Tivo TCD748000 Premiere XL DVR Set Top Box Teardown

Overview / Main Features

The TiVo TCD74800 set top under analysis here is the current (fourth generation) DVR sold under the Premiere XL moniker. Overall, the TCD74800 is a TiVo Series4 DVR containing a 1TB hard disk capable of recording up to 150 hours of HD content, support for Multi-Stream (M-Card) conditional access modules for cable providers, new updated UI and internet based video on demand services like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu as well as enhancements over the Premier DVR with THX certified audio and backlit remote control.

The core of the TCD74800 design revolves around the Broadcom BCM7413 HD digital video/audio SoC and the Trident audio / vido decoder supported by 512MB of DDR2-800 SDRAM from Samsung. At the front-end functional area, there are 2 sets of demodulators from Trident for the dual tuners as well as 2 Microtune tuners. (Dual tuners allows the TCD74800 to record up to 2 channels at the same time).

Tivo TCD748000 Premiere XL DVR Set Top Box Main Image

General Consumers (Cable Service Customers)

Released

March 20110

Tivo TCD748000 Premiere XL DVR Set Top Box - Main PCB Top

Pricing - The TiVo Premier XL DVR is offered at either $299 with a one-year service commitment of $19.99 per month or $499 with one-year commitment of $12.95 per month.

Availability - North America (M-Card compatible cable service territories)

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have applied a lifetime production volume of approximately 8M units.

As a reminder, teardown volume production assumptions are primarily used for our cost analysis in terms of amortized NRE and tooling costs, especially for custom components specific to the model being analyzed (mechanical components especially). Unless assumed volumes are different by an order of magnitude, minor changes in volume (say 1 million vs. 2) rarely have a large net effect on our final analysis because of this.

Tivo TCD748000 Premiere XL DVR Set Top Box - Main PCB Bottom

Main Cost Drivers ~78% of Total Materials Cost

Western Digital - WD10EVVS - Hard Drive - 1TB, 3.5', SATA 3Gb/s, 7200RPM, 8MB Buffer

Broadcom - BCM7413ZKFEB01G - HD Digital Video/Audio Solution - SoC, 400MHz Dual-Core CMT MIPS32/16e Processor, HD/SD H.264/AVC/MPEG-2/VC-1/AVS, SD MPEG-4, HD DivX, 64-Bit DDR2-800 DRAM Controller, w/ DVR & 3D Graphics, 65nm

Guang Dong Ellington Electronics Technology Co., LTD - 6-Layer - FR4, Lead-Free

Trident Microsystems - SAA7164CE/3 - Audio/Video Decoder - Dual, w/ Dual IF Demodulators and Dual MPEG Encoders

Acbel Polytech Inc - ST8015 - Power Supply - Input: 100-120VAC, 2.6A, 60Hz, Output: 12V/1.16A, 5.1V/5.6A (42.48W)

Microtune - MT2131F - Tuner - ATSC Terrestrial, Single-Chip, Receives 48 MHz to 1 GHz, w/ Integrated Front-End BP Filtering, Programmable RF AGC, Integrated IF Variable Gain Amplifier, Integrated FDC LP Filter and Buffer Amplifier (Qty:2)

Samsung Semiconductor - K4T1G164QE-HCF7 - SDRAM - DDR2-800, 1Gb, 64Mx16, 1.8V (Qty:2)

Samsung Semiconductor - K4T1G164QE-HCF7 - SDRAM - DDR2-800, 1Gb, 64Mx16, 1.8V (Qty:2)

Enclosure, Main, Bottom - Stamped / Formed Electro-Galvanized Steel, w/ 4 Integral Joints

Enclosure, Main, Top - Stamped / Formed Electro-Galvanized Steel, Painted

Remote Control Unit

Trident Microsystems - DRX3944JA5 - Demodulator - Single Chip, 8-VSB / QAM 64/256 / NTSC / OOB / DQPSK, w/ Integrated Tuner and FM Radio, w/ LO Drive and RF/IF AGC For FDC/OOB Tuner

Intersil - ISL8013AIRZ - Regulator - DC-DC Converter, Step-Down, Synchronous, PWM, 1MHz, 3A (Qty:2)

Trident Microsystems - DRX3946JA5 - Demodulator - Single Chip, 8-VSB / QAM 64/256 / NTSC, w/ Integrated Tuner

Cofan - F-5025L12F - Fan - DC Brushless, 12VDC, 0.1A, 50mm x 50mm x 25mm, w/ Integral 2 Discrete Insulated Wires & 1 2-Position Pin Socket Connector

Cti - HDMI Cable - 6.5ft

Direct Materials + Manufacturing $166.95

Tivo TCD748000 Premiere XL DVR Set Top Box Cost Analysis

What Is Not Included in our Cost Analysis

The total materials and manufacturing costs reported in this analysis reflect ONLY the direct materials cost (from component vendors and assorted EMS providers), AND manufacturing with basic test. Not included in this analysis are costs above and beyond the material manufacture of the core device itself - cost of intellectual property, royalties and licensing fees (those not already included into the per component price), software, software loading and test, shipping, logistics marketing and other channel costs including not only EMS provider and the OEM's margin, but that of other resellers. Our cost analysis is meant to focus on those costs incurred in the manufacture of the core device and exceptionally in some circumstances the packaging and literature as well.

Manufacturing Notes

Country of Origin / Volume Assumptions

Based on device markings, we've based our analysis with the final assembly in Mexico. Furthermore, we have assumed that custom mechanicals (plastics, metals, etc.) were also sourced in Mexico.

Country of origin assumptions relate directly to the associated cost of manufacturing, where calculated by iSuppli. In the cases of 'finished' sub-assemblies (such as Ethernet connectors), we do not calculate internal manufacturing costs, but rather assess the market price of the finished product in which case country of origin assumptions may or may not have a direct effect on pricing.

Remember also that labor rates are applied directly only to hand inserted components and systems in our bill of materials, and although regional assumptions do, these new rates do not have a direct effect on our modeled calculations of placement costs for automated SMD assembly lines. "Auto inserted components (such as SMT components) placement costs are calculated by an iSuppli algorithm which allocates a cost per component based on the size and pincount of the device. This calculation is affected by country or region of origin as well.

Design for Manufacturing / Device Complexity

The Tivo TCD74800 DVR set top has an overall component count of 1523 (excluding box contents), of which 1446 components reside on the Main PCB. In comparison, the past DVR teardowns range from 1250 to 2100 parts.

Component counts have a direct bearing on the overall manufacturing cycle times and costs, and also can increase or decrease overall yields and re-work. Our calculations of manufacturing costs factor counts and more qualitative complexities in the design. The cost of manufacturing is also, to some extent, decreased in this case because of assumed labor rate applied for Mexico.

Note that manual labor has a much smaller effect on auto-insertion assembly lines (for the Main PCB, for example), where manufacturing costs are much more capital equipment intensive and driven by these investment costs.

Design Notes

Here is a summary of the major components used in the TiVo TCD74800 design:

Storage

• Hard Drive - Western Digital - WD10EVVS, 1TB, 3.5', SATA 3Gb/s, 7200RPM, 8MB Buffer

Main PCB

A/V Processing

• HD Digital Video/Audio Solution - Broadcom - BCM7413ZKFEB01G
• Audio/Video Decoder - Trident Microsystems - SAA7164CE/3, Dual, w/ Dual IF Demodulators and Dual MPEG Encoders

Front End

• Demodulator - Trident Microsystems - DRX3944JA5
• Demodulator - Trident Microsystems - DRX3946JA5
• Tuner - Microtune - MT2131F, Qty. 2
• CATV Out-Of-Band Tuner - RF Micro Devices - S510065-55Z

Memory

• SDRAM - Samsung Semiconductor - K4T1G164QE-HCF7, DDR2-800, 1Gb, 64Mx16, 1.8V, Qty. 4
• SDRAM - Winbond - W9425G6EH-5, DDR-400, 256Mb, 16Mx16, 2.5V
• Flash - Micron Technology - JS28F640P30B85, NOR, 64Mb, 85ns

Glue Logic

• CPLD - Altera - EPM3032ATC44-10N, 600 Gates, 32 Macrocells, 34 Max User I/Os, 3.3V, 0.3um Process

I/O & Interface

• HDMI Port Protection and Interface IC - On Semiconductor - CM2030-A0TR

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Tivo TCD748000 Premiere XL DVR Set Top Box - Box Contents