Mitsubishi Single-Chip NTSC TV Tuner

When TVs first came out way back when, users really didn't have much of a choice when it came to size, based on the limited electronics (picture and other tubes) that were available. For some time after that, almost all TVs were enclosed in those big-ass wooden consoles. At a certain point, the concept of the portable TV came into play when being able to haul your precious video box from one room to the other became popular. Now, it seems both the biggest and the smallest TVs have the proverbial cool-factor attached to them and Mitsubishi is now offering a chip that should make teeny-weeny TVs substantially cheaper (for cheaper monster-sized TVs, we'll have to wait for big LCDs to come down in price). The M61130FP is a single-chip NTSC tuner that Mitsubishi tells us makes the need for separate channel-selection and demodulator chips a thing of the past. The M61130FP is provided in a mm by mm package, which should make it easier for folks to bring ultra-small television tuners to market. The M61130FP incorporates UHF and VHF mixer and local oscillation circuits, a video/audio IF signal processor circuit, four band switch driver circuits, and a 3.58-MHz or 4-MHz crystal oscillator on the same chip. The little NTSC tuner will be available in a 48-pin quad flat pack (QFP) package, with a 0. mm pin pitch. Samples will be available in November 2001, with volume production scheduled for the first quarter of 2002. Pricing is $4.20 each in sample quantities.