Intel introduced the Open Pluggable Specifications (OPS) defining mechanical and electrical requirements for boards used in digital signage back in 2010. Since then there has been a few Intel OPS boards launched on the market, and the company introduced OPS+ specifications with support for simultaneous display and broadcast usages, 8K resolution displays, and the ability to drive three individual 4K resolution display outputs. VIA has now launched VTS-8589 OPS board compliant with the older specifications, and featuring NXP i.MX6 quad core ARM Cortex A9 processor combined with 2GB RAM, 8GB flash, and more.

VIA VTS-8589 OPS has two version of the board with the following specifications:
- SoC
- VTS-8589-QP model – NXP i.MX 6QuadPlus quad ARM Cortex-A9 processor @ 1.0 GHz with Vivante GC2000+ GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.0, OpenCL and OpenVG 1.1, 512KB embedded SRAM
- VTS-8589 model – NXP i.MX 6Quad quad ARM Cortex-A9 processor @ 1.0 GHz with Vivante GC2000 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.0, OpenCL and OpenVG 1.1, 256KB embedded SRAM
- System Memory – 2GB DDR3 SDRAM
- Storage – 8GB eMMC Flash memory, micro SD slot, 4MB SPI Flash ROM for bootloader
- Video Output – HDMI 1.4 transmitter
- Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port (Micrel KSZ9031RNX), 802.11 b/g/n WiFi (Realtek RTL8189ETV SDIO module )
- Audio – NXP SGTL5000 low power stereo codec
- USB – USB 2.0 high speed 4-port hub controller (SMSC USB2514) with 2x USB A ports, 2x USB via OPS connector
- 1x OPS JAE TX25 connector with 1x HDMI, 2x USB 2.0 ports, 1x UART (TTL 3V3), GPIOs, audio, and power 12~19V
- Debugging – 1x JTAG pin header
- Misc – Reset button, boot Flash select pin header, RTC battery connector
- Power Supply – 12~19V DC-in included in OPS Connector
- Dimensions – 12.1cm x 11.4cm
- Temperature Range – 0°C ~ 45°C
- Humidity – 0% ~ 90% relative humidity; non-condensing
VTS-8589 model with the older processor supports Linux 3.10.53, while VTS-8589-QP supports Linux 4.1.15. The BSP supports HTML5-based digital signage applications, as well as hardware-accelerated 1080p H.264 or VC1 video decoding in the Chromium browser.

The board itself is designed to fits in OPS-compliant displays, but for development and testing purpose, the company also offers the VTS-8592 OPS I/O card with an HDMI port, two USB 2.0 ports, an audio jack, reset and power buttons, as well as a 12~19V DC power jack.
The OPS board and I/O card appear to be available now at an undisclosed price. You can visit the product page for more information.

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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