Tuner module turns TV on to public displays

A high-definition TV-to-LCD module is aimed at the strongly growing market for public displays with TV content, for example at airports, train stations or in shopping centres.

A high-definition TV-to-LCD module, introduced by Kontron at the Electronica fair in Munich, Germany, is aimed at the strongly growing market for public displays with TV content, for example at airports, train stations or in shopping centres.

Because these applications frequently have special requirements in terms of housing, viewing angle, temperature resistance and so on, standard consumer devices cannot be used.

Instead, specially developed TV monitors are used to play advertising videos, for example, along with public programs.

As higher and higher resolutions, such as full HDTV (1929 x 1080 pixels), are being used, high quality control solutions, such as the Kontron TV-to-LCD module, are necessary.

The Kontron TV-to-LCD module is a TV tuner expansion board for the CRT-to-LCD-7 multimedia flat panel controller, the flagship of the new aFlat series from Kontron.

This multifunctional scaler board combination converts signals from sources such as analogue RGB, DVI, and Pal/NTSC video to S-Video or Composite Video, and optional analogue component video (YPbPr) on TFT-compatible signals such as TTL or LVDS.

The signal is scaled to the physical resolution of the panel as needed.

Resolutions up to WUXGA (including full HD) are supported.

The TV tuner module processes analogue Pal/NTSC signals, for example, via a standard cable connection, for use in the industrial or hotel field.

With the help of an integrated stereo amplifier (2 x 14W), loudspeakers can also be attached.

Moreover, a radio tuner is integrated, and an infrared receiver for standard remote controls (RC5 code-compatible) is on the board.

The flat panel controller and TV-to-LCD expansion are connected via a board-to-board feature connector.

CRT-to-LCD-7 modules already in use can be combined with TV-to-LCD after a firmware update.

Motion adaptive deinterlacing, cutting-edge technology from Faroudja, is used to produce an optimised display, especially of rapidly moving images.

The integrated PIP (picture-in-picture) function allows the simultaneous viewing of two image sources.

A screensaver function is also included to help prevent burn-in effects and image sticking in TFTs.

These can occur when the same screen contents are displayed without changes over long periods of time.

Also available is an on-screen display keypad that can be used for adjusting and setting a variety of the convertor board parameters and controlling the TV tuner and amplifier.

The keypad is used to change the settings on-screen and the special properties of the CRT-to-LCD-7 can be controlled.

Alternatively, the OSD configuration can also conveniently take place via a serial interface using a PC running Windows.

As is usual for Kontron, the individual adjustment of the different TV flat panels takes place via special "panel files", which guarantee an optimal display.

Furthermore, individual function adjustments are quick and convenient using the newly developed Kontron Configuration Workbench software tool and a high-performance scripting language.

Besides TV-to-LCD, a pure sound module (Sound-to-LCD) and a board with an additional component input (YPbPr) for HDTV signals, for example, are available from Kontron.

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