Sony to Ship 4K, 8K DBS Tuners

SUT-PJ/CJ series tuner modulesTOKYO—Sony Corp. announced commercialization of a demodulator and tuner set for 4K- and 8K-capable satellite TV transmission standards. Samples will start shipping in September, Sony said.

The demod/tuner pairing is compatible with both DVB- and ISDB-based satellite TV transmission standards, but Sony said it was the first to work with ISDB-S3, the latest satellite version of the digital TV transmission format used in Japan and Brazil as well as several other Asian and South and Central American countries.

Test broadcasting in 4K and 8K over ISDB-S3 is scheduled to commence in Japan in August, and full-scale broadcasting is slated to begin in 2018, the manufacturer said. Going forward, Sony said it would would aggressively promote its new tuner components to TV and set-top box manufacturers who will be interested in incorporating the components into their sets.

ISDB-S3 is said to handle more than twice the amount of data is transmitted compared ISDB-S. Sony said its new CXD2857ER demodulator LSI incorporates proprietary reception algorithms and error correction technology. The LSI also features reduced power consumption.

CXD2857ER demodulator LSI Sony said the ISDB-S3 standard expands the upper limit for reception frequency to 3,224 MHz, from the 2,070 MHz supported by the original version, ISDB-S. Ordinarily, the higher the frequency, the more difficult it becomes to keep the signal level uniform. Sony said its new SUT-PJ/CJ tuner modules achieve stable reception with minimal noise thanks to the CXD2868ER, a newly developed silicon tuner IC featuring proprietary noise-reduction circuitry. Furthermore, this silicon tuner IC, like its predecessor model
Sony will offer its ISDB-S3 compatible products in several different varieties. Sony’s new tuner modules will be available in single, double, and triple silicon tuner IC variations, in order to enable simultaneous recording of multiple channels. Additionally, the demodulator LSI will be sold separately, as well as mounted together with a silicon tuner IC on a tuner module in order to facilitate the design of more compact and thinner TVs and set-top boxes.

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