What is an ATSC Tuner?

Question: What is an ATSC Tuner?

Answer: An ATSC tuner or HDTV tuner, allows reception of digital television (DTV) signals broadcast over-the-air by TV stations in the U.S. These tuners are integrated into Televisions, VCRs, Digital Video Recorders, and Cable/Satellite set-top boxes. Currently in the U.S., DVD Recorders are required to include a digital ATSC tuner if it has a tuner. In fact, effective March 1, 2007 all televisions regardless of screen size, and all devices which include a tuner (VCR, DVD player/recorder, DVR) must include a built-in ATSC DTV tuner. Because the United States is moving from an all analog (NTSC) broadcasting system to an all digital (ATSC) broadcasting system, consumers will be required to use devices that include an ATSC tuner to receive over-the-air digital broadcasts, or use a digital to analog converter box. Consumers that receive their television from Cable or Satellite providers will be able to view digital TV from the set-top receivers or DVRs supplied by the provider. ATSC tuners are also found in many TV Tuners built for use with computers. These ATSC TV Tuners are either internal PCI or PCI-E cards, or external Tuners that attach via USB.