"The enhanced video is courtesy of the recently announced VX855,
a core-logic chip that combines northbridge and southbridge
functionality, uses just 2.3 Watts, and measures only 27 x 27mm.
According to Via, this chip permits decoding of H.264, MPEG-2,
MPEG-4, and VC-1 video, while using only 40 percent of a host CPU's
resources.
"The VX855 is designed to support Via's Eden, C7, and Nano
processors. The relatively new, 64-bit Nano has just started to
appear in netbooks, such as Samsung's NC20 and Dr. Mobile's
FreeStyle 1300n (right), and we're a bit surprised not to see it in
the Surfboard. Presumably for cost reasons, Via has instead
selected its older C7-M ULV, which dates back to 2006. At the same
time, with its in-order execution pipeline, the C7 is arguably more
akin than the Nano to the Atom chips that have fared so well in the
netbook space."
