Raspberry Pi – DIY Media Player

[thepanoguy]

The Raspberry Pi project may be the project for designing a media player from the ground up.

Details:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi

Home Page:

http://www.raspberrypi.org/

The Raspberry Pi is a single-board computer designed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation that is intended to stimulate the teaching of basic computer science in schools. An early prototype version of the computer was mounted in a package the same size as a USB memory stick, and had a USB port on one end with an HDMI port on the other; Shipping versions are planned to be credit card sized. Two versions are planned, a Model A with 128MB RAM, one USB port and no network port, and a Model B with 256MB RAM, two USB ports and 10/100 wired Ethernet. The Raspberry Pi provides an ARM processor which is suitable for running Linux for a targeted estimated price of $25 (approx. £15) for a pre-configured system (Model A), cheap enough to give to a child to do whatever he or she wants with it. The prototype is part of a venture by the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

The prototype is designed on a Broadcom processor BCM2835.
700MHz ARM11
128MB of SDRAM (256MB optional)
OpenGL ES 2.0
1080p30 H.264 high-profile decode
Composite and HDMI video output
USB 2.0
SD/MMC/SDIO memory card slot
General-purpose I/O
Optional: Integrated 2-port USB hub and 10/100 Ethernet controller
FLOSS software (Debian GNU/Linux, Iceweasel, KOffice, Python)

http://www.broadcom.com/products/BCM2835#features

The BCM2835 is a cost-optimized, full HD, multimedia applications processor for advanced mobile and embedded applications that require the highest levels of multimedia performance. Designed and optimized for power efficiency, BCM2835 uses Broadcom's VideoCore® IV technology to enable applications in media playback, imaging, camcorder, streaming media, graphics and 3D gaming.

Low Power ARM1176JZ-F Applications Processor
Dual Core VideoCore IV® Multimedia Co-Processor
1080p30 Full HD HP H.264 Video Encode/Decode
Advanced Image Sensor Pipeline (ISP) for up to 20-megapixel cameras operating at up to 220 megapixels per second
Low power, high performance OpenGL-ES® 1.1/2.0 VideoCore GPU. 1 Gigapixel per second fill rate.
High performance display outputs. Simultaneous high resolution LCD and HDMI with HDCP at 1080p60

Forum:

http://www.raspberrypi.org/?page_id=43

Video Discussion:

http://www.raspberrypi.org/?page_id=43&mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=36

http://www.raspberrypi.org/?page_id=43&mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=427

According to the above posts the video drivers are closed sourced. The good part is that the project is a non-profit educational project. One of the board members is employed by Broadcom; therefore video driver issues may be resolvable in an orderly manner.

Considering the cost of the boards, $25 and $35 with the onboard facilities for soldering in a JTAG header, the boards may be a cheap method of building a dedicated media server or media player. At the price the boards would also make a good home automation system.

Other information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VideoCore

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2974396

http://www.mycablealternatives.com/tag/geekout/

http://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/k8vuc/1080p_video_displayed_on_the_raspberrypi_a_25/

[mad_ady]

It sounds great for DIY projects but:
* as I understand, it only supports H.264 hardware decoding. Anything else would be done in software - and most likley wouldn't play in real-time. Also, there's no mention of supported players and formats (I suppose the video player should be able to pipe video to the hardware decoder in order for it to be efficient).
* if this is targeted for children, I pity my future in the IT industry... The kids would have to have more advanced computer skills than I have to use the thing (Linux, cross compilers, embedded systems). I'm gonna end up as an old, grumpy relic.

[thepanoguy]

Worldwide; people have stopped being creative and become appliance operators. Maybe the new blood will realise that given the right components, creative computing can be mentally stimulating.

My understanding is that the Broadcom device is a two core ARM device. The target market is low power devices, PDA’s, tablets, mobile video applications, etc. The second core is assigned to a dedicated real time video chip.

Admittedly the video is only 1080p60 H.264. With all the issues experienced with the current media streaming devices, someone will work out a method of transcoding the video into a 1080p60 H.264 format. Considering the cost of the device, why waste the time, a person could just build a cheap low powered video server.

My first computer was hand built 37 years ago using an S100 Bus, 2Mhz Z80, 16Kbytes ram. The I/O ports and Eprom burner was wire wrapped. Originally there was no rom boot. To boot the computer a short boot loader was keyed to read an audio cassette tape reader. Once booted, other programs were read in using the audio cassette tape reader. My first drive was a single sided single density eight inch floppy drive using CP/M. The components fitted into the equivalent of a large tower case. The computing power of a Nintendo Game Boy is more powerful.

CP/M was a far superior DOS than MSDOS.

http://www.gaby.de/ekildall.htm
http://www.cadigital.com/kildall.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_43/b3905109_mz063.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Kildall
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cp/m
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-100_bus

CP/M source code:
http://www.cpm.z80.de/
http://www.gaby.de/eoverv.htm
http://www.gaby.de/ecpmlink.htm
http://www.seasip.demon.co.uk/Cpm/index.html

That definitely places me in the senile “Grumpy Old Men” category.

[shunte]

I've been watching this project for a while and intend to pick a couple of the B type up when they hopefully launch in a month or so.

The gadget is intended as an education device to stimulate kids to get into programming given the headcount in British Universities in Computer Sciences has dropped by over 50% in the last few years.

The idea is to emulate the hey-day of the BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, and the Commodore Vic 20 and C64 in the early '80s. Now at the time that did get my kid brother and I into programing, my kid brother at 14 being quite the accomplished hacker on the C64 games front a card carrying member of the SCS

That said I really don't see this helping to crowbar kids asses of sofa and getting them beyond flicking the odd Angry Bird around their TV screens - sadly I did that just myself yesterday evening with my new Roku box.

With programming being commoditized and sent off-shore to cheaper locals maybe there will be a market for these gadgets - just not in call-center Britain!

But as I mentioned on RMerlins proxy thread a week or so back I bet one of these could make a nice home for a proxy server

[PaulF]

My first computer was hand built 37 years ago using an S100 Bus, 2Mhz Z80, 16Kbytes ram. The I/O ports and Eprom burner was wire wrapped. Originally there was no rom boot. To boot the computer a short boot loader was keyed to read an audio cassette tape reader. Once booted, other programs were read in using the audio cassette tape reader. My first drive was a single sided single density eight inch floppy drive using CP/M. The components fitted into the equivalent of a large tower case. The computing power of a Nintendo Game Boy is more powerful.

I guess I am officially old. I had Cromemco s100 bus system. Another link: S 100 Bus song by Frank Hayes

[b-rad.cc]

I'll be buying a couple of these as well, as I'm a huge fan of embedded systems & low powered devices...but I wouldn't hold out too much hope on it being a very robust media player. It'll be a fun little toy though.

Do I get any props for my first computer being a 486 dx2?

[mad_ady]

I am part of the younger generation, having started on a ZX Spectrum clone myself, but my first PC was a 486SX-S (no math coprocessor).

Embedded systems sound great for tinkering, as long as there's a community and as long as the sources remain open... If not, they will be a giant headache and people will revert back to proven solutions...

Although, I find it difficult to get started into homebrew if the community is large and developed. I mean, when you start to play with something you are enthusiastic about it, and get disappointed when you find out it has been done before by somebody else in the community (or you chose just to copy/paste what others have done)... One would have to find a niche "market" to keep the interest. In the old days, communities were much smaller and the same problems would be solved independently. In my opinion, that was what had sparked success.

[thepanoguy]

I will definitely be purchasing two units for no other reason than keep me mentally stimulated.

According to the Raspberry Pi forums, the intended market is low power computing shipped with Ubuntu. For dedicated video applications there may be too much CPU overhead using Ubuntu.

According to the Raspberry Pi forums, the VideoCore chip can handle realtime video. The main ARM core is an ARM1176JFZ-S. According to Wikipedia there is a second ARM core attached to the VideoCore chip and exclusively used for video processing. Time will tell what the true performance of VideoCore the chip is.

PaulF; I remember the Cromemco S100. A few were imported into Australia. The cabinet was built like a Mach Truck.

b-rad; cutting your teeth on a 486 dx2 makes your brain more agile that mine. We Grumpy OLD Men rely on young blood to do the critical thinking.

mad_ady; I remember the old days of belonging to a local computer club, spending long hours trying to resolve issues, then finding out when the latest computer magazine arrived from the USA three months later by snail mail that someone had already solved the issue. Head banging against a brick wall.

There is nothing wrong with using or re-cycling existing material especially GPL code; it is better than trying to re-inventing the wheel. The fun is in personalising and enhancing the project.

Some existing Sigma code that may be able to be re-cycled.

The Sigma EM8620L uses an ARM chip.

Sigma EM8620L Datasheet:
http://www.datasheetdir.com/EM8620L+Television

Sigma EM8620L DVD Players:
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers?chipset=Sigma%20EM8620L

ARM GPL Source code for the 8620L Envision.

Farther information:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=9686573&postcount=202
http://www.mpcclub.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-10459.html
http://wqa007.blogspot.com/2008/11/8622l.html

From the GPL_DA-70900 Source Code Readme file.

This is the Sigma Designs ARM utilities: everything you need to run uClinux on the EM86xx family of chips.

The ARM utilities package (to the exception of the 'peripherals' folder) is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License (the GPL); see the file COPYING for more information about the GPL.

Please note that the MRUA and RMF86 packages are not released under the terms of the GPL, but are rather proprietary to Sigma Designs and are released under the term of the contract that binds you to Sigma Designs.

Uclinux Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9CClinux
http://www.uclinux.org/
http://www.linux-arm.org/Main/WebHome

From the Raspberry Pi Forum.
http://www.raspberrypi.org/forum/?mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=174.0

A 5$ 1.5" LCD screen for all your projects!

http://spritesmods.com/?art=picframe
http://neophob.com/2009/01/photo-frame-hack-updated-libst2205/
http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,2435
http://spritesmods.com/?art=picframe
http://jeff.doozan.com/debian/lcd/st2205term.html
http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2004/07/07/psone_lcd/1
http://www.vuzix.com/consumer/

[b-rad.cc]

uClinux is not used on pretty much any modern sigma device. Note that uClinux has nothing to do with uClibc either, except that the latter was originally designed for the former. uClibc now lives a life of its own and is infinitely of more use to the general population than uClinux.

& man i wish i had a nickle for every url you drop

[thepanoguy]

Australian slang - bower bird.

A bower bird is a person that sees useful things in every thing and collects them. This type of person usually has no room in his garage for his car.

(I manage to park my car in my double garage; opening the doors is another issue)

I archive every web page I visit containing useful information in case I have a use for that information at a later date.

I spent my working life working with men and trying to understand female logic.

There are two things in life that I have not mastered:

Writing code and understanding women.

I have yet to meet a man who honestly can say he understands female logic.

Therefore:
Resistance is Futile - give up trying to understand female logic.
Be submissive, become assimilated and controlled by the female mind.

The alternative is to clean out the bower, buy a brown robe, shave the head, set up a still, crush grapes and brew grappa.
Unfortunately; brewing grappa will end up with a ball and chain around the leg.

Maybe there still may be a glimmer of hope for me in the software department.