Intel Integrated Graphics
Intel HD and Iris Graphics are integrated GPUs commonly found on Intel CPUs. Their performance and their driver support in x.org, has been improving at a steady pace for several years now. Since 2008 Intel's drivers are open-source, and are generally agreed upon to be excellent in quality and well maintained by Intel. Intel Integrated GPUs seem to be an excellent choice for a MythTV frontend.
If you have any experience with these GPUs in MythTV frontends, please add it to the experience matrix so others can benefit from your experience!
Performance and power consumption
Since the release of the GMA X4500, the 3D performance of Intel GPUs is now within reach of nVidia's integrated offerings, see here. This would seem to indicate that an X4500 is more than enough for typical MythFrontend duties. These GPUs can use the VAAPI library for hardware accelerated decoding.
Users and reviewers often claim that Intel GPUs have very low power consumption. There seems to be consensus that integrated GPUs in general (including the Intel GMA) are much more power efficient than discrete ones.
See:
- http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200802-green.ars/5
- http://groups.google.com/group/mupen64plus/msg/2c1a94660624f863
- Google search: intel (gma OR integrated OR x4500 OR x3500) watts idle "power consumption"
Intel GPU Experience Matrix
Below is the experience matrix for the Intel CPU with integrated graphics when using MythFrontend. Please report your findings (playback profiles etc) in the table and list any problems. Note that some entries refer to chipsets before GPUs were placed on the CPU die.
Model Name | Model Number | Onboard video | 1080i playback | Bluray playback | Extras | Power consumption / TDP | Released |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pentium | G3240 | Intel HD | Yes (YADIF/Greedy) | Yes | OpenGL render | 20W idle / 54W | 2014 |
Core i7 | Sandy Bridge | Intel HD 3000 | Yes (Bob(2x,HW),Onefield(1x,HW)) | Yes | OpenGL render - Z68 Express Chipset | Unknown | 2011 |
Core i3 | Sandy Bridge | HD 2000 | Likely, no problems reported | Unknown | Acer Aspire Revo RL80 | Unknown | 2011 |
Core i5 | 680 | Intel HD | Limited (linear blend) gittery | Limited | H55 Chipset | ? / 73W | 2010 |
G35 Express | 82G35 | 82G35 | Unknown | Unknown | - | ? / 28W | 2007 |
Pentium | X4500 / G41 | X4500 | Yes (Kernel) | Unknown | P5QPL-AM mobo | ? / 65W | 2006 |
Q965 Express | 82Q965 | 82Q965 | Limited Skips | Unknown | - | ? / 28W | 2006 |
Video Tearing
If you experience video tearing during playback (horizontal split in the screen) particularly if using a 4K TV or monitor (resolution 3840x2180), this may help:
Create file /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf with the following contents:
Section "Device" Identifier "Intel Graphics" Driver "intel" Option "TearFree" "true" Option "AccelMethod" "sna" EndSection
Restart your system to see the change.