1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

MediaTek’s Dimensity 1200 mobile chip handles cameras with up to 200 megapixels

By

MediaTek has announced two new additions to its 5G mobile processor range, the Dimensity 1200 and the Dimensity 1100, which though an impressive series of spec upgrades, may help the company’s chips find their way into more high-end smartphones very soon. MediaTek powers many smart home products, from Amazon’s Echo hardware to the majority of smart TVs available, and a growing number of capable smartphones, but is not as well known as Qualcomm in the world of high-end flagship mobile hardware.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

The Dimensity 1200 could change that. Built using a 6nm process, the octa-core Dimensity 1200 uses an ultra-core Arm Cortex A78, three super-core Arm Cortex A78, and four Arm Cortex A55 cores, with a Sub-6 5G modem built-in, a nine-core GPU, and an updated six-core APU for artificial intelligence duties which provides a 10% performance upgrade over previous versions.

Recommended Videos

The photographic ability is the standout new feature, with the chip’s five-core HDR-ISP handling single cameras with up to 200-megapixels, and 4K HDR video recording. On the display side, the Dimensity 1200 supports QHD+ resolutions at a 90Hz refresh rate, or FHD+ resolutions at up to 168Hz. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 are among the connectivity features.

The Dimensity 1100 is similar, but replaces the ultra-core Cortex A78 with a standard A78, joining three others and four Cortex A55 cores. The chip is still built using a 6nm process, has a 5G modem, and the updated APU. The specs are slightly more modest, with support for a single 108MP camera, and a maximum 144Hz refresh rate on FHD+ resolution screens.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

MediaTek says the first smartphones with the Dimensity 1200 and 1100 chips inside will arrive beginning around the end of March and the start of April, with Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, and Vivo all apparently expressing interest in the processors. This does mean an early release in the U.S. is unlikely, with none of these manufacturers officially selling smartphones in North America. However, all of them do sell devices officially in Europe, and most in the U.K. too.

MediaTek did strike a deal with LG and T-Mobile to power the carrier’s own LG Velvet smartphone with a Dimensity 1000 recently, so while no announcements for the U.S. have come yet, it doesn’t mean we won’t see a Dimensity 1200 phone in the future.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Andy Boxall
Senior Mobile Writer
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
How MediaTek became the best-kept secret in smartphones

What kind of chipset is in your phone? If you're reading this article, chances are you know the answer right off the top of your head. Maybe it's a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, Google's Tensor G2, or an A16 Bionic in your brand new iPhone 14 Pro. Or, just maybe, it's one with a MediaTek logo on it.

MediaTek isn't a company we talk about often when discussing U.S. smartphones, but it's one we most certainly should. I recently attended MediaTek's Executive Summit in Sonoma and had a chance to sit down with the company's Deputy General Manager of its Smartphone Business Unit, Yenchi Lee. I've come away from the Summit with a renewed appreciation for MediaTek's stealthy success over the years, as well as greater excitement about where it could go in the future.
Massive success hiding in plain sight
Global smartphone shipments from Q2 2020 through Q2 2022 Joe Maring/Digital Trends

Read more
MediaTek’s T800 chipset will bring ultrafast 5G to more devices than ever

MediaTek is on a roll again with a series of impressive chipsets that promise to revolutionize 5G technology from several angles, including taking it beyond smartphones to devices like fixed wireless 5G routers, mobile hotspots, vehicles, and smart home devices.

While the company has already impressed us with some cutting-edge technology in the new Dimensity 9200 this week, it turns out that's just the tip of a much bigger iceberg. MediaTek is also using its modem chipmaking skills to produce smaller and more energy-efficient chips capable of powering the next generation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices without compromising on performance.
The MediaTek T800

Read more
MediaTek’s Dimensity 9200 chip is packed with world’s-first tech

MediaTek has announced the Dimensity 9200 smartphone processor, which according to the company, “combines ultimate performance with significant power savings, extending battery life and keeping smartphones cool.” Built using cutting-edge techniques, it’s the first flagship chip from the maker to include both Sub-6 5G and mmWave 5G connectivity, meaning it’ll be more attractive to brands launching phones in the U.S. as well as globally.

Built using the latest second-generation 4nm process, it’s the first chip to use the second-generation ARM V9 architecture, the first with new LPDDR5X RAM, and the first with a UFS 4.0 and MCQ storage system. The processor uses a single ARM Cortex X3 running at 3.05GHz, three 2.85GHz Cortex A715 cores, and four 1.8GHz Cortex A510 cores for efficiency. The Dimensity 9200 is also the first chip to use ARM’s 11-core Immortalis G715 GPU, which supports hardware ray tracing.

Read more