Huge news today regarding mt6595. mediatek is raring to bust into 2014 in big style with mtk6595.
A few weeks ago the rumor was that MT6595 would basically be MT6592, but with MT6290 4g/lte modem. Get ready for a big switcharoo. Official news from MediaTek is that MTK6595 will actually contain ARM Cortex-A17. Also reportedly on the plate is a switch from Mali-450 MP4, back to Imagination Technologies, with their PowerVR Series6.
“Congratulations to MediaTek on being in a leading position to implement the new ARM Cortex-A17 processor in mobile device”, said Noel Hurley, Vice President and Deputy General Manager, ARM Product Division. “MediaTek has a keen understanding of the smartphone market and continues to identify innovative ways to bring a premium mobile experience to the masses.”
CPU:
Depending on your uses and location, the biggest news here may be the move to ARM Cortex-A17. The Cortex-A17 fills the void left by Cortex-A9 states Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.
Cortex-A15 was a bit disappointing in the power usage department, so they’re looking towards something new. As well, ARM states that Cortex-A17 will be 60% faster and more power efficient than the aging Cortex-A9 architecture.
ARM has already introduced 64-bit architecture to it’s mobile CPUs with Cortex-A57 and A53, but these are mainly for very high-end devices. The ARM Cortex-A17 is 32-bit and mainly aimed at the mid-range ($200-300) market.
The MTK6595 will be octa-core (8-core) and make use of big.LITTLE architecture working Cortex-17 hand-in-hand with Cortex-A7.
GPU:
This is an interesting change, as MediaTek just switched over to Mali GPUs. Now it appears they’ll be switching back to PowerVR. This is Imagination Technologies newest ‘next-generation’ GPU.
“With a growing range of cores optimised for either area (maximizing GFLOPS/mm2) or performance (maximizing GFLOPS/mW), PowerVR Series6 GPUs can deliver 20x or more of the performance of previous GPU cores targeting comparable markets. This is enabled by an architecture that is around 5x more efficient than previous generations.”
“The PowerVR Series6 family delivers a significant portfolio of new technologies and features, including: an advanced scalable compute cluster architecture; high efficiency compression technology including lossless image and parameter compression and the widely respected PVRTC™ texture compression; an enhanced scheduling architecture; dedicated housekeeping processors; and a next generation Tile Based Deferred Rendering architecture.”
“All members of the Series6 family support all features of the latest graphics APIs including OpenGL ES 3.0, OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenGL 3.x/4.x, OpenCL 1.x (*) and DirectX10 with certain family members extending their capabilities to full WHQL-compliant DirectX11.1 functionality.”
This last bit is very interesting. We’re not sure which GPU core they’ll go with. As of the time of this article, there are four different core types – G6200, G6400, G6230 and G6430. Even if going with the lowest end PowerVR Series6, the new generation of MediaTek SoC will have full support for DirectX10.
Camera Resolution:
A big jump from 13mp up to 20mp is planned for MTK6595. Though we’ve touted often that MP means virtually nothing in terms of quality, it’s still a big part of camera and smartphone sales. Being able to show hardware support for 20mp pictures will have the layman drooling and should give a nice boost to MediaTek’s rep.
LCD Resolution:
Another leap in regards to resolution support. The MTK6595 will officially support UHD (Ultra-High Definition) WQXGA 2560×1600. Though for many smartphone users this is a non-issue as MTK6592 supports 1080p which is plenty in terms of clarity for 6.5″ LCDs and below, tablets and 7″ smartphones will benefit from the additional official support of WQXGA.
Modem Specifications:
- MT6290 LTE Release 9 Category 4 modem up to 50Mb*s upload/150Mb*s download
- FDD-LTE and TD-LTE, DCDC-HSPA + (42Mbits / s), TD-SCDMA, EDGE and GSM / GPRS support
- MediaTek RF chip, supports more than 30 bands
From the sound of things, it looks like the RF chip will come standard with international support for LTE and WCDMA. This is gigantic news for Americans who have been waiting for China phones to carry the American frequencies. It appears now that we won’t just be getting 1900WCDMA, but the entire gambit of WCDMA and LTE frequencies standard. We’re still a bit of a way from actually receiving a production unit, so we’ll take the news with some salt and remain skeptical, but our hopes are high. Qualcomm has had the RF360 for over a year now and it’s time MediaTek started to look beyond their own frequencies.
Other Features:
- Hardware HEVC (High Resolution codec H.265) support
- Hardware support for ultra-high definition (4K2K) video playback and recording
- Hardware support for 24 192 kHz Hi-Fi quality audio codec
- MediaTek ClearMotion intelligent video technology which can auto convert 15/24/30fps to 60fps video playback
- MiraVision support
- Support for 802.11ac WiFi
- GPS support includes GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo and QZSS global satellite navigation (GNSS)
- Support for low-power Bluetooth (Bluetooth LE) and ANT + (for ultra-low power connectivity with fitness tracking devices)
The scheduled release for units with MT6595 is inside first half 2014. That is, before Q3 2014.
The push to LTE and possibly supporting worldwide LTE and WCDMA frequencies, along with PowerVR Series6 GPU is the big boost here for MediaTek. Gizbeat has been looking forward to the day for a long while when there will be near zero concern regarding whether or not the phone will support frequencies worldwide. If it turns out, it will mean MediaTek has fully entered the modern world and can be a legitimate contender for the likes of Exynos and Qualcomm.
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