Altium > Case Studies > TVonics: Differentiating in the Digital TV Market through Altium Designer

TVonics: Differentiating in the Digital TV Market through Altium Designer

Technology Category

Networks & Connectivity - RF Transceivers
Processors & Edge Intelligence - Microcontrollers & Printed Circuit Boards

Applicable Industries

Electrical Grids
Equipment & Machinery

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Use Cases

Time Sensitive Networking
Virtual Prototyping & Product Testing

Services

Hardware Design & Engineering Services
Training

About The Customer

TVonics is a UK-based manufacturer of digital TV set-top boxes. The company was formed in late 2004 and is based in South Wales, UK. It reunites a talented former Sony design team which collectively has more than 60 years of experience in the design and manufacture of digital set-top boxes and televisions for the mass market. The team brings together expertise in semiconductor device design and applications to ensure overall in-depth understanding of the entire system. TVonics has successfully shipped 280,000 units in just three years, carving out a significant share of the UK market for itself. The company makes products for retailers including DSGi, Tesco, Argos, and Marks & Spencer, as well as selling under its own brand.

The Challenge

TVonics, a UK-based manufacturer of digital TV set-top boxes, was looking to differentiate itself in a highly competitive market. The company aimed to offer stylish, sleek, and energy-efficient products, which required strict design criteria at the board level, particularly for form factor and power consumption. The products also needed to offer class-leading signal reception and be designed for cost-effective manufacture. Furthermore, the company set itself challenging development time scales. For instance, the MDR-200 Digital TV Receiver, a significant redesign of an existing product, was expected to go from drawing board to manufacture in just four months. As a startup with a small design team and limited resources, TVonics was in search of a cost-effective design tool that was easy to use and came with good UK support.

The Solution

TVonics opted for Altium Designer, a tool that the design team was already familiar with from their time at Sony. The company now uses Altium Designer in the development of all its products. The PCBs typically have two or four layers and range in size from about six by four inches to the latest 'match box sized' set box which has a PCB of just two-and-a-half by two inches. The software allows the team to reproduce entire sections of the design in other parts of the board, which has specifically helped them achieve very low power consumption. The team was able to copy parts of the design that had already been power-optimized, then edit them as required, saving about two months in development time. The software also offers powerful graphical manipulation and a comprehensive set of design rules that can be easily edited and back-applied to the design.

Operational Impact

The use of Altium Designer has enabled TVonics to meet its ambitious design schedules and differentiate itself in a highly competitive market. The software's features, such as the ability to reproduce entire sections of the design and powerful graphical manipulation, have allowed the team to achieve very low power consumption and adhere to strict design criteria. The team has been able to spend more time on actual PCB design, leading to functional, adaptive, and elegant designs that meet ambitious low-power consumption and form-factor targets. The company has also been able to make good use of the automatic panelisation features and prefabrication checks, saving time with the PCB vendor. The Polygon Manager saves a lot of time at the back-end stage of PCB design, the built-in design rule checker works intelligently, and the cross-probe feature allows for all violations to be quickly identified and fixed.

Quantitative Benefit

TVonics was able to go from drawing board to manufacture in just four months for the MDR-200 Digital TV Receiver.
The use of Altium Designer saved about two months in development time.
TVonics has successfully shipped 280,000 units in just three years.