More from CES, this time the revelation of new graphics technology from Imagination which, the company claims, is set to endow smartphones (and tablets) with twenty times the level of graphics processing currently available.
All without diminishing the battery life to an hour, as well. Those are the claims, and the tech behind this is called the PowerVR Series6 GPU, with the initial two incarnations being the PowerVR G6200 and G6400.
The Series6 utilises something called “Rogue” architecture, which is based on a scalable number of compute clusters. These are, Imagination explains, arrays of programmable computing elements designed for high performance while maintaining efficiency and low levels of power consumption.
The G6200 has two clusters and the G6400 four clusters, with these clusters representing true parallel processors, not just parallel pipelines, a representative of the company told The Register. What does all this mean? In performance terms, the Series6 represents a twenty times increase on current smartphone GPU technology, Imagination says, with the Rogue architecture being five times more efficient than previous generations.
These GPU cores are designed to offer computing performance which exceeds 100 gigaflops. Hossein Yassaie, CEO of Imagination, commented: “Based on our experience in shipping hundreds of millions of GPU cores, plus extensive market and customer feedback, we have been able to set a new standard in GPU architecture, particularly in the areas of power, bandwidth and efficiency – the key metrics by which GPUs are now judged.”
“We are confident that with the Rogue architecture we have a very clear technology advantage and an exceptional roadmap for the PowerVR Series6 family which our partners can depend on.” Those partners being the big players in the mobile world such as Apple and Samsung.
Although the new graphics technology is unlikely to make it into the iPad 3, if indeed it is due out in the spring, just around the corner. The iPhone 5 could be a better prospect for Series6, although it’s quite possible that devices bearing the tech won’t start emerging until next year.
