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I see some complaints about the excessive creation of media projects on the pi. Taking a step back, from the hardware point of view, the pi showcases VideoCore

I see some complaints about the excessive creation of media projects on the pi. Taking a step back, from the hardware point of view, the pi showcases VideoCore and not the ARM. This is the reason why the CPU is severly underpowered with respect to the GPU. The GPU is actually a total SoC - it doesn't need the CPU at all. The only reason the ARM CPU exists is to run traditional programs. VideoCore does kick ass media decoding and can output to HDMI. In case, you didn't know, the pi actually boots from the GPU and not the CPU. That's right, the VideoCore comes up first and then gets the CPU going unlike traditional systems. From Broadcom's point of view, the pis sole reason of existence is to showcase their GPU. To this end, it has served it's purpose really well. Unfortunately, they have been terrible in releasing proper image and video decoding drivers.

outworlder 13y ago
VideoCore would be even more awesome if it had a usable OpenCL implementation.
asb 13y ago
The Raspberry Pi is not a Broadcom project.
- general_failure 13y ago
  I didn't intend my post to mean that. The design of the pi was inspired by the bcm2835 (which is the same thing as the roku 1). What I meant was that the way broadcom designed BCM 2835 with showcasing the VideoCore in mind. Thanks for all your work on the pi btw :) I have been using your debian images last year.
  - asb 13y ago
    Ok, I get what you're saying. You're right that the VC4 is the main selling point of the chip. Regarding image and video decoding...well, we do have OpenMAX which is a Khronos standard. It's just pretty horrific for normal people to use. GStreamer 1.0 supports the Raspberry Pi, and v4l support is in development for the camera.
- joezydeco 13y ago
  But it certainly had Broadcom help. You can't buy the BCM2835 on the open market, and the project was spearheaded by a Broadcom engineer. It's as much a Broadcom project as Panda/Beagle is a TI project. These are just simpler EVKs rebranded as hobbyist/educational products but they also showcase the chip design as general_failure suggests.

outworlder 13y ago

VideoCore would be even more awesome if it had a usable OpenCL implementation.

asb 13y ago

The Raspberry Pi is not a Broadcom project.

general_failure 13y ago
I didn't intend my post to mean that. The design of the pi was inspired by the bcm2835 (which is the same thing as the roku 1). What I meant was that the way broadcom designed BCM 2835 with showcasing the VideoCore in mind. Thanks for all your work on the pi btw :) I have been using your debian images last year.
- asb 13y ago
  Ok, I get what you're saying. You're right that the VC4 is the main selling point of the chip. Regarding image and video decoding...well, we do have OpenMAX which is a Khronos standard. It's just pretty horrific for normal people to use. GStreamer 1.0 supports the Raspberry Pi, and v4l support is in development for the camera.
joezydeco 13y ago
But it certainly had Broadcom help. You can't buy the BCM2835 on the open market, and the project was spearheaded by a Broadcom engineer. It's as much a Broadcom project as Panda/Beagle is a TI project. These are just simpler EVKs rebranded as hobbyist/educational products but they also showcase the chip design as general_failure suggests.