Re: Advice on a iBook ...
On 16 Oct, this message from Michael Schmitz echoed through cyberspace:
>> As for the iBook2, I would be surprised if it couldn't play DVDs.
>
> Sure it can - with the hardware decoder used (assuming it has such a
> beast; the Lombard does).
No dedicated hardware, just hardware assistance from the ATI Mobility
M3, which does iDCT, motion compensation and colorspace conversion in
hardware.
> Figure out how that's used by MockOS, and write
> a driver.
Colorspace conversion is taken care of by Xvideo in XF4. But
unfortunately that is not enough on a G3 processor. On a G4, it is
barely enough when using Altivec-optimized iDCT and motion, considering
a preemtive multitasking environment.
> I imagine playing DVDs pretty much clashes with preemptive scheduling and
> other tasks using the CPU under Linux (if the CPU is maxed out by the
> decoder).
The G3 is maxed out and doesn't get full framerate (probably around 60%
max). The G4 with Altivec decoder sofwtare is not, but obviously
latencies can kill you here, so you need a few spare cycles ;-)
Hope this helps
Michel
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