Infineon Chips Lead Terrestrial TV into the Digital Age

May 24, 2005 | Market News

Munich, Germany – May 24, 2005 – Chips from Infineon are playing a crucial role in the start of the digital age of terrestrial television in Bavaria. Munich-based semiconductor company Infineon Technologies AG is the world-wide leading supplier of chips for digital television receivers. The chips for the digital DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcast-Terrestrial) are designed in Munich, and produced in Regensburg. Eight out of ten of the 12 million world-wide deployed end-user devices such as television sets or set-top boxes for digital terrestrial television operate with components from Infineon.

Digital TV - a turning point like the introduction of mobile communication

The new digital transmission path from the television broadcaster to the receiver not only means a technical change, but marks the beginning of a whole new era for television. The change not only provides the viewers with a broader choice of stations and a remarkably better reception quality than via antenna. At the same time it opens up the new age of mobile television - which is comparable to the conversion from analog wired telephone to digital cellular phones 15 years ago which triggered the boom for cellular phones. Up until now it was not possible to receive stable television pictures on mobile devices with analog transmission technology due to physical limitations. With DVB-T, television will be possible in almost every European country, even en route in the car or on the park bench.

“In the near future,” said Uwe Rueddenklau, System Engineer for Television Tuner Systems at Infineon, “we can expect to have digital television receivers integrated in mobile phones, laptops, gaming stations and pocket computers.” By then everyone will be able to choose from up to 24 TV channels on their digital devices. “Regarding the development of chips for television receivers the trend continues towards less space, higher performance and less power consumption,” commented Rueddenklau. “Therefore, the power supply of mobile phones will soon be sufficient to watch television for hours.”

Infineon high-frequency chips (tuners) allow for digital TV world-wide

In the world market for high-frequency chips for digital terrestrial television receivers, Infineon has a share of around 80 percent. The Infineon receiver systems not only process digital signals according to the European DVB standard, but also according to the American, Japanese, Korean and Chinese standards for digital television. Furthermore, they are also suitable for analog picture signals, so all transmission paths world-wide are available for television watchers using these receivers.

To enable mobile television, Infineon and partner companies have already developed in 2003 an additional PCMCIA-card for laptops. This card enables for the first time mobile digital television reception according to the DVB-T standard and is widely used in mobile end-user equipment.

About Infineon

Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for automotive, industrial and multimarket sectors, for applications in communi-cation, as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates through its subsidiaries in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In fiscal year 2004 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 7.19 billion with about 35,600 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at www.infineon.com.

Information Number

INFCOM200505.055

Press Photos

  • Eight out of ten of the 12 million world-wide deployed end-user devices such as television sets or set-top boxes for digital terrestrial television operate with components from Infineon.
    Eight out of ten of the 12 million world-wide deployed end-user devices such as television sets or set-top boxes for digital terrestrial television operate with components from Infineon.
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    Press Photo

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