Las Vegas — LG Electronics introduced its sixth-generation reception circuitry for digital television in anticipation of next year’s launch of its digital-to-analog converter box to support the completion of the DTV transition in the United States.
LG reported at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention here this week that the sixth-generation ATSC digital broadcast receiver chipset is being incorporated into LG’s 2007 line of flat-screen HDTVs and digital TV receivers.
Dr. Choon Lee, VP and head of the LG Electronics Digital TV Research Lab, explained that the chipset employs an exclusive algorithm that enhances reception and eliminates multipath interference common in urban areas.
The DTV circuitry can decode both vestigial sideband (VSB), the North American standard for terrestrial digital over-air broadcasts, and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), the North American standard for digital cable broadcasts.
This newest chipset is designed for use in high-definition and standard-definition digital TVs, set-top boxes and computer digital TV tuner cards, LG noted, and is being integrated into DTV products sold in the United States, Korea and Canada, which all use the ATSC DTV standard. LG also plans to supply the chipset to DTV makers around the world.
Digital-to-analog converter boxes planned for introduction next year (for analog TVs to continue to receive free, over-the-air broadcasts after Feb. 17, 2009, when all U.S. broadcasting is digital) also will benefit from the low-cost, high-performance chipset, the company said.
