TV Vision has unveiled a new 4K media player to bring HEVC streaming capabilities to Philips UHD TVs at IFA 2014 in Berlin. The device will be based on Android L, and is said to be compatible with all 2013 and 2014 Philips UHD TVs. It should be compatible with other 4K TVs as well, but they mention some limitations due to HDCP, and some 2013 Philips TV will only handle 4K at 30 fps. Another interesting point is that if you have bought a recent Philips UHD TV, this media player may be free of charge.
The specs are not complete, but here’s what we know:
- SoC – N/A
- System Memory – N/A
- Storage – 12GB storage to install apps (So most probably a 16GB eMMC or NAND flash)
- Video Output – HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 1.4, HDCP 2.2 support
- Main Video Codecs and Containers – HEVC (up to 4K Ultra HD @30Hz 10bit or 4K Ultra HD @60Hz 10bit), H.264, MPEG-4, AVC
- Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11n, Ethernet RJ45, Bluetooth
- USB – 2x USB host ports
- Power Supply – N/A
- Dimensions – 162 x 133 x 40 mm
The box will support firmware updates over IP, Google Play, and comes with a remote control. Even though there’s no information about the processor, it’s likely Philips selected one of the leaders on the market for STB SoCs, with a media processor like Broadcom BCM7445 or possibly one of STMicro STi8K 64-bit ARM processors.
Philips UHD should be available in Q1 2015 in Europe and Russia for 249 Euros, and as mentioned in the introduction, it will made available for free in Q1 2015 to consumers who have purchased a 2014 Philips UHD TV in the 8809, 8909 curved, 9109 and 9809 series.
Thanks to Joey for the tip.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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4core raspberry pi
Sigma Designs SoC is another possibility.
thanx for posting my tip, you are hinting that philips/TP vison might Broadcom BCM7445 or the STMicro STi8K chipset, but I think it’s more likely they will use the Nvidia K1 chipset, because the android TV / android L Google jetson development player is based up K1 nvidia chipset.
@joey
I thought about that too. But I’m not sure Tegra k1 supports hevc @ 4k60 nor HDMI 2.0.
Edit: only HDMI 1.4b. So they would have had to use an external HDMI 2.0 chip (if that’s possible)
http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/05/21/comparison-nvidia-tegra-k1-samsung-exynos-5422-rockchip-rk3288-allwinner-a80/