WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LGE OFFERS WORLD'S 1ST TOTAL SOLUTION FOR DIGITAL TV. THE KOREAN HERALD
By Yu Kun-ha Staff reporter
23/10/97
LG Electronics (LGE) yesterday announced it has developed a full set of
chips enabling the commercial production of low-cost, small-sized
digital TV sets. The set, dubbed Digital TV Super Chips, consists of
five ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) - two for
reception of digital signals originating from broadcasting stations, and
the other three for conversion of the signals into crystal-clear
pictures. LGE said the five chips represent the world's first total
solution for the commercial production of digital TV sets. By
substituting for the hundreds of ICs currently needed to process complex
digital signals, they enable producers to turn out small-sized digital
TV sets cheaply.
According to the company, a heated race is underway among the world's
major TV producers toward such a solution. But none of them, except LGE,
have yet overcome the high technical barriers involved in making their
bulky refrigerator-like prototypes look more like TVs. "Now we are
poised to play a leading role in the development of digital TV
technology," said, Suh Pyong-won, an executive vice president and chief
technology officer (CTO) of the company. Suh disclosed that such
well-known TV manufacturers as JVC, Sony and Philips have already
requested samples of the chips, expressing a keen interest in them. He
added that some foreign firms want to license its technology. He stopped
short of identifying them.
According to Park Jong-seok, a researcher in charge of digital TV
development, said LGE chips are based on the American digital TV
standard called ATSC (Advanced Television System Committee), which is
also likely to be adopted by Korea. In the United States, the world's
first commercial digital TV service is scheduled to start late next
year. "The North American market is expected to account for 35 percent
of the world demand for digital TV sets, with demand seen to grow
explosively from one million units in 1999 to 15 million in 2002 and 30
million in 2006. Our goal is to capture over 25 percent of this huge
market," Suh said. Park said LGE's chips support all of the 18 video
formats proposed by the Grand Alliance, a group set up in 1995 by
American TV manufacturers to hammer out specifications for digital TV.
The chips can also handle NTSC (National Television System Committee)
analog signals and even VGA (video graphic array) signals used for
personal computers.
Suh said LGE will turn out 64-inch projection TVs based on its Super
Chips starting next April. "This initial product is expected to cost
only $1,000 or so more expensive than an ordinary projection TV set of
the same size," he said. The low price tag is possible because LGE will
soon integrate the five chips into two, according to Suh. Suh said LGE
also plans next March to release set-top boxes, which enable users of
analog TVs to receive digital TV service. "In the United States alone,
the number of analog TV sets amount to 200 million. For people using
these TV sets, we have developed the set-top boxes which will cost just
$1,000 or so." Suh also said LGE is working with American microprocessor
giant Intel Corp. to develop a personal computer card enabling PCs to
receive digital TV broadcast. "All these moves will push us toward
center stage in the world digital TV industry," Suh said, adding that
LGE intends to shape the coming digital era in cooperation with domestic
and foreign TV and PC makers - including the so-called Wintelpaq
alliance consisting of Microsoft, Intel and Compaq.
According to Park, LGE's technological breakthrough for digital TV is
the result of intensive R&D efforts which started in 1990. It has
invested more than 100 billion won into the project. To develop the
chips, LGE combined its expertise in digital signal processing with the
ASIC technology of LG Semicon, its sister company. The company said the
chips were built using LG Semicon's 0.6 micron ASIC process. The number
of transistors built on each chip is about 3.6 million, a density
exceeding that of the Pentium microprocessor, according to the company.
LGE has already applied for patents for some 260 technologies in the
United States, Japan and Europe and is preparing for patent applications
for another 350 items. |
