Qualcomm Shows Off Their Snapdragon 800 in Mini-Theater Demo at MWC

[dgstorm]

[video=youtube;5gm-vqlJFLw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5gm-vqlJFLw[/video]​

Qualcomm had a cool demo booth at MWC this year that was basically a mini movie theater. It was designed to showcase the media capabilities of their new flagship chip, the Snapdragon 800. Some folks at Phone Arena were able to post a video of the demonstration, and it is pretty impressive. They didn't show any raw horsepower numbers, but instead showed off real-world capabilities. Their prime example was showing a preview of the new Star Trek: Into Darkness trailer streamed directly onto an Ultra HD 4K TV from a Snapdragon 800 equipped tablet. They also showed off the 7.1 Dolby Digital Surround sound capabilities.

It's just a reference tablet for now, but it's exciting to see what will be in store for us later this year.

Source: PhoneArena

 

[Gremlin]

saw this in ces.. it was running from a tablet and man was it beautiful. especially the dts 7.1 sound...

 

[kodiak799]

I get that, occasionally, someone might have need to output such HD video/audio to a big screen tv. But for the most part - WHY?!? Who in the world is going to hook-up 7.1 surround to their 10" tablet?

I do see practical applications in HDTV's and receivers, though.

 

[Gremlin]

Hmm no... the tablet is giving out 7.1 sound

 

[kodiak799]

Hmm no... the tablet is giving out 7.1 sound

Which would be awesome...if you were the size of an ant

 

[Gremlin]

Well as I said saw it in action in CES this January at that booth. It was awesome..

 

[kodiak799]

Well as I said saw it in action in CES this January at that booth. It was awesome..

Maybe I'm confused...was it like a 50"+ tablet?

Just saying these features are useless ON the tablet, and as far as pushing to a monitor I think that's a pretty narrow market. Nice chip for my A/V receiver or tv, but I have no desire to pay for that in a tablet.

 

[Gremlin]

This was a tablet which had a their latest cpu decoding a 4k movie and also decoding a 7.1 sound in true dts... I dont see anything wrong in connecting a tablet to a tv for video stuff.

 

[kodiak799]

This was a tablet which had a their latest cpu decoding a 4k movie and also decoding a 7.1 sound in true dts... I dont see anything wrong in connecting a tablet to a tv for video stuff.

Why the heck would you do that when A/V components and HDTV's already have wifi? Why would you d/l a movie to your tablet just to stream it to your HDTV? It makes 0 sense.

Except for some very rare cases this is a completely unnecessary technology for a tablet.

 

[FoxKat]

I think some are missing the points. First, the tablet was DRIVING the 4K UltraHD TV screen...remember she said 4 X 1080P?? That's 8.3 megapixels running at probably minimum 60hz, and given that screen - probably 120hz. That means it's like driving a 1080P screen (2 megapixels) at 4X the refresh rate or potentially 8X. For example, typical refresh is at 30 frames per second on tablets and smartphones, but can run as high as 60 frames per second, so that means from 120 frames per second to as high as 240 frames per second in 1080p on a tablet or phone! Let's see another chipset compete with that (give'em time...maybe another few months at this rate!)

Next, the tablet was again PUSHING 7 channel High Definition audio. HD Audio is relatively high bitrates, potentially as high as 96Kbps for each channel, so you're talking about 6.7Mbps (not including the Sub-Woofer channel as it's very low bitrates). I agree that you're not going to experience 7.1 channel audio (7 distinct audio channels plus one devoted Sub-Woofer channel) out of a tablet with its tiny speakers, but why wouldn't you want to take your tablet to a friend's house and plug into his stereo and TV with an HDMI cable and blow his pants off? For that matter, it can also create 7.1 channel sound with headphones, or did you all miss that? Who wouldn't want a completely self-contained 4K UltraHD studio in the palm of their hands?

And let's not forget...it was doing BOTH CONCURRENTLY and didn't even jitter or flinch. This will take gaming animation and real-world applications on tablets and phones to levels of realism that will closely approach live actors on video. Imagine a full 3D High Resolution video tour of a house you're interested in purchasing...inside and out, with a working Television on the wall, a running hot-tub with jets roaring and steam rising, a real fireplace burning in the background with the wood snapping, beautiful furnishings and ornate woodwork throughout, and a beautiful garden with a lovely and calming waterfall, a gorgeous pond with live fish, birds flying and chirping in the fruit trees which are swaying in the wind outside, in full surround sound...but one that doesn't yet exist?

Advances in technology at this rate are beginning to push the envelope in Moore's law at the low end (where there's been very little attention recently - until now). See the chart below for what I mean. Just 2 years ago everyone was looking at 10 to 16 core processors for desktop and server applications, and watching that end of the scale. Now look back a few at the dual cores that emerged in the mid 2000s, and look how long it took to get to quad cores, almost 5 years. We were looking at dual-cores for smartphones and tablets just a year or so ago, and now we've got big/LITTLE?!

View attachment 60912

 

[Gremlin]

FoxKat said it the best .. That is what i was driving at...Tablet with the snapdragon cpu is doing the video.. and the sound..

 

[kodiak799]

None of that begins to tell me why even a small minority of people need this on a tablet. It's a novelty, plain and simple.

 

[jspradling7]

Why do people buy a Corvette instead of a Prius? : )

 

[tgyberg]

None of that begins to tell me why even a small minority of people need this on a tablet. It's a novelty, plain and simple.

Things are changing so fast, who knows what the future holds for this tech. For now, better to have it and not need it! :biggrin:

 

[tgyberg]

a running hot-tub with jets roaring and steam rising, a real fireplace burning in the background with the wood snapping, beautiful furnishings and ornate woodwork throughout, and a beautiful garden with a lovely and calming waterfall, a gorgeous pond with live fish, birds flying and chirping in the fruit trees which are swaying in the wind outside, in full surround sound...but one that doesn't yet exist?

Ahh, this took me away for a bit, thanks!