Broadcom has announced its new Crystal HD (BCM70015) chip today which is an option for OEMs designing netbooks with Intel's next-gen NM10 Express chipset / N450 processor to enhance the video playback capabilities.

This little chip is a low power, low cost solution which takes the strain off the platform by taking care of both standard and high-definition video playback. It supports multiple formats including H.264/AVC, MPEG-2, VC-1, WMV9, MPEG-4, DivX, Xvid and AVS.

ASUS, Dell, Samsung and inevitably other netbook manufacturers are confirmed to be making use of the BCM70015 on select upcoming netbooks; some of which we'll no doubt catch a glimpse of during CES next year.

You can check out the video below to see how well it works compared to a similarly spec'd netbook without the use of the chip.

For further information on Broadcom's Crystal HD solution, the official announcement can be read here.