Patent ID: 7715506

Claim:
A broadcast signal receiver comprising: a low noise amplifier for receiving a RF signal and selectively amplifying the received RF signal; a tuner for tuning the RF signal selectively amplified by the low noise amplifier; a signal analyzer for demodulating a signal output from the tuner and calculating a signal-to-noise ratio of the demodulated signal; and a controller for determining a strength of the signal output from the tuner, and controlling a selective amplifying operation of the low noise amplifier on the basis of the determined signal strength and the signal-to-noise ratio; wherein the tuner comprises an automatic gain controller for comparing the signal output from the tuner with a predetermined critical level and generating an automatic gain control signal based on the compared result; wherein the controller compares the automatic gain control signal and the signal-to-noise ratio with respective reference levels, and turns on the low noise amplifier when the automatic gain control signal is lower than its reference level and the signal-to-noise ratio is higher than its reference level.