Can I Use That DS TV Tuner Outside Japan? Uh, No.

***wraggster*** · August 24th, 2006, 12:47

Via Kotaku

Earlier this year, Nintendo unveiled a digital TV tuner for the Dual Screen with the wordy name the DS Terrestrial Digital Broadcast Receiver Card. With this add-on, folks will be able to watch digital One-Seg broadcasts, which began in Japan only on April 1, 2006. In a nutshell, it brings the HD TV viewing experience to the DS. Great for Japanese folks, but what about the rest of us? Game site DS-Vault enlightens:

The USA actually has more aggressive plans for the cessation of analog broadcasts; they're shooting for the end of analog broadcasts as early as February 2009. That does not mean, however, that the USA will be introducing One-Seg—in fact, there is no indication that digital broadcasts in America will be anything more than "digital versions" of existing analog broadcasts. Even if the USA were to introduce some sort of standard similar to One-Seg, there is an extremely slim chance that it would be compatible with the DS One-Seg Tuner.
Fingers crossed that Nintendo or some third-party maker will eventually introduce a digital tuner based on American or European standards.

**iball** · August 24th, 2006, 13:21

Are you positive it can't currently be used in Europe?
I know in Germany they are broadcasting digital TV over the air. You can find USB and standalone set-top boxes in any store now, cheap.
What is the EXACT standard used in Japan versus those used in Europe?

**TrevorBoyd** · August 24th, 2006, 16:11

Am I the only one who caught the April 1st thing? Probably a coincidence though, I dont think they do that in Japan.

**Habsuno** · August 24th, 2006, 16:21

So this is fake or what?

**HaloJ** · August 24th, 2006, 20:37

Originally Posted by TrevorBoyd

Am I the only one who caught the April 1st thing?

Obviously so.

Back in February of this year, Nintendo made two important announcements about the future of the Nintendo DS: they would introduce a web browser, and they would introduce a One-Seg TV tuner.