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LONDON, May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- LSI Logic (NYSE: LSI - news), the world's leader in system-on-a-chip design, and the BBC, the internationally renowned UK broadcaster, today made digital terrestrial television (DTT) a reality for consumers with the announcement of a cost effective single-chip solution. LSI Logic and the BBC joined forces in June 1997 to develop a workable DTT solution for deployment in 1998.
The LSI Logic chip, called the L64780, will be used by consumer manufacturers to form the heart of digital terrestrial set-top boxes and digital TVs using existing TV aerials. The chip receives DTT signals, then processes them into wide screen pictures and CD-quality audio.
Digital terrestrial television is the third broadcast delivery system, in addition to cable and satellite, and uses existing land transmitters and consumer TV aerials to receive broadcast services. It offers television viewers significant advantages over today's analog broadcasts. In the UK, for example, it will offer up to 30 television program services, compared to the five or six analog services currently available. With each digital channel capable of carrying a ''multiplex'' of four or five programs, viewers' program choice will significantly increase.
Digital terrestrial television will bring new services, support data broadcasts, and regional and local programs, as well as offer interactive services. Viewers can look forward to enhanced picture quality and CD-like sound. In most cases, viewers will be able to receive digital terrestrial television using the same antennas they presently use for their analog services.
European broadcasters including the BBC and BDB in the UK, Spain and Sweden plan to deploy digital terrestrial programs from October this year. According to Dataquest, in Europe alone, more than 200 million households currently view terrestrial broadcasts via their existing TV antennas.
The L64780 device has been jointly developed by a BBC design team at their Kingswood Warren R&D facility and LSI Logic at its Paris Design Centre. The chip is based on a hardware prototype initially constructed by the BBC to trial experimental DTT broadcasts in the UK and other European locations. By applying its unique chip design, LSI Logic has squeezed a 19 inch rack composed of over 20 programmable chips originally used in the BBC prototype design onto one tiny piece of silicon.
DTT is particularly attractive in areas such as Europe where a very high percentage of homes get or can get TV via analog terrestrial TV broadcasts, but where TV services are limited by the available analog TV spectrum. Currently only a limited number of analog services (four or five in the UK) can be broadcast in the available spectrum.
''The price of DTT consumer equipment is the key issue that will impact its adoption in Europe. The development of this single-chip solution means that there is no question that the technology is commercially viable,'' said Dr. Ian Jenkins, Controller of New Technologies, BBC.
''This is a superb example of collaboration. The BBC provided DTT expertise and an intimate knowledge of the European broadcast market, while LSI Logic provided the expertise to implement the BBC's DTT design into a highly integrated system on a chip. This has been accomplished within a record one year timeframe and marks a significant milestone in enabling affordable consumer products,'' said Elie Antoun, Executive Vice President of consumer products, LSI Logic.
BBC company background
The BBC is a public corporation, set up by Royal Charter to provide broadcasting services at home and abroad. The BBC's core home services are funded by the television license fee which pays for BBC-1 and BBC-2 which provide more than 12,500 hours of programs a year; national Radios 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 Live; national radio services in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, including services in Welsh and Gaelic languages; and 38 English local radio services. The BBC World Service, the international radio service funded by Government Grant-In-Aid broadcasts to 144 million regular listeners a week in 45 languages, including English. The BBC generates further revenue to support its home services by exploiting its assets at home and abroad through its commercial arm, BBC Worldwide. Additional information may be obtained from their web site at www.bbc.co.uk. |
