Where are the portable ATSC TVs?
With only four months to go until all televisions regardless of size will be required to include a ATSC tuner we have still yet to see a small portable TV with an integrated ATSC tuner. There is less than 2 years until the analog shutoff, so why would anyone buy a new portable TV when they know they will only get a few years of use from it. Microtune made an announcement today that might help CE companies bring a small form factor ATSC TV to market. We're not sure how this is different from the chips that are currently being utilized in the ultra-compact USB ATSC tuners available today, but look forward to watching digital quality video anywhere we are, of course we realize with a screen so small and in such close proximity we can't possibly take advantage of HD resolutions.
Filed under: Industry, Regulatory, Tuners, OTA
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Eric M @ Dec 12th 2006 12:02AM
ATSC doesn't equal HD.
img eL @ Dec 12th 2006 12:57AM
Any front projectors with atsc tuners?
david @ Dec 12th 2006 1:44AM
ATSC can be brutal on batteries, other digital formats seem to fill that niche better
Tom @ Dec 12th 2006 12:54PM
HDTV doesn't matter with screen sizes below 30 inches so there's no need or use for a portable HDTV set. The "portable" ATSC sets will take the form of laptops or mobile devices equipped with any number of USB ATSC tuners on the market.
Jason @ Dec 12th 2006 1:15PM
It would be nice though to have a portable tv though that is watchable with no snow etc. Nice clear picture. Would be nice in the car for the kids.
BrentRN @ Dec 12th 2006 7:36PM
I'm glad you mentioned this. I saw the little LCD TVs at RadioShack and wondered how many people are going to get one this year only to find it useless in 2009? I guess it won't be until the end of 2008 that we'll see portable ATSC TVs. Some manufacturer needs to put the compact ATSC chips into a small 16:9 LCD box. Another question would be how well they would work in the field without much of an antenna?
Bob Miller @ Dec 13th 2006 9:22PM
The US digital TV modulation is the worst in the world. That is why we have little choice as to digital TV receivers of any kind.
Most of the receivers available today exist only because the FCC has mandated them. Even the company that owns the Royalty rights to 8-VSB, LG Industries of S. Korea, does not see fit to make an STB receiver for the retail US market.
LG does see fit to make a COFDM based receiver for Australia, a market of only 19 million people. 150 other firms do also. Funny since LG has no advantage in Australia because they have to pay royalties for DVB-T COFDM modulation there.
You should ask LG why the US is such a disaster mode with our over the air digital TV transition. They must have at least a clue.
The best modulation in the world on the other hand is DMB-TH whose royalty rights are owned by an American company, Legend Silicon. At least 150 companies are already making prototypes for the Chinese market where DMB-TH has been adopted. Expect to see and hear a lot about it in 2008 around the Olympics being held in China.
So why is it that a country like Australia has the choice of 180 different over the air digital receivers? Why does China have the best modulation by far?
Because the US has a corrupt political process that allowed firms to influence our choice of digital TV modulation.
We have the worst digital TV modulation in the world by a wide wide margin.