Imagination and Realtek launch world-first image compression DTV SoC

London, England – March 10, 2022 – Imagination Technologies announces that its IMG B-Series BXE-4-32 GPU, with IMGIC image compression technology, has been integrated into Realtek’s latest System-on-Chip (SoC), RTD2885N, and is currently shipping into significant digital television (DTV) worldwide brands. The IP has been previously licensed by Realtek in 2021, continuing a long-established, innovation-driven collaboration between the two companies.

Imagination’s IMGIC is the latest version of Imagination’s advanced, lossless, frame buffer compression technology. IMGIC offers multiple quality levels of real-time image compression without increasing silicon area. This enables DTV platforms with a BXE-4-32 GPU to configure and optimise image quality and significantly reduce system bandwidth for an ultra-responsive user experience.

Frame buffer compression aims to reduce the bandwidth and power consumption generated by reading and writing render targets to and from system memory in digital TV systems. IMGIC includes a variable lossless compression mode ensuring quality remains perfect, with a typical reduction of 50%.

Maxwell Lin, Director of Sales, Taiwan, Imagination, says: “Imagination’s relationship with Realtek spans over 12 years of collaboration on a range of innovative SoC solutions. We are excited that our latest image compression technology is shipping for the first time through Realtek’s integration of the IMG BXE GPU in the RTD2885N SoC. The IMG BXE GPU combined with our IMGIC compression technology is ideal for this type of application as it provides manufacturers with the flexibility to design highly competitive efficiency or performance-focused products. We are keen to develop further market-leading DTV solutions for our partners.”

Yee-Wei Huang, Vice President and Spokesman, Realtek, says: “At Realtek, we are laser-focused in bringing innovative solutions to customers across markets. When it comes to DTV, Imagination is an ideal partner as the IMG BXE IP offers the flexibility to balance efficiency and performance very well in our design, enabling us to power 4K TVs with HDR and immersive user interfaces. We’ve worked closely with Imagination for many years and we’re looking forward to driving future innovation together.”

The BXE-4-32 offers up to 25% area saving compared to the previous generation of Imagination cores, now with up to 2.5x the fill rate density compared to other solutions. The GPU offers a market-leading and area-efficient performance of 4PPC (Pixels Per Clock) on top of the added benefits of the B-Series multi-core capable architecture, including advanced features such as cache configurability. Realtek shipping SoCs featuring the IMG BXE GPU cores underlines the IP as an ideal solution for next-gen DTV platforms. BXE unlocks higher resolution capability, lower silicon cost and reduced bandwidth requirements.

Find out more about IMG B-Series and IMGIC.