
LG Electronics announced on April 10 that it has developed the world’s first TV reception chip (model name LG3307) which enables streaming ultra HD contents without a separate set-top box.
The breakthrough comes as LG is playing a leading role in ROUTE (Real⁃Time Object Delivery over Unidirectional Transport), the key to ATSC 3.0, the next-generation digital terrestrial broadcasting standard developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). Therefore, LG’s successful development of the world’s first UHD TV reception chip has taken LG a step closer to the commercialization of the next-generation digital UHD terrestrial broadcasting, according to the South Korean tech giant.
People can watch UHD programs broadcast over terrestrial TV channels without installing a set-top box as long as their TVs are equipped with the chip. The chip supports South Korea’s terrestrial TV standards, as well as QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), a globally accepted, digital transmission standard widely used in cable TV.
When terrestrial UHD TV commercial services using ATSC 3.0 become available, the LG chip will allow viewers to use a variety of new services (e.g. the Emergency Alert System (EAS)) even if their TVs are not connected to the Internet.