MediaTek announces MT9638 4K Smart TV Chip with an integrated high-performance APU

MediaTek today announced its new 4K smart TV chip, the MT9638, with an integrated high-performance AI processing unit (APU).

MT9638 supports cutting-edge AI-enhancement technologies such as AI super-resolution, AI picture quality, and AI voice assistants, plus variable refresh rate (VRR) and MEMC (motion estimation and motion compensation) so graphics appear smoother. With its high-performance processing for optimized visual quality, MT9638 gives global TV makers premium features to design competitive 4K smart TVs.

Alex Chen, General Manager of the TV Business Unit at MediaTek said, “As smart home appliances become more intelligent and diversified, smart TVs are becoming the new hub for the smart home as consumers take advantage of AI-enabled multimedia features to control all their devices right from their TV. The new MT9638 continues our legacy as the No. 1 chip provider of smart TVs, bringing consumers incredible AI, multimedia, gaming and entertainment experiences in theater-quality 4K.”

MediaTek’s premium TV chip technologies are designed to enhance the user experience with our custom APU that brings high-performance AI computing to smart TVs. With built-in AI picture quality technology, the chip enables real-time content and scene recognition, automatically adjusting color saturation, brightness, sharpness, dynamic motion compensation and smart noise reduction to improve overall image quality. MediaTek’s AI super resolution technology, combined with the company’s MEMC technology, intelligently upscales resolution through multi-frame blending to deliver clearer images at the smart TV’s native resolution.

The chip supports the latest connectivity technologies including Wi-Fi 6 for fast, reliable connectivity and HDMI 2.1, which integrates support for VRR to match movies or console gaming frame-rates in order to avoid screen tearing. The MT9638 also supports applications powered by AI voice recognition and AI-enabled video calls, opening up new ways for consumers to interact with their smart TV and connect with their family and friends. These technologies are turning living rooms into true home entertainment centers, delivering new, immersive experiences in streaming, gaming and entertainment.

MediaTek’s MT9638 supports multiple advanced technologies:

A multi-core Arm Cortex-A55 CPU, Arm Mali-G52 GPU and dedicated MediaTek APU integrated into a single chip, delivering superior performance while also being extremely power efficient.

Up to 4K60 resolution support with a multimedia decoding engine for HEVC, VP9 and the latest AV1 content.

HDR10+ display support, enabling full array backlight local dimming with >2000 zones.

Premium Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual X surround sound support.

The latest HDMI 2.1a and USB 3.0 interfaces, in addition to gigabit-class Wi-Fi 6 connectivity.

With up to four far-field microphones, the chip provides whole room coverage for voice assistants with ultra-low power consumption (0.5W) on standby and ultra-fast, one second resume for wake-up words.