Broadcom Crystal HD
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Contents
Introduction
Broadcom's Crystal HD chipset is a dedicated hardware video decoder and processor, commonly paired with low-power Netbooks to enable high definition video playback with very low CPU usage. The Crystal HD was launched around the same time as the NVIDIA ION platform, which has a much different design/purpose and higher power consuption, but similar video playback capabilities. [1]
Hardware
The Crystal HD decoder was offered in a number of forms, some with several hardware revisions.
Manufacturer | Model | Form Factor | Power Usage | Availability
& Average Price |
Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Broadcom |
BCM970012 (BCM970012NB?) |
PCIe mini card |
? |
Common ~ $30 shipped? (USA, mid 2012) |
First board layout [2] |
Broadcom |
BCM970012 (BCM970012NB?) |
PCIe mini card |
? |
Common ~ $30 shipped? (USA, mid 2012) |
Second revised board layout (functionally identical) [3] |
Broadcom |
BCM970015 |
PCIe mini card (Half size with optional extension for compatibility with full length mounts) |
? |
Less common ~ $45 shipped (USA, mid 2012) |
Newest Style |
Broadcom |
BCM970012PQ |
PCIe (desktop) |
? |
Unobtainable (Never entered production?) |
x |
Broadcom |
BCM970010 |
ExpressCard 34 |
? |
Unobtainable (Never entered production?) |
x |
Broadcom |
BCM970012IC |
ExpressCard 34 |
? |
Unobtainable (Never entered production?) |
x |
AzureWave |
AW-VD904 |
PCIe mini card |
x |
Plentiful < $15 shipped (USA, mid 2012) |
Most Crystal HD cards on eBay appear to be this type. |
AzureWave |
AW-VD920 |
PCIe mini card |
99.6 mA to 716.5 mA [4] (Mode and resolution dependent) |
x |
x |
AzureWave |
AW-VD920H |
PCIe mini card (Half size) |
99.6 mA to 716.5 mA [5] (Mode and resolution dependent) |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
It may also be known as the Broadcom AV-VD905, which is paired with the ASUS Eee Keyboard.
Crystal HD is also known by other includes. For example, Dell refers to it as Broadcom BD Accelerator.
The above products may be rebranded by OEM's, and are known to be available for the following targeted platforms:
- HP Mini 110
- Aspire One netbook
- Dell Inspiron 1525 and Studio 1735
(note: there are adapters for regular to mini PCIe cards: http://www.hwtools.net/Adapter/MP1.html)
Another adapter has been tested and works for me in a PCIe X1 slot on a normal motherboard and was cheaper than the MP1 adapter: http://www.titanwirelessonline.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=RB-11E
The decoders are available on ebay, among other sources.
Drivers
Drivers are being developed for both MythTV frontend and XBMC.
Obtaining drivers
Available drivers
- Compile and install the driver:
Do this or an equivelent:
cd ~
wget -O crystalhd.tar.gz http://git.wilsonet.com//crystalhd.git?a=snapshot;h=82bb6578c4e7cafdbbfb898e2eddea5116969e8d;sf=tgz
tar -zxvf chrystalhd.tar.gz
or
I found under Ubuntu 11.10 I had to use the git version:
git clone git://git.wilsonet.com/crystalhd.git
I also had to add the following code to <crystalhd dir>/driver/linux/crystalhd_flea_ddr.c
#include <linux/delay.h>
sudo apt-get update
apt-get install autoconf g++
cd crystalhd/driver/linux
autoconf
./configure
make clean; make
sudo make install
sudo modprobe crystalhd
dmesg to see if the BCM970012 is seen
You might find some output similar to:
Broadcom 70012 Decoder 0000:03:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
- Compile and install the libraries:
cd crystalhd/linux_lib/libcrystalhd
make clean; make
sudo make install
That's it for now.
Since the MythTV application doesn't yet support it, you can't test it within MythTV (on Feb-10-2010).
You can test in a current SVN of XBMC if desired.
If you use XBMC to test your BCM970012 you can check dmesg for something similar to:
Starting BCM70012 Device
clock is moving to 175 with n 35 with vco_mg 2
CInitializing Dio pool 10 1024 605c f232d420
Firmware Downloaded Successfully
Then upon completing use of the device:
Closing user[0] handle
Deleting IOQs
Releasing RX Pkt pool
Released dio pool 10
Stopping BCM70012 Device
CrystalHD libraries
In Fedora
In Ubuntu
Intel Chipsets
Compiling/Installing the driver
NVIDIA
Intel
Configuring xorg.conf
NVIDIA
INTEL
Enabling the chipset library
Checking your installation
MythTV Crystal HD Support
Packages and Distributions
Compiling from source
Configuring MythTV
OSD
Using other applications
Processes and streams that can be accelerated for most video formats
Crystal HD can accelerate the decoding of full HD ripped from blu-ray.
- H.264/AVC HP at L 4.1 1080p/1080i, 40 Mbps
- SMPTE VC-1 AP at L 3 1080p/1080i, 40 Mbps
- VC-1 Simple and Main Profile (WMV9)
- MPEG-2 MP @ ML and MP @ HL
It supports any standard resolution from QVGA up to 1920 x 1088.
Alternatives
There are alternative methods for hardware assisted playback of high definition video: