MediaTek Takes Entry Chromebook Performance to the Next Level with New Kompanio Chipsets

[TheLostSwede]

MediaTek today announced its new Kompanio chipsets for Chromebooks: the Kompanio 520 and Kompanio 528. With upgraded computing performance and battery life for entry level Chromebooks, the newest Kompanio chipsets provide a seamless experience so consumers can browse, cloud game, stream and use Google Play apps while enjoying all-day battery life.

"Enhanced power efficiency, speedy performance and reliable connectivity are at the core of a great user experience, and that's exactly what MediaTek's new Kompanio chipsets deliver," said Adam King, Vice President and General Manager, Client Computing Business Unit at MediaTek. "As the No. 1 provider of Arm-based Chromebooks, MediaTek makes the latest AI, connectivity, display and imaging features accessible at every price point."





Both the Kompanio 520 and Kompanio 528 integrate two premium Arm Cortex-A76 CPU cores within an octa-core CPU, as well as an upgraded dual-core graphics engine, to deliver smooth and responsive performance. The Arm Cortex-A76 cores operate at up to 2 GHz in the Kompanio 520 and up to 2.2 GHz in the Kompanio 528, while also optimizing battery life so users can go longer between charges. The powerful octa-core CPU combined with the highly efficient memory and storage options provide improved data throughput performance so multitasking is a breeze and users can boot up in seconds. Each chipset integrates a dual-core AI processing unit (APU) to deliver accelerated AI-enhancements to applications, along with AI camera features. Additionally, brands can combine MediaTek's Filogic Wi-Fi 6 solutions with the Kompanio chipsets for fast and reliable connectivity when users are streaming and cloud gaming.

With a number of next-gen imaging processor upgrades, the new Kompanio chipsets allow device makers to build Chromebooks with large 32MP cameras for highly detailed image capturing. Backed by MediaTek's hardware imaging engine, these chipsets work behind the scenes to automatically enhance photography and videos, even in low-light conditions. The upgraded multimedia engine includes VP9 decoding and H.265 encoding for 2X faster performance and a dedicated HiFi-5 DSP for ultra-low power audio microphone processing. The chipsets also support 60fps Full HD video recording for seamless video conferencing.

Kompanio 520 and Kompanio 528 each support a Full HD+ display and enable users to add a Full HD external display, providing more than twice the resolution of the previous generation chipsets. Users can take advantage of dual monitors to get more done at work, connect to a smart TV to play movies or even use a projector in education settings.

Other key features of the Kompanio 520 and 528 chipsets include:

• Arm Mali G52 MC2 2EE
• LPDDR4x memory with a max frequency of 3733 MHz
• eMMC 5.1 storage with a hardware command queue
• Hi-fi 5 DSP
• 2560 x 1200 display support at 60 Hz and 1920 x 1080 external monitor display support at 60 Hz
• 1920 x 1080 at 60fps video encoding

Chromebooks powered by the Kompanio 520 and Kompanio 528 chipsets will be available in the market by 1H 2023.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Valantar]

You know these are extremely cost-optimized when the display controllers top out at 2560x1200 resolution. Why not 1440p? Why not 2160p, at least for the external display? My guess: because that would cost another .1mm² of die area.

Still a pretty weird resolution cap though. I would have thought they'd rather support some 3:2 2560p variant for tablets and convertibles.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

You know these are extremely cost-optimized when the display controllers top out at 2560x1200 resolution. Why not 1440p? Why not 2160p, at least for the external display? My guess: because that would cost another .1mm² of die area.

Still a pretty weird resolution cap though. I would have thought they'd rather support some 3:2 2560p variant for tablets and convertibles.

2560p tablet

"budget"

Hmmmm......

 

[Valantar]

2560p tablet

"budget"

Hmmmm......

You'd be surprised by how cheap displays like that are - and a bright and shiny screen is a great selling point for budget devices.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

You'd be surprised by how cheap displays like that are - and a bright and shiny screen is a great selling point for budget devices.

It can be, but 100% of budget chromebooks Ive seen come with 768p screens, not 2560p. That's the realm of more expensive devices that come with higher end chips.

External? Maybe, yeah, but again anyone I know with a budget chromebook is not buying a 2560p display, they're using some cheap arse TV that is technically 1080p.

 

[Valantar]

It can be, but 100% of budget chromebooks Ive seen come with 768p screens, not 2560p. That's the realm of more expensive devices that come with higher end chips.

Here's a $300 Asus with a 2048x1536 display. That's not that cheap for a Chromebook, but it's definitely not premium. There are quite a few 1080p Chromebooks to be had below $200. And have any new Chromebooks in the past few years come with 768p displays? I'm aware there are models still being sold with those specs, but my impression is that those are all older models.

External? Maybe, yeah, but again anyone I know with a budget chromebook is not buying a 2560p display, they're using some cheap arse TV that is technically 1080p.

That's true, but if you're connecting to a TV/display/projector at work or school, that might well be 2160p now or in the near future. And, as I said, the actual savings in keeping this capability so limited must be tiny. I guess the main point would be to tell OEMs that if they want a fancy display, they're going to have to pony up for a more expensive chip.

 

[Denver]

I will never understand why such a product exists.

It doesn't beat X86 competitors in price, performance or even battery life. It is incompatible, slow and a headache...

 

[Valantar]

I will never understand why such a product exists.

It doesn't beat X86 competitors in price, performance or even battery life. It is incompatible, slow and a headache...

But it beats them in margins, and doubly so as they're so annoyingly slow as to drive new product sales in a much shorter time. Why sell users a fast, reliable product for $300 that they'll keep for five years when you can sell them a slow, unreliable one that they keep for two?

 

[MachineLearning]

Overall it's worse than the Dimensity 1050 in my phone. So at this performance level, why would someone want to carry around an extra device? As phones continue to improve, this will always dog Chromebooks IMO.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

Here's a $300 Asus with a 2048x1536 display. That's not that cheap for a Chromebook, but it's definitely not premium. There are quite a few 1080p Chromebooks to be had below $200. And have any new Chromebooks in the past few years come with 768p displays? I'm aware there are models still being sold with those specs, but my impression is that those are all older models.

It's important to note: that's a chromeOS TABLET, not chromebook. High rez screens are more common on tablets since they are right up by your face when in use. Normal laptop chromebooks, especially in the 11" category, are often still 768p panels (the same panel, the lenovo 100e lineup and dell's educational lineup are still 768p, the same panel, swappable between 14+ models). That's likely the target demographic for a chip like this.

That's true, but if you're connecting to a TV/display/projector at work or school, that might well be 2160p now or in the near future. And, as I said, the actual savings in keeping this capability so limited must be tiny. I guess the main point would be to tell OEMs that if they want a fancy display, they're going to have to pony up for a more expensive chip.

4k projectors? In schools? Most schools are still using 720p VGA projectors with 0 plans to replace them, because $$$. 4k isnt gonna be mainstream for a long time yet, even in the gaming sphere 4k is only ~3% of users, and were the early adopters. Only last year did dell finally stop making 1280x1024 square monitors.

 

[Valantar]

It's important to note: that's a chromeOS TABLET, not chromebook. High rez screens are more common on tablets since they are right up by your face when in use. Normal laptop chromebooks, especially in the 11" category, are often still 768p panels (the same panel, the lenovo 100e lineup and dell's educational lineup are still 768p, the same panel, swappable between 14+ models). That's likely the target demographic for a chip like this.

My impression is that X86 still has a hold on Chromebook laptops, but that ARM is dominant in the tablet space - though obviously there's overlap. You're definitely right about the education market though, and there's a lot of volume there.

4k projectors? In schools? Most schools are still using 720p VGA projectors with 0 plans to replace them, because $$$.

Projectors are probably the least likely to exceed 1080p anytime soon, but yes, in countries that actually fund their school systems, smart boards and wall displays exceeding 1080p are definitely a thing.

4k isnt gonna be mainstream for a long time yet, even in the gaming sphere 4k is only ~3% of users, and were the early adopters. Only last year did dell finally stop making 1280x1024 square monitors.

Gaming is not the key adoption area for high resolution displays any more, TVs are. And yes, they produce a lot of low-end monitors, especially to replace old ones in existing installations. I'm obviously not saying high resolution displays will be dominant across these sectors any time soon, but they already exist and are used in these sectors, and not supporting them properly is a bit weird in light of that, especially given the minimal savings.