Last year, we found that Allwinner was preparing to launch Allwinner H64 and H5 quad and octa processors in their roadmap, but there have been some changes, and the compny seems to have dropped H64 name, and has now introduced Allwinner H5 quad core Cortex A53 processor designed for 4K TV boxes.
Allwinner H5 main specifications:
- CPU – quad core Cortex A53 with NEON, FPU, 64KB I/D cache per core, and 512KB L2 cache
- 3G GPU – ARM Mali-450MP GPU with 4 pixel processor cores, and 2 geometry cores with support for OpenGL ES 2.0/1.1/1.1, OpenVG 1.1 and EGL
- 2D GPU (Graphics and Display Processor) – Dual display; Main display: 4 video layers, 12 graphics layers, 4 alpha blending channels; Auxiliary display: 4 video layers, 4 graphics layers, and 2 alpha blending channels
- Memory I/F – DDR3/3L SDRAM interface up to 32-bit data width
- Storage I/F – SPI NOR flash, SPI NAND flash, NAND flash (SLC/MLC with 64-bit ECC), and eMMC 5.0 flash interfaces
- Video Decoding – Up to 4K decoding of H.265/HEVC Main10, H.264/AVC, VP6/VP8/VP9, MPEG1/2/4, AVS-P16, VC1
- Image Decoding – YUV400/YUV420/YUV422/YUV444; Picture scale and rotate
- Video & Image Encoding – 1080p60 or 2x 1080p30, or 4x 72030 video encoding with AVC or JPEG
- Audio Encoding/Decoding – MPEG L1/L2, AAC-LC, HE AAC V1/V2, APE, FLAC, OGG, AMR-WB, G.711 (u/a) decoding; G.711(u/a), AMR-NB, AMR-WB, and AAC-LC encoding
- TS Demultiplexing/PVR – 4x TS inputs using SSI or SPI modes, DVB-CSA/AES/DES descrambling, recording of scrambled and non-scrambled streams
- Security – TEE, Secure OS, secure boot, 2K bits EFuse, DRM, conditional access, HDCP 1.4 protection
- A/V Interfaces
- PAL and NTSC, HDMI Tx with HDCP, CVBS, HD and SD output from same source. 480i to 4K2K resolutions
- Analog videos – 1x CVBS, 1x embedded VDAC
- Audio interfaces – 2x stereo input interfaces, 1x stereo output interface, 1x S/PDIF, 2x ADAC, 2x I2S/PCM, HDMI audio
- Peripherals
- 3x USB 2.0 host, 1x USB 2.0 OTG
- 10/100M Ethernet with integrated PHY, Gigabit Ethernet MAC
- 3x 4-bit SDIO 3.0 interfaces
- 5x UART, 4x TWI (I2C), 2x SPI, multiple GPIOs, 2x PWM
- 2x smart card interfaces (ISO7816)
- LED and keypad control interface, IR receiver
- 1x CSI camera
- Boot program download over serial port or USB port
- Low power CPU – For standby power as low as 30 mW power consumption
Allwinner is actually pushing the limit of “generally accepted marketing principles” by calling Allwinner H5 a “Deca-core 4K OTT Box Total Solution” by adding 4 CPU cores to 6 GPU cores… They also done a “good job” at hiding whether HDMI 2.0 is supported, as the HDMI version is not mentioned, nor the maximum framerate for video codec @ 4K2K. [Update: Allwinner H-Series comparison table shows H.265 @ 4K30Hz, so it’s most likely limited to HDMI 1.4]
The processor will apparently run Android 5.1, and while features look similar to Allwinner A64, the GPU is quite faster, I’ve been told video processing is better by Allwinner marketing team, and I can also see some interfaces (TS input and smartcard) that would make it suitable for Android Digital TV receivers with DVB, ISDB-C and ATSC tuners.
Linux support is also likely as two of the first platforms to use the new processor will be Shenzhen Xunlong Orange Pi 3 and Orange Pi PC 2 (pictured above) development boards.
More details can be found on Allwinner H5 product page.
Thanks to Thomas for the tip.
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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