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A 3-in-1 TV tuner chip for ATSC, NTSC and digital cable reception...

A 3-in-1 TV tuner chip for ATSC, NTSC and digital cable reception is shipping from Microtune, the Tex. company said Tues. Its MicroTuner MT2131 is smaller than a thumbtack, Microtune said. Its size and $3 price slash the bill-of-…

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materials cost 60% and enable manufacturers to deploy a tuner across all TV models, sizes and prices -- from multituner, giant-screen home theaters to small, affordable LCD TVs and inexpensive DTV set-top converter boxes, the company said. The MT2131 was engineered to solve 3 technical problems commonly identified as sources of DTV dissatisfaction -- picture break-up from interference, picture freezing and picture loss, Microtune said. The chip also is claimed to significantly improve TV reception using antennas in attics.