Oren Semiconductor Inc, a small Silicon Valley chip designer, has developed a chip set that eliminates the ghosting on television pictures, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Ghosting occurs where reception is made difficult because of obstacles such as tall buildings or wet trees, off which the signals can bounce so that a secondary, weak signal is received, out of phase with the proper one. The chip set uses signal processors to distinguish the difference between the main signals sent from television transmitters and the secondary ghost signals. It does this by comparing distorted signals with a standard clear signal developed by Philips Laboratories. A digital filter within the chip then mathematically calculates signals to cancel the unwanted ghost and amplify the main signal. Philips Electronics NV will start shipping a television with the chip set inbuilt early next year, as well as a separate box, for older television, for $130. Oren believes the chip sets will ship as standard with every television sold within the next five to seven years. The company also said a similiar process can be used in future to deal with echoes from digital television transmission. Oren Semiconductor is a joint venture between chipmaker Zoran Corp of Santa Clara, California and the Singapore-based electronics firm The Goldtron Group.
