LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill., March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitsubishi Digital
 Electronics America, Inc. and Sharp Corporation have signed license agreements
 for Zenith Electronics Corporation's digital television (DTV) reception
 technology, the companies announced today.  Terms were not disclosed.
     Under the agreements, Sharp and Mitsubishi become the latest in a growing
 list of companies to license Zenith's "8-VSB" (eight-level Vestigial Side
 Band) DTV technology.  Zenith developed the 8-VSB digital transmission system
 at the heart of the ATSC DTV Standard adopted by the Federal Communications
 Commission.  The company holds numerous patents essential to the operation of
 over-the-air digital television receivers compliant with the ATSC DTV
 Standard.
     New FCC regulations that took effect last summer will require DTV tuners
 with 8-VSB demodulators in virtually all TVs sold over the next three years.
 The phased-in "FCC DTV Tuner Mandate" started on July 1, 2004, requiring 8-VSB
 tuners in 50 percent of 36-inch and larger sets sold in the United States.
 Effective July 1, 2005, 100 percent of 36-inch and larger sets, and 50 percent
 of 25- to 35-inch sets, sold in the United States will be required to
 incorporate 8-VSB demodulators.  The rule will apply to all TVs 13-inches and
 larger in 2007.
     Zenith Electronics Corporation, founded in 1918, is a long-time leader in
 digital television technologies.  Zenith's Emmy award winning technologies
 include digital HDTV, flat-screen CRTs, stereo television and TV remote
 controls.  Zenith has been a wholly owned subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc.
 since 1999.  Visit us on the World Wide Web at http://www.zenith.com .
 
 

SOURCE  Zenith Electronics Corporation