MediaTek today announced its new 4K smart TV chip, the MT9638, with an integrated high-performance AI processing unit (APU). MT9638 supports AI-enhancement technologies such as AI super resolution, AI picture quality and AI voice assistants, plus variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and MEMC (motion estimation and motion compensation) so graphics appear smoother.
With its high performance processing for optimized visual quality, MT9638 gives global TV makers premium features to design competitive 4K smart TVs as per the Chipset maker.
With built-in AI picture quality technology, the chip enables real-time content and scene recognition, automatically adjusting color saturation, brightness, sharpness, dynamic motion compensation and smart noise reduction to improve overall image quality.
MediaTek’s AI super resolution technology, combined with the company’s MEMC technology, intelligently upscales resolution through multi-frame blending to deliver clearer images at the smart TV’s native resolution.
The chip supports the latest connectivity technologies including Wi-Fi 6 for fast, reliable connectivity and HDMI 2.1, which integrates support for VRR to match movies or console gaming frame-rates in order to avoid screen tearing.
The MT9638 also supports applications powered by AI voice recognition and AI-enabled video calls, opening up new ways for consumers to interact with their smart TV and connect with their family and friends.
The chip features a multi-core Arm Cortex-A55 CPU, Arm Mali-G52 GPU and dedicated MediaTek APU integrated into a single chip, delivering superior performance while also being power efficient. It supports up to 4K/60fps resolution support with a multimedia decoding engine for HEVC, VP9 and the latest AV1 content.
There is HDR10+ display support, enabling full array backlight local dimming with >2000 zones along with Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual X surround sound support. With up to four far-field microphones, the chip provides whole room coverage for voice assistants with ultra-low power consumption (0.5W) on standby and fast, one second resume for wake-up words.
MT9638-powered 4K smart TVs are expected to reach the consumer market in Q2 of 2021.