NVIDIA power high quality video on the Motorola Razer
Now why would NVIDIA be playing with the Motorola Razer? Probably because their mobile GPU is powering the new handset giving what appears to be near faultless movie quality playback on the Razer’s smallish screen.
Click for larger imageWe had a play with the new Razer which, while seeming faster than the previous versions, is a fair size thicker than it’s predecessors. And whilst that matt blue casing looks funky, it feels a bit cheap and plasticy, very similar to the feel of the casing on a DS.
Click for larger imageBut throwing the aesthetics to one side and looking at what the phone does with NVIDIA power inside is where it gets interesting. We watched several sample movies than had been re-mastered down to fit the Razer’s screen and the quality was seriously impressive. With provision for micro-SD cards, the Razer will let you play up to two hours of video of a high enough quality to appear near DVD standard on that small screen. Use of the Bluetooth headset will be essential though as the sound output was very quiet.
Click for larger imageIf you’re wondering whether there’s a need for another device for movie playback, NVIDIA believe there is. Whilst the gaming abilities of their phone chip have yet to be tested, NVIDIA are keen to push the chip’s impressive video abilities. The question is, do we need thus when we have the PSP doing it just as well with a larger screen and better sound? NVIDIA reckon that good as the PSP is, it’ll be the mobile networks that’ll help make the Razer and phones like it a success. Network operators are, apparently, keen to start making money from those expensive 3G licences they’ve all bought and delivering high quality video is what the 3G network does best.
Click for larger imageIt certainly looks like NVIDIA want to push the video on this one as there weren’t even any games installed on the handset… so it looks like we’re still going to have to carry two devices for calling and gaming… ah well.
