MediaTek is perhaps best known for its smartphone chipsets, but the company also designs chips for Chromebooks and other smart devices. And it has a successful line of 5G modem, offering an alternative to Qualcomm and Samsung modems.
Today MediaTek unveiled a fast new 5G modem that promises speeds up to 7.9Gbps. Also, a couple of chipsets for mid-range Chromebooks and one for premium 4K TVs.
MediaTek T800
A follow-up to the T700, the MediTek T800 is a fast, efficient 5G modem. It supports both sub-6GHz and mmWave operation on StandAlone (SA) and Non-StandAlone (NSA) networks. And it can be used in dual-SIM configurations (with dual standby support).
The modem can deliver download speeds of up to 7.9Gbps and upload speeds of up to 4.2Gbps. The T800 fully supports the 4GPP Release-16 specification for 5G along with 4CC carrier aggregation.
The modem is built on a power efficient 4nm node. It natively supports PCIe and USB host interfaces, but can be connected to the rest of the machine through other means as well.
Kompanio T520 and T528
This pair of chips is aimed at Chromebooks and is nearly identical – the T528 just runs at higher clock speeds. Note that these are aimed at more affordable offerings, for premium Chromebooks the company has the likes of the Kompanio 1380.
The T520/T528 use older hardware than the 1380. The octa-core CPU features two Cortex-A76 cores – running at 2.0GHz in the T520 and 2.2GHz in the T528 – along with six A55 cores. For memory, the chip supports LPDDR4X RAM (up to 3,733Mbps) and eMMC 5.1 storage. MediaTek’s Filogic is in charge of Wi-Fi 6 connectivity.
Graphics are handled by a Mali-G52 MC2 2EE GPU, plus a multimedia engine that can decode VP9 and H.265 videos. Additionally, there is support for cameras up to 32MP and a HiFi-5 DSP for low-power microphone audio processing.
The chip support FHD+ on board displays (up to 2,520 x 1,080px at 60Hz) and can drive an external monitor as well (up to 1,920 x 1,080px at 60Hz).
The first Chromebooks powered by the new Kompanio T520 and T528 chips are expected in the first half of 2023.
Pentonic 1000
This chip is aimed at flagship 4K TVs with up to 120Hz displays. It supports Dolby Vision IQ with Precision Detail and can even process multiple Dolby Vision streams in parallel. The chip will allow TVs to show up to 8 video streams simultaneously.
Also, it is built with gaming in mind. It supports Variable Refresh Rate inputs at up to 4K at 144Hz and has Auto Low Latency Mode (a standard defined by HDMI). Additionally, the chip is ready for some game streaming from the cloud with low-latency Wi-Fi 6/6E connectivity built in.
MediaTek’s Pentonic 1000 chipset for flagship 4K TVs
For video streaming the chipset is among the first to support the upcoming H.266, aka VVC. It also handles the usual HEVC, VP9, AVS3, as well as AV1. Dolby Atmos sound can be paired with the Dolby Vision imagery.
The first TVs with the Pentonic 1000 are expected in the first quarter of 2023.
Haslinda has worked with some of the largest telcos in North America and Asia. She loves tech and doesn’t like iPhone
