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General discussion

FM tuners with RDS (Radio Data System) Support?

Jan 25, 2005 5:56AM PST

Do any of the Flash MP3 players that are equipped with FM tuners support RDS (Radio Data System)?

Do any of the hard drive MP3 players that are equipped with FM tuners support RDS (Radio Data System)?

Discussion is locked

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what is RDS?
Jan 25, 2005 6:49PM PST

I've never heard of the term, but would like to know what it is ^^.

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RDS is...
Jan 27, 2005 3:43AM PST

RDS is really cool. I have it in my car stereo. It displays the song title/band/radio station info on the screen of my radio. I didn't even know I had it for a year or so until I moved somewhere where some stations broadcast it. Now more and more stations are using it.

To answer the question: I don't really know for sure BUT I'd be shocked if any MP3 players had RDS yet.

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RDS is cool...
Jan 27, 2005 7:26AM PST

I remember seeing RDS on some car stereos. It's really cool. I don't think any mp3 players have it yet. I think that satelite radio that CNET just put up an article about has it.

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MP3 players & FM tuners with RDS Support
Jan 27, 2005 8:47AM PST

I first discovered RDS when we purchased a
Toyota Prius the year it was introduced (2000).
Besides being a great automobile, the RDS
features came as a pleasant surprise.

With RDS, the FM radio (via touch screen
in the case of the Prius) can search for all
stations that support RDS. It then allows
you to sort them by type such as Rock, Country,
Classical, Information (e.g., National Public
Radio), Religious, etc. This is real handy
when we travel as it allows us to quickly find
the station types we prefer. More importantly,
it allows us to filter out those stations we
would prefer to avoid.

In addition to their frequency, RDS stations
will also display their call letters. Some RDS
stations will also display their slogan (e.g.,
Rock 101) and yet others will also display the
song title and name(s) of the artist(s).

As you browse through station types page by
page, all of the locations where you would
normally see all of your station presets, you
now can see all of the RDS stations of that
type ready to go. It is difficult for me to
describe how this works but then end result
is that you need not blow away your local
station presets when you travel in order
to get the same, or better, functionality.

All in all, it's very slick.

Now that you mention it, I am puzzled why
MP3 player manufacturers that already offer
digital displays for presenting this same
information (artist, track name, etc.) would
not include RDS with their models sporting
FM tuners. In fact, it would make them look
very similar to satellite radios in this
respect.