MediaTek Pentonic 800 AI chip for smart TVs announced with support for up to 165Hz 4K display

MediaTek Pentonic 800 is the newly announced chip for smart TVs, smart monitors, embedded large displays, and commercial displays. It is AI-powered and promises several visual enhancements that could benefit gaming and media streaming as well as broadcasting. You also get upgraded connectivity options like Wi-Fi 7 and HDMI 2.1a. Let’s check out its full specs and learn what’s new.

MediaTek Pentonic 800 specifications, AI features

Pentonic 800 has 4 Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz, coupled with an Arm Mali-G557 MC1 GPU and 64-bit DDR4 RAM (3200Mbps). It is slotted in between Pentonic 700 (1.4GHz CPU, 3200MHz RAM) and Pentonic 1000 (2GHz CPU, 4266Mbps RAM). 

Pentonic 800 has a dedicated AI processor (NPU) claiming to be 50 percent faster in AI processes while using up to 60 percent lower bandwidth. The NPU enables AI-Super Resolution 3.0 (upscaling and noise reduction), AI-Contrast 2.0 (SDR to HDR conversion), AI-Picture Quality Scene Recognition 2.0+ (using MEMC for a soap-opera effect), and AI-Picture Quality Object Recognition 2.5+ (for edge detection and depth around faces).

On the visual side, you also get up to 4K at a 165Hz refresh rate, Dolby Vision IQ, and HDR10+. For gamers, there is support for 4K Variable Refresh Rate at 165Hz, 4K120Hz gaming in Dolby Vision, and HDR10+ Gaming. Both Pentonic 700 and Pentonic 1000 support 144Hz refresh rate only. To put it in perspective, gaming runs at 144Hz on most new smart TVs, but goes up to 240Hz on lower resolution on specific models (like the TCL QM8 Mini-Led). However, to achieve that VRR, one must pair their TV with a good gaming PC since consoles have support for only up to 120Hz.

On the connectivity side, gamers can leverage the newer Wi-Fi 7 for greater bandwidth and improved speeds. There is also HDMI 2.1a FRL 48Gbps in the mix which offers Dynamic HDR support, DP 1.4a, and USB 3.2 Gen-1 (5Gbps). MediaTek also reveals the new chip can deliver seamless connectivity between gamepads, headphones, etc.

As for broadcasting and streaming media, Pentonic 800 is equipped with ATSC format (for digital TV transmission in the US), AV1 VP9, VVC, and AVS3 HEVC formats for video decoding.

Finally, for sound, you get Dolby DAP with Atmos, Dolby Atmos Flexconnect and DTX Virtual X.

MediaTek Pentonic 800 TVs (expected)

The new MediaTek TV chip is expected to come in 2025 OLED TVs from Sony, TCL, and Hisense. These will be premium 4K smart TVs and not flagships.