EPIA-P720 attracts attention of HTPC builders

The recently announced VIA EPIA-P720, the Pico-ITX motherboard, that can play 1080p and is passively cooled, has raised some eyebrows over at MaximumPC. In the comments to their short article about the palm-sized board, their readers seem most interested in sticking the tiny mobo in their lounge rooms.

"Though the presention mentions public displays, not htpc's, so I'm curious if they think it would be good as such. If so then I think this is an insanely awesome product. One major issue with htpc's is the size of the box. Now you can have one the size of your $30 dvd player."

"While mobos are flat, a gpu isn't. And rolling with mATX is still large. (as in the sese that your HTPC is about the size of an old XBOX :P)This type of PC would own at my place. My parents would love this for a computer. Theoretically, you could make an HTPC, oh say the size of a Gamecube, about the size of a lunch box."

"sounds like this mobo is like the perfect htpc mobo - at least on a term of size - that only does what an htpc should do.."

VIA launches new HD capable Pico-ITX

Imagine a digital interactive device that's about the size of a paperback and can play HD video at 1080p with no fans in the system! By combining the VX855 Media System Processor with a VIA Eden processor, the EPIA-P720 makes it possible.

"Today’s digital interactive devices give users a more immersive and enhanced experience, employing high quality, high resolution video content. Using the latest video compression technologies, like the increasingly popular H.264 codec, HD media playback usually requires a substantial processing overhead, negating the possibility of a completely fanless compact system.

With the VIA EPIA-P720, the VIA VX855 MSP takes the video decompression burden from the central processor, applying industry-leading hardware acceleration for the most compression-intensive codecs, including H.264, VC1, WMV9 and MPEG 2/4, at display resolutions up to 1080p. The VIA EPIA-P720 also boasts several display connectivity options including native HDMI, VGA and LVDS support."

Read more in the official Press Release.