Amlogic has decided to enter the automotive market with the Amlogic V901D quad-core Cortex-A55 processor designed for in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) applications such as car dashboards, multi-camera dashcam systems, automotive multimedia players, and so on. Also equipped with an Arm Mali-G31 MP2, a 1 TOPS NPU, support for 4K AV1 video decoding, and a 12nm manufacturing processor, Amlogic V901D may look like a rebranded Amlogic S905X4 at first glance, but as we’ll see below, it includes some features specific to the automotive infotainment market. Amlogic V901D specifications: CPU – Quad-Core Cortex-A55 GPU – ARM Mali-G31 MP2 AI accelerator – 1 TOPS NPU Memory I/F – 32-bit DDR3/4, LPDDR3/4 Storage I/F – eMMC 5.0, SLC NAND Video I/F Output – V-by-one, LVDS, CVBS, 4K TCON Input – 3x HDMI 2.1 w/ EMP (Extended Metadata Packet), ALLM, 2x CVBS Video Decoding – 4Kp60 10-bit AV1/H.265/VP9 P-2/AVS2, 4Kp30 H.264 Encoding – 1080p30 H.264 HDR […]
Android 12 for TV released for ADT-3 Developer Kit
While Android 12 images and related AOSP source code were released in October, it took a bit longer for Android 12 for TV. But the latest version of Android for larger screens has apparently been released yesterday on the developer website with Android 12 for TV now available, albeit only for the ADT-3 Developer Kit based on the Amlogic S905Y2 processor. Google says they’ve improved the user experience and compatibility on TV devices with media playback improvements, a refined user interface, enhanced privacy and security, as well as better support for HDMI and TV tuners. Highlights of the Android 12 for TV release include: User Interface Background blurs using RenderEffect and in WindowManager 4K UI support (CNXSoft: up to now most devices were using a 1920×1080 user interface (framebuffer), and play 4K video on another hardware video buffer) Accessibility settings for font sizes Media improvements Automatic refresh rate switching to […]
Amlogic T972 multimedia networking SBC supports 4K V-by-One displays
We’ve seen plenty of Amlogic S-series TV boxes and SBCs over the years, but Amlogic also manufacturer T-series SoCs designed for televisions. Since there are relatively few TV manufacturers compared to TV boxes or board manufacturers we seldom read about those. But a few years ago, we noticed a TV box based on Amlogic T962E quad-core Cortex-A53 processor offering both HDMI input and output ports, and now Shenzhen Tomao just informed me they were offering an Amlogic T972 multimedia network SBC for digital signage applications with multiple HDMI inputs and a V-By-One display interface with support for up to 4K resolutions. Amlogic T972 SBC specifications: SoC – Amlogic T972 (or T962X2) quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.98 GHz with Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.1 and OpenCL 2.0 System memory – 2GB or 4GB DDR4 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card socket Display […]
XPI-S905X3/S905X2 4K SBC with 2GB RAM sold for $35 and up
Geniatech has added two more single board computers to its XPI family with Raspberry Pi form factor. The Geniatech XPI-S905X2 and XPI-S905X3 boards are powered by respectively Amlogic S905X2 and S905X3/S905X4 quad-core processors, ship with 2GB RAM, and sell for $35 and up depending on the choice of processor and the presence of a wireless module. The company promotes each Raspberry Pi 3 lookalike as a “4K Single Board ARM PC” because of the 4K video playback capabilities or the Amlogic processors. Those boards provide an update to the earlier Amlogic S905X based XPI-S905X, and join Rockchip and NXP models. Geniatech XPI-S905X3/S905X2: SoC (one or the other) Amlogic S905X2 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor with Mali-G31 MP2 GPU Amlogic S905X3/S905X4 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor with Mali-G31 MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB 1GB Optional) Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (option for 16GB or 32GB), MicroSD card slot Video & audio output – HDMI […]
ODROID-N2+ review with Ubuntu 21.10 using Wayland and Panfrost
ODROID-N2+ was launched in July 2020, but I only got the Amlogic S922X Rev C SBC recently with Hardkernel wanting me to test their latest Ubuntu 21.10 image with the Panfrost open-source GPU driver. ODROID-N2+ Kit Unboxing Let’s start by checking out the kit I received from the Korean SBC manufacturer. The package includes ODROID-N2+ single board computer fitted with a 32GB eMMC flash module, a 12V/2A power supply with an EU plug adapter, an 80mm fan kit, and a USB 3.0 to eMMC reader. ODROID-N2+ is now only available with 4GB RAM, as the old ODROID-N2 with 2GB was deprecated, and we get four USB 3.0 ports, HDMI 2.0 video output, Gigabit Ethernet networking, and a 40-pin GPIO header with the board cooled by a larger heatsink attached to the bottom of the board. Fan installation, first boot, and system information As we’ll see below the fan is not […]
Linux 5.15 LTS release – Main Changes, Arm, RISC-V and MIPS architectures
Linus Torvalds released Linux 5.15, an LTS version, this past Sunday: It’s been calm, and I have no excuse to add an extra rc, so here we are, with v5.15 pushed out, and the merge window starting tomorrow. Which is going to be a bit inconvenient for me, since I also have some conference travel coming up. But it’s only a couple of days and I’ll have my laptop with me. Sometimes the release timing works out, and sometimes it doesn’t.. Anyway, the last week of 5.15 was mainly networking and gpu fixes, with some random sprinkling of other things (a few btrfs reverts, some kvm updates, minor other fixes here and there – a few architecture fixes, couple of tracing, small driver fixes etc). Full shortlog appended. This release may have started out with some -Werror pain, but it calmed down fairly quickly and on the whole 5.15 was […]
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W vs Radxa Zero – Features and benchmarks comparison
The just-announced Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W is not the first quad-core Arm SBC following Raspberry Pi Zero form factor, and back in 2017, the Banana Pi BPI-M2 Zero was introduced for $15, and the Radxa Zero was unveiled last June with an Amlogic S905Y2 SoC with price starting at $15 as well. With its Allwinner H2+ quad-core Cortex-A7 processor clocked at 1 GHz and a price bumped up to $23, the Banana Pi M2 Zero has mostly become irrelevant, but the Radxa Zero may still be considered by some people with a 1.8 GHz processor, and options for up to 4GB RAM, so let’s see how features compare against Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, followed by some benchmark numbers. Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W vs Raxda Zero – Features If we just look at the comparison table, the Radxa Zero is equivalent or superior in almost every way, except […]
Khadas VIM4 – An Amlogic A311D2 SBC with 8GB RAM, Wi-Fi 6, HDMI input & output
We’ve just written about the Amlogic A311D2 processor with some pretty interesting features, and Khadas VIM4 will be one of the first single board computers equipped with the latest octa-core processor, succeeding the company’s earlier Khadas VIM3 board powered by an Amlogic A311D hexa-core processor. Khadas VIM4 makes good use of the extra memory allowance with faster 8GB LPDDR4 RAM, and also offers 32GB eMMC flash, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, 4Kp60 HDMI input and output, independent USB 3.0, and PCIe (via M.2 socket) interfaces, and more. Khadas VIM4 specifications with bold highlights showing the differences with the VIM3 Pro model: SoC – Amlogic A311D2 octa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A73 cores @ up to 2.2 GHz and 4x Cortex A53 cores @ up to 2.0 GHz, Arm Mali-G52 MP(8EE) GPU, NPU shown as TBD possibly due to license requirements System Memory- 8GB LPDDR4X @ 2112 MHz Storage – 32GB eMMC […]