Intel's new video chip challenges incumbents

The prospect of internet video becoming a viable alternative to proprietary delivery channels such as cable , fiber, broadcast and satellite came one step closer with the release of Intel's latest chip, the Penryn. It's about half the size of current chips and uses a re-engineered transistor that switches more quickly and uses less switching power, and Intel says the Penryn will deliver a 40- to 60-percent improvement in video and imaging performance.

Sean Maloney, Intel's chief sales and marketing officer, told the New York Times that the chips' increased computing power would begin the transformation of today's stuttering and blurry videos, the staple of YouTube and other video streaming sites, into high-resolution, full-screen quality that will begin to compete with the living room HDTV. "It's biggest impact is high-definition video," he said. "It will be highly addictive."

Not everyone was as convinced. An analyst at Insight 64, Nathan Brookwood, told PC World that while the Penryn provides a small performance boost, it's not a major change in architecture and rather than upgrading to Penryn systems, customers may wait for Nehalem, the next big overhaul in Intel's chip architecture scheduled for 2008.

At the same time, Adobe has released its beta version of Flash which renders a HD-like picture promising a significant improvement in quality of most user generated video. 

For More:
- New York Times Report
- PC World Report

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