Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 805 smartphone and tablet chip with 4K graphics capabilities

Latest chip capable of supporting Ultra HD video on mobile devices next year

Qualcomm has added to its Snapdragon line-up for smartphones and tablets, with a new system on a chip (SoC) capable of delivering video and graphics at 4K resolution in addition to offering greater processing power.

Unveiled at Qualcomm's annual analyst meeting in New York, the Snapdragon 805 is designed to deliver the highest-quality mobile video, imaging and graphics experiences as well as faster apps and web browsing, the firm said.

The latest mobile chip combines four Krait 450 CPU cores capable of running at up to an impressive 2.5GHz, plus a new Adreno 420 GPU with up to 40 percent more graphics processing power than its predecessor, the Adreno 330.

Qualcomm claims this delivers the mobile industry's first end-to-end Ultra HD solution, capable of 4K video capture and playback, plus operating an on-device display concurrently with output to HDTV.

Ultra HD is a step up from the existing HD video standard, offering approximately 4K horizontal resolution (actually 3840×2160), compared with the 1920x1080 of HD.

Qualcomm executive vice president Murthy Renduchintala claimed that when combined with Qualcomm's LTE wireless chipsets, the new processor would make it possible to stream and watch content at 4K resolution.

"Using a smartphone or tablet powered by [the] Snapdragon 805 processor is like having an Ultra HD home theatre in your pocket, with 4K video, imaging and graphics, all built for mobile," he said.

Qualcomm said the new processor is sampling now and is expected to be available in commercial devices during the first half of 2014.