The first mobile DTV tuner for the car is expected to be commercially available by Christmas. The $499 device, which was demonstrated by Concept Enterprises and is due in stores by early December, includes an ATSC A/153 receiver chip that enables it to receive signals broadcast from local TV stations using the new industry standard for over-the-air mobile video delivery.
The tuner will work with any after-market or OEM monitor with RCA outputs. It is smaller than a Blackberry phone and requires a 1in roof-mount antenna base with a 6in-long antenna wire.
The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) recently announced the mobile television standard. It allows for over-the-air reception of live, local simulcast TV content in a car or to a portable device.
The free service uses the same digital spectrum as local TV stations for HD programming and can stream programming without ghosting or pixilation to a moving vehicle.
