12 December 2008
A digital chip that attaches to a car aerial may prompt a rush of demand for in-car digital television, the manufacturer has suggested.
Microtune's MicroTuner MT2067 receives DVB-T signals among others. It can pick up frequencies ranging from 44 MHz to 862 MHz and requires a 3.3V power supply.
The maker told the Register that it predicts 25 million digital tuners to be placed in vehicles over next year.
Among the MT2067's capabilities is spur-avoidance technology. This means interference between tuners is stopped, allowing high quality performance.
Microtune's managing director, Barry Koch, has said in an interview with Automotive Viewpoint that "DVB-T and ISDB-T digital TV standards will be important factors in increasing customer demand for in-car digital television".
Mr Koch also said that it is an "exciting time" for in-car entertainment, noting that, from initially being simply AM/FM radio, there can be now be internet access and high-speed televisions as well as "parallel services" by which people in the front and back seats can be listening to different receptions.