MediaTek Pentonic 1000 chipset for 4K TVs with support for four HDMI 2.1 ports announced | Digit

MediaTek has announced its new Pentonic 1000 chipset for 4K TVs that supports a 120Hz refresh rate with HDR content, up to 144Hz for gaming, VVC decoding, and Dolby Vision IQ with Precision Detail. 

This TV SoC from MediaTek also adds support for up to four HDMI 2.1 ports (up from two), which should bring TVs from brands like Sony, TCL, Panasonic, etc who depend on MediaTek chips at par with Samsung and LG TVs in terms of HDMI connectivity. The Pentonic 1000 also has a dedicated AI processing unit (APU) for upscaling and HDR enhancement.

“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, General Manager 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.”

MediaTek Pentonic 1000 key specifications

• CPU: 4x Cortex-A73; Max frequency – 2 GHz
• GPU: Arm Mali-G57 MC2; Max frequency – 800 MHz
• Memory: 64-bit LPDDR4/4X @ 4266Mbps
• Display: 3840 x 2160 (4K) @ 120Hz / 144Hz VRR
• MEMC: 3840 x 2160 (4K) @ 120Hz
• HDR standards: Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10/10+, HLG, JHDR
• Video: VVC (H.266), HEVC (H.265), AV1, AVS3
• Audio: Dolby Atmos (2.6), DTS Master HD, DTS Virtual X, MPEG-H Audio
• Connectivity: 4x HDMI 2.1 with ALLM, USB 3.2 Gen-1 (5Gbps) x2, Wi-Fi 6/ 6E 

MediaTek Pentonic Chipsets 

MediaTek also has Pentonic 2000 for 8K 120Hz TVs that is based on a 7nm process and integrates Wi-Fi 6E. There is also a Pentonic 700 with 4K 144Hz support for “mainstream 4K TVs”. So, the Pentonic 1000 currently sits in the middle of the stack.

All MediaTek Pentonic series chips support Dolby Vision IQ with Precision Detail and the next-gen VVC (h.266) decoding. TV manufacturers also have the option to pair companion MediaTek Filogic chips to add Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 support to the Pantonic 700 based on the market economics.

TVs with MediaTek Pentonic series chips

TVs with MediaTek Pentonic 1000 chipset will be available starting from the first quarter of 2023. We expect many of the popular brands like Sony, Phillips, Panasonic, and TCL to announce 4K TVs with MediaTek Pentonic chipset early next year at CES 2023. 

MediaTek SoCs are very popular in IoT devices. Apart from TVs, MediaTek Pentonic chipsets could also be used in several popular media streaming dongles like Fire TV stick or Realme TV stick.