Canada’s Fresco Microchips is rolling out a single integrated circuit for multiformat A/V demodulation. The new FM1151 will handle analog as well as digital formats, including NTSC, PAL, SECAM, ATSC, DVB-T/T2, ISDB-T and DTMB, as well as cable format DVT-C/ITU J.83. A single chip with several integrated formats makes manufacturing cheaper for set-makers.

“With developed markets essentially saturated, the TV market is now being driven by emerging markets. All major set makers are seeking ways to reduce their development costs and time to market, and universal systems for global TV reception are a key way to reduce product diversity and improve R&D efficiency,” Fresco quoted Paul Gray, director of TV Electronics Research for DisplaySearch as saying.

Panasonic has selected the chip for its latest generation of hybrid digital-analog TV tuners.