§  15.118   Cable ready consumer electronics equipment.

   (a) All consumer electronics TV receiving equipment marketed in the
   United States as cable ready or cable compatible shall comply with the
   provisions of this section. Consumer electronics TV receiving equipment
   that includes features intended for use with cable service but does not
   fully comply with the provisions of this section are subject to the
   labelling requirements of § 15.19(d). Until such time as generally
   accepted testing standards are developed, paragraphs (c) and (d) of
   this section will apply only to the analog portion of covered consumer
   electronics TV receiving equipment

   (b) Cable ready consumer electronics equipment shall be capable of
   receiving all NTSC or similar video channels on channels 1 through 125
   of the channel allocation plan set forth in CEA-542-B: "CEA Standard:
   Cable Television Channel Identification Plan," (incorporated by
   reference, see § 15.38).

   (c) Cable ready consumer electronics equipment must meet the following
   technical performance requirements. Compliance with these requirements
   shall be determined by performing measurements at the unfiltered IF
   output port. Where appropriate, the Commission will consider allowing
   alternative measurement methods.

   (1) Adjacent channel interference. In the presence of a lower adjacent
   channel CW signal that is 1.5 MHz below the desired visual carrier in
   frequency and 10 dB below the desired visual carrier in amplitude,
   spurious signals within the IF passband shall be attenuated at least 55
   dB below the visual carrier of the desired signal. The desired input
   signal shall be an NTSC visual carrier modulated with a 10 IRE flat
   field with color burst and the aural carrier which is 10 dB below the
   visual carrier should be unmodulated. Measurements are to be performed
   for input signal levels of 0 dBmV and + 15 dBmV, with the receiver
   tuned to ten evenly spaced EIA IS-132 channels covering the band 54 MHz
   to 804 MHz.

   (2) Image channel interference. Image channel interference within the
   IF passband shall be attenuated below the visual carrier of the desired
   channel by at least 60 dB from 54 MHz to 714 MHz and 50 dB from 714 MHz
   to 804 MHz. The 60 dB standard applies at 714 MHz. In testing for
   compliance with this standard, the desired input signal is to be an
   NTSC signal on which the visual carrier is modulated with a 10 IRE flat
   field with color burst and the aural carrier is unmodulated and 10 dB
   below the visual carrier. The undesired test signal shall be a CW
   signal equal in amplitude to the desired visual carrier and located 90
   MHz above the visual carrier frequency of the desired channel.
   Measurements shall be performed for input signals of 0 dBmV and + 15
   dBmV, with the receiver tuned to at least ten evenly spaced EIA IS-132
   channels covering the band 54 MHz to 804 MHz.

   (3) Direct pickup interference. The direct pickup (DPU) of a co-channel
   interfering ambient field by a cable ready device shall not exceed the
   following criteria. The ratio of the desired to undesired signal levels
   at the IF passband on each channel shall be at least 45 dB. The average
   ratio over the six channels shall be at least 50 dB. The desired input
   signal shall be an NTSC signal having a visual carrier level of 0 dBmV.
   The visual carrier is modulated with a 10 IRE flat field with color
   burst, visual to aural carrier ratio of 10 dB, aural carrier
   unmodulated. The equipment under test (EUT) shall be placed on a
   rotatable table that is one meter in height. Any excess length of the
   power cord and other connecting leads shall be coiled on the floor
   under the table. The EUT shall be immersed in a horizontally polarized
   uniform CW field of 100 mV/m at a frequency 2.55 MHz above the visual
   carrier of the EUT tuned channel. Measurements shall be made with the
   EUT tuned to six EIA IS-132 channels, two each in the low VHF, high VHF
   and UHF broadcast bands. On each channel, the levels at the IF passband
   due to the desired and interfering signals are to be measured.

   (4) Tuner overload. Spurious signals within the IF passband shall be
   attenuated at least 55 dB below the visual carrier of the desired
   channel using a comb-like spectrum input with each visual carrier
   signal individually set at + 15 dBmV from 54 to 550 MHz. The desired
   input signal is to be an NTSC signal on which the visual carrier is
   modulated with a 10 IRE flat field with color burst and the aural
   carrier is unmodulated and 10 dB below the visual carrier. Measurements
   shall be made with the receiver tuned to at least seven evenly spaced
   EIA IS-132 channels covering the band 54 MHz to 550 MHz. In addition,
   spurious signals within the IF passband shall be attenuated at least 51
   dB below the visual carrier of the desired channel using a comb
   spectrum input with each signal individually set at + 15 dBmV from 550
   to 804 MHz. Measurements shall be made with the receiver tuned to at
   least three evenly spaced EIA IS-132 channels covering the band 550 MHz
   to 804 MHz.

   (5) Cable input conducted emissions. (i) Conducted spurious emissions
   that appear at the cable input to the device must meet the following
   criteria. The input shall be an NTSC video carrier modulated with a 10
   IRE flat field with color burst at a level of 0 dBmV and with a visual
   to aural ratio of 10 dB. The aural carrier shall be unmodulated. The
   peak level of the spurious signals will be measured using a spectrum
   analyzer connected by a directional coupler to the cable input of the
   equipment under test. Spurious signal levels must not exceed the limits
   in the following table:

   From 54 MHz up to and including 300 MHz-26 dBmV

   From 300 MHz up to and including 450 MHz-20 dBmV

   From 450 MHz up to and including 804 MHz-15 dBmV

   (ii) The average of the measurements on multiple channels from 450 MHz
   up to and including 804 MHz shall be no greater than -20 dBmV.
   Measurements shall be made with the receiver tuned to at least four EIA
   IS-132 channels in each of the above bands. The test channels are to be
   evenly distributed across each of the bands. Measurements for conducted
   emissions caused by sources internal to the device are to be made in a
   shielded room. Measurements for conducted emissions caused by external
   signal sources shall be made in an ambient RF field whose field
   strength is 100 mV/m, following the same test conditions as described
   in paragraph (c)(3) of this section.

   (d) The field strength of radiated emissions from cable ready consumer
   electronics equipment shall not exceed the limits in § 15.109(a) when
   measured in accordance with the applicable procedures specified in
   § § 15.31 and 15.35 for unintentional radiators, with the following
   modifications. During testing the NTSC input signal level is to be + 15
   dBmV, with a visual to aural ratio of 10 dB. The visual carrier is to
   be modulated by a 10 IRE flat field with color burst; the aural carrier
   is to be unmodulated. Measurements are to be taken on six EIA IS-132
   channels evenly spaced across the required RF input range of the
   equipment under test.

   [ 59 FR 25341 , May 16, 1994, as amended at  61 FR 18509 , Apr. 26, 1996;
    65 FR 64391 , Oct. 27, 2000;  68 FR 68546 , Dec. 9, 2003;  69 FR 2849 , Jan.
   21, 2004;  69 FR 57861 , Sept. 28, 2004;  77 FR 4913 , Feb. 1, 2012]