ExtremeTech has a preview of the Sony Playstation Portable, scheduled for release in late 2004. One of the items listed in the specifications is "Extension for GSP, Digital Tuner". Loyd Case, author of the ExtremeTech article Playstation Portable Details Revealed, said, "Another interesting feature is the 16:9 display. The final resolution of the display is 480x272 pixels, but 16:9 is a wide screen format that's suitable for watching movies or HDTV content. Couple that with a potential connection to a digital TV tuner, and you now have a portable HDTV device."
Recently we've seen a COFDM-based DTV tuner included in an NEC cellphone and TV tuners (probably analog, since the format wasn't specified) in a new laptop from Toshiba and a Samsung cell phone. There seems to be a lot of interest in portable TV reception (see my report on the Slashdot.org discussion in the June 8 RF Report). What manufacturer do you think will be the first to provide an ATSC portable DTV set? What criteria should a portable DTV set meet to be considered "portable"? I'm interested in what readers think the future is for portable DTV reception. Given the difficulty manufacturers will face making a profit on small screen AC-powered portable sets until the technology matures, will the first portable ATSC tuner appear in a portable DVD player, a high-end multimedia laptop, a game machine (like the Playstation Portable) or cellphone? Am I crazy to think I will ever see a portable ATSC DTV set? Let me know e-mail me at dlung@transmitter.com
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