VIA EITX-3001 Squeezes 1080p HD Playback Onto Tiny Mainboard

You can generally rely on VIA for a skinny mainboard with HD credentials, and their new VIA EITX-3001 doesn't disappoint.  Based around the Em-ITX standard, a compact 12 x 17 cm form-factor, the fanless EITX-3001 packs an integrated 1.3GHz VIA Nano E-Series processor, VIA VX855 media system processor and HDMI connector, and is suitable for outputting 1080p High Definition video with hardware decoding of MPEG-2, H.264, VC-1 and WMV9 content.

There's also a VGA port, gigabit ethernet, dual COM ports, four USB ports, a USB device port and audio jacks, and then there are plenty of headers for hooking up other devices and display options.  VIA also offer a range of wireless modules and I/O cables, and the EITX-3001 also has a USB touchscreen driver onboard.

VIA reckon the EITX-3001 will be of most interest to kiosks, embedded and other relatively dull applications, but we can see home users drawn to its low-power requirements, fanless build and HD output; it would make for an interesting HTPC unit, certainly.  No word on pricing, though it's apparently available to customers now.

Press Release:

VIA EITX-3001 Shows that 'Thin is In' for Embedded Devices

VIA announce VIA EITX-3001, a slim-line Em-ITX form factor board featuring VIA Nano E-Series and HD video over HDMI

Taipei, Taiwan, 9 June 2010 – VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the VIA EITX-3001, its latest Em-ITX form factor board and the ideal solution for a range of durable and fanless next generation devices in kiosk, HMI, POI and POS embedded applications.

Combining the latest VIA Nano E-Series processor and the VIA VX855 media system processor, the VIA EITX-3001 offers a full featured I/O specification on a specially developed slim-line board. Fanless devices based on the VIA EITX-3001 can enjoy absolute stability within a wide temperature range in a low profile system of less than 35mm high.

"With the VIA EITX-3001 we're offering a full-featured board that is the ideal starting point for much slimmer, fanless and rugged devices," said Daniel Wu, Vice President, VIA Embedded Platform Division, VIA Technologies, Inc. "The VIA EITX-3001 combines versatility with ruthless stability at extreme temperatures in a form factor that is ideal for space constrained industrial and commercial environments."

The VIA EITX-3001: Slim, Stable and Fanless

The VIA EITX-3001 is powered by a 1.3GHz VIA Nano E-Series processor, bringing a performance optimized, 64-bit architecture to today's modern embedded applications. The VIA EITX-3001 also takes advantage of the VIA VX855 media system processor, a feature packed all-in-one digital media chipset that brings excellent hardware acceleration for the latest HD video formats including MPEG-2, H.264, VC-1 and WMV9.

The VIA EITX-3001 is based on the unique Em-ITX form factor, placing both the VIA Nano E-Series processor and VIA VX855 MSP on the reverse side of the board, optimizing available board real estate and facilitating simple fanless chassis designs. The VIA EITX-3001 is guaranteed to be stable in passive cooling configurations at temperatures ranging from -10oC to 60oC.

The VIA EITX-3001 includes an onboard DC-to-DC converter that has both AT and ATX power modes, supporting a wide range of power input voltage from DC 7V to DC 36V, configurable through an onboard switch. An on board built-in 5-wire/4-wire USB Touch interface makes the EITX-3001 ideally suited for high-end interactive touch screen multimedia applications.

Dual I/O coastlines allow for a wealth of I/O ports including a HMDI port, VGA port, Gigabit Ethernet, dual COM ports, four USB ports, a USB device port, audio jacks and power and HDD activity LEDs. LVDS is supported through on board pin headers allowing for a range of multi-display options including CRT/LVDS, CRT/HDMI and LVDS/HDMI configurations.

The VIA EITX-3001 supports all 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating systems including the latest Windows Embedded Standard 7.

The VIA EMITX-30001 is available to customers now. To learn more about the VIA EITX-3001 please visit:

http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/embedded/ProductDetail.jsp?productLine=1&id=1210