[mythtv-users] State of mythtv on the beagleboard

[Glen Dragon]

On Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 3:26 PM, Marc Randolph <mrand at pobox.com> wrote:
>
> "The key difference between an OMAP3530 and a desktop PC CPU like the
> Pentium 4 is the level of integration. The OMAP chip includes a DSP
> capable of H.264 4CIF resolution full duplex real-time encode and
> decode, something your average modern PC struggles with. Without the
> DSP, the OMAP would struggle too."



> In summary, looks to me like it should be more than capable of
> decoding, deinterlacing, and playing your mpeg2.  Less certain about
> 1080p H.264... but the Beagleboard is only $150, so I could probably
> live without that.  It even has built-in HDMI!  Is this the perfect
> front-end motherboard?   If we can run in 256 MBytes of RAM, maybe so.
>
>   Marc
>

Although the omap3 is a good chip.. (it's in the palm pre) it's not likely
to make a very good frontend.

I'm fairly certain that you could get a frontend to run in 256 MB of RAM.
I've run with 512 minus whatever for video ram, with no swap, and with a
complicated UI theme.  I'm sure with a less strenuous theme you could do it.

However the unlikely lack of at least 720p h.264 it's pretty much a
non-starter for most. As stated previously, h.264 at 4CIF resolutions.
That's only 704 × 576.. And its nowhere close to 1080i  (or 1080p).

A better choice would be one of the Atom + Nvidia Ion platforms.  You can
get one for around $300 with a case & everything.
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