[opendtv] A multifunction DTV tuner and LCD panels lit by LEDs
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "OpenDTV (E-mail)" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 17:58:18 -0400
Two interesting articles.
The first describes a 4-function DTV tuner, for analog and
ATSC DTV as well as analog and cable digital TV, available
essentially now. This is the de facto US DTV standard
interface. I wonder how the ATSC portion compares with the
LG unit, and what the cost of this might be.
The next one is a column on LCD screens, and the use of
LEDs as backlights.
Combined, IMO, these describe the future of TV.
Bert
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Toshiba, Microtune team to develop HDTV module
By Spencer Chin , EE Times
September 27, 2004 (12:13 PM EDT)
URL: http://www.eet.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=3D47903038
MANHASSET, N.Y. - Microtune Inc. (Plano, Texas) and
Toshiba Corp.'s Toshiba Module Group have cooperated to
develop a digital cable-ready TV tuner module that will
be used in a number of high-definition televisions
(HDTVs) Toshiba is unveiling.
Based on Microtune's MicroTuner MT2111 single-chip tuner,
Toshiba's module is a ready-to-manufacture RF-to-video
subsystem that complies with U.S. digital TV standards,
including the DCR regulations of the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) for digital cable-ready
TVs. The module will be deployed in nine of Toshiba's new
projection high-definition TVs expected be available in
the U.S. beginning Fall 2004.
For Microtune, the Toshiba announcement is another chapter
in the comeback of the once financially-troubled tuner
company.
Microtune unveiled a 1-GHz tuner, the MT2121, earlier this
year, and has converted many of its tuners to lead-free
packaging.
Microtune's MT2111 offers the equivalent functionality of
four tuners (off-air NTSC analog, off-air ATSC digital,
cable NTSC analog, and cable QAM digital) in a miniature
single-chip device fabricated of silicon germanium. The
device integrates all active RF components, including a
low noise amplifier (LNA) and intermediate frequency (IF)
amplifier, in a 1/4 in. square package.=20
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LCDs: Is it deja vu all over again?
By Malcolm Penn , EE Times
September 24, 2004 (11:53 AM EDT)
URL: http://www.eet.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=3D47901083
Big money is currently being spent in the flat-panel
display industry, with capital investment having grown
annually at a mammoth 70 percent per year over the past
seven years, seven times the rate of the semiconductor
industry.
The trend in LCD fabrication is toward larger and larger
screens. The industry has spearheaded a roughly twentyfold
increase over the past 10 years, leading to the state-of-
the art screen of 74 x 86 inches-the result not of radical
innovations in manufacturing technology, but the hard work
needed to become more accurate and efficient.
LCDs differ from semiconductors in that the cost of
bought-in materials is still very high, accounting for 60
percent of the manufacturing cost of the large panels.
The bought-in costs come in the backlight unit, the color
filters, the polarizers and the liquid-crystal material.
The larger displays have the same type of cold-cathode
fluorescent tube as the smaller panels, but have more
tubes, raising both the cost and the power consumption.
There are cost-reduction developments in the pipeline to
replace tubes and their associated light-guidance equipment
with high-power solid-state LEDs.
Liquid-crystal displays are very much an Asian industry,
generating fierce competition among the Japanese, South
Korean and Taiwanese companies. About one-third of LCDs are
currently made in Taiwan, and within 10 years the output of
LCD panels could equal the value of semiconductors shipped,
including the output of the world's largest silicon
foundries.
Following the near-ubiquitous LCD use in the notebook and
desktop PC industry, the key drivers for the new generation
of color LCDs has now become the digital consumer. This
market includes flat-panel TVs, digital cameras, portable
DVD players, automotive instrumentation, up-market PDAs and
smart phones, and game and entertainment consoles.
The high volumes generated by the PC, camera and
mobile-phone LCD marketplace-along with the determination
to produce low-priced, larger screens-will drive down costs
so that the flat-panel TV comes within reach of the average
consumer.
As if following the trends in the IC industry, the
beginnings of a fabless LCD industry can now be seen, with
companies such as Iridigm Display, Micro Display,
SpatiaLight and Universal Display developing innovative LCD
ideas and farming production out to LCD foundries.
In the future, the industry looks set to be dominated by a
few big LCD integrated device manufacturers and foundries,
with myriad fast-growing fabless LCD companies adding
specialist intellectual-property value to make up the rest.
Deja vu?
Malcolm Penn is the chief executive officer of Future
Horizons (www.futurehorizons.com), an industry analysis
firm in Sevenoaks, England.
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