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What tuner is better - Silicon or Aluminum?

I plan to purchase the Zinwell ZAT-950A or Zinwell ZAT-970A DTV converter. This is the same as their original ZAT-970 except the "A" is for analog passthru.

They're identical, except for this: (copied from advertisment)

"The difference between the ZAT970A and the ZAT950A is the 950 has a Silicon tuner, and the 970 has a Aluminum or can tuner. Tuner preference varies by user."

Great, but I have no clue what preference I have because I know nothing about them. (And I know much more about electronics than the average guy).

What is better? How does each work? Why is there a difference anyhow?

Before I order, I'd like to know this.

(From what I heard, the 950A is the newer one, even though the number is lower).

Thanks

Reply to
letterman
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I can only imagine that they mean that one has a conventional stand-alone tuner module, which is fabricated in the normal way, using surface mount components on a pcb, all jammed into the traditional ally can, and then grafted into the rest of the unit, and the other uses the later tuner type where everything is done on basically one IC. These are often known as ZIF or zero IF tuners, and commonly appear in sat receivers and the like. As the whole thing is nothing but an IC with a few general support components, I suppose that may be grounds for referring to it as a "silicon" tuner ...

see for instance

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Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

The silicon tuner should be better.

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Can tuner
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Their basic function is to receive and demodulate DTV signals.

The march of technology results in higher integration of functions.

Reply to
Andy

Looking at the links that Andy has put up, it does appear to be exactly as I said, and I would therefore agree with him that the 'silicon tuner' ie chip-based product will provide the superior functionality / performance.

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

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