Mstar chooses ARM's Mali-400 GPU for its smart telly

CHIP VENDOR MStar has picked ARM's Mali-400 MP GPU to power the graphics in its smart television system-on-chip (SoC) designs.

ARM has announced that its Mali-400 GPU has been licensed by MStar for use in smart television SoCs. The Mali-400 GPU is ARM's current high-end graphics chip, which is designed for smartphones and set-top boxes.

MStar designs chips that end up in televisions, including the latest popular, must-have viewing technology, smart televisions. These units allow users to download applications and content to their televisions and, just like in smartphones and tablets, the GPU plays a vital role in not just playing back the content but also generating fancy overlays to entice viewers to part with their cash.

Pete Hutton, GM of ARM's media processing division said, "As consumers demand an improved user experience, one of the challenges will be to provide high quality graphics on all screen sizes." While Hutton might mention screen sizes as a challenge, luckily for MStar televisions have stagnated on the marketer's favourite HD 1080p resolution, so it should mean a Mali-400 GPU has a stationary performance target.

Smart television vendors such as Samsung, Panasonic and LG showed off many designs at this month's CES show in Las Vegas. Maybe 2012 will see a sudden surge in the popularity of smart TVs, perhaps making up for the disappointing sales of 3D televisions over the last three years. µ