The popular chip designer ARM has unveiled a new GPU built on the Bifrost architecture that is aimed to bring virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to the masses. The chip is a mid-range alternative to the Mali-G71 GPU introduced earlier this year.

The new Mali-G51 is ARM's smallest Vulkan-enabled Mali GPU to date and also most area-efficient and energy-efficient GPU to date. It supports resolutions up to 4K with up to 60% more performance per mm2 and up to 60% more energy-efficient than Mali-T830 GPU.

Alongside the Mali-G51 GPU, ARM also announced the Mali-V61 video processor. The V61 brings VP9 and improved HEVC, and takes aim at real-time 4K streaming.

Both chips are available to license now and we can expect to see it in mobile devices in 2018.

Highlights of ARM Mali-G51 GPU

• Built on new Bifrost architecture
• Up to 60% more energy efficiency and 60% more performance density than Mali-T830
• 30% smaller, the smallest Mali GPU capable of powering 1080p to 4K smartphones
• Designed to support exciting premium use cases like virtual spaces and augmented reality
• ARM Frame Buffer Compression (AFBC) 1.2. optimizations include improved GPU performance in bandwidth limited scenarios as well as improved display processor performance for rotation use cases.
• New dual-pixel shader core implemented to double texel and pixel rates and can be used asymmetrically with a uni-pixel shader core in order to access even further reconfigurability and versatility.

Highlights of ARM Mali-V61 VPU

• Flexible encode & decode of multiple streams
• High-quality HEVC encode and VP9 encode/decode
• Scalable across all levels of mobile and home multimedia solutions
• Provides the simplest and easiest way to support VP9-ready, 4K media, whilst maintaining ARM's low power, low latency and small area heritage