2014-09-22, 12:27
I don't know how many different Android media player boxes and sticks powered by Realtek 1195 / 1295 have been announced so far, anyone here know more about availability and price?
Could this be the Raspberry Pi killer at a budget we bargain hunters have been looking for?
I mostly interested in knowing if anyone here got an Android media player based on Realtek 1195 (RTD1195) / 1295 (RTD1295) platform and if so how is your experience with it and XBMC so far?
Based on Realtek past history with multimedia chipsets any boxes using this SoC are likely to have a better video and image quality than the other ARM SoCs used by current Android boxes. As Realtek and Sigma Designs was previously the two main semiconductor companies that dominated this segment of the market, and both companies are historically famous for making cheap yet high quality MIPS based chipsets for media player and set-top box hardware, and for those who haven't read up on the RTD1195 yet it is Realtek's new value SoC and its second entry into the ARM architecture platform after its high-end RTD2995, with the RTD1195 featuring Dual-Core Cortex-A7 series CPU running at up to 1.5 GHz and ARM Mali-400 MP2 GPU.
http://www.cnx-software.com/category/pro...altek-rtd/
While the CPU and GPU specification in RTD1195 is almost at the low-end by today's standard and its raw computing power performance will thus be greatly inferior to the much higher priced application processors like Amlogic S802/S805/S812, Rockchip RK3288, and Allwinner A80, the RTD1195 from Realtek does look to more than make up for with a cheap price and excellent VPU playback capabilities including 10-bit H.265 / HEVC decode and 4K video output, as well as internal SATA port, USB 3.0, GigaBit Ethernet, 802.11ac, and Bluetooth 4.0, with a very competing price this might be the SoC platform for XBMC / Kodi users who want to replace their Raspberry Pi with a dedicated media player for less.
The most interesting thing about RTD1195 from XBMC / Kodi and media playback functionality point of view is that it features VPU hardware video decoding for 4K2K (4Kx2K/3840X2160) 8-bit H.264 and 10-bit H.265 / HEVC, and 1080p Blu-ray 3D MVC (Multiview Video Coding) videos decode, including support for Frame Packaging 3D (frame-packed 3D output), and audio output support for Dolby Digital Plus / True HD and DTS Master Audio pass-through. No official fact sheet from Realtek however if this SoC will support HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 2.X output at 4K Ultra HD (3840X2160) resolution at 60 fps or if RTD1195 will be limited to HDMI 1.4 and its maximum specifications. The SoC also natively supports Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 3.0 host and a SATA 3 harddrive.
So once readily available and the firmware have matures a little I would suspect that RTD1195 based devices will be the go-to SoC as an entry model for many first-time XBMC / Kodi beginners.
The announced Realtek 1195 based Android 4K media player boxes from semi-reputable manufactures I found so far to be "coming soon" are these:
- Eweat EW902, also sold as OEM model "W902" under other brand-names or no-name http://chinagadgetsreviews.blogspot.ro/2...v-box.html
- Egreat A-series http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/05/11/u...d1195-soc/
- MeLe Mele G09 (G39/G29) Extrenal SATA and internal 2.5-inch SATA bay http://blog.minipcdb.com/mele-rtd1195/
- MeLe Mele M11 (M23) internal SATA 3.5-inch bay http://blog.minipcdb.com/mele-rtd1195/
- MeLe RTD1195 small-form-factor entry-model with unknown model name https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMxOCdj-E5s
- Bluetimes BT-3584D (3584D) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh2uI5yLhdk
- EC-U6D by EC Tech (EC Technology), also sold as OEM model "U6D" under other brand-names or no-name http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/09/20/6...-ethernet/
- Unipro M-195, also sold as OEM model "M-195" or "M195" under other brand-names or no-name http://www.geekbuying.com/item/M-195-Rea...33627.html
- KDLinks A200 http://www.kdlinks.com/index.php/popular...board.html
Could this be the Raspberry Pi killer at a budget we bargain hunters have been looking for?
I mostly interested in knowing if anyone here got an Android media player based on Realtek 1195 (RTD1195) / 1295 (RTD1295) platform and if so how is your experience with it and XBMC so far?
Based on Realtek past history with multimedia chipsets any boxes using this SoC are likely to have a better video and image quality than the other ARM SoCs used by current Android boxes. As Realtek and Sigma Designs was previously the two main semiconductor companies that dominated this segment of the market, and both companies are historically famous for making cheap yet high quality MIPS based chipsets for media player and set-top box hardware, and for those who haven't read up on the RTD1195 yet it is Realtek's new value SoC and its second entry into the ARM architecture platform after its high-end RTD2995, with the RTD1195 featuring Dual-Core Cortex-A7 series CPU running at up to 1.5 GHz and ARM Mali-400 MP2 GPU.
http://www.cnx-software.com/category/pro...altek-rtd/
While the CPU and GPU specification in RTD1195 is almost at the low-end by today's standard and its raw computing power performance will thus be greatly inferior to the much higher priced application processors like Amlogic S802/S805/S812, Rockchip RK3288, and Allwinner A80, the RTD1195 from Realtek does look to more than make up for with a cheap price and excellent VPU playback capabilities including 10-bit H.265 / HEVC decode and 4K video output, as well as internal SATA port, USB 3.0, GigaBit Ethernet, 802.11ac, and Bluetooth 4.0, with a very competing price this might be the SoC platform for XBMC / Kodi users who want to replace their Raspberry Pi with a dedicated media player for less.
The most interesting thing about RTD1195 from XBMC / Kodi and media playback functionality point of view is that it features VPU hardware video decoding for 4K2K (4Kx2K/3840X2160) 8-bit H.264 and 10-bit H.265 / HEVC, and 1080p Blu-ray 3D MVC (Multiview Video Coding) videos decode, including support for Frame Packaging 3D (frame-packed 3D output), and audio output support for Dolby Digital Plus / True HD and DTS Master Audio pass-through. No official fact sheet from Realtek however if this SoC will support HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 2.X output at 4K Ultra HD (3840X2160) resolution at 60 fps or if RTD1195 will be limited to HDMI 1.4 and its maximum specifications. The SoC also natively supports Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 3.0 host and a SATA 3 harddrive.
So once readily available and the firmware have matures a little I would suspect that RTD1195 based devices will be the go-to SoC as an entry model for many first-time XBMC / Kodi beginners.
The announced Realtek 1195 based Android 4K media player boxes from semi-reputable manufactures I found so far to be "coming soon" are these:
- Eweat EW902, also sold as OEM model "W902" under other brand-names or no-name http://chinagadgetsreviews.blogspot.ro/2...v-box.html
- Egreat A-series http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/05/11/u...d1195-soc/
- MeLe Mele G09 (G39/G29) Extrenal SATA and internal 2.5-inch SATA bay http://blog.minipcdb.com/mele-rtd1195/
- MeLe Mele M11 (M23) internal SATA 3.5-inch bay http://blog.minipcdb.com/mele-rtd1195/
- MeLe RTD1195 small-form-factor entry-model with unknown model name https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMxOCdj-E5s
- Bluetimes BT-3584D (3584D) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh2uI5yLhdk
- EC-U6D by EC Tech (EC Technology), also sold as OEM model "U6D" under other brand-names or no-name http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/09/20/6...-ethernet/
- Unipro M-195, also sold as OEM model "M-195" or "M195" under other brand-names or no-name http://www.geekbuying.com/item/M-195-Rea...33627.html
- KDLinks A200 http://www.kdlinks.com/index.php/popular...board.html