Several companies used the Consumer Electronics Show last week to introduce or highlight improved chips for ATSC receivers.
The AU852x series of "sixth generation" demodulator chips from Auvitek use the company's patent-pending FADE (Fully Adaptive Demodulation and Equalization) technology, which Auvitek said delivers "optimal performance across the continuum of infinitely diverse signal conditions existing today." According to the Auvitek Web site, CRC tested the demodulator and said it achieved "the longest echo span that CRC have (sic) tested." The demodulator also features "extremely low power" consumption while providing full compliance with the ATSC A/74 recommended practice for receiver performance.
Zoran launched its SupraHD 760 product line of ICs, which combines an 8-VSB demodulator and HDTV processing in one chip supporting full ATSC and NTSC functionality and capable of driving various LCD panels, including 19-inch 1440x900 displays.
Pam Ofir, senior vice president and general manager of Zoran's Home Entertainment division said, "The SupraHD 760 single-chip ATSC processor integrates most of the Digital TV circuitry into a single package. With Zoran's DTV market-proven software, OEMs can now develop and manufacture a range of cost-effective DTV products with outstanding video quality for the U.S. market."
RF Report previously described Broadcom's BCM3551 digital TV system-on-a-chip. At CES, Broadcom said Haier Group was using the BCM3551 in its line of LCD HDTV sets.
Xceive Corp. announced its next generation silicon tuner, the XC5000. The chip is optimized for large screen analog/digital TV sets. Xceive claimed the tuner provides an analog unweighted signal-to-noise ratio of 54 dB and features a noise figure better than 6 dB. For digital reception, Xceive said the XC5000 "exceeds, by a significant margin, all worldwide television standards including A74, OpenCable and Nordig Unified requirements..." The XC5000 has an integrated programmable digital signal processor that allows the chip's filters to be configured to match all TV standards. The chip size is only 7 by 7 mm.
Microtune promoted its family of silicon tuners at CES, including low-power tuners for portable devices and multifunction tuners capable of receiving NTSC, ATSC and digital cable. The company has information on the tuners it showed at CES online. These tuners were also discussed in previous editions of RF Report.
