4K TVs powered by the Pentonic 1000 will be available in 2023, says MediaTek. The new SoC features 4K 120Hz and 144Hz, WiFi 6E, Dolby Vision IQ with Precision Detail, and VVC decoding.

Apple just launched the fastest SoC in a TV device and MediaTek has answered by announcing the Pentonic 1000 designed for 4K TVs including Android TVs.

MediaTek SoCs are used in TVs from brands such as Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Philips and Xiaomi, and in streaming players from Amazon and Roku. You can see which SoC is used in a given TV model in FlatpanelsHD's TV Database.

- "We designed the MediaTek Pentonic 1000 specifically to accommodate today's smart TV trends, including 4K streaming, cloud gaming, video conferencing and watch parties," said Alex Chen, GM of the TV Business Unit at MediaTek. "With support for 4K HDR content, 120Hz frame rates, MEMC, AI enhancements, Wi-Fi 6/6E connectivity and cutting-edge codecs like VVC, Pentonic 1000 will deliver the ultimate 4K viewing experience."


With four HDMI 2.1 ports
Pentonic 1000 is designed for high-end 4K TVs with a 120Hz or 144Hz panel. It has a multi-core CPU, dual-core GPU, and a dedicated AI processing unit (APU). It also supports four HDMI 2.1 ports rather than the two HDMI 2.1 ports in its older SoC meaning that we can except 4K Android TVs with four HDMI 2.1 ports soon.

- "Smart TVs powered by the Pentonic 1000 will be available in the market by Q1 2023," said MediaTek.

In addition, it has hardware decoding for the latest video formats including HEVC, AV1 and VVC (H.266).

MediaTek previously announced a Pentonic 2000 SoC for 8K TVs which it claims is the first 7nm SoC for TVs. This is technically correct if isolated to actual TV screens but Apple TV 4K (2021) has been equipped with a 7nm chip since April 2021 while Apple TV 4K (2022) has a 5nm chip. There is also a Pentonic 700 SoC for mainstream 4K TVs.

MediaTek Pentonic 1000 – specifications
Processors
CPU Type
Arm Cortex-A73

CPU Cores
Quad (4)
Max CPU Frequency
2.0GHz

Memory
64-bit LPDDR4/4X @ 4266Mbps

GPU Type
Arm Mali-G57 MC2
Max GPU Frequency
800MHz

Display
Max Display Resolution
3840 x 2160 (4K) @ 120Hz / 144Hz VRR
ME/MC
3840 x 2160 (4K) @ 120Hz

HDR Standards
- Dolby Vision IQ with Precision Detail
- BBC HLG
- HDR10 (SMPTE2084)
- Technicolor/Philips JHDR (ESTI TS 103 433)
- HDR10+

Video Decoding
- VVC (H.266)
- HEVC (H.265) 
- AV1
- AVS3

Demod
Embedded, Full-Region Demodulators
- DVB-T/C/T2/S/S2/S2X
- ATSC
- ISDB-T
- DTMB

Audio
Audio Decoding
- Dolby Atmos (2.6)
- DTS Master HD
- DTS Virtual X
- MPEG-H Audio

Microphone
Yes

AI
Integrated AI Processor
MediaTek DLA
AI-Display
- AI-Super Resolution 2.0 with detail reconstruction
- AI-Picture Quality Scene Recognition 2.0
- AI-Picture Quality Object Recognition 3.0 with depth and richer PQ enhancement

Interfaces & Expansion
External Interfaces
- HDMI 2.1 x4
- USB 3.2 Gen-1 (5Gbps) x2
- USB 2.0
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