Essential Guide to Choosing Smart TVs: The Importance of CPU

1、MSTAR Friends who pay attention to smartphones will be familiar with MStar (Morning Star Semiconductor), as it is the standard configuration for many popular internet TVs. MStar’s presence in the TV chip field is unmatched. Founded in 2002, MStar is headquartered in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan. MStar once challenged the market leader Genesis Microchip, which had over 60% market share in display chips, and has also technically competed with Realtek Semiconductor, which had nearly 20 times its capital at the time; subsequently, it took over the TV chip market from MediaTek, and now it is undoubtedly the leader in these fields.

2、MTK In 2012, as MStar gradually posed a threat to MediaTek’s mobile chips, MTK finally moved to acquire it. MStar’s smartphone chips and other wireless communication-related businesses were integrated into MediaTek, which focused on mobile chip development. MStar shifted its focus back to TV chips, and its subsidiary, which operates LCD TV chips, remains an independent entity, continuing to expand in the smart TV market.

3、Others (TV chip industry is basically monopolized) Besides these two manufacturers, there are Qualcomm, Nvidia, Taiwan’s Yangzhi, and domestic companies like Rockchip and HiSilicon. These manufacturers have lower integration levels than MStar and MTK, but some offer better cost-performance ratios or greater openness.

In addition to comparing chip brands, the core version of the chip itself is also crucial. Most smart phones, tablets, smart TVs, etc. on the market now use ARM architecture, while Intel’s x86 is still niche; the Cortex-A series processors are the mainstream chips for smart TVs.

Ranking of Cortex-A series processors: 　　The larger the number behind the Cortex-A series, the newer and better the version

Cortex-A5 Processor 　　The ARM Cortex™-A5 processor is an efficient and cost-effective processor that provides Internet access to the widest range of devices: from entry-level smartphones, low-cost phones, and smart mobile terminals to widely adopted embedded, consumer, and industrial devices.

Cortex-A7 Processor 　　The ARM Cortex™-A7 MPCore™ processor is the most efficient application processor developed by ARM to date, significantly expanding ARM’s low-power position for future entry-level smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.

Cortex-A8 Processor 　　The ARM Cortex-A8 processor is an application processor suitable for complex operating systems and user applications. Its architecture is as shown. Supporting Intelligent Energy Management (IEM) technology and advanced leakage control techniques, the Cortex-A8 processor achieves extraordinary speed and power efficiency at 65nm, with power consumption of less than 300mW, providing high performance and low power consumption that brings desktop-level performance to low-cost, high-capacity products for the first time.

Cortex-A9 Processor 　　The ARM Cortex™-A9 processor offers high performance and high energy efficiency, making it an ideal solution for designs that require high performance in cost-sensitive devices with low power or heat constraints. It can function as a single-core processor or as a configurable multi-core processor, providing synthesizable or hard macro implementations. This processor is suitable for various application fields, enabling stable software investments across multiple markets.

Cortex-A15 Processor 　　The ARM Cortex™-A15 MPCore™ processor is the industry’s highest performance and licensable processor to date. It combines unprecedented processing capabilities with low power characteristics, achieving excellence in various markets, including smartphones, tablets, mobile computing, high-end digital appliances, servers, and wireless infrastructure. The Cortex-A15 MPCore processor provides a unique combination of performance, functionality, and energy efficiency, further enhancing ARM’s leadership in these high-value and high-capacity application segments.

Cortex-A57 　　The Cortex-A57 is ARM’s flagship CPU series designed for the 2013, 2014, and 2015 design start points. It uses the ARMv8-A architecture, providing 64-bit functionality while maintaining complete backward compatibility with the ARMv7 architecture through the Aarch32 execution state. Before the widespread use of memory above 4GB, 64-bit was not truly necessary for mobile systems; even then, extended physical addressing technology could solve the problem. However, launching 64-bit early allows for smoother software migration, enabling high-performance applications to fully utilize larger virtual address ranges for running content creation applications such as video editing, photo editing, and augmented reality. The new architecture can run 64-bit operating systems and seamlessly mix 32-bit and 64-bit applications on the operating system. The ARMv8 architecture allows for easy transitions between states.

Cortex-A72 Processor 　　The Cortex-A72 is ARM’s most powerful and advanced processor. Officially released in early 2015, the Cortex-A72 is based on the ARMv8-A architecture and built on the success of the Cortex-A57 processor in mobile and enterprise devices. Under the same mobile device battery life constraints, the Cortex-A72 can provide 3.5 times the performance of devices based on the Cortex-A15, demonstrating excellent overall power efficiency.