S3 Graphics today announced the Chrome 400 Ultra Low Power (ULP) mobile graphics processor series, boasting a low power draw. The S3 Graphics Chrome 400 processor features a maximum power envelope extending below seven watts producing significantly less heat and enabling the addition of dedicated graphics to mini-notes for the first time.

The chip is able to power Aero user interface in Windows Vista, play back of Hi-Def media content, Blu-ray optical disk technology and DirectX 10+ compatible gaming.

All Chrome 400 ULP Series GPUs feature the latest ChromotionHD Video Engine enabling acceleration for all video standards including H.264, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VC-1, WMV-HD, AVS, and AVC.

Sophisticated algorithms and power control mechanisms will allow Chrome 400 ULP Series GPUs to deliver the optimal balance between performance and power on-the-fly, to meet performance and application requirements for power efficient graphics computing on thin and light notebook PCs.

The Chrome 400 ULP Series is available in three SKUs.

The Chrome 430 ULP faetures a TDP of less than 7 watts, supports HD video and DirectX 10.1 gaming.

S3 claims that second SKU, the Chrome 435 ULP offers superb performance-per-watt metrics, out performing competitor products by over 40% in benchmarks while using consistently less energy.

Finally, the Chrome 440 ULP offers up to 60% better performance than its competitor equivalent, and delivers HD 1080p media playback, including dual-stream Blu-ray or Blu-ray Picture-in-Picture (PiP) support which coupled with DirectX 10.1 gaming performance.

The S3 Graphics Chrome 400 ULP series is now shipping, and notebook OEM customers include Fujitsu (FMV-BIBLO MG series).