Viewing page 1 of 2 pages.
1 2 NextFebruary 4, 2010 by Mike Chin
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Products
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Broadcom Hardware Decoder BCM970012
- PCIe Mini Card |
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Sample Supplier
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Logic
Supply |
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Price
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US$59
- $10
off w/ SPCR10 coupon code |
Logic Supply's Broadcom
Hardware Decoder BCM970012 is an unusual product. It is a PCIe Mini Card that
provides video/audio hardware acceleration and enables support for H.264 and
VC-1 video decoding like playback of Blu-ray discs and streaming 1080p high
definition multimedia content. It is meant specifically for netbooks and nettops
that lack built-in support for HD video.
We're talking about Atom-based systems running on the Intel chipsets, which
have taken the world by storm over the past couple of years. None of them really
have the ability to play HD video. The problem is lack of computing horsepower
in the CPU and the absence of hardware video decoding support in the chipset.
If you have an nVidia ION based Atom system, however, HD video/audio playback
is generally fine. HD video decoding support is the ION's trump card over the
Intel chipsets for Atom. But if you have an Atom PC with an Intel chipset that
you're thinking of replacing for a new machine capable of HD, Logic Supply's
BCM970012 PCIe Mini Card could be just what's needed to extend the useful life
of your netbook or nettop for another year or two. Many Atom netbooks, nettops
and devices have a mini PCIe slot. An add-on that extends PC life has got to
be worth examining for just the ecological benefit alone.
The device itself is tiny, measuring about 1"x2", it's just a little
PCB, like most devices that plug into a PCIe Mini slot.
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Front and back sides of the Broadcom Hardware Decoder BCM970012 - PCIe
Mini Card from Logic Supply.
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The main chip on the device is a Crystal HD decoder BCM970012. Here is Broadcom's
description:
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From
the Broadcom BCM970012 Product Page:
The chipset is a single-stream HD AVC/VC-1/MPEG-2 decoder solution capable
of full HD real-time decoding. The high performance and low power consumption
of the solution allow reduced CPU utilization and support for mobile platform
designs.
The chipset supports any compliant resolution from QVGA up to 1920 x
1088.
As part of the Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator solutions from leading
OEMs, the BCM70012 enables feature rich 1080p streaming multimedia experience
on netbooks and nettops. With support integrated within Adobe Flash Media
Player, the vast library of online content from sites like Hulu, BBC iPlayer,
Crackle is now available for enjoyment on netbooks and nettops at low
cost and without sacrificing the portability and long battery life of
these platforms.
- Multistandard high definition video decoding in the following formats:
- H.264/AVC HP at L 4.1 1080p/1080i, 40 Mbps
- SMPTE VC-1 AP at L 3 1080p/1080i, 40 Mbps
- WMV9 (VC-1 SP and MP)
- MPEG-2 MP @ ML and MP @ HL
- QVGA to Full HD (1080p) support
- Streaming Media playback on netbooks/nettops
- Blu-ray disc playback on netbooks/nettops
- Protected media playback on netbooks/nettops
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It all sounds good. The key question is whether it works, and how well. That's
what we're here to find out.
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