EPIA-M Preview - Video Playback
Posted on October 24, 2002
Introduction
Aren't we the lucky ones - a
genuine pre-production EPIA-M arrived on our desk today, complete
with a CLE266 to give it a graphics power-up. We couldn't
help ourselves, and ran a few video playback tests using the
most commonly available file-formats to see just how much
work the improved chipset is doing. Over the next few days
we'll look at other things, but we'll start with the most
talked about aspect of the EPIA-M. It must be stressed that
this is a pre-production EPIA-M, not to be confused
with the production EPIA-Ms that will be available in 3 or
4 weeks time - results from production models may vary.
Our EPIA-M came with a 733Mhz
C3 processor - unlike the production C3 models which will
be 200Mhz faster. We compared playback with a standard EPIA
800 (800Mhz C3), and with the same EPIA 800 fitted with a
Sigma Designs XCard. The EPIA-M had 128MB RAM and a tired
20GB Quantum Drive, the EPIA 800 had 256MB RAM and a speedy
80GB Seagate Barracuda IV. We used the same DVD drive for
both units. Who said life was fair? This is only a rough test
to get an idea of ballpark figures...
There's also a Mini-Gallery at
the end as a little bonus for anyone who manages to click
all the way to the end of this Preview (not difficult, there's
only two pages)
VCD Playback
We took a standard MPEG1 standard
VCD and checked the CPU usage with all machines. As expected,
all fared perfectly - no skipped frames here. The XCard took
nearly all of the work away from the CPU on the EPIA 800 -
as you would expect from an Nth generation hardware decoder.
EPIA 800 - VCD Playback
Pre-Production EPIA-M - VCD
Playback
EPIA 800 and XCard - VCD Playback
SVCD Playback
SVCD files are an excellent way
to encode to high quality, without placing too much strain
on lower powered processors. All systems played these perfectly,
straight from CD or from the hard disk.
EPIA 800 - SVCD Playback
Pre-Production EPIA-M - SVCD
Playback
EPIA 800 and XCard - SVCD Playback
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