Intel Pushes 4K Video With Latest Chip Line
August 30 2016 - 12:36PM
Dow Jones News
By Don Clark
Intel Corp. is betting that better video will convince people to
buy new personal computers.
The company on Tuesday unveiled the seventh generation of its
flagship line of PC chips, which for the first time comes with
built-in features to help play or edit video technology in the
high-end format known as Ultra HD, or 4K.
Intel also said that Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures Home
Entertainment and Comcast Corp.'s Fandango unit would offer
versions of 4K video services targeting new laptops powered by the
latest members of its Core product line.
Viewing 4K video is technically possible on prior processors
equipped with the right software, said Nish Neelalojanan, an Intel
product marketing manager. But some content providers have been
waiting for built-in video compression to make streaming video
easier as well as copyright-protection features, the company said.
The new chips also allow laptop PC batteries to operate up to 2.6
times longer while running 4Ks video, Intel said.
Intel's announcement reflects its belief that a growing number
of consumers -- particularly younger ones -- use portable computers
rather than TVs as a primary way to view video content. They are
also increasingly capturing 4K video on the latest smartphones,
which they may want to use PCs to modify and share.
"Video is the new medium for all conversations," wrote Navin
Shenoy, a vice president who heads Intel's client computing group,
in a blog post.
Intel's new chips also underscore a strategy shift brought about
by technical challenges. Designing circuitry to handle specific
functions is now a more reliable way to bring big performance
improvements than new manufacturing processes that create smaller
transistors in chips.
The company long prided itself on introducing new manufacturing
recipes every two years or so, in the pattern named for co-founder
Gordon Moore. But Intel last year acknowledged last year that
so-called Moore's Law advances would be delayed by six months or
more by technical difficulties associated with extreme
miniaturization.
So Intel plans to introduce three major families of chips on a
production process using circuitry measured at 14 nanometers, or
billionths of a meter, rather than two. Aided by enhancements to
that process, Intel said Web browsing is up to 19% faster on the
new chips, which are code-named Kaby Lake, than the prior
generation of chips while productivity applications see a 12%
speedup.
The chips are first expected to begin appearing this fall in
midrange laptops starting at around $449.
Though content providers like Netflix Inc. have begun creating
4K video programming, not many people are able to enjoy it yet. One
reason is the 4K video format creates large data files that are
difficult to transmit and store, requiring TVs or other devices
that support video-compression technology.
Intel's new chips are designed to accelerate the process of
compressing and decoding files using two popular compression
technologies, known as HEVC and VP9, Mr. Neelalojanan said. They
also are designed to support copyright-protection technologies
demanded by content providers, he said.
Sony Pictures later this year will offer a version of its 4K
streaming service known as Ultra -- now only available on Sony
Bravia TVs -- for PCs equipped with the new Core chips, Intel said.
It added that Fandango will do the same with its FandangoNow
service.
The chip maker is also announcing an extension of a recent
collaboration with Walt Disney Co. that has used Intel technology
to help people viewing movie premieres to watch the action from
multiple camera angles, Mr. Neelalojanan said.
Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates, said
he didn't see the need for Intel to strike content deals to spur PC
demand. But he agreed that high-resolution is a good way to focus
Intel's efforts.
"4K video support is all the rage," Mr. Kay said in an email.
"It's the perfect app for this maybe over-muscular hardware."
Write to Don Clark at don.clark@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 30, 2016 12:21 ET (16:21 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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