Imagination Technologies is making a significant stride in the consumer tech landscape with its latest IMG CXM GPU range. This includes the smallest GPU in the industry to support native HDR user interfaces. By targeting the previously overlooked segment of smart homes, wearables, and mobile devices, the company is not just looking to take a piece of the market pie but also expanding the market.
| GPU Model | Key Features |
|---|---|
| CXM-2-64 | Smallest GPU supporting native HDR applications. Suitable for wearable devices, smart home hubs, or mainstream set-top boxes. |
| CXM-4-64 | Efficient core ideal for integration into smart home hubs, set-top boxes, or mainstream DTVs. |
| CXM-4-128 | Performance-dense option suitable for premium DTVs. |
For all three configurations, there are several shared features:
- HDR support: Each GPU supports native HDR applications, providing detailed and vibrant visual experiences.
- 10-bit RGBA/YUV support: This feature reduces visible banding in images, resulting in smoother HDR graphics.
- 4x MSAA: Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing smooths the outlines of texts and images for an enhanced visual experience.
- TFBCv2: The new generation of Tiny Frame Buffer Compression offers high-quality lossy and lossless compression, alongside an additional compression level, thus providing improved design flexibility.
- Increased performance density: Compared to the IMG BXM range, the CXM range offers nearly a 50% uplift in performance density.
- Latest API trends compatibility: The GPUs are supported by software compatible with the latest API trends, including Vulkan 1.3.
- Optimized CPU architectures: They are optimized for several leading CPU architectures including Arm and RISC-V application processors.
One of the unique selling points of these GPUs is their superior image quality. They support 10-bit RGBA/YUV, delivering HDR graphical user interfaces with less visible banding. In combination with the 4x MSAA, it ensures the smooth rendering of texts and images. Imagination Technologies has also improved bandwidth management with the next-generation of their Tiny Frame Buffer Compression (TFBCv2). This provides high-quality lossy and lossless compression while adding an extra compression level for design flexibility.
Another significant advancement is in performance density. The IMG CXM GPU range shows almost a 50% improvement over the IMG BXM range, offering more power within the same silicon area. The new GPUs are also up-to-date with the latest API trends, supporting Vulkan 1.3, and are compatible with leading CPU architectures like Arm and RISC-V, making them a perfect fit for RISC-V projects.
Moreover, Imagination Technologies’ collaboration with Andes Technology aims to streamline the development process and reduce system-on-chip (SoC) design time, risk, and cost for customers. The blend of Imagination’s flexibly designed GPU and AndesCore’s high-performance, low-power RISC-V CPUs is set to generate optimal configurations for display-oriented SoCs rapidly.
