nVidia is planning to introduce 80nm process into Geforce 7 mainstream & value products Q4 to raise its competitiveness. The first release would be based on Geforce 7600, codename G73-B1, and then G72 the next. The high-end Geforce 7900 family has no plan to the production improvement, but nVidia is going to release a new high-end product in the end of 2006. The new product is Direct X 10 based, planned to replace G71.
IBM and TSMC are producing Geforce 6/7 chips. In an attempt to receive more of the 80nm work, UMC is rumored to be preparing to fiercely underbid the project, according to industry sources. Although the production ratio of UMC is still an unknown, such advance must lower the cost of nVidia.
Moreover, HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) is going to be included in HDTV, Blu-ray and HD-DVD. HDCP compatible device is a must for 1080p quality, otherwise 540p is used instead. To be ready in HDCP, Geforce 7950GX2 has already supported Crypto ROM (1), and HDCP compatible Geforce 7900GTX and Geforce 7900GT (2) will be releasing in July and mid-Aug respectively. Up to now, nVidia has no plan on HDCP related product on mainstream and value market. It may ultimately have, but depends on the demand. In addition, additional “-H†are marked in all HDCP products model name (e.g., Geforce 7900GTX-H) and stated to support PureVideo HD (3) technology.
For HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), G73-B1 has build in HDMI Signal Mixing to save another US$8-9 for external chip. However, 80nm G72 have no build-in HDMI Signal Mixing, it will appear only in the next generation of value product.
(1) Crypto ROM has build-in key and HDCP License for HDCP decoding
(2) As every HDCP product has to pay for a license, some of the 80nm G73-B1 has HDCP function disabled. Only those “-H†version will support HDCP and they are come with Crypto ROM.
(3) nVidia PureVideo HD means PureVideo plus HDCP (Blu-Ray或HD-DVD)
Source HKEPC Hardware - IT News
IBM and TSMC are producing Geforce 6/7 chips. In an attempt to receive more of the 80nm work, UMC is rumored to be preparing to fiercely underbid the project, according to industry sources. Although the production ratio of UMC is still an unknown, such advance must lower the cost of nVidia.
Moreover, HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) is going to be included in HDTV, Blu-ray and HD-DVD. HDCP compatible device is a must for 1080p quality, otherwise 540p is used instead. To be ready in HDCP, Geforce 7950GX2 has already supported Crypto ROM (1), and HDCP compatible Geforce 7900GTX and Geforce 7900GT (2) will be releasing in July and mid-Aug respectively. Up to now, nVidia has no plan on HDCP related product on mainstream and value market. It may ultimately have, but depends on the demand. In addition, additional “-H†are marked in all HDCP products model name (e.g., Geforce 7900GTX-H) and stated to support PureVideo HD (3) technology.
For HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), G73-B1 has build in HDMI Signal Mixing to save another US$8-9 for external chip. However, 80nm G72 have no build-in HDMI Signal Mixing, it will appear only in the next generation of value product.
(1) Crypto ROM has build-in key and HDCP License for HDCP decoding
(2) As every HDCP product has to pay for a license, some of the 80nm G73-B1 has HDCP function disabled. Only those “-H†version will support HDCP and they are come with Crypto ROM.
(3) nVidia PureVideo HD means PureVideo plus HDCP (Blu-Ray或HD-DVD)
Source HKEPC Hardware - IT News