CES 2009: Two New ATSC Tuners Introduced

By Doug Lung
published

While I didn't make it to CES this year, I have been watching to see if there was any significant ATSC USB tuner or ATSC demodulator chip news. So far, I haven’t seen any announcements of new ATSC demodulator chips, but there were at least two new ATSC tuners introduced.

One of these is from Dell, and was designed as a USB add-on to its Inspirion line of notebook computers. The other, the AVerTV Hybrid Pocket Express PCTV tuner card model H968, is designed to fit into the 54mm ExpressCard slot available on many newer notebook PCs. This frees up a USB port and keeps the tuner card inside the computer. A thin jumper cable connects it to an antenna.

AVerMedia says a high gain antenna is included in the package. The H968 is able to receive ATSC, ClearQAM, NTSC and FM radio signals. For additional information, see the AVerMedia Web site.

Pricing for the Dell USB DTV tuner starts at $50. According to the company, it works not only with Windows but also with the Dell customized version of Ubuntu Linux 8.04. Dell said it teamed with Hauppauge Computer Works and Siano Mobile Silicon to design the USB Digital TV Tuner. The tuner will be offered as an option for the new Inspirion Mini 10 series of small, inexpensive, notebook computers.

Read all of RF Reporthere.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.