1998-11-12 , S/IC-2047/59
Product News From Philips Semiconductors

New PCI plug-in card allows hardware manufacturers to simplify designs and deliver ATSC/NTSC signals to multimedia PCs

Philips Semiconductors today announced a complete digital TV (DTV) reference board for the PC, allowing hardware makers to develop cost-effective solutions for PCI-based designs. With the rapid convergence of the TV and personal computer, Philips Semiconductors' new Coney board is designed to seamlessly bridge these DTV capabilities via a highly integrated solution for hardware manufacturers - allowing users to receive both ATSC and NTSC broadcast signals via the PC.

Combining an advanced TV front-end tuner with desktop video ICs, Philips Semiconductors'  Coney board is now being used by Intel Corporation in the company's DTV broadcast trials. In conjunction with Intel's high-end Pentium^® II processors and an accelerated graphics port, the Philips reference design allows users to tune into DTV broadcasts and automatically download data and video via their PC.

"Intel believes that the Philips design will enable owners of high-end Intel Architecture-based PCs to economically add DTV functionality by using the Intel processor to decode the ATSC signal in software," said Mike Richmond, business unit manager, Intel's Broadcast Products Division. "PCs will play a significant role as a key platform for DTV. The Philips reference design gives PCs, OEMs and after-market suppliers an early entry into the emerging DTV market and makes low-cost DTV on PCs a practical reality for consumers."

Philips Semiconductors' market-leading ATSC Digital TV front-end hardware and established desktop video architecture is the core of the highly integrated PCI card. All Philips Semiconductors' ICs on the reference board are designed specifically for seamless integration, enabling designers to focus on product differentiation - a key market success factor.

"Philips Semiconductors has long been a world-class leader in powering electronics inside the living room," said Theo Akkermans, manager, video business line for Philips Semiconductors. "With our history and expertise in TV design, the Coney board allows us to leverage this core competency and provide innovative cost-effective solutions for the PC - eliminating the need for hardware manufacturers to manage a complex TV design."

About the Philips Semiconductors' Reference Design Comprised entirely of Philips Semiconductors' class-leading components, the company has integrated its expertise across core areas, such as front-end tuners, channel decoders, video capture and imaging ICs.

The Philips Semiconductors' Vestigial Side-Band (VSB) chipset consists of the TDA9829T or  TDA9819 If down converters, the TDA8763 A/D converter and the TDA8960 8-VSB integrated demodulator and decoder. The chipset is capable of processing terrestrial signals and converting them to the stage of a digital MPEG-2 Transport Stream that can then be used in a personal computer, television or hybrid set top box device.

The Coney board front-end uses a Philips Semiconductors' TD1536 multi-format tuner module and a single-chip IF stage ( TDA9819), which can handle both VSB modulated signals for ATSC broadcast reception and analog NTSC terrestrial and cable signals.

Separate outputs from the IF stage feed digital VSB signals to an ADC converter - which are then handled by the single-chip TDA8960 VSB demodulator/decoder - while analog signals go to the SAA7113, the world's first 9-bit single-chip multi-standard video capture device. This IC can also accept video inputs from separate external sources, in CVBS or S-video format, via connectors on the board. A  TDA9851 BTSC sound decoder handles stereo sound processing, and external audio inputs can also be digitized. The  SAA7146A Media Streaming Engine interfaces the other ICs to the PCI-bus, carrying the MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS) from the VSB decoder, the ITU-R 656 representation of the analog NTSC signal, video from the external inputs and the digital audio signals.

The Coney board is compatible with all 18 ATSC formats, ATVEF and DASE data formats. The ATSC transport stream demultiplexing, MPEG2 HL decoding and decoding of broadcast data services are performed on the host using combinations of hardware and/or software, depending on the application. A license is available, royalty free, from Philips Semiconductors to use the PCB layout (Gerber) files as well as the original design schematics.

For more information or to order a Coney board, call +1-800-447-1500, ext. 1651.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the ninth largest semiconductor supplier in the world and the third largest supplier of discretes in the world. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by systems labs.

 'Coney' reference design: PC-card reference design for PCI-based ATSC DTV and NTSC TV signal reception