Business News Holding

Tag: dtv

  • LG Integrates Broadcom Bluetooth Technology, Enables HDTVs to Connect with Mobiles and Headsets


    LG Electronics has integrated Broadcom’s advanced Bluetooth technology into a new line of digital televisions (DTVs) that are now shipping.

    Having Bluetooth connectivity in its LH70 TV line of digital televisions allows the sets to connect with a wide range of Bluetooth devices, such as wireless stereo headphones and cell phones.

    With the latter, future applications include functioning as a TV remote control or a QWERTY keyboard input device for TV-based widgets and electronics commerce applications.

    The Bluetooth technology also allows the new LGE TVs to act as a wireless docking station for MP3-enabled cell phones and portable media players (PMPs).
    This enables music and other audio to play over TV speaker systems.

    It also allows ‘picture push’ capabilities that enable users to wirelessly move digital photos and other graphic files from Bluetooth-enabled camera phones to the LGE TV for viewing and sharing.

    Fernanda Summa, TV product manager at LG Electronics, said consumers are continuing to discover that Bluetooth is much more than just a wireless headset. She said the technology is rapidly gaining adoption in digital televisions.

    "Broadcom Bluetooth technology provides the right combination of features and performance for embedded and consumer electronics applications, delivering advanced multimedia capabilities and low power consumption driven by Broadcom’s expertise in mobile handsets," he said.

    Broadcom estimates that the total available market (TAM) for embedded Bluetooth solutions will be more than 938 million units by 2012.

    Craig Ochikubo, vice president & general manager of Broadcom’s wireless personal area networking line of business, said the increasing adoption of Broadcom Bluetooth technology into digital televisions and other consumer electronics devices is driving an emerging connectivity ecosystem.

    He said it allows existing products with Bluetooth connectivity like cell phones and wireless headsets to play new roles.

    "Broadcom is helping to drive this trend and we look forward to our continued collaboration with LGE to transform consumer interaction with these devices," he said.

  • Hundreds of TV Stations Switch To Digital Despite Delay Bill


    An estimated 40 per cent of US TV stations plan to make the switchover to digital from 17 February.

    This is despite the recent approval of a congressional bill supporting a four-month delay of the transition from analog to digital TV signals.

    The major networks – ABC, CBS and NBC – have agreed to continue broadcasting in analog and digital.

    However, the three networks only control around 100 of the total 1800 TV stations involved in the switchover.

    The Federal Communications Commission said some 681 – or 40 per cent – have either already ended analog transmission or plan to do so after 17 February.

    By deciding to become all digital, these local stations will free up some of the 700Mhz spectrum in those markets that companies such as Qualcomm have bought the rights to use.

    The switch is intended to free up spectrum for public safety and provide better television viewing.

    The US House of Representatives last week voted to delay the mandatory change by four months – to 12 June.

    President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law shortly.

    But the delayed bill gave television stations, which say they’ve spent millions of dollars preparing and educating viewers of the switch-over, the option to transition to all digital on the original date.

    Supporters of the delay were concerned that 20 million mostly poor, elderly or rural households were not prepared due to a shortage of government coupons meant to defray the cost of converter boxes.

  • DTV Transition Delayed Until June


    The US House of Representatives has approved a delay in the cutoff date for analog television broadcasts. 

    The delay is to give more time to the estimated 6.5 million people unprepared for the switchover to digital broadcasts. 

    The date was pushed back four months to June 12, 2009. 

    Only last month, the House of Representatives voted against a delay. 

    With full support from President Barack Obama, the bill is likely to be signed into law fairly quickly when it reaches the White House. 

    The decision is likely to cost taxpayers, broadcasters, and the companies that paid USD $19 billion for the right to use the radio spectrum frequencies that will be freed up from the change, many millions. 

    What could prove frustrating – to say the least – to those hit with costs as a result of the delay is that commentators suggest at least 5 million people may still be unprepared even with the extension to June.

    Another area of possible problem area surrounds Congress’ decision to give stations the option of sticking to the original date 17 February date.

    So while the mandatory switchover has been moved back, some stations could individually cut off their analog signals.

    A situation could arise where half a city’s local OTA stations go all-digital mid-February, while others delay things until June.

    This will not happen with most of the major US television networks – including CBS, ABC, FOX and NBC – as they have decided to fall back to the new June date to prevent chaos.

  • Zoran's New Processors Spell Thinner HDTVs


    HDTVs may seem wafer thin already but don’t expect the drive for even slimmer models to stop anytime soon.

    The Zoran Corporation has just announced a pair of new HDTV processors that should help set manufacturers shave a tad more off their future sets.

    Its new SupraHD processors eliminate multiple components from the DTV system design by integrating the TV microcontroller, 8VSB demodulator, audio codec, audio multiplexer, analog video multiplexer and a stack of other functions, including advanced audio processing and color management capabilities, into the single-chip solution.

    If that wasn’t enough, Zoran said its high integration enables a more energy-efficient design, which allows DTV manufacturers to meet the federal Energy Star requirements.

    Jun Kawaguchi, director of the HDTV product line in Zoran’s Home Entertainment division, said the continued integration of DTV functionality into one SoC had many advantages for both TV manufacturers and end users.

    As well as reduced costs and power consumption, he told hdtv.biz-news.com that another benefit of the new SupraHD-785 and SupraHD-775 processors was that they enabled improvements to set design.

    "Lower power, smaller PC boards allow design flexibility that permit thinner, smaller and lighter TVs," he said.

    Kawaguchi said that by integrating multiple components into one chip, the PCB dimension can be reduced and production costs minimized.

    He said reduced costs to manufacturers usually meant lower costs to consumers as well.

    Other factors included improved engineering cost and schedule, which meant TV manufacturers had less engineering development burden, as multiple functionalities can be addressed by one product.

    This reduces the engineering workload for manufacturer, and also accelerates engineering schedules, according to Kawaguchi.

    The SupraHD® 775 and SupraHD® 785 processors integrated functions include the following:

    • TV Microcontroller and unified memory design
    • Market-proven Cascade® ATSC / NTSC / QAM demodulator
    • Audio analog-to-digital converter with 6 stereo pair inputs
    • Audio digital-to-analog converter
    • Three HDMI v.1.3 inputs
    • Advanced audio processing including virtual surround sound and audio expansion capabilities
    • Advanced color management
    • Two 1080P YPbPr analog video inputs
    • WUXGA PC analog video input
    • Three S-video inputs and four composite video inputs with 3D comb filter
    • Integrated dual channel LVDS transmitters with xvYCC Wide Color Gamut support
    • Content adaptive 1080i deinterlacer for interlaced analog video inputs
    • Six stereo pair analog audio inputs
    • Two stereo pair analog audio outputs
    • Picture-in-Picture function
    • USB 2.0 input
    • MPEG noise reduction provides block-free reception of digital transmission