can navigate through your music and video files using the headunit's touchscreen controls and view song and movie info on its display. The two 3.5mm miniplug connectors of the cable plug into the unit's A/V 3.5mm inputs and transfer the music and video from your iPod to your Kenwood DVD/CD player. By using the Auxiliary input the music travels to the receiver as an analog signal, so you can even play the Digital-Rights-Protected files you've stored on your iPod. The controls of the DDX512 are seamless when used with the optional KCA-iP300V and include metadata browsing and playback of DRM contents, as well as the ability to choose any iPod playback mode to suit your listening application. The KCA-iP300V is compatible with Fifth Generation iPods (iPod with video), iPod nano (1st/2nd/3rd/4th generation),  iPod classic (80/120/160GB), iPod touch (1st/2nd generation) and iPhone/iPhone3G. Be sure to download the latest version software for iPod from Apple's website before connecting this cable to your compatible Kenwood multimedia headunit.

Satellite Radio Ready: There are several options for connecting an optional XM or SIRIUS Satellite Radio tuner to this receiver:

• XM: This unit supports the Audivox CNP-2000 MiniTuner via the optional Kenwood KCA-XM100V interface box which includes a vehicle dock and antenna (both item number 220CNP2000 and item number 113XM100V required). XM Satellite Radio programming offers 170 digital radio channels including 69 channels of commercial free music, plus news, sports, talk, comedy, and other entertainment programming from coast to coast. XM also offers instant traffic and weather alerts for 21 major US cities, as well as live sports broadcasts from Major League Baseball, NHL, the PGA tour, Indy car racing and several major college conferences.
• Sirius: The unit is compatible with the Sirius SC-C1 SiriusConnect Universal Vehicle Tuner via the optional Kenwood CA-SR20V Sirius adapter cable (both item number 607CSS1 and item number 113CASR20V required). SIRIUS Satellite Radio features more than 120 streams of original programming beamed coast-to-coast, including 65 streams of commercial-free, digital-quality music, and news, talk, sports, entertainment, and children's programming.
• Auxiliary Input: A portable satellite radio receiver, such as the Delphi SkyFi3 or SIRIUS Sportster, can be connected to the head unit via its rear-panel auxiliary input.

HD Radio Ready: The DDX512 is HD Radio ready. With an optional Kenwood HD Radio tuner (item #113KTCHR20), you will be able to receive digital AM/FM broadcasts from local stations where available. This new technology will significantly improve audio quality and reception, as well as include information such as artist name and song titles or traffic news, viewable on the receiver's display.

Navigation Input: You can connect the Kenwood KNAG510 navigation system to this unit via the maroon colored 13-pin jack on the back of the chassis. The KNA-G510 comes with routing software and mapping information by Garmin, customized for select Kenwood headunits. The maps cover the US (including Alaska and Hawaii) and Canada, they are pre-loaded and include more than 5 million points of interest. There is also an SD memory card slot used for future updates. You can select which speakers are used for navigation voice guidance: front left, front right, or both front speakers, as well as adjust the volume independently from 0-35. You can also set the volume for the voice guidance audio. Third party navigation systems with composite video a can also be connected via the AV-IN input.

Bluetooth Ready: The unit is Bluetooth compatible using the optional Kenwood KCA-BT200 Bluetooth adapter. Using the KCA-BT200 and the adapter's supplied microphone you can make and answer phone calls from the Kenwood headunit as well as listen to audio files stored on a Bluetooth enabled audio player. You can make calls from your cell-phone using the DDX512 by entering a phone number from the headunit's on-screen keypad, registering up to six phone number presets, from your downloaded Phonebook information or from an outgoing/incoming call list. This unit all supports Voice Recognition if your mobile-phone is Voice Recognition compatible. The headunit can support up to 35 voices and also supports Key Word Voice Recognition to select phone number category. In addition, the unit features SMS (Short Message Service) so you can send a small text message from your mobile phone using the DDX512. When your cell-phone is called, the DDX512 is paused and muted automatically (you need to hook-up Brown Mute-Wire of harness). You are able to register up to five compatible Bluetooth cell phones but only one compatible Bluetooth cell phone can be connected when using the KCA-BT200 adapter. Visit http://www.kenwood.com/bt/information/ for a complete list of compatible Bluetooth enabled phones.

Steering Wheel Remote Compatibility: The DDX512 has a "steering remote control" lead attached to the harness. When used with the optional SWI-JACK interface (item #127SWIJACK), you can retain the use of your steering wheel and/or rear seat radio controls when replacing the factory head unit in select vehicles. The SWI-JACK is compatible with over 95% of the vehicles made from 1986 to the present. Compatible vehicles include many Acura, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hummer, Infiniti, Isuzu, Jaguar, Jeep, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, Mini, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Oldsmobile, Plymouth, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Suzuki, Toyota, and Volkswagen vehicles and Harley Davidson motorcycles. Please consult "What Fits My Car" to see if your vehicle is compatible.

Audio/Video Inputs and Outputs

Front Panel A/V Input: The unit features a front-panel 3.5mm audio/video input on the front panel of the headunit for connecting an external A/V source. The AV Input can be labeled AUX, TV, Video, DVD, VCD, VCR or Game.

Video/Camera Input: The DDX512 is equipped with a built-in  video/camera input with a composite video jack on the rear-chassis of the unit. This composite video terminal can be used to connect an external video source without audio. This input can also be used as a rear camera input for connecting an optional rear view camera, such as the Kenwood CCD-2000 (item # 113CCD2000, sold separately). The video from this connection can be set to display when switched to this input, or display the rear view camera video automatically when the vehicle is shifted into Reverse gear. You can also display the video of the rear view camera in a mirror image, if desired. The purple/white wire in the wiring harness must be connected to the vehicle's reverse lamp circuit for automatic video switching.

3.5mm A/V Input: The DDX512 features a 3.5mm stereo audio input and 3.5mm video input on the rear chassis of the unit for portable MP3/Video players. These terminals are also compatible with your dock connector iPod using the optional KCA-iP300V, sold separately. The headunit comes supplied with a 43" male to female 3.5mm audio/video cable to connect to this input to make connection easier.

Parking Brake Detection: To prevent the displaying of video while the vehicle is in motion, the light green wire in the supplied 22-pin harness must be connected to the vehicle's parking brake detection circuit, as well as a constant power source and ground. While the vehicle is in motion (parking brake off), you can still view all of the other displays and menus.

A/V Output: The unit features a set of stereo RCA jacks and a composite video jack to output A/V signals to an optional monitor. You can choose AV-In, DVD, iPod, USB or Off as the source for the A/V output.