Microtune Introduces Video Chip: Plano Firm Says It Bridges Analog, Digital
Posted on: Tuesday, 28 February 2006, 12:00 CST
By Terry Maxon, The Dallas Morning News
Feb. 28--Microtune Inc. unveiled an inexpensive video tuner on a chip Monday that will be capable of handling a range of analog, digital and cable signals.
The MT2131 tuner represents part of the Plano-based company's efforts to stake a large claim in the television market, as the industry accelerates its switch to next-generation products.
"It is the only device, module or silicon, to fully support North American analog and digital TV transmissions across either cable or terrestrial broadcasts," said Microtune president and chief executive James A. Fontaine.
The company plans to sell the tiny chip for under $3, a price low enough that it will be able to appear in mass-market sets.
"Manufacturers can use our single, flexible tuner to cost-effectively smooth the digital transition across all kinds of TV electronics, while bridging the multiple standards that co-exist today," Mr. Fontaine said.
He said that more than 60 percent of Microtune's revenue last year came from tuners for cable systems and set-top boxes.
But the emergence of digital standards offers the company a chance to expand its business for televisions, as well as TV tuners for computers and for automobiles.
While the market for analog tuners has been dominated by low-cost production, the product had to be upgraded to handle the higher demands of digital signals, he said.
"As the market went to digital, that was a discontinuity and allowed us to get in," he said.
Among Microtune's customers is Samsung Electronics Co., which puts its tuners in about a dozen of its high-definition television models, Mr. Fontaine said.
E-mail tmaxon@dallasnews.com
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Source: The Dallas Morning News
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