> >> The TMS320DM6446-594 is supposed to do HD-TV and has a TMS320C64x⢠DSP > >> clocked at 594 MHz. > > > >> So, perhaps the issue is that the CPU needs to be a DSP. > > > > This looks promising. Being programmable, new codecs would not require > > new hardware. (Unless you needed a faster DSP.) > > The bad news is that they are expensive. I am not that familiar with > TI's DSPs. More exploration is needed but I find that this is a 32 bit > bus 600 MHz: TMS320C6418 costs $50.30 or $56.00 depending on the package > (ZTS or GTS) in 1K quantities. > > OTOH, I wonder how much of a graphics board could be implemented with > such a chip.
Yeah, they cost more than I'd like, (the 6446 is US$47.85) but it looks like they have nearly everything onchip. In fact, it looks like it might be easier to build a standalone box with this thing than an expansion card. It already has Ethernet and the DSP can do general purpose stuff. Add RAM and glue. Maybe additional ROM. Put it in a box. Add a wall wart p/s. I haven't found a max power rating yet, but the numbers I have found are like 1.5 Watts, so probably 2 Watts or so worst case. Is that low enough that we could just heat sink it to an aluminum box and not need a fan? Any codec patent issues get moved from hardware to software. I'm not saying it is perfect, but I see a lot of advantages. It is programmable, but costs a lot less than a FPGA. It uses less power than a FPGA. No gazillion dollar ASIC mask. It looks like what we have been looking for: a documented graphics chip. Does anyone already make a card or box with this chip, or a similar chip? _______________________________________________ Open-graphics mailing list [email protected] http://lists.duskglow.com/mailman/listinfo/open-graphics List service provided by Duskglow Consulting, LLC (www.duskglow.com)
