Following the release of related documents by the State Administration of Radio and Television, OTT box industry brand manufacturers are moving forward while undergoing significant changes. The applications of OTT boxes have also diversified from single video functionalities to gaming consoles. As the core of smart terminal products, the CPU is not only accelerating iterations but also leveraging underlying technologies and hardware performance to create new trends, marking a shift initiated by chip manufacturers.
On April 14, Rockchip launched the RK3399 flagship processor at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair. This chip features high performance and high expansion applications, making it suitable not only for 2-in-1 tablets but also showcasing significant technical advantages in VR and gaming box products. Rockchip positions it as an “all-rounder” chip, and as one of the giants in OTT box chips, its impact on gaming boxes is noteworthy.
The RK3399 is a monster in both CPU and GPU aspects. It adopts a big.LITTLE architecture with dual Cortex-A72 big cores and four Cortex-A53 small cores, significantly optimizing integer, floating-point, and memory operations, resulting in revolutionary improvements in overall performance, power consumption, and core area. The GPU utilizes a four-core ARM next-generation high-end image processor Mali-T860, integrating more bandwidth compression technologies such as intelligent blending, ASTC, and local pixel storage, while also supporting more graphics and computing interfaces, improving overall performance by 45% compared to the previous generation.
With ultra-high specifications for the CPU and GPU, it can outperform current mainstream products in the market. Therefore, there are currently no competitors for the RK3399 in the overall box chip environment.
The RK3399’s high-performance capabilities in CPU and GPU are not limited to that; its five major technical advantages for gaming boxes allow it to compete with high-performance gaming consoles like Sony’s PS and Microsoft’s XBOX series.
1. Integrated dual USB3.0 Type-C interfaces, supporting Type-C Display Port audio and video output.
2. HDMI2.0 interface, H.264/H.265/VP9 4K 10bit@60fps video decoding.
3. Built-in PCI-e interface, supporting PCI-e based high-speed Wi-Fi and storage expansion.
4. Dual camera image capture and processing, supporting gesture recognition.
5. Compatible with operating systems such as Android and Linux.
The five major technical advantages enhance video capabilities. The previous flagship RK3288 already featured HDMI2.0 interface, H.264/H.265/VP9 4K 10-bit@60fps video decoding capabilities. The RK3399 continues this trend while adding 10-bit color depth high-definition decoding and Image Enhancement technology. Although these capabilities are touted as “top-level” by similar chip solutions, they are not the focus for the RK3399. What is particularly noteworthy are the Type-C interface, built-in PCI-e interface, and dual-camera support for gesture recognition, which will revolutionize the gaming box experience.
The RK3399 integrates dual USB3.0 Type-C, with a maximum transmission rate of up to 10Gbps, supporting bidirectional power and reversible insertion. This greatly enhances stability and speed for connecting to devices with Type-C interfaces. Additionally, the support for PCI-e interface enables higher-speed Wi-Fi and larger capacity, faster storage devices to finally be supported on gaming boxes. Finally, the dual camera image capture and processing, supporting gesture recognition technology, expands applications to VR products. Clearly, the VR + RK3399 gaming box will have tremendous application expansion potential in the future.
As industry opinions on the RK3399 suggest, its impact on the OTT box industry will be unprecedented. It represents not just an upgrade or gradual parameter improvement but may open up a vast market for home gaming consoles. This will significantly promote both horizontal and vertical industrial expansions for OTT box products.
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