Zoran and the Thomson Tuner Group announced a digital-to-analog A-74 and ATSC compliant reference design powered by Zoran's SupraHD 640 digital television (DTV) processor and Thomson's ATSC tuner. According to the two companies, the new compact design allows CRT manufacturers to integrate, decode and display DTV feeds, compliant with the A-74 standard set by the ATSC committee, directly into analog television chassis. Due to the level of integration of the components and their price points, the reference design can also be used by STB manufacturers to build converter boxes that enable existing analog television sets to receive digital terrestrial broadcast stations.

The complete reference design is based on Zoran's SupraHD 640 high definition television processor, Zoran's Cascade 2 demodulator, and Thomson's DTT 7602 tuner, which is designed specifically for the U.S. ATSC/NTSC market. The converter box is targeted at the ATSC compliant market for 480i output, and offers best-in-class price/performance with digital decoding, video encoding, scaling and graphics acceleration, said the press release. The design also includes advanced development tools and a royalty free OS.