Dual DTV tuners can be useful. If sufficient antenna separation is possible, they can be used to provide diversity reception or used independently to record one channel while watching another. Micronas recently introduced a new dual DVB-T tuner ExpressCard 54 reference design for notebook PCs. The MicMamba-2D-XC design can combine the signals from both tuners using patented "Maximum Ratio Combining" technology licensed from Rohde and Schwarz.
Kai Scheffer, director, Media Home at Micronas, said, "The antenna diversity feature of the Micronas a href="http://www.micronas.com/products/by_function/drx_397yd/product_information/index.html" target="_blank">DRX 3976D dramatically improves indoor and mobile reception, regardless of where the notebook is placed."
He said that the dual tuner approach provided users with the best of both worlds. While traveling it provides maximum reception quality and at home the technology allows the notebook PC to become a full home theater system, with full watch-and-record capability.
ExpressCard is the next generation PCMCIA card. It offers faster performance in a smaller package. The MicMamba 2D-XC design uses a low-differential PCI Express signaling voltage, and operated at a frequency much above that of DVB-T signals -- 2.5 GHz. This minimizes interference into the tuner. PCI, which operates single-ended at 33 MHz, and USB 2.0, which operates at 480 MHz, are more likely to interfere with TV reception. The MicMamba 2D-XC meets CENELEC standards for spurious radiation.
The MicMamba 2D-XC uses a MT2060 digital TV tuner from Microtune.
