MediaTek launches Pentonic 700 chip for 4K televisions

MediaTek introduced Thursday its Pentonic series of SoCs designed to bring support for a host of new codecs used in advanced smart TV applications. Taiwan-based SoC developer MediaTek produces processing, demod, decoding and other chip solutions for many of the world’s largest smart TV manufacturers.

With AI-powered picture quality enhancements, support for Dolby Vision IQ with Precision Detail, integrated 4K120 MEMC and TCON, and gaming optimizations, the Pentonic 700 lets global TV brands elevate the all-around viewing experience for consumers.

MediaTek Pentonic 700

After MPEG2 came MPEG4 and then HEVC. The next step in advanced video compression from the MPEG working group and ITU is VVC (Versatile Video Coding), also known as H.266. VVC is said to be more effective than AV1 from Amazon, Google, Netflix and others, leading to better video quality at the same bitrate or similar video quality at lower bitrates. AV1 is currently being deployed by Netflix and YouTube but no streaming service have announced plans to deploy VVC at this time.

The Pentonic 700 SoC for mainstream 4K TVs will bring the ability to handle advanced gaming capabilities including support for up to 4K/144Hz high frame rates, Dolby Vision and HDR10+, in addition to bringing decode support for the newer AV1 and VVC codecs developed as efficient alternatives to the standard HEVC.

MediaTek’s announcement said: “The Pentonic 700 is slated to power mainstream 4K smart TVs as part of MediaTek’s broader Pentonic chipset family. With the introduction of this newest chipset, the Pentonic series offers brands a full range of options for premium, high-end and mass market TVs to meet different market needs,” announced MediaTek. “Smart TVs powered by Pentonic 700 are expected to be released in Q4 2022.”

The announcement of the new Pentonic chip family was especially noteworthy as one of the first smart TV chip solutions to decode the Versatile Video Codec (VVC) which is also known as H.266. This is said to be even more efficient at bitrate handling than either HEVC or the recently added AV1 codec from the AOMedia consortium. The Pentonic 700 supports them all in addition to the newer AVS3 codec developed for the Peoples Republic of China.

The picture-by-Picture (PBP) and Picture-in-Picture (PIP) with Picture Quality (PQ) enhancement of this chip enables users to watch multiple live sporting events or video chat with friends and family while watching content on their home devices simultaneously.

Along with the arrival of the VVC to the Pentonic 700, it is also expected support for signals up to 4K and 144 HzHDR10+ Adaptive, Dolby Vision IQ with Precision Detail technology, and even support for WiFi 6, WiFi 6E, and the upcoming WiFi 7. According to the company, 70% of all Smart TVs have a MediaTek chip inside, pushing its technology into TVs from manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Philips and more.