Image compression DTV SoC is based on Imagination Technologies’ GPU
The B-series BXE-4-32 GPU, with IMGIC image compression technology has been integrated into Realtek’s latest SoC, the RTD2885N and is currently shipping into digital TVs.
IMGIC is the latest version of Imagination’s lossless, frame buffer compression technology. It offers multiple quality levels of real-time image compression without increasing silicon area, said Imagination. This enables DTV platforms with a BXE-4-32 GPU to configure and optimise image quality and significantly reduce system bandwidth, explained the company.
Frame buffer compression aims to reduce the bandwidth and power consumption generated by reading and writing render targets to and from system memory in digital TV systems. IMGIC includes a variable lossless compression mode ensuring quality remains perfect, with a typical reduction of 50 per cent, reported Imagination.
The BXE-4-32 offers up to 25 per cent area saving compared to the previous generation of Imagination cores, and now has up to 2.5 times the fill rate density compared to other solutions, said the company. The GPU offers an area-efficient performance of four pixels per clock. The B-Series multi-core capable architecture includes features such as cache configurability.
Imagination added that BXE unlocks higher resolution capability, lower silicon cost and reduced bandwidth requirements.
Maxwell Lin, director of sales, Taiwan, Imagination, commented: “The IMG BXE GPU combined with our IMGIC compression technology . . . provides manufacturers with the flexibility to design highly competitive efficiency or performance-focused products.”
Yee-Wei Huang, vice president and spokesman for Realtek, said: “IMG BXE IP offers the flexibility to balance efficiency and performance very well in our design, enabling us to power 4K TVs with HDR and immersive user interfaces”.
Imagination Technologies is a UK-based company that creates silicon and software IP (intellectual property). The company claims its GPU, CPU and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies enable outstanding power, performance, and area (PPA), fast time-to-market and lower total cost of ownership. Products based on Imagination IP are used by billions of people across the globe in smartphones, cars, homes, and workplaces.
