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HTC issues official statement on HTC devices and ATI Imageon video acceleration hardware

There are few things worse from a technophile’s point of view than plunking down your hard earned cash on a new gadget only to find out later that it doesn’t operate as promised or expected. Things get worse when you try and get the issue fixed and the manufacturer doesn’t acknowledge the issue at all.

This is exactly what owners of some HTC smartphones are claiming. A website has been setup called HTCClassAction.org to try and force HTC and the cellular carriers that sell affected HTC devices to remedy alleged problems with certain devices and video acceleration.

The website claims that the HTC TyTn II, HTC Touch Dual, HTC Touch Cruise, HTC Wings, HTC Titan, HTC Vogue, HTC Libra, and HTC Iris as well as all the other names these phones go by are affected with the same problem. All of these phones are based on the MSM7200 and MSM7500 chipsets. These same chipsets are used by other manufactures whose devices don’t experience the same slowdowns with multimedia content according to some HTC owners.

The crux of the issue some owners are having with these devices is that the phone appears to not take advantage of the integrated ATI Imageon hardware. According to HTCClassAction.org, owners of affected HTC devices are getting mixed messages when they call to complain about slowdowns. Some HTC owners claim that tech support for HTC and their service provider deny knowledge of any issues surround drivers for the Imageon hardware. Some owners have been told by the same tech support departments that the problem is a known issue but isn’t wide spread enough to escalate up to the levels where a fix can be made.

A petition with over 4,000 signatures has is available for signing at PetitionOnline with the goal of getting HTC to fix the apparent lack of driver support for the ATI Imageon video acceleration hardware.

ATI spokesperson Jo Albers had this to say about the issue HTC owners are seeing, “AMD has licensed 3D graphics technology to QUALCOMM for use in select QUALCOMM MSM chipsets. It is up to QUALCOMM to choose in which products they will incorporate and enable this technology, and to which handheld manufacturers those products are sold.”

DailyTech contacted Jason Gordon of HTC USA for an official statement from HTC on the issues HTC owners are having with the MSM7xxx chipsets. The official word from HTC on this issue is:

In response to recent customer complaints about poor video performance on HTC devices based on the latest Qualcomm MSM7xxx chipsets, HTC is providing the following statement.

HTC is committed to delivering a portfolio of devices that offer a wide variety of communication, connectivity and entertainment functionality.  HTC does not offer dedicated or optimized multimedia devices and can confirm that its Qualcomm MSM7xxx-based devices do not use ATI’s Imageon video acceleration hardware.

HTC believes the overall value of its devices based on their combination of functionality and connectivity exceeds their ability to play or render high-resolution video. These devices do still provide a rich multimedia experience comparable to that of most smart phones and enable a variety of audio and video file formats.

HTC values its customers and the overall online community of mobile device enthusiasts and fans. HTC plans to include video acceleration hardware in future video-centric devices that will enable high-resolution video support.  

The reason there is no driver for the Imageon video hardware on phones equipped with the MSM7xxx chipsets is that HTC opted to include the chipsets from Qualcomm minus that feature. The confusion for HTC device owners comes from the fact that Qualcomm lists the MSM7500 and MSM7200 chipsets as including the ATI Imageon video acceleration hardware.

However, a quick perusal at HTC of some of the devices listed at HTCClassAction.org reveals that Imageon Video acceleration was never one of the promised features on the devices. HTC simply lists the chipsets that it uses in the phones. However, HTC doesn’t specifically say that it does not include a known feature of the chipsets produced by Qualcomm either.

When DailyTech first received a response from ATI concerning the Qualcomm MSM7xxx chipsets, the quote didn't seem to make sense with regards to the problem since it talked about enabling the Imageon hardware on chipsets that already said the hardware was included. In retrospect ATI apparently knew that not all of the Qualcomm MSM7xxx chipsets enabled the video acceleration hardware, specifically the chipsets in these HTC devices, making the official ATI statement make more sense.

The long and short of the matter for owners of HTC devices using these chipsets is that there will be no fix because HTC chose not to provide Imageon hardware in its devices.



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To me...
By FITCamaro on 1/22/2008 11:01:57 AM , Rating: 2
It sounds like these people just read the specs and made assumptions. It's up to the consumer to make a good choice on what to buy. If you make assumptions about things, you're going to get burned.

To me this is just another frivolous lawsuit. Yes the companies should attempt to make the fix if possible and there is an issue. But there's no basis for a lawsuit. To me if I bought one and there was such an issue, I'd return it if there was no way to fix it.




RE: To me...
By omnicronx on 1/22/08, Rating: -1
RE: To me...
By Digitaltigre on 1/22/2008 11:59:31 AM , Rating: 4
Sounds like somebody has no clue what video acceleration is for and hasn't taken the time to read up on what's actually being complained about. Software rendering is the reason my $700 device takes 1.5 seconds to switch from landscape to portrait and why the battery life suffers so badly. You can't tell me I don't have a reason to be upset. htcclassaction.org

If this is really HTCs stance then I will respond by taking my mighty dollar elsewhere. Too bad because this device (TyTN II) could be so much more than it already is.


RE: To me...
By Screwballl on 1/22/08, Rating: -1
RE: To me...
By Digitaltigre on 1/22/2008 12:52:13 PM , Rating: 4
And that is the reason to be upset with HTC. I DID take note that the processor ran at 400MHz just like the previous device I had. That gave me pause but I also heard that the new chip had more capabilities and features. I figured because of this the new device would perform better at the same clock speed. HTC in no way made it known that the device would not use the processor to it's potential. This is the part that's really intersting because if any computer hardware were in the same situation it would definately be grounds for a refund. This is kind of like getting a new top of the line video card but being stuck with the generic Windows VGA driver.

"It is your fault (the buyer) for buying a device without researching it first."

There was no way to accomplish this. Only now are people being made aware of this situation.


RE: To me...
By Chudilo on 1/22/2008 1:34:21 PM , Rating: 2
Actually Nvidia 8600 Series cards were supposed to have Advanced Video acceleration be made available via a firmware upgrade. And after a while it was determined that only version cards would be upgradeable. There were a lot of upset people. but they did not promise video hardware acceleration on early cards. They only showed off that feature at trade shows.


RE: To me...
By Screwballl on 1/22/08, Rating: -1
RE: To me...
By forcedalias on 1/22/2008 3:41:34 PM , Rating: 2
Well I bought mine early, reviews were very brief and nothing was ever mentioned about a constant stream of lag, whatever you do on it.

All I knew at the time from looking at spec sheets was that its video acceleration was to be handled by the Qualcomm MSM7200 chipset but I weren't expecting it to take full advantage of it, from experiencing something similar with the Trinity.

However, the only expectation I did have and well... let's face it, we all have, when we purchase the successor to another gadget is that it at the VERY FRIGGIN' LEAST matches the performance of its predecessors.

The fact that it's slower than HTC's own older models in itself makes it HTC's fault for charging me, an average Joe, nine FRIGGIN' hundred dollars for a seriously-flawed device.

Over time I noticed serious lag whenever I did anything on it but assumed its just early (release) ROM issues that would probably be ironed out in a month or two with a ROM update/patch, then find out through xda-developer forums what the deal is.

Since I don't have the luxury of just returning my phone, I'm definitely supporting the lawsuit option and quite frankly, if I was a little better off, I'd put a lot more money in towards it.

Only one thing's for certain, I sure as hell won't be buying HTC anymore.


RE: To me...
By Digitaltigre on 1/22/2008 4:46:09 PM , Rating: 3
'research before buying' would not possibly turn up the fact that the drivers aren't included. Neither would a few weeks of use.

This issue wasn't discovered until a few really smart people at XDA-Developers dug deep into the phone.

Stop trying to denounce my claim.

I am not at fault for this.


RE: To me...
By heero884 on 1/22/2008 12:56:48 PM , Rating: 2
If only it was that easy. Unfortunately HTC is not so clear as to what is and what isn't enabled. The users had to find out for themselves that the driver was missing. I guess this makes a bit of sense for HTC.. it would have cannibalized sales of their next $700+ phone ;)


RE: To me...
By heero884 on 1/22/2008 12:36:10 PM , Rating: 2
Ironically your "crappy" HTC 6700 probably outperforms the new TYTN II. Don't even think of "upgrading" ;)


RE: To me...
By therealnickdanger on 1/22/2008 11:20:15 AM , Rating: 2
I'm buying a Touch today, actually. I read up on this lawsuit earlier... it will disappear faster than a fart in a hurricane.


RE: To me...
By porkpie on 1/22/2008 11:43:28 AM , Rating: 4
It won't disappear. HTC will settle to avoid the risk of an idiot jury, the users will get a 50 cent discount on their next HTC purchase, and the attorney who setup the suit will receive $9M in fees.


RE: To me...
By therealnickdanger on 1/22/2008 12:08:55 PM , Rating: 2
AKA, disappear. No one will ever get anything out of it except the attorneys. If we all got free phones, that's something.


RE: To me...
By aGreenAgent on 1/22/2008 11:37:59 AM , Rating: 3
The guy who wrote the article misunderstood the issue.

This isn't about multimedia, this is about there not being directdraw drivers.

These HTC phones do not even use their Qualcomm chip. All video rendering is done in software on the CPU.


RE: To me...
By forcedalias on 1/22/2008 3:46:15 PM , Rating: 2
Exactly, but the majority of the douche bags out there still think we're upset because our phones can't play 1080p video and so all they do is blame the consumer.

Even if the lawsuit doesn't go ahead, I'm still spamming the crap out of HTC. Maybe get hold of some of their e-mail addresses and setup scripts on a couple of servers to supply them endlessly. ;)


RE: To me...
By tspinning on 1/22/2008 12:17:12 PM , Rating: 3
This issue (Sprint HTC Touch user here) is that Sprint has taken over all support for the US Sprint HTC "Touch" or HTC Vogue as the rest of the world knows it. Note there are differences between the CDMA and GSM phones (wi-fi, a-gps) and basically if you speak with HTC they say, we know there are issues, but Sprint chose to not use us for support (not that they want to write the drivers for their version either)

The main bitch here is that these phones could out perform a Nintendo DS, or be almost on par with a PSP... yet they are held back because once phone company's (err.. major providers) here give America us the taste of a good phone, all their shitty phones will no longer look good at the $100-$500 range and they will have to actually innovate, not slowly release designs that are all handicapped or proprietary every few months. Look at how advanced Japan's cell industry is (due to not having phones tied to carriers)... WAKE UP AMERICA WE'RE GETTING SCREWED

Info on the chip specs-

http://brew.qualcomm.com/bnry_brew/pdf/brew_2007/T...

Info on the bitching we are starting to do!

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=16320


RE: To me...
By SkyOwner on 1/23/2008 7:06:19 AM , Rating: 2
OK... this is definitely not true... The carrier-phone link is not the reason for phones to be bad. In belgium (very small country in europe) there is a law that prohibits this link, and the only effect is that phones are ridiculously expensive over there.

And one of the major phone manufacturers in Japan is NTT DoCoMo which happens to be the biggest carrier over there.


RE: To me...
By tspinning on 1/23/2008 10:04:40 AM , Rating: 2
If phones are crazy expensive, why can't you get them from another source or country, or do you have the GSM-CDMA issue we have here as well, where phones bought in another local are unable to work on your networks?

Either way, I think you misunderstood my issue, if ANY company could make phones that worked on ANY network, we would have much better innovation as opposed to carriers releasing handicapped models because it better fits their squeeze the customer for years and bleed them business plan.

Still think I’m off the mark? Check MSNBC, a slightly more “credible” source then yours truly.

Most Americans are in cell phone jail
Wireless providers have worked hard to lock you up into losing situations, constructing walls with cancellation fees, service-specific phones,