Android devices use ARM processors, usually with ARM's 'Mali' display unit to render graphics. Usually every new Mali upgrade is a small incremental improvement over the previous design, but not this time around. ARM has taken the wraps off 'Mali-Cetus,' the company's next-generation display processor.
Designed with higher-resolution displays and multi-tasking in mind. For example, the new composition unit can composite 8 UI layers , and it can scale up to four of them with its four scaling engines. This will be incredibly helpful for Android 7.0 Nougat's multi-tasking functionality, where each app requires its own layer.
ARM is advertising Mali-Cetus to work with up to 4Kx2K screens at up to 120Hz. Cetus achieves this by splitting up 4K video layers to different sub-units, which has the added benefit of improved battery life.
The previous Mali-DP500/550/650 display processors were all based on a common architecture, with ARM iterating on it over the years. Cetus, on the other hand, is making a clean break, something we don’t see very often in this space. ARM is doing this in order to assemble a more modern design that can incorporate features such as HDR output and high throughput modes for VR, which were not a part of the earlier display processor family.
Co-processor interface which will allow OEMs to expand Mali graphics with their own hardware. For example, ARM's new Assertive Display block uses this interface to provide HDR support. It will likely be a while before we see Android devices with the new Mali-Cetus architecture, but I'm excited to see how noticeable the performance boost will be.
ARM is offering a bit more detail on the technical underpinnings of the architecture. At the same time, they’ve also changed how their processors are logically designed/broken down so that they are broken up into 5 different units: the ARM FrameBuffer Compression (AFBC) Unit, the Global Control Unit, the Layer Processing Unit, the Composition Unit, and the Display Output Unit
Designed with higher-resolution displays and multi-tasking in mind. For example, the new composition unit can composite 8 UI layers , and it can scale up to four of them with its four scaling engines. This will be incredibly helpful for Android 7.0 Nougat's multi-tasking functionality, where each app requires its own layer.
The previous Mali-DP500/550/650 display processors were all based on a common architecture, with ARM iterating on it over the years. Cetus, on the other hand, is making a clean break, something we don’t see very often in this space. ARM is doing this in order to assemble a more modern design that can incorporate features such as HDR output and high throughput modes for VR, which were not a part of the earlier display processor family.
Co-processor interface which will allow OEMs to expand Mali graphics with their own hardware. For example, ARM's new Assertive Display block uses this interface to provide HDR support. It will likely be a while before we see Android devices with the new Mali-Cetus architecture, but I'm excited to see how noticeable the performance boost will be.
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