Broadcom Crystal HD, It`s Magic.
1080p HD content playback has always been the Holy Grail for any Media Center application but this has traditionally been difficult; playback using software decode alone requires a very hefty CPU and hardware decoding has only been made available recently using the nVidia’s VPDAU technology, available only on Linux. Windows has its own platform specific solutions and poor old OSX has no public APIs available at all. There really is nothing around with a common API that enables hardware accelerated 1080p HD content playback that can also be used under all three major platforms (OSX, Linux, and Windows). Well, that situation is about to change.
The Dark Knight vc1 running at 1080p on an AppleTV
Through hard work and the joint efforts of several TeamXBMC/Redhat developers and the Broadcom Media PC Group, cross-platform hardware decoding of mpeg2, h.264 and VC1 video content up to 1080p will be coming to XBMC on OSX, Linux, and Windows via the Broadcom Crystal HD Hardware Decoder (BCM970012). The Broadcom Crystal HD is available now in a mini-PCIE card with ExpressCard and 1X PCIE form factors to follow. This means that the AppleTV and all those lovely new netbooks, Eee Boxes and older Intel Mac Minis have exciting new potential.
This solution has a common programming API, so many 3rd party developers and applications will be able to leverage hardware accelerated video content playback across OSX, Linux, and Windows platforms with minimal source code changes. Best of all, this is an open source solution with full source code for driver and library available for OSX and Linux under a GPL/LGPL license. Wow, this indeed is the Holy Grail and a major score for the open source community as this means no more tainted Linux kernels! Support has already been added to XBMC under the svn trunk. Our bleeding-edge users can expect to find the feature in the next nightly builds from our community builders, the more patient can wait until the next stable release. Other media projects such as FFmpeg, MythTV and Xine will soon follow as their developers add support.
The Windows driver binary, as well as the Linux source code for the driver and library can be found at the Broadcom web site. For OSX, the binaries and source code for the driver and library will be hosted at google code. Users in the USA can purchase the Crystal HD mini PCIE card from Logic Supply for $69 at the time of this posting, and of course there’s always ebay for those outside the USA.
great news indeed.
Bravo… I love my community :) Keep up guys.
This is amazing, thanks Broadcom and TeamXBMC! One chip will rule them all!
Great job guys!
Does anyone know if these are the same chipsets that Dell and other PC manufacturers traditionally bundle with low powered small-form-factor PCs and laptops when you get a Blu-Ray drive (in order to do smooth BD playback)?
I think there is a slot for a mini PCIe card used for BD playback on my Dell Studio Hybrid for example.
If this is the case, there is great potential for low powered devices to use these chips with XBMC.
@Nick V yep, same mini pcie card.
@davilla Thanks for the info!
So, I just picked up one of these cards on eBay for a steal at $21 shipped. I’m looking forward to trying it out on my Dell Studio Hybrid and maybe my old AppleTV. If it can make the AppleTV play HD video without stutter that would be amazing.
Thanks everyone!
Congrats to Davilla and the XBMC Team on this great accomplishment. XBMC continues to amaze me and all that I show it to. Keep up the good work gents.
Sincerely,
Will Alley
“The Broadcom Crystal HD is available now in a mini-PCIE card with ExpressCard and 1X PCIE form factors to follow. This means that the AppleTV and all those lovely new netbooks, Eee Boxes and older Intel Mac Minis have exciting new potential.”
IMHO ATV and Intel Minis dont have ExpressCard nor PCIE or mini-PCIE, how should this help?
Don’t get me wrong, having the same API available on OSX, Linunx and Windows is a good thing ™, but I don’t get the hardware part with ATV and/or Minis…
@vbonline
Yeah, I was confused about that part as well. Is there someplace where we can get conformation or an explanation of what will and won’t work for Mac OSX users with this new board support?
vbonline,
The ATV has a mini-PCIE that is taken up by the included wifi card. You remove that and add Broadcomm Crystal HD in it’s place. So it’s very pertinent and great news indeed. Been waiting for this solution forever.
Is the crypto module also available? Might be interesting for e.g. TrueCrypt if it’s fast enough.
good news but im still waiting for dxva for ati cards :)
Wow! I’m gonna try this one!
I wonder if the Linux driver is already implemented in the latest XBMC Linux Live CD….?
Wow, this is very exciting news!
Just to confirm, will this work with the Eee Box B202 – and what type of card would I need? Would I have to sacrifice wireless? Cheers!
No Its not
@vbonline
IMHO you are so wrong :) ATVs and Intel Minis use a mini pcie slot for wifi support. Pull that card, insert Crystal HD card, done deal. I’ve been running this way for oooh so many months.
Great Job on this, guys, it’s amazing the progress XBMC for windows has made since the projects beginning.
Although my current CPU can run HD without the HW assist, it will be cool to play with the new hardware (picked one up for 21 bucks on Ebay) as well as keep my CPU fan quieter during HD playback. Always a joy to be able to be on the bleeding edge :)
I know that this just dreaming but will this allow for the playing of Blu-Rays on linux now, or am I still dreaming?
I remember looking at these a while back before I built my HTPC…if I’m running an NVIDIA ION box with VDPAU, would the Broadcom decoder benefit me in any way?
So does this mean my 1080p mkv’s aren’t currently playing back at 1080p in XBMC?
Damn, this comes out just when I’m starting to buy the parts to build my first HTPC (Zotac IONITIX A-U board) to replace my aging Xbox. :)
Awesome option for those that have the supported hardware.
Does this apply only to those buying the mentioned HW or does it benefit for example those already running ION based platforms aswell ?
@Hitchhiker
Look at the screen shot, that’s a decrypted bluray disk image playing on the appletv. And no, before anyone asks, decryption via crystalhd is not part of this source code release.
This is the best price I found on eBay. If someone finds a cheaper price let the community know.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320436937576
$21.56 US, free shipping, shipped from Hong Kong
Good news. However, I see no Mini PCI-E slot on my Mac Mini, no ExpressCard slot either…
@jjgod
Its on the inside you have to crack it open (and void your warranty probably)
For those of you who want to use hardware acceleration in windows and no extra hardware or external player there is a new player called dsplayer:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=61355
Although it seems to lack support for subtitles..
This is great news, but as it looks right now im gonna hold out (or atleast attempt to) and pick up the 1X PCIE version. If i cant hold out i am going to to go the apple tv route i believe. guess we will see what happens.
so the builds available in the apple tv menu will contain this new code? and then all i would need to get it to work is buy a mini pcie card and install it? and then i can play 1080p mkvs etc without any stuttering etc?
because if i can get a ATV to play 1080ps then i can get rid of my HTPC and just use that… that would be so awesome.
…….why don’t you just add the Nvidia CUDA acceleration support?!!?!?!?
@Maverick-DBZ-
Thanks! Just ordered one :)
As if it wasn’t hard enough to pick the right hardware for xbmc :) Thanks for this great enhancement!
For image quality, is the crystal HD better or worse than vdpau? (with and without the new nvidia high quality upscale on gt210/220…)
Really hope someone can answer on this as it will greatly help ;)
To those wondering if this is only limited to netbooks / nettops and the like, you can use a mini PCIe card in a desktop by using an adapter. If you’re in Australia, you can try: [URL=http://www.darkwire.com.au/html/on-line_store.html]Darkwire[/URL]. I’ve heard some decent responses regarding them. This is of course if you can’t hold out for the PCIe version. Any word on when they should start hitting the market?
Have anyone been able to find the 1x PCIE edition anywhere?
“Best of all, this is an open source solution with full source code for driver and library available for OSX and Linux under a GPL/LGPL license.”
This is not entirely true. As a matter of fact, the Linux drivers contain a fairly large firmware blob that is not covered under the GPL and will probably prevent this driver from ever reaching mainline kernel. Looks like Broadcom did it again. Sad….
Just to make sure, if i buy this motherboard: http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboards/D510MO/D510MO-overview.htm
and add the pci-e broadcom card, it will be ok right?
As if it wasn’t hard enough to pick the right hardware for xbmc :) Thanks for this great enhancement!
For image quality, is the crystal HD better or worse than vdpau? (with and without the new nvidia high quality upscale on gt210/220…)
Really hope someone can answer on this as it will greatly help ;)
[edit]: just to make sure, the pci-e broadcom card with this motherboard will work fine?http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboards/D510MO/D510MO-overview.htm
no, really, what about the CUDA acceleration?! i can’t understand why it shouldn’t be supported…
Thanks a lot guys! Great work as always. I’m looking forward to put the card to work in my ATV.
@caino; we add what we feel like adding. you can add what you feel like adding.
Does this mean that a via nano-itx board with one of these in the slot could do 1080p ?
Nice more hardware support ftw!
Does this mean that platforms other than the ION will be the ultimate choice soon, or is ION still the best if you’re building a new HTPC from scratch?
How difficult would it be to install a Crystal HD in an XBOX?
seeker83
I believe that depends on the operative system you are planning to use. If you want to go with Windows, this i definitely the most awesome hardware, being able to decode video using hardware in XBMC in Windows!…
Personally i have a ION board with XBMC live installed, and that’s fine for me, BUT! if i someday desides, that i need the features of windows on my HTPC, i would definitely go buy this piece of hardware, to be able to playback 1080p in XBMC + Windows.
I’m actually quide PISSED that i just bought an ION board two days ago, and now realizing i could have saved some money buying a standard A330 board and a this amazing hardware…
@Jezz_X: Unfortunately the Mac mini with Nvidia chipset does not have any mini PCI-E slot inside.
So cool! Thanks Team XBMC
So am I correct in assuming that if I use this Crystal HD card then I will have to do without Wifi?
@jjgod
It has an ION chipset though. It can run VDPAU under Linux. VDPAU uses even less CPU.