Sharp develops "world's smallest" 1seg TV tuner

Do you ever wonder just how realistic all these coin / hand / White House-to-miniscule item comparison shots are? We certainly do, and while the ¥1 coin seen above could be the size of a frisbee for all we know (we jest, we jest), we suppose we'll believe Sharp when it says its latest 1seg tuner is indeed the world's smallest. The VA3A5JZ922 checks in at just 5.9- x 5.9- x 0.9-millimeters -- about 35-percent smaller than competitors -- and should cost around ¥20,000 ($185) when samples start shipping out next week. Don't get too excited just yet, however, as mass production isn't slated to get going until late September.

[Via PMPToday]

[Ellianth @ Feb 22nd 2008 11:48AM]

Man, that coin is HUGE!

[Phil Perman @ Feb 22nd 2008 11:58AM]

Its actually a dinner plate

[Nipponese @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:25PM]

1 yen coin is about the same size as a penny. Also, it is made of aluminum and for a while, it cost 1.5 yen to make 1 yen and the Japanese government was trying to figure a way to get the cost down to manufacture the coins.

[James Yopp @ Feb 22nd 2008 9:49PM]

See here: http://jyopp.com/_extImg/1y-size.jpg

It's not much bigger than a US penny. It's made of aluminum, though, so it's really light, maybe half the weight of a penny.

[Jagster @ Feb 22nd 2008 11:56AM]

Does it blend?

[PhilxBefore @ Feb 22nd 2008 12:46PM]

I don't know if the dimensions are wrong or the picture but the tuner definitely looks rectangular and the dimensions state it as a perfect square.

6mm x 6mm seems roughly to be the size that a square that size would fit exactly into a US quarter with the corners touching the edges. Or maybe I'm off.

[Steve @ Feb 22nd 2008 1:30PM]

6mm x 6mm - boy your quarters really are "small change"!

[RichardBronosky @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:06PM]

In the image the coin is 319 pixels by 235 pixels, which is a ratio of 1.35744 to 1. This is caused by the camera being pointed at an angle that is not perpendicular to the surface the items are placed on. The electronic component is 96 pixels by 71 pixels, which is a ratio of 1.35211 to 1. That's a really small margin of error and is accounted for by 1 pixel of anti-aliasing.

So, if that coin can be trusted to be round, the component can be trusted to be square. See, don't you feel silly for arguing with Mrs. Harris back in the 9th grade about never needing to know how to do this stuff?

[Nipponese @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:28PM]

6mm is slightly less than a quarter of an inch. That is indeed a small quarter you have.

[Jeff @ Feb 22nd 2008 3:03PM]

Americans + Metric = funny

[RichardBronosky @ Feb 22nd 2008 4:41PM]

A quarter is 24.26mm in diameter. The largest square that will fit inside it is 17.154mm. A dime is 17.91mm in diameter. The largest square that will fit inside it is 12.664mm.

You could fit 4 of these tuners inside a dime!

A nickel is 1.95mm thick. So, the easiest way for an American to quantify the size of this to say, "It is a square whose sides are about three nickel thicknesses long."

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/math/money/coins/quarter/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/math/money/coins/nickel/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/math/money/coins/dime/

Math is fun. Google is your friend.

[Pavan @ Feb 22nd 2008 12:51PM]

Good....now if only jetBlue would get these and make them work with their LiveTV IFE system, that's be great. It sucks enough getting stuck in the middle seat without that huge converter box taking up your legroom!

[aoi tsuki @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:59PM]

A lot of things look small compared to a Japanese manhole cover.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:20PM]

I hope to see one of these in my next cell phone sometime very soon.

[Dany Brancho @ Feb 22nd 2008 9:15PM]

that coin oddly resembles the weights i use for bench press