Renesas's 1080p-decoding processor coming soon to a cell phone near you

by Tim Stevens posted May 5th 2009 at 6:59AM

Plenty of modern cell phones have HD-quality screens on them, but few can manage any sort of high-definition video content at a respectable frame rate. That's set to change with the release of the Renesas SH7370, a chip we first got wind of back in December with its promise to offer 1080p video at 30fps in a package small (and efficient) enough to be included in a handset. The first units are now shipping to manufacturers, and while the size has increased (it's about 1cm square vs. the 6.4 x 6.5mm package previously discussed) it's still impressively small given its functionality: 1080p H.264 video decoding and encoding along with on-chip Dolby Digital 5.1-channel output. Overkill? Maybe for now, but you might change your mind when the first head-mountable satellite speakers with subwoofer seat cushions hit retail.

Filed under: Misc, Others

Tags: 1080p, 1080p cellphone, 1080pCellphone, application processor, ApplicationProcessor, full hd, FullHd, handset, mobile, mobile processor, MobileProcessor, processor, renesas, renesas sh-mobilehd1, renesas sh7370, RenesasSh-mobilehd1, RenesasSh7370, sh-mobilehd1, sh7370

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Jason @ May 5th 2009 8:28AM

It looks like those chips are about 11 mm square.

Neutral

TLoganK @ May 5th 2009 9:22AM

Geez, I would be satisfied if I could just get my Netbook to play HD video. Can we put this chip in netbooks too please? Thanks.

Neutral

anaknipedro @ May 5th 2009 10:54AM

Looks Like it's headed for the iPhone

Neutral

Skirge01 @ May 5th 2009 11:27AM

Just one question: WHY?!?!

HD-quality? What cell phone has a resolution of 1280x720, let alone 1920x1080?!?! Did I miss a product release? Good old "marketing speak"...

Neutral

Gekke Henkie @ May 5th 2009 2:33PM

You're right. I didn't quite get the comment "Plenty of modern cell phones have HD-quality screens on them" either. AFAIK, the smallest HD screen (and with that I mean full-HD, not HD-ready) in a consumer-level product is a 15.4" lcd (actually 1920x1200). Unless I missed a smaller 1080 display, I think this woul dmake for a rather BIG cell phone ;)

Neutral

Richard @ May 5th 2009 1:16PM

It might be overkill to fit a 3-5 inch lcd, but is more idea like connect to a projector that display high quality.

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