VIA VX855 Chipset Unveiled and Capable of 1080p HD Playback

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The recent mobile computing devices we have tested with VIA's Nano processor, including the Samsung NC20 and Samsung Q1Ex, have been decent performing but their Chrome9 graphics chips prevent them from playing anything at 1080p.

Via is hoping its all-in-one chipset VX855 Media System Processor (MSP) addresses these performance and multimedia issues. The MSP offers hardware acceleration of a variety of video formats, including H.264, MPEG-2/4, VC-1 and WMV9. According to Via, it is also Windows 7 ready.

The chipset will be compatible with Via Nano,  C7 and Eden processor families.  It integrates a high performance DDR2 memory controller, a 400/800MHz FSB processor interface, and extensive I/O capabilities (such as 6 x USB 2.0, SDIO, UART, SPI, LPC and SMBus) in a single chip. It also has integrated support for VIA''s Chrome9 HCM Graphics Processor. No word yet on when Via's partners will start shipping systems with the VX855 Media System Processor.

Joanna Stern

Joanna Stern was a laptop reviewer and writer at Laptop Mag. She reviewed notebooks big and small, including models from MSI, Asus, Toshiba, and Lenovo. This was right at the beginning of her impressive career in journalism. Since then, she's become one of the most recognizable voices in consumer tech. Joanna now works with The Wall Street Journal, and was previously a founding editor at The Verge. After Laptop Mag, she worked at Engadget as a reviews editor. Joanna has won a News & Documentary Emmy Award as well as two Gerald Loeb Awards.