Matsushita Electric Co Ltd’s Panasonic division has teamed up with Compaq Computer Corp to develop the first digital television tuner-decoder for PCs to become available. High definition digital TV broadcasts may be hard to find at the moment, but some services did begin on November 1. The two-card device will enable computers to receive, decode and display digital TV signals on the screen of a PC. It’s compatible with all of the approved Advanced Television Standards Committee digital broadcast formats, plus the existing NTSC analog format. The device will be on show at Comdex in Las Vegas in a few weeks time. Because a consumer market doesn’t yet exist, Panasonic plans to market the device on an OEM basis to manufacturers, broadcasters, content creation studios, content developers and others with a stake in the developing DTV market. Sample are due by year end, with production in the early spring of next year.
