ces 2016 News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 24, 2016March 24, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

ViXS Xcode 6800 Series Processors Support 4K 12-bit HEVC with HDR, VIDITY DRM

Now that 4K televisions are becoming more and more common, and 4K content is starting to be available via satellite (DVB-S2), online (Netflix, Amazon..), and off-line via UHD blu-ray discs, a new consumer initiative has been launched by the UHD Alliance. The UltraHD Premium logo will allow consumers to make sure their new 4K television also supports specific performance metrics for resolution, high dynamic range (HDR), peak luminance, black levels and wide color gamut. many of these new features will allow requires new content, and set-top box beside the compliant television. ViXS Xcode 6800 dual core Cortex-A9 dual-core processor will meet the requirement with a 4K 12bit HEVC (Main12) 60 fps video decoder, HDR Tone Mapping engine, HDMI 2.0a, and more. Some of the key features of ViXS Xcode 6800 processor: CPU – Dual core ARM Cortex A9 processor GPU – 3D graphics engine compliant with OpenGL-ES 2.0 and OpenGL-ES […]

March 7, 2016May 19, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

The First Devices and Routers with WiFi 802.11ad Delivering Up 7Gbit/s Transfer Rates at 60 GHz Will Be Available This Year

802.11ad is the latest and fastest WiFi standard working in the 60 GHz band and delivering up to 7 Gbit per second data transmission rates. The 60 GHz frequency band offers both advantages and disadvantages because it does not penetrate through walls nor water, meaning it can only be used within a room limiting the range, but at the same time it’s more secure since it cannot be snooped from the outside, and for people who worry about health effects it does not penetrate the human body. 802.11ad routers will also be able to switch to 2.4 and 5.0 GHz frequency bands in order to go through walls. The table above nicely summarize the key features of 802.11ad over 802.11ac and 802.11n, however the throughput row shows the theoretical maximum throughput, but in practice, using 802.11ac as example, clients are often limited to 433 or 866 Mbps, and distance and […]

February 1, 2016February 1, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Creative X-Fi Sonic Carrier is a High-end Android based Speaker and Video System

Android started as a mobile operating system for smartphones, but over the years we’ve seen it being used in tablets, mini PCs, cars, printers, wearables, and many other product categories. Creative X-Fi Sonic is a “speaker system” with video outputs that runs Android, in a similar way to Xiaomi TV bar, but with much higher capabilities. X-Fi sonic carrier key features and specifications: 7 processors with 14 cores 15.2 high-resolution audio system in a 11.2.4 (front.sub.height) speaker configuration with Dolby Atmos technology. Creative EAX 15.2 Dimensional Audio processing algorithms 800 watts RMS total system power. Video playback engine supporting 4K (60fps) Video I/O – 1x HDMI 2.0a output, 3x HDMI 2.0a inputs Audio Inputs – 2x analog inputs, 2x digital optical inputs, 2x microphone inputs Streaming protocols – AirPlay and Google Cast for audio, Miracast, Chromecast, and DLNA. Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a zero-latency speaker-to-speaker […]

January 19, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 Plus Cherry Trail Mini PC Comes with HDMI and VGA Outputs, Gigabit Ethernet and More

Most Cherry Trail mini PCs on the market features only one video interface, usually HDMI, and only support 10/100M Ethernet. After introducing MeLE PCG03 Plus a few months ago, MeLE is about to launch a new Cherry Trail mini PC called Start Cloud PCG60 Plus that includes both HDMI and VGA video output, two USB 2.0, but also faster networking thanks to Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11ac. MeLE Star Cloud PCG60 specifications (highlights in bold show improvements over MeLE PCG03 Plus): SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8300 “Bay Trail” quad core processor @ 1.44 GHz / 1.84 GHz (Turbo) with Intel HD Gen8 graphics System Memory – 2 GB DDR3L Storage – 32 GB eMMC + micro SD card slot up to 128 GB Video Output – HDMI 1.4, and VGA Audio I/F – HDMI, 3.5mm earphone jack Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB […]

January 15, 2016January 15, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Sunchip CX-R9 Rockchip RK3229 Android TV Box Sells for $32 (Factory Price)

We’ve already seen Rockchip RK3229 quad core processor with 4K 10-bit H.264 and H.265, and 4K VP9 support announced at CES 2016. Sunchip CX-R9 will be one of the first devices on the market with the new processor, and includes 1GB RAM and 8GB storage. Sunchip CX-R9 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3229 quad core ARM Cortex A7 processor @ 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC + SD card reader Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K2K @ 60 fps Audio Output – HDMI, and optical S/PDIF Video Codec – 4K2K 10-bit H.265 @ 60 fps (Up to 200 Mbps), 4K 10-bit H.264 @ 30 fps (Up to 250 Mbps) and 4K 8-bit VP9 @ 30 fps (Up to 200 Mbps) Connectivity – 100Mbps Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports, including on OTG port […]

January 14, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Texas Instruments 4K DLP Chip Should Bring Affordable 4K Projectors to the Home, Office and School

4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) is slowly with the price of 4K television going down, 4K media players flooding the market starting at $40, and 4K content appearing online via services like Netflix and over the air with DVB-S2. Thanks to the latest Texas Instruments DLP 0.67″ digital micromirror device (DMD), a cost down version of the 1.38″ DMD used in around 80% of cinemas worldwide, we could start seeing affordable 4K projectors in the second half of 2016. The chip includes 4 millions tiny mirrors that quickly switch to generate the ~8 millions pixels required by a 3840×2160 display, and should be found in projectors capable of delivering up to 5,000 lumens. The DLP chip can be used in home theaters, but also in the office and at school for presentations or courses were text needs to be easily readable. The solutions should delivery 100″+ displays with sharp images […]

January 12, 2016March 10, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Rockchip RK3229 and RK3399 32-bit and 64-bit Processors Support 4K 10-bit H.265 and HDMI 2.0

Rockchip RK3288 was the first SoC from the company that was supposed to support HDMI 2.0 and 4K 10-bit HEVC, but the HDMI implementation was not perfect since it did not support YUV420 colorspace available on cheaper 4K television like mine (LG 42UB820T), and so I’m limited to 4K @ 30 Hz on RK3288, Rorkchip RK3368 fixed that, but the low cost processor does not support 10-bit HEVC. Rockchip is about to launch two new processor that should bring both features to the low end and high end of the market with RK3229 quad core Cortex A7 processor, and RK3399 hexa core Cortex A72/A53 processor. Rockchip RK3229 specifications: CPU- Quad Core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.5 GHz GPU – ARM Mali-400MP2 Memory I/F – DDR3-1866/LPDDR3-1333 Video Output – HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 1.4/2.2 + CVBS Video Codec – 4K2K 10-bit H.265 @ 60 fps (Up to 200 Mbps), 4K 10-bit […]

January 7, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

PowerVR GT7200 Plus and GT7400 Plus GPUs Support OpenCL 2.0, Better Computer Vision Features

Imagination Technologies introduced PowerVR Series7XT GPU family with up to 512 cores at the end of 2014, and at CES 2016, they’ve announced Series7XT Plus family with GT7200 Plus and GT7400 Plus GPUs, with many of the same features of Series7XT family, plus the addition of OpenCL 2.0 API support, and improvements for computer vision with a new Image Processing Data Master, and support for 8-bit and 16-bit integer data paths, instead of just 32-bit in the previous generation, for example leading to up to 4 times more performance for applications, e.g. deep learning, leveraging OpenVX computer vision API. GT7200 Plus GPU features 64 ALU cores in two clusters, and GT7400 Plus 128 ALU cores in a quad-cluster configuration. Beside OpenCL2.0, and improvements for computer vision, they still support OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan, hardware virtualization, advanced security, and more. The company has also made some microarchitectural enhancements to improve performance […]