All's not well in TV land
As reported by Retail Bridge,
"RF chipmaker Microtune last week sent a letter to the NTIA taking issue with some of the DTV converter set-tops currently being offered through the agency's $40 coupon program.
According to testing performed by Microtune, some of the DTV set-top models on the market exhibit "tuner-related performance failures;" flaws that, the company said, would prevent the devices from meeting NTIA regulatory performance requirements and could potentially result in the loss of DTV reception in certain areas. Microtune did not test any converter boxes containing its own chips.
"The NTIA has established rigorous and necessary performance standards for the CECB program, which is subsidized by the U.S. government, and the NTIA requires converter box manufacturers to comply with these technical standards," wrote Microtune president James Fontaine in the letter. "Poor or non-performing converter boxes could create lack of confidence not only in the digital TV transition, but also in other digital TV products as well."
Although Microtune did not identify the failing devices by name in its letter, Fontaine did urge the NTIA to immediately perform audit testing on the most widely available retail models and conduct expanded testing for all models to verify full compliance across all television channels."
According to testing performed by Microtune, some of the DTV set-top models on the market exhibit "tuner-related performance failures;" flaws that, the company said, would prevent the devices from meeting NTIA regulatory performance requirements and could potentially result in the loss of DTV reception in certain areas. Microtune did not test any converter boxes containing its own chips.
"The NTIA has established rigorous and necessary performance standards for the CECB program, which is subsidized by the U.S. government, and the NTIA requires converter box manufacturers to comply with these technical standards," wrote Microtune president James Fontaine in the letter. "Poor or non-performing converter boxes could create lack of confidence not only in the digital TV transition, but also in other digital TV products as well."
Although Microtune did not identify the failing devices by name in its letter, Fontaine did urge the NTIA to immediately perform audit testing on the most widely available retail models and conduct expanded testing for all models to verify full compliance across all television channels."
I sincerely hope this doesn't turn into a Y2K morass, remember that one? People will be watching American Idol, content that their upgraded TV will work it's magic, lo and behold the picture goes haywire, apperently a victim of a faulty chip. Well guess it's time to trade in that old CRT for that fancy flat-screen you've been drooling over
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