Any use for a MTS stereo decoder in 2021?
 

I found an old Recoton MTS TV Stereo Decoder box at a thrift store for two dollars and decided to get it on a whim. It's got buttons for DNR (presumably Dolby noise reduction), "Synth", "Spatial", and Stereo on the front, a DNR adjustment dial, and on the back there's inputs for "MPX IN", "PROBE IN", a switch to choose between MPX and Probe In, and two sets of stereo outputs. Model number is V622.

I don't even know what MTS is, but I think I have some AV gear that could use it.

MTS is the standard for Stereo audio used in analog NTSC TV signals.

The tiny Sysco cable boxes spectrum issues here output MTS stereo over their RF output so if you had a mono TV hooked to one and wanted to convert it to stereo that box would let you. There are other devices that create MTS stereo RF too.

I think it went away with the digital conversion save for some OTA low-power stations that may or may not have it.

Unless DNR has a Dolby trademark visible, it is not Dolby.

It could be this:
https://www.petervis.com/electronics...reduction.html

MTS standard noise reduction was developed by dbx
https://www.broadcaststore.com/pdf/m...20-%205382.pdf

Receiver manufacturers were pissed at the exorbitant dbx licensing fees, but legal negotiations failed to get them reduced, so the major makers eventually paid them. Some companies avoided the license fees by simply eliminating the dbx circuit, but that meant that stereo separation suffered due to imbalance between the L+R and L-R signals, depending on the sound level.

Patent law says that the patent owner can absolutely deny the use of the patented technology to those who don't pay royalties, but standards bodies require any technology written into the standard to be licensed in a "fair and reasonable" manner. That word "reasonable" results in an opening for legal wrangling to determine what price is "reasonable."

Useless, they were meant for the very few sets that had a "stereo ready" jack. If the set didn't, the probe was a mic that went in front of the TV speaker...not sure how well that worked.

Thomson got hit with a class action for their Stereo XS system that lacked the decoder.

Oh yeah, there is a dbx logo on the front of the unit so I guess it makes sense that there would be some kind of dbx connection.

"MTS" = Multichannel Television Sound

Obsolete along with analog NTSC broadcast TV unless you have an MTS stereo Encoder built into an RF modulator.

If MTS is now obsolete, how is stereo TV sound (not to mention subcarrier audio) reproduced? All digital flat-screen TVs, after all, have stereo sound systems, with the capability to connect the set's audio to an external sound system, usually by means of the headphone jack; simply run a cable from that jack to the system's auxiliary inputs. I have my own 32" Insignia flat screen TV hooked up to my 50-wpc Aiwa bookshelf stereo system this way; it works great, except I have to run the TV's volume level up fairly high to get enough volume to hear it well.

MTS was the Zenith and dbx transmission encoding method used from about 1984 until analog TV broadcasting ceased to exist. That's what they called it.

Dolby Digital is used today for TV broadcasts.

I had one of the Recotron decoders/receivers in the day. It relied on a small paddle/antenna that went under the BPC set as near to the audio section as you could guess. It picked up (I think) the audio IF under the cans and passed by the paddle and pulled that to the Recotron for it's stereo output. Correct me if needed.

I have one of those here somewhere.. Similar then the rat shack TV-100 but the TV-100 has a built in TV tuner and amplifier which I have here..

Pop the cover off and see if it has a AN6291 chip in it..