Microtune blows the whistle on converter boxes
By Steven Kim 
posted March 29th 2008 11:19AM
posted March 29th 2008 11:19AM
Did you get a DTV converter box yet? If so, Microtune, a company that makes tuners used in some of the boxes, may have some bad news for you. In a test of five different boxes (off the shelf) that did not employ its tuners, all five showed interference problems. Unfortunately, there's no detailed description of the observed problems, but in a letter to the NTIA, the company's President said that the units did not meet the FCC requirements for coupon-eligible converters. Sure, the fact that Microtune is the only U.S. manufacturer of tuners used in any of the DTV converters puts an air of skepticism over the whole matter. But we're in agreement with the company's contention that trouble-free operation is well worth a marginal cost increase to the consumer. Hopefully the company will come forth with a more detailed description of its findings so we'll know whether to add "has a Microtune tuner" to the list of criteria for DTV converter selection.[Via TVSnob]
It would be interesting to see just how many people still use analog terrestrial signal.
I do. I refuse to pay for free OTA high quality signal. TW has been ripping me off for years at $45 a month for broadband. I don't have FIOS available.
ekryss do you current have a standard def tv? if so i then i would undestand, man up and get atleast EDTV , its inprovement over 480i lines being at 600 lines you will see a diffrence, any tv that is HDTV yes including the tube tvs thare are inexpensive right now as long as they are EDTV/HDTV you'll be set for the switcheover... i know you can get the box but the quality inprovement is amazing... if your paying for cable/sat then you desrve a slap because a EDTV/HDTV would give you alot of locals in DIGITAL or even HIGH DEF