Certified to comply with mobile DTV technology now being deployed by US broadcasters, LG Electronics is introducing the industry’s first portable, battery-operated mobile DTV, designed to receive new “rugged” over-the-air signals being transmitted by local broadcasters. With hundreds of stations expected to sign on the air using the new technology in 2010 and with demand for truly mobile, portable TV reception on the rise, LG will officially introduce the DP570MH Mobile Digital Television with DVD Playback next week at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show.
“It’s easy to receive Mobile DTV broadcasts with LG’s new Mobile Digital Television set, which comes equipped with a built-in antenna and the ability to play DVD and CD discs. Even on a fast-moving train, a viewer should expect robust reception from favorite local channels – unlike some small digital TV sets currently on the market,” said Tim Alessi, director of product development, LG Electronics USA, Inc.
The DP570MH Portable Television with integrated DVD player will be available later this year at a suggested retail price of $249.
“Now we’re taking digital TV to a whole new audience – the mobile viewer. Whether it’s at the beach house or in the back seat of a car with the kids, viewers want mobile broadcast TV wherever they go, and LG will meet that demand with products like our new mobile DTV-DVD player,” Alessi said.
Co-developer of the technology at the heart of the Mobile DTV standard, LG began mass production of the critical component for Mobile DTV reception – the LG2160A IC chip – in June 2009. The latest version, the LG2160R single chip design that includes both the tuner and demodulator, is being released at CES. And, by March 2010, LG plans to release its next-generation mobile DTV chip, the LG2161R receiver IC, which is even smaller, consumes less power, supports various interfaces and provides improved performance.
Standardized by the ATSC and formally adopted as the Mobile DTV standard just 12 weeks ago, the new Mobile DTV standard allows broadcasters to use a portion of the existing 19.4 Megabit-per-second DTV channel capacity to transmit data with extremely robust characteristics suitable for mobile, pedestrian and handheld applications. The Mobile DTV signal is also compatible with 8-VSB DTV, which was also developed by Zenith, LG’s U.S. research and development lab.
