Broadcom Crystal HD

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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.

Brand	Model	Chipset	Form Factor	Power Usage	Availability & Average Price	Comments	Manufacturer Website(s)
Broadcom	BCM970012 (BCM970012NB?)	x	PCIe mini card	?	Common ~ $30 shipped? (USA, mid 2012)	First board layout [2]	x
Broadcom	BCM970012 (BCM970012NB?)	x	PCIe mini card	?	Common ~ $30 shipped? (USA, mid 2012)	Second revised board layout (functionally identical) [3]	x
Broadcom	BCM970015	x	PCIe mini card (Half size with optional extension for compatibility with full length mounts)	?	Less common ~ $45 shipped (USA, mid 2012)	Newest Style	x
Broadcom	BCM970012PQ	x	PCIe (desktop)	?	Unobtainable (Never entered production?)	x	x
Broadcom	BCM970010	x	ExpressCard 34	?	Unobtainable (Never entered production?)	x	x
Broadcom	BCM970012IC	x	ExpressCard 34	?	Unobtainable (Never entered production?)	x	x
AzureWave	AW-VD904	x	PCIe mini card	x	Plentiful < $15 shipped (USA, mid 2012)	Most Crystal HD cards on eBay appear to be this type.	[4] (no direct product page)
AzureWave	AW-VD920	x	PCIe mini card	99.6 mA to 716.5 mA [5] (Mode and resolution dependent)	x	x	[6] (no direct product page)
AzureWave	AW-VD920H	x	PCIe mini card (Half size)	99.6 mA to 716.5 mA [7] (Mode and resolution dependent)	x	x	[8] (no direct product page)
Habey	HB-VD904	x	PCIe mini card	x	x	Same as the revised layout version of the BCM970012 [9]	[10] [11]
Habey	HB-VD920	x	PCIe mini card (Half size)			Rebranded AzureWave AW-VD920H (PCB markings say "AW-VD920H", half-to-full extender says "AzureWave".. only a secondary white sticker identifies it as "Habey", and not all of them came with the sticker)	[12] [13]
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

• Current Driver and libraries available from Jarod Wilsons GIT site (Jan-25-2010)

• 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

MythTV Crystal HD Support

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:

• VDPAU

External Links

• BCM70010 (mobile) product
• BCM70012 (desktop) product
• Mini PCIe to PCIe X1 adapter