Ulrik Mikaelsson wrote:
I might be wrong, I hardly ever get to touch things that low-level,
unfortunately.
However, I think the DSP:s included in most STB:s are severely limited
in how much you can twist them. AFAIU, that's one quiet important
aspect of the whole HTML5 video-codec debacle. I.E. in the boxes I
work with, the entire video-processing-chain is done in one pipe-line,
separated from the CPU almost directly at the network-interface, and
color-keyed back with other graphics in the very last rendering-step.
(Much as the old Voodoo2-cards worked.)
From the economics stand-point, there's a HUGE cost-focus on them, so
every chance of removing costs from hardware is taken. Every dollar
saved on hardware is roughly a dollar on the bottom-line, and in the
volumes STB:s sell, that's millions of dollars. Sure, software costs
might go up, but not likely by millons of dollars yearly. I.E. even if
you CAN use the DSP-components to post-process audio, I would not be
surprised to learn it hasn't got the power to do it simultaneously
with video-playback.
Again, I don't work low-level enough to tell for sure, and TiVo might
spend a lot more on the hardware than I'm used to, but hardware
limitations in this industry is a very real challenge, especially for
things like post-processing. I too would love 2X playback with working
audio though. :)
The real money for Tivo is not the box cost, but the recurring subscription
revenue. Even better if this idea is nontrivial to implement, as that would give
the first mover an exclusive.
