Intel Corp. has unveiled its first digital TV dual-channel demodulators for the consumer electronics (CE) market segment that is housed on a single piece of silicon. The demodulator extracts the digital channel from the target broadcast signal to deliver high-quality broadcast TV reception.

The new Intel CE 6250 dual-channel COFDM (coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing) demodulator and Intel CE 6251 dual-channel diversity-enabled COFDM demodulator expands Intel’s CE offerings by allowing manufacturers, such as UK CE manufacturer TVonics, to deliver highly integrated advanced digital home entertainment capabilities for a variety of future consumer entertainment devices, such as personal video recorder set top boxes (PVR STBs), integrated digital televisions (iDTV) and TV-enabled personal computers (PC-TV).

As CE manufacturers look to accelerate time to market delivery of their products in sleeker and more cost effective designs, the new dual-channel  demodulators deliver lower power consumption, smaller package size and improved value without compromising the high performance required in next-generation DTV devices that receive digital video broadcasting – terrestrial (DVB-T) over-the-air broadcast transmissions. Shipping in excess of 11 million DVB-T demodulator chips in 2006, Intel is building on the performance and power advantages established by its single channel devices. Intel's products also adhere to a variety of standards with performance headroom as CE providers deliver new services in the years ahead.

For example, to meet the needs of the DTV platforms in the European region, the Intel CE 6250 dual-channel COFDM demodulator and Intel CE 6251 dual-channel diversity-enabled COFDM Demodulator are fully NorDig Unified 1.0.2 standard compliant.

Intel’s new single chip dual-channel demodulators offer CE manufacturers the benefits of higher system level integration in CE devices. By operating as two individual-channel s in a PVR, the Intel CE 6250 dual-channel COFDM demodulator is specifically designed to give consumers the flexibility to watch one program while recording another, including a real-time broadcast picture-in-picture feature in iDTVs instead of a broadcast recording. For PC-TV cards, PCI Express and Mini-TV cards, it allows consumers to watch and record, download and edit television programs.

The Intel CE 6251 Dual-channel diversity-enabled COFDM demodulator’s advanced diversity signal sensitivity improvements delivers the flexibility to detach a portable DTV with two portable aerials from its traditional TV aerial lead and reposition it at any location in the home, improving the customizability of the DTV experience without jeopardizing broadcast quality

“We work closely with a variety of CE industry companies to best meet the high performance and low power consumption needs these manufacturers require worldwide,” said William O. Leszinske, Jr., general manager of Intel’s consumer electronics group. “Intel’s new dual-channel  demodulators are specifically designed to give PVR set top boxes, iDTVs and PC-TVs the ability to offer greater flexibility, an improved viewing experience and advanced capabilities in the home.”