Intel gives a tiny glimpse of its retooled control panel for integrated graphics

It's hard to get overly excited about integrated graphics, but Intel is attempting to stoke the flames of anticipation over its upcoming refreshed IGP control panel anyway by teasing out a brief clip of what's to come.

The new control panel will make its public debut sometime this month. Intel's stated goal is to make optimizing graphics settings easier and less confusing "for a billion people."

"I'm really excited about the upcoming control panel for Intel graphics. It's designed for the lower power PC gamer on the go, it's instructional for those new to performance tuning, and we're planning a beta program so you can help us make it even better," Chris Hook, Intel's graphics marketing boss (who previously held a similar role at AMD), said in January.

Here's a look at the teaser:

The brief clip doesn't provide a ton of details, though what we do see appears to be a modern interface. It also looks as though Intel has baked in optimized settings for games, based on the hardware. Intel already has a 'Gameplay' website where people can look up optimal graphics settings for certain games based on their processor and integrated graphics, but the revamped control panel looks as though it will streamline the process.

In the latter half of the clip, we also see a couple of sliders, though it's not clear what they represent.

One reason this is interesting is because it could be a hint of what to expect when Intel releases its first modern discrete GPU next year. On Twitter, Intel used the hashtag #JoinTheOdyssey, which is a reference to overarching graphics strategy. As far as we're concerned, "Odyssey" would also make a fine name for its discrete GPU, though right now it's simply the marketing term Intel is using to drum up excitement over its commitment to graphics.

In related news, Intel announced on Twitter today that Chris Pirillo is joining the graphics team "to ensure the community voice is heard and represented."

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Pirillo is the founder and CEO of LockerGnome and a well known tech personality who often hosts videos on various sites.

Paul Lilly

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).