Microtune intros breakthrough receiver chip for digital TV market

PLANO, USA: Microtune Inc. today introduced a world-standard radio frequency (RF)-to-baseband IC, based on a new, highly integrated silicon architecture, that delivers uncompromised TV receiver performance at a compelling new price point.

The MT3141 single chip enables TV manufacturers to use a smaller, higher-performance and more cost-effective receiver across their next-generation global digital television designs. Using Microtune’s MT3141, manufacturers can build thinner, lighter digital TVs that deliver premium performance for all brands, models, price points and screen sizes.

Based on Microtune’s groundbreaking MicroCeiver architecture, the MT3141 is:
* A miniaturized RF-to-baseband single chip that combines the functions of an RF tuner, analog TV demodulator, intermediate frequency (IF) filters and amplifiers in a tiny 6 mm x 6 mm IC.
* The only receiver engineered to exceed the RF performance requirements of worldwide analog/digital broadcast and cable standards*, including those for China’s new CTTB (also known as DTMB or DMB-T) and Europe’s next-generation DVB-T2 requirements.
* Tiny enough for the lightest ‘picture on a wall’ TVs, but packs the performance to put a superb TV picture on the biggest wide screen.

At $2.00 in high volumes, the MT3141 breaks through price, performance and size barriers to enable TV manufacturers finally to deploy an advanced silicon receiver in an unified high-quality front-end across all next-generation television platforms.

“Faced with increasing complexity, shrinking ASPs, divergent broadcast standards, and the need to differentiate, TV manufacturers have been looking for a new class of world-standard electronics,” said James A. Fontaine, President and CEO of Microtune.

“Yet across all these factors, manufacturers and consumers are driven by TV picture quality. With our MT3141, manufacturers can drive world-class receiver performance into global TVs, while reducing their footprint, design effort and manufacturing costs.”

Fontaine added, “Our highly integrated receiver provides the compelling price/performance to finally fuel the TV industry migration from traditional can tuners to silicon solutions, while taking digital TV into the future.”