XBMC Running On an Atom-Based MID

reborn writes "Someone's got XBMC running on one of those MIDs. This one is a Compal Jax10. It runs Linux and is powered by an Intel Atom processor clocked at 800Mhz along with Intel's GMA500, which is basically a licensed PowerVR SGX GPU. Except for the better GPU (and its screen and keyboard, of course), it is similarly specced as some of the lower-end netbooks. XBMC would make a great portable media player, given its ability to play media off the network and virtually all file formats, but in the end it depends on the price-point of these MIDs. Here's the video."

Comments

XBMC, MID, GMA500, SGX GPU...

[NinthAgendaDotCom]

Jeez, could we get a few more acronyms and buzzwords in this summary please?

Re:XBMC, MID, GMA500, SGX GPU...

[MichaelSmith]

I had to open four tabs to find out what the article was about. But then it wasn't so interesting. To me, anyway.

Maybe I should submit an article about running open office on ubuntu: "Pull down Applications menu..."

Re:XBMC, MID, GMA500, SGX GPU...

[Tumbleweed]

PCMCIA! (People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms)

Well...maybe some of us can.

Oh yeah, TANSTAAFL!

It can't do HD.Fail.

[timmarhy]

if it can't do proper HD then it's not interesting. there are plenty of tiny low res video players on the market now.

Re:It can't do HD.Fail.

[Shikaku]

http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/omap3530.html

The omap3530 can do HD, and it's not even an Intel processor, it's an ARM, so the power savings are enormous.

http://openpandora.org/

This device will be able to play HD in about the size of a DS lite. It's not out yet however.

http://beagleboard.org/hardware Right now, you can buy a beagle board which will do mostly the same thing, except not in a real handheld.

Re:It can't do HD.Fail.

[timmarhy]

bluray is at best 1920x1080 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc#Technical_specifications, and i'm not talking about crappy small screen players, of which there are tons of already and i can't understand why we need another one (it runs linux.. so what?).

really we are all waiting for is for a small, silent, UPGRADABLE media player that can do full hd video/audio at a reasonable cost. so far you are either locked out of codec upgrades by vendors, or it's a fully fledged pc which is both expensive and bulky in comparison.

Re:It can't do HD.Fail.

[Cadallin]

If Nvidia's Ion platform takes off, an updated Eee Box 202, or the MSI Wind desktop, would fit the bill. Its not ready out of the box, but a $200 PC in the size range of a Mac Mini with full GPU video acceleration running XBMC or an equivalent is probably the closest we'll ever get.

Re:It can't do HD.Fail.

[zealot]

From what I've read elsewhere, the chipset involved does have video decode acceleration support. After googling, anandtech.com has an article that says that the chipset can support 1080i and 720p decode. A tomshardware.com article says that it can do hardware decode of H.264, MPEG2, MPEG4, VC1, and WMV9 formats.

Re:It can't do HD.Fail.

[Anonymous Coward]

You miss the point. SD on an 8-inch screen or whatever will be every bit as crisp and beautiful as HD on your home television set, if not far, far more so. It's overkill.

Re:It can't do HD.Fail.

[Lumpy]

It's also non news.

I had XBMC running under ubuntu on my Acer aspire one already.

it's just not impressive to see someone get a Intel based program port running on a intel processor.

Re:It can't do HD.Fail.

[zealot]

But this ISN'T that old, craptastic, power-hungry chipset used by most Atom netbooks. It's a new chipset code-named Poulsbo designed specifically to go with Atom. Quoting a tomshardware.com article:

"The Atom Z500 has a TDP that varies between 0.85 W (for the 800 MHz version without HyperThreading) and 2.64 W (for the 1.86 GHz model with HyperThreading enabled). The SCH consumes approximately 2.3 W in its most evolved version, which brings the SCH + CPU together to under 5 W. By comparison with existing solutions, thatâ(TM)s obviously a big step forward â" the Via Nano, for example, is announced at 25 W for the 1.8 GHz version and a Celeron-M ULV at 5 W at 900 MHz."

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-atom-cpu,1947-3.html

In addition, the Atom Z-series/Poulsbo combo supports the C6 idle power state where the CPU saves away its architectural state in a small SRAM which remains powered up while the rest of the CPU shuts off entirely. Idle power for the processor is somewhere from .01W - .1 W (this is from what I remember reading somewhere, but I can't find a link right now). Not sure what the chipset's powercomsumption is like when idle.

The biggest known downside to this chipset is that it supports 1 GB of RAM max.

That's nothing

[zoid.com]

I got a RJ-96 running on a x-Jmad without even putting a modded CRANK i the EIEIO.

I don't get it

[Turmio]

I don't get it what's the big deal here. An Atom-Based MID is a PC, which can run Linux, which can run XBMC. Just install Ubuntu Intrepid, add a couple of lines to /etc/apt/sources.list and a dozen pressed keys later you have XBMC installed. Yay.

Portable media player features

[Anonymous Coward]

"XBMC would make a great portable media player, given its ability to play media off the network"

If I'm in my car, on an airplane, or anywhere else I'd take a portable media player, there is no network from which to play media. This is why portable media players emphasize disk space. Unless you're looking for a portable player for trips to another room of your house, network playback is useless.

VxD?

[tepples]

Sorry for yet another "acronym" but if they want to be running an HD media player, my guess it's not so much the SGX technology they want to use, but the vxd

Really? I thought VxD died with Windows 98.

Re:Off topic

[lysergic.acid]

why a netbook? if it's going to be a HTPC then why get something designed for portability? having a tiny 9" screen is also kinda pointless when the system's plugged into a TV. a low-power VIA C7 processor paired with VIA's EPIA NX Nano-ITX motherboard would be far more suited for a media center PC or set-top box. the EPIA NX comes with the CX700M IGP chipset and features:

• built-in HDTV encoder
• hardware-accelerated MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and WMV9 decoding
• up to 1080i playback
• dual monitor support
• video de-blocking
• adaptive de-interlacing
• VIA VT1708A High Definition Audio Codec / VIA Vinyl HD Audio
• VIA UniChrome Pro Graphics Core / Chromotion video engine
• PiP support

alternatively, you could get the VIA C3 or the 7.5 watt fanless VIA Eden processor + CN400 chipset, which use even less power and still has:

• hardware-accelerated MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding
• video de-blocking
• adaptive de-interlacing
• integrated VIA Vinyl HD Audio
• VIA UniChrome Pro / Chromotion CE
• full HDTV support up to 1080i/720p
• integrated V-RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 0+1, and JBOD (SATA) support

lastly, there's the VIA CoreFusion Processor Platform, which is also based on the C3 Nehemiah core. the VIA Luke configuration features:

• processor speeds of 533/800/1000MHz
• max. thermal design power consumption of 6/8/10W
• VIA UniChrome Pro
• MPEG2 decoder: VLD, IDCT and Motion Compensation
• MPEG4 decoder: ASP Level 5 and GMC
• Dual Independent Display Support
• display resolution: 1920 x 1440
• alpha blending
• scaling
• video capture port
• PiP support

oh, and VIA's Green Computing Initiative means all of their new processors and motherboards are RoHS compliant, and many of there products are also lead-free. so not only are you reducing your energy footprint on top of getting a cooler/quieter-running system, but the manufacturing process is also more environmentally friendly.