MYiR Tech Introduces Atmel SAMA5D4 CPU Module and Development Board

MYiR Tech has launched a new development board – MYD-JA5D4X – featuring their Atmel SAMA5D4 Cortex A5 system-on-module called MYC-JAD5D4X with 512MB DDR2, 512MB Flash, and various ports such as Fast Ethernet, RS485, LCD panel interface, USB connectors and so on. Target applications include control panel/HMI, fitness equipment, smart grid infrastructure, communications gateways, and imaging terminals among others. Let’s start wit the MYC-JAD5D4X CPU module specifications: SoC – Atmel SAMA5D42 or SAMA5D44 ARM Cortex-A5 processor @ up to 600MHz (945DMIPS) with NEON and FPU, 720p hardware video decoder (SAMA5D44 only) System Memory–  512MB (2x 256MB) DDR2 SDRAM Storage – 512MB NAND Flash, 4MB Data Flash, 64KB EEPROM Connectivity – On-board Ethernet PHY I/Os via 200-pin SO-DIMM edge connector 2 x Ethernet 3 x USB2.0 Host 8 x Serial ports 4 x TWI,  3 x SPI 5 x 12-bit ADC 1 x SMD 4 x 4-bit SDIO 1 x LCD 1 x ISI 7 […]

Outernet Shares Knowledge via their Lighthouse Satellite Receiver

While many of us take Internet access for granted, about 60% of the world population did not have access to Internet at the end of 2014, and Outernet initiative aims to provide educational, emergency, and news content to this segment of the population, which still represents the majority, at a rate of 1GB per day via a satellite receiver called Lighthouse. Let’s check the hardware first: SoC – Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 @ 1.5GHz with Mali-400MP GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 4 GB NAND flash + 1x micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI, AV (CVBS + R/L audio) Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi with up to 5 clients Tuner – DVB-S2 tuner with two antenna connectors (only one used) USB – 3x external USB 2.0 ports, 2x internal USB 2.0 ports (used) Misc – […]

Faster H.265/HEVC Video Encoding with Nvidia GTX960 GPU and ffmpeg

H.265 promises the same video quality as H.264 when using half the bitrate, so you may have thought about converting your H.264 videos to H.265/HEVC in order to reduce the space used by your videos. However, if you’ve ever tried to transcoding videos with tools such as HandBrake, you’ll know the process can be painfully slow, and a single movie may take several hours even with a machine with a power processor. However, there’s a better and fster solution thanks to hardware accelerated encoding available in some Intel and Nvidia graphics cards. For this purpose, GearBest sent me Maxsun MS-GTX960 graphics card, a second generation Maxwell GPU, that supports H.265 accelerated video encoding and promised up to 500 fps video encoding. So I’ve put the graphics card to the test in a computer running Ubuntu 14.04, and reports some of my findings here. Similar instructions can also be followed in […]

Raspberry Pi Zero, C.H.I.P, and Orange Pi One Boards’ Features and Price Comparisons

With Raspberry Pi Zero, Next Thing C.H.I.P, and Orange Pi One, we now have have three ARM Linux development boards selling (now or soon) for less than $10 excluding shipping and taxes. So I’d think it would be interesting to compare the features of the boards, and prices for different use cases. The comparison table below shows the three boards features side-by-side with items highlighted in green for the best or extra features, and in red for the weakest. Some cells will have to be filled later as data is currently not available (marked TBD). Raspberry Pi Zero C.H.I.P Orange Pi One Processor Broadcom BCM2835 single core ARM11 processor @ 1GHz (~1250 DMIPS) Allwinner R8 Cortex A8 processor @ 1 GHz (2000 DMIPS) Allwinner H3 quad core Cortex A7 processor @ 1.2 GHz (4x 2280 DMIPS) GPU VideoCore IV ARM Mali-400 ARM Mali-400MP2 Video Decoding 1080p30 for H.264, MPEG2* and […]

Orange Pi One is a $10 Quad Core Board with Ethernet and HDMI

Until recently, Orange Pi PC was probably the most cost efficient ARM hardware, but with the launch of Raspberry Pi Zero, and to some extent C.H.I.P computer, they had some competitors in the ultra low cost space, so Shenzhen Xunlong Software developed two more cost effective Orange Pi boards, with Orange Pi One selling for $9.99 with Ethernet, and Orange Pi Lite for $12 with WiFi, also referred to as versions B and A. Orange Pi One & Lite (preliminary) Specifications: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz with an ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU up to 600 MHz System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 Storage – micro SD card slot Video & Audio Output – HDMI Connectivity Orange Pi One – 10/100M Ethernet Orange Pi Lite – WiFi USB Orange Pi One – 1x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG port Orange Pi Lite – […]

ODROID-C2 Amlogic S905 Development Board is in the Works

Hardkernel ODROID-C1 and later ODROID-C1+ boards, both based on Amlogic S805 SoC, have been a popular alternatives to Raspberry Pi 2 board this year. But now that Amlogic S905 quad core 64-bit ARM Cortex A53 processor has been available for a few months, people have been wondering whether the Korean company would launch an Amlogic S905 board, and it looks like ODROID-C2 might not be too far off based on firmware files on odroid.in website. The firmware includes a device tree file, which combined with other files give some clues about ODROID-C2 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ up to 2.0 GHz with penta-core (3+2) Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM (in doc), 2GB RAM (in Device tree) Storage – 1x micro SD card Video Output – 1x HDMI out USB – 1x USB hub, 1x USB OTG I don’t have much more information […]

CubieTruck Plus Development Board with DisplayPort & HDMI Sells for $84 (in China)

We first found out about CubieTruck Plus (aka Cubieboard 5) this summer, and while at the time we did not have the full details, it was clear from the board picture and name, that is was an update to CubieTruck board, replacing Allwinner A20 dual core processor by Allwinner A8 octa-core processor, and ditching the VGA port for DisplayPort while keeping most of the same features of the original version. The company has now provided more details while announcing the launch of the board in China, and it turns out CubieTruck Plus has a few more advantages, and at least one drawback. CubieTruck CubieTruck Plus SoC Allwinner A20 Allwinner H8 CPU Dual core Cortex A7 up to 1.08 GHz Octa core Cortex A7 up to 2.0 GHz GPU Mali-400MP2 PowerVR SGX544 up to 700 MHz Memory 2GB DDR3 Power [email protected] power jack Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45) WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4 […]

Dune HD Solo 4K is a High-End Media Player with a SATA Bay, a DVB-T2 Tuner, and Sigma Designs SMP8758 Processor

Dune HD, a company specializing in “high-performance digital media players”, has just unveiled Dune HD Solo 4K media player based on  Sigma Designs SMP8758 dual core Cortex A9 processor, supporting 10-bit HEVC video decoding up to 2160p @ 30 fps, HD audio pass-though, and including a SATA tray. Dune HD Solo 4K specifications: SoC – Sigma Designs SMP8758 dual core Cortex A9 processor @ 1.2 GHz with an ARM Mali-400 GPU and VXP image processing engine System Memory – 1GB Storage – 4GB flash for firmware, internal HDD rack with hot swap function for a 2.5″ SATA drive, SD card reader (TBC) Video Output – HDMI 1.4b up to 1080p60 and 4K @ 30 Hz (including 23.976, 25, 29.97, 50, 59.94Hz refresh rates), and composite video Audio Output – HDMI, analog stereo audio, coaxial S/PDIF (shared via AV port). 24-bit /192 KHz audio support Video codecs – MPEG2, MPEG4, XVID, […]