Video playback - reasonable sized works!

[Jay Vaughan]

On Aug 6, 2007, at 8:28 AM, Steve Seltzer wrote:
> On a related note, I believe that the GP2X has a modified version of
> mplayer which will use their MPEG4 decoder chip.  They were violating
> the GPL, but I think they've finally released the mplayer source like
> they're supposed to.  That may be worth a look in order for ideas  
> about
> integrating support for the SMedia chip into mplayer.
>


I've worked with the GP2X for a few years now (it replaced my other  
ARM-based eval boards, quite well) and you are correct .. initially  
there was a problem with the GPL, but this has now been long-since  
fixed.

The GP2X has two ARM cores - 920 and 940 .. The linux base system  
runs on the 920, and the 940 is available for whatever custom code  
you care to write .. the GP2X has a custom codec lib that is uploaded  
to the 940 for mp3 and mp4 decoding, leaving the 920 for normal linux  
operation .. the custom mplayer that is used on the GP2X utilizes  
this codec to do decoding, and then uses the onboard 2D accelerator  
to do fast display blits .. you can learn more about this  
architecture in the excellent GP2X wiki, which I might add is  
definitely a developer-community model for which I hope OpenMoko  
finds some parity ..

http://wiki.gp2x.org/wiki/Facts_about_the_ARM940T_processor

Of note is the development of other interesting things to run in the  
940 core .. for example, there are audio processing modules (filters,  
softsynths), an implementation of OpenGL (providing hardware-assisted  
acceleration for 3D), etc.  This model is an interesting direction  
for integrated hardware and software design ..

j.

--
Jay Vaughan