between BF561 and DVDP6437

Hello All,

   I want to decide between BF561 from analog and DVDP6437 from
   TI for audio/video applications. My requirements are as follows

   1. do little bit of algorithmic work related to audio/video
      processing. eg. for video it could be video noise reduction,
      image scaling, deinterlacing, dithering, color enhancements
      contrast/brightness adjustements, mpeg NR and so on.

   2. use the same board for training purposes.

   I want to ask the forum, if anyone has already used the boards
   then how is there experience levels. I am novice to boards, but
   good at other aspects of DSP. I have a budget limit of 500$ and
   hence narrowed down to these two, based on my requirment.

   Please also help me if the s/w required for the board will be
   free or not?

Regards
Bharat Pathak

Arithos Designs
www.Arithos.com

"bharat pathak" <bharat@arithos.com> writes:

> Hello All,
>
>    I want to decide between BF561 from analog and DVDP6437 from
>    TI for audio/video applications. My requirements are as follows
>
>    1. do little bit of algorithmic work related to audio/video
>       processing. eg. for video it could be video noise reduction,
>       image scaling, deinterlacing, dithering, color enhancements
>       contrast/brightness adjustements, mpeg NR and so on.
>
>    2. use the same board for training purposes.
>
>    I want to ask the forum, if anyone has already used the boards
>    then how is there experience levels. I am novice to boards, but
>    good at other aspects of DSP. I have a budget limit of 500$ and
>    hence narrowed down to these two, based on my requirment.
>
>    Please also help me if the s/w required for the board will be
>    free or not?

I got a mis-Google on DVDP6437. Is this a development board for the 
DM6437? If so, then I don't see this being a good environment for
"training" unless your students are a lot smarter than me.

There are a massive number of details to learn in order to be able
develop for the DM64x series, including a complex DMA architecture,
caching and cache coherency policies, high levels of integration (e.g.,
PCI, video interfaces, etc.), and the software to run all this -
DSP/BIOS and all its complexity, including knowing how to develop video
drivers. Debugging can also be extremely difficult due to the system
complexity. And God help you if you want to program in assembly - the
machine doesn't even have a stack or a return instruction. 

In all my years on the embedded scene, this is, by far, the most complex
processor / system I've ever had the pleasure of working on. But, from
what I've seen, it is the platform of choice for video processing.
-- 
%  Randy Yates                  % "The dreamer, the unwoken fool - 
%% Fuquay-Varina, NC            %  in dreams, no pain will kiss the brow..."
%%% 919-577-9882                %  
%%%% <yates@ieee.org>           % 'Eldorado Overture', *Eldorado*, ELO
http://www.digitalsignallabs.com

Randy, 

    Thanks for your response. In that case can you suggest two
    different boards for me. One exclusively for training purpose
    and second one for video IP (postprocessing) development

Thanks and Regards
Bharat 

"bharat pathak" <bharat@arithos.com> writes:

> Randy, 
>
>     Thanks for your response. In that case can you suggest two
>     different boards for me. One exclusively for training purpose
>     and second one for video IP (postprocessing) development

Bharat, I can't with any experience, but from what I've heard and read,
the DSP development boards that are based on the Analog Devices SHARC
which Danville Signal Processing offers sound like they would be a good
choice.
-- 
%  Randy Yates                  % "Maybe one day I'll feel her cold embrace,
%% Fuquay-Varina, NC            %                    and kiss her interface, 
%%% 919-577-9882                %            til then, I'll leave her alone."
%%%% <yates@ieee.org>           %        'Yours Truly, 2095', *Time*, ELO   
http://www.digitalsignallabs.com

On Apr 26, 3:41 pm, Randy Yates <ya...@ieee.org> wrote:
> "bharat pathak" <bha...@arithos.com> writes:
> > Randy,
>
> >     Thanks for your response. In that case can you suggest two
> >     different boards for me. One exclusively for training purpose
> >     and second one for video IP (postprocessing) development
>
> Bharat, I can't with any experience, but from what I've heard and read,
> the DSP development boards that are based on the Analog Devices SHARC
> which Danville Signal Processing offers sound like they would be a good
> choice.

I haven't looked at the BlackFin extensively, but I don't recall it
being optimized for video in the way that some of the TI DaVinci
processors are.  The TI processors include models with dedicated video
accelerators.  Do any of the BlackFin models have that?

But like Randy said, the DaVinci processors are not for the beginner.
I'm not even sure they are for the experts, but they get used because
they can do jobs a lot cheaper than other devices.

If you are interested in something to learn on, TI has come out with a
new floating point processor that I am taking a hard look at.  It is
pretty fast and should provide floating point DSP systems at a much
lower price than the VLIW DaVinci processors, not to mention be easier
to learn and program.

rickman wrote:

> I haven't looked at the BlackFin extensively, but I don't recall it
> being optimized for video in the way that some of the TI DaVinci
> processors are.  The TI processors include models with dedicated video
> accelerators.  Do any of the BlackFin models have that?

According to what I was told, neither DaVinci nor BlackFin have enough 
of performance for the real time full screen high definition MPEG2 or 
MPEG4 unpacking. This is a domain of the specialized video chipsets 
(made by NXP, ST and others); hardware solutions are cheaper then the 
software solutions, too.

Vladimir Vassilevsky
DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant
http://www.abvolt.com