16/07/2004
2004 domestic shipments of digital terrestrial broadcast receivers

98,000 digital terrestrial broadcast receivers were shipped in May, bringing the cumulative total at the end of May to 904,000.

In contrast to April, which saw sales plummet after the end of the financial year in March, shipments of both CRT and flat-panel sets grew steadily in May.

For the month of May, digital terrestrial TVs accounted for 17.4% of all color television sales, an increase of 5.5 percentage points over the previous month. Digital terrestrial CRT sets accounted for 7.3% of all CRT-set sales (up 2.8 points over the previous month), digital terrestrial PDP sets were 80.9% of all PDP-sets sold (up 2.4 points), and digital terrestrial LCD sets accounted for 29.3% of all LCD-set sales, an increase of 4.7 points over the previous month.

02/07/2004
ISDB receiver specifications registered in IEC international standards

ISDB receiver specifications have been registered in the international standards of IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission). The title of the standard is INTERNATIONAL STANDARD, IEC 62360:2004(E), Baseline specifications of satellite and terrestrial receivers for ISDB (Integrated Services for Digital Broadcasting) based on the ARIB STD-B21 Version 3.2 Japanese digital broadcasting specifications.

These specifications define the baseline for ISDB satellite and terrestrial broadcasting receivers.

02/07/2004
NHK STRL open days

NHK STRL (Science & Technical Research Laboratories) in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo was opened to the public from May 27^th - 30^th, 2004.

A wide variety of technologies were on display for the open days, including integrated information terminals providing services via links between digital terrestrial broadcasting and the Internet; examples of services combining mobile digital terrestrial broadcasting reception and ITS; terminals allowing reception of digital terrestrial broadcasts on mobile telephones; H.264 decoders, and server broadcasting.

For more information see

http://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/index-e.html

02/07/2004
2004 domestic shipments of digital terrestrial broadcast receivers

Eighty-three thousand digital terrestrial broadcast receivers were shipped in April, bringing the cumulative total by the end of April to 806,000.

Although a slight blip in sales occurred in March, with the end of the financial year being a common time to move home, overall figures remained steady.

For the month of April, digital terrestrial TVs accounted for 11.9% of color television sales, up 0.2 points from the previous month. Digital terrestrial sets accounted for 4.5 % of CRT set sales (up 0.6 points on the previous month), and 78.5% of all PDP sets (up 10.4 points on the previous month). Meanwhile, the proportion of digital terrestrial sets of all LCD sets fell 4.6 points on the previous month to 24.6%.

02/07/2004
ATR develops indoor antenna for TV reception

Advanced Telecommunications Research International (http://www.atr.co.jp/index_e.html) has announced the successful development of a flat indoor antenna for television use. (Fig.)

The antenna in question has three pieces of conductor film printed onto a flat printed circuit board, with the middle conductor connected to the television receiver. The two conductors on either side are loaded with semiconductor devices (variable capacity diodes), in a system by which voltage is applied to the diodes to change direction (orientation) for maximum receptivity.

By controlling this diode voltage in response to the strength of the signal detected by the TV tuner, fading is avoided completely to automatically maintain good reception, meaning no adjustment to the antenna is required even when there are changes in the surrounding environment. Reception is also maintained without frequent adjustments when switching channels.

In a trial involving 10,000 indoor locations and ISDB-T digital terrestrial broadcasting, ATR found the strength of broadcasting signal required to ensure picture reception 99% or more of the time to be 6dB lower than adjustment-free indoor antennas currently on the market. In other words, reception coverage with the new antenna is four times that of an adjustment-free indoor antenna, assuming the same transmitted power.

Fig. Flat indoor TV antenna and digital terrestrial broadcasting TV

19/05/2004
2004 Domestic shipment of terrestrial digital broadcast receivers

Review of the March/2004 domestic shipment of terrestrial digital broadcast receivers

A total of 116,000 terrestrial digital broadcast receiver units were shipped in March, a 61.9% increase from February. Due to this, the cumulative total for shipments to the end of March was raised to 722,000 units.

For the March figures, terrestrial digital TVs accounted for 11.7% of all color-TV sets, a 0.4% increase from February. By display type, terrestrial digital TVs accounted for 3.9% of CRTs (a 0.9-point drop from February); 68.1% of PDPs (down 1.6 points); and 29.2% of LCDs (up 3.5 points).

The shipment of terrestrial digital TV sets increased favorably in March, as did that of LCDs and PDPs (including terrestrial non-digital types), since March is the final month of the fiscal year, and a time when people frequently relocate for work or school.

25/03/2004
Domestic Shipments of Digital Terrestrial Broadcast Receivers