I had heard some news that Amlogic S912 was delayed, and even possibly canceled, while talks about a new S908 processor surfaced recently with support for VP9 up to 4K resolution. We now have some more details as I’ve received some more information about Amlogic product roadmap, and S908 should be renamed S905M [Update: The name will apparently be changed to S905X now, the saga continues…]
| Amlogic S905 | Amlogic S908 / S905M / S905X |
Amlogic S912 | |
| CPU | Quad core Cortex A53 @ up to 2.0 GHz | Quad core Cortex A53 @ up to 1.5/2.0 GHz | Octa core Cortex A53 @ up to 2.0 GHz |
| GPU | Penta-core Mali-450 up to 750 MHz | High perf gaming GPU | |
| Memory | 16/32-bit DDR3, LPDDR2/3 Up to 2GB, DDR2133 |
16/32-bit DDR3/4, LPDDR2/3 Up to 2GB, DDR2400 |
|
| Storage | NAND Flash@BCH60 eMMC 5.0, SD, Nor Flash |
||
| Video Decoding | 4Kp60 10-bit HEVC, 4Kp30 H.264 | 4Kp60 10-bit HEVC, VP9 4Kp30 H.264 |
|
| Video Encoding | H.264, 1080P@60fps | H.265, 1080P@60fps | |
| Ethernet | 10/100/1000 RGMII | 10/100/1000 RGMII, 10/100M PHY | |
| Audio DAC | N/A | Built-in Stereo DACs |
|
| USB | 2.0 | 2.0 |
|
| TV Output | 4K2K HDMI 2.0, CVBS | 4K2K HDMI 2.0a, CVBS | |
| HDR | N/A | HDR10 | Dolby Vision, HDR10 |
| DTV | Ts in | ||
| Products | 4K HDMI dongle, OTT/IP-STB | Cost effective low power 4K HDMI dongle, OTT/IP-STB | High-end 4K OTT/IP-STB, gaming box |
While Amlogic S905 and S905M will have a hard-limit to 2GB RAM, S912 will support dual channel memory and up to 4GB RAM. The two new processors will also support 4K VP9 video decoding, feature a DAC, HDMI 2.0a, support for HDR10 media profile and/or Dolby Vision. Both will also an embedded 10/100M PHY which will bring the cost down for devices with Fast Ethernet. Amlogic S912 will also support USB 3.0 interface and H.265 video encoding up to 1080p60. The document did not reveal the details about the GPU used in the two new processor, but it’s clear Amlogic S912 will have a powerful one good enough to be used in Android gaming console, and there have been some clues that S912 GPU could be Mali-T830 in the past.
The company has also improved DRM support in their latest processors, including S905 itself, with support for Google Widewine Level 1 & 3, Verimatrix Standard and Advanced, Microsoft Playready 2.0 (TVP and non TVP), Internet Marlin 1.7, and Vudu DRM. DRM is enabled thanks to “Secure OS”, but it’s not needed for the most basic DRM solutions such as Widewine Level 3, Verimatrix Standard, and PlayReady 2.0 Non-TVP. So as we’ve seen recently that most Amlogic S905 TV box lack DRM support, a firmware upgrade should be enough to enable these, but any DRM scheme that requires Secure OS is likely impossible on devices that have not been flashed with Secure OS at the factory.
Amlogic S905M/S905X will come before Amlogic S912, but so far I don’t have exact ETA for either processors, so we’ll need to be patient.
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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