The 921 OTA Tuner (Generation)

[Bob_Roth]

ATSC tuners for HDTV reception are in the 2nd generation stage. This means better reception of weak signals, combatting multipath, etc. I notice that the new MyHD card (mdp-120) has up to 30% better reception capabilities (signal-to-noise ratio) over the mdp-100.

Question: will the 921 have a first or second generation chipset for its OTA reception? Comparable to the evolution that the MyHD card has gone through (from the Janus NXT2000 to NXT2002 chip)? As a MyHD owner, the advancement of the MyHD card excites me. Will the 921 OTA tuner show the same progress or will it be first generation?

[Jason]

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[Ken_F]

The 921 is not using the same 8VSB demodulation as the 6000. The 921, assuming nothing has changed since January, will use the latest Broadcom 8-VSB chipset (http://www.broadcom.com/cgi-bin/pr/prps.cgi?pr_id=PR030109). Unfortunately, that Broadcom chipset is more than two years old. The 921 may offer somewhat better tuning performance than the 6000 (NXT2000), but it probably won't be up to the tuning performance of the latest Samsung and Zenith boxes.

As far as NxtWave (now ATI), the 811 could use the NXT2002, we don't know. There hasn't been any announcement, afaik.

From what people have been saying on this board, it sounds like the 921 will use a first generation tuner, probably the same one that E* has been using in the 6000. If this is their plans, I really feel that E* should reconsider and use a second generation tuner because this is going to be their 'high end' PVR after all. Plus, with the recent delays in the unit, they have plenty of time to make this change. E*, are you listening??They can't just swap in a new tuner, it doesn't work that way. They are using the Broadcom tuner (as of January), because it makes for easier integration. As they are going to support recording and PVR functionality for OTA digital broadcasts, they have to use a tuner that can interface directly into the Broadcom PVR hardware, and the 8-VSB receiver solution from Broadcom may be the only solution that will allow that. IF other solutions were possible, they'd undoubtedly require substantial hardware and/or software re-engineering efforts. Moreover, by buying from one vendor (Broadcom (http://www.broadcom.com/cgi-bin/pr/prps.cgi?pr_id=PR030109)), they can go to a single source for support, and they don't have to worry about two semiconductor companies pointing fingers at one another over chip, software, and/or interface incompatibilities and interoperability issues.

[kstevens]

To add to this, the 921 has been delayed enough already, NO MORE HARDWARE CHANGES!!!!!


Ken

[SParker]

Would they be able to offer a OTA tuner upgrade in the future?

[sampatterson]

My 6000 receives fine (sorry other people with multipath problems) so I am happy for the 921 to ship! ;)