Set Top Box

Overview

A Set Top Box (tuner box) receives TV broadcast signals such as terrestrial TV broadcasts (digital and analog); cable TV broadcast and satellite broadcasts, converting them into a format that can be viewed using a conventional analog TV set. In particular, the usage of Set Top Boxes for receiving terrestrial digital broadcasts is expected to grow substantially as the 2011 deadline for the discontinuation of analog TV broadcasting approaches. Many consumers want to watch terrestrial digital TV broadcasts using their existing analog TV sets. Since the motivation for purchasing a Set Top Box is to continue watching terrestrial digital TV broadcasts cheaply, without having to buy a new TV set, it is very important to reduce the cost of the Set Top Box component parts whilst retaining support for a variety of low power signal processing functions.

Renesas supplies EMMA3TS, an LSI specialized for low-end terrestrial digital tuners, particularly to meet these market demands. Renesas also supplies a variety of devices that respond to the requirements for low power consumption. In addition, Renesas has a lineup of low-power MCUs that enable reception of remote control signals when in the system standby state.