Wide-screen HDTV-ready television receivers will be marketed in the United States within the next year, Thomson Consumer Electronics reports.
The new ProScan and RCA receivers, featuring a distinctive wide-screen 16x9 picture, are being developed at Thomson's headquarters facility in Indianapolis, said Joseph P. Clayton, senior vice president of Television-Americas."Our goal is to bring this movie-like experience to American television consumers before the end of 1992," added Clayton.
Designed as HDTV-ready monitors, the new Thomson technology will deliver picture resolution nearly twice what today's NTSC signal delivers to the home.
The receivers, which will feature a large 34-inch screen size, will be capable of providing images in both 16x9 and today's 4x3 picture sizes. Prices for the HDTV-ready sets have not yet been determined.
"However, the retail price will be attractive to that segment of the consumer market that likes to be the first to acquire innovative, new products," Clayton said.
The Thomson Consumer Electronics executive also stressed the company's firm plans to build the new HDTV-ready receivers in the United States at the company's television facility in Bloomington, Ind., the largest TV plant in the world.
Thomson's approach to HDTV reception will allow the introduction of wide-screen, 16x9 programming materials from various sources, Clayton added.
Clayton said, "The growing interest in HDTV - both announced and unannounced - by cable operators, DBS satellite participants and broadcasters, along with the FCC's clear direction, has encouraged Thomson to move forward in a timely manner." With this interest in mind, the new RCA and ProScan wide-screen 16x9 receivers provide for a plug-in HDTV decoder once system standards for HDTV are defined.