Goto Section: 15.115 | 15.118 | Table of Contents
FCC 15.117
Revised as of October 2, 2015
Goto Year:2014 |
2016
§ 15.117 TV broadcast receivers.
(a) All TV broadcast receivers shipped in interstate commerce or imported
into the United States, for sale or resale to the public, shall comply with
the provisions of this section, except that paragraphs (f) and (g) of this
section shall not apply to the features of such sets that provide for
reception of digital television signals. The reference in this section to TV
broadcast receivers also includes devices, such as TV interface devices and
set-top devices that are intended to provide audio-video signals to a video
monitor, that incorporate the tuner portion of a TV broadcast receiver and
that are equipped with an antenna or antenna terminals that can be used for
off-the-air reception of TV broadcast signals, as authorized under part 73
of this chapter.
(b) TV broadcast receivers shall be capable of adequately receiving all
channels allocated by the Commission to the television broadcast service.
(c) On a given receiver, use of the UHF and VHF tuning systems shall provide
approximately the same degree of tuning accuracy with approximately the same
expenditure of time and effort: Provided, however, That this requirement
will be considered to be met if the need for routine fine tuning is
eliminated on UHF channels.
(1) Basic tuning mechanism. If a TV broadcast receiver is equipped to
provide for repeated access to VHF television channels at discrete tuning
positions, that receiver shall be equipped to provide for repeated access to
a minimum of six UHF television channels at discrete tuning positions.
Unless a discrete tuning position is provided for each channel allocated to
UHF television, each position shall be readily adjustable to a particular
UHF channel by the user without the use of tools. If 12 or fewer discrete
tuning positions are provided, each position shall be adjustable to receive
any channel allocated to UHF television.
Note: The combination of detented rotary switch and pushbutton controls is
acceptable, provided UHF channels, after their initial selection, can be
accurately tuned with an expenditure of time and effort approximately the
same as that used in accurately tuning VHF channels. A UHF tuning system
comprising five pushbuttons and a separate manual tuning knob is considered
to provide repeated access to six channels at discrete tuning positions. A
one-knob (VHF/UHF) tuning system providing repeated access to 11 or more
discrete tuning positions is also acceptable, provided each of the tuning
positions is readily adjustable, without the use of tools, to receive any
UHF channel.
(2) Tuning controls and channel readout. UHF tuning controls and channel
readout on a given receiver shall be comparable in size, location,
accessibility and legibility to VHF controls and readout on that receiver.
Note: Differences between UHF and VHF channel readout that follow directly
from the larger number of UHF television channels available are acceptable
if it is clear that a good faith effort to comply with the provisions of
this section has been made.
(d) If equipment and controls that tend to simplify, expedite or perfect the
reception of television signals (e.g., AFC, visual aids, remote control, or
signal seeking capability referred to generally as tuning aids) are
incorporated into the VHF portion of a TV broadcast receiver, tuning aids of
the same type and comparable capability and quality shall be provided for
the UHF portion of that receiver.
(e) If a television receiver has an antenna affixed to the VHF antenna
terminals, it must have an antenna designed for and capable of receiving all
UHF television channels affixed to the UHF antenna terminals. If a VHF
antenna is provided with but not affixed to a receiver, a UHF antenna shall
be provided with the receiver.
(f) The picture sensitivity of a TV broadcast receiver averaged for all
channels between 14 and 69 inclusive shall not be more than 8dB larger than
the peak picture sensitivity of that receiver averaged for all channels
between 2 and 13 inclusive.
(g) The noise figure for any television channel 14 to 69 inclusive shall not
exceed 14 dB. A TV receiver model is considered to comply with this noise
figure if the maximum noise figure for channels 14-69 inclusive of 97.5% of
all receivers within that model does not exceed 14 dB.
(1) The responsible party shall measure the noise figure of a number of UHF
channels of the test sample to give reasonable assurance that the UHF noise
figure for each channel complies with the above limit.
(2) The responsible party shall insert in his files a statement explaining
the basis on which it will rely to ensure that at least 97.5% of all
production units of the test sample that are manufactured have a noise
figure of no greater than 14 dB.
(3) [Reserved]
(4) In the case of a TV tuner built-in as part of a video tape recorder that
uses a power splitter between the antenna terminals of the video tape
recorder and the input terminals of the TV tuner or a TV broadcast receiver
that uses a power splitter between the antenna terminals of two or more UHF
tuners contained within that receiver, 4 dB may be subtracted from the noise
figure measured at the antenna terminals of the video tape recorder or TV
broadcast receiver for determining compliance of the UHF tuner(s) with the
14 dB noise figure limit.
(h) Digital television reception capability. TV broadcast receivers are
required only to provide useable picture and sound commensurate with their
video and audio capabilities when receiving digital television signals.
(i) Digital television reception requirement. (1) Responsible parties, as
defined in § 2.909 of this chapter, are required to equip with DTV tuners new
TV broadcast receivers that are shipped in interstate commerce or imported
from any foreign country into the United States and for which they are
responsible to comply with the provisions of this section. For purposes of
this section, the term “TV broadcast receivers” includes other video devices
(videocassette recorders (VCRs), digital video recorders such as hard drive
and DVD recorders, etc.) that receive television signals.
(2) The requirement to include digital television reception capability in
new TV broadcast receivers does not apply to devices such as mobile
telephones and personal digital assistants where such devices do not include
the capability to receive TV service on the frequencies allocated for
broadcast television service.
(j) For a TV broadcast receiver equipped with a cable input selector switch,
the selector switch shall provide, in any of its set positions, isolation
between the antenna and cable input terminals of at least 80 dB from 54 MHz
to 216 MHz, at least 60 dB from 216 MHz to 550 MHz and at least 55 dB from
550 MHz to 806 MHz. The 80 dB standard applies at 216 MHz and the 60 dB
standard applies at 550 MHz. In the case of a selector switch requiring a
power source, the required isolation shall be maintained in the event the
device is not connected to a power source or power is interrupted. An actual
switch that can alternate between reception of cable television service and
an antenna is not required for a TV broadcast receiver, provided compliance
with the isolation requirement specified in this paragraph can be
demonstrated and the circuitry following the antenna input terminal(s) has
sufficient band-width to allow the reception of all TV broadcast channels
authorized under this chapter.
(k) The following requirements apply to all responsible parties, as defined
in § 2.909 of this chapter, and any person that displays or offers for sale
or rent television receiving equipment that is not capable of receiving,
decoding and tuning digital signals.
(1) Such parties and persons shall place conspicuously and in close
proximity to such television broadcast receivers a sign containing, in clear
and conspicuous print, the Consumer Alert disclosure text required by
paragraph (k)(3) of this section. The text should be in a size of type large
enough to be clear, conspicuous and readily legible, consistent with the
dimensions of the equipment and the label. The information may be printed on
a transparent material and affixed to the screen, if the receiver includes a
display, in a manner that is removable by the consumer and does not obscure
the picture, or, if the receiver does not include a display, in a prominent
location on the device, such as on the top or front of the device, when
displayed for sale, or the information in this format may be displayed
separately immediately adjacent to each television broadcast receiver
offered for sale and clearly associated with the analog-only model to which
it pertains.
(2) If such parties and persons display or offer for sale or rent such
television broadcast receivers via direct mail, catalog, or electronic
means, they shall prominently display in close proximity to the images or
descriptions of such television broadcast receivers, in clear and
conspicuous print, the Consumer Alert disclosure text required by paragraph
(k)(3) of this section. The text should be in a size large enough to be
clear, conspicuous, and readily legible, consistent with the dimensions of
the advertisement or description.
(3) Consumer alert. This television receiver has only an analog broadcast
tuner and will require a converter box after February 17, 2009, to receive
over-the-air broadcasts with an antenna because of the Nation's transition
to digital broadcasting. Analog-only TVs should continue to work as before
with cable and satellite TV services, gaming consoles, VCRs, DVD players,
and similar products. For more information, call the Federal Communications
Commission at 1-888-225-5322 (TTY: 1-888-835-5322) or visit the Commission's
digital television Web site at: http://www.dtv.gov.
[ 54 FR 17714 , Apr. 25, 1993, as amended at 59 FR 25341 , May 16, 1994; 61 FR 30532 , June 17, 1996; 67 FR 63294 , Oct. 11, 2002; 70 FR 38804 , July 6, 2005;
70 FR 75743 , Dec. 21, 2005; 72 FR 26560 , May 10, 2007; 73 FR 5681 , Jan. 30,
2008; 77 FR 4913 , Feb. 1, 2012]
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Goto Section: 15.115 | 15.118
Goto Year: 2014 |
2016
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