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We are looking at replace 8-10 old XP machines. We purchased a Raspberry Pi to try but it doesn't stream video very well at all. I was recommended by a friend that the Arduino would work better for us but I was just recommended BeagleBone Black. We will basically be using them online using Google Docs, YouTube and other educational sites. It would also be nice if they had VGA output as that is the equipment we have. Do you know of a single board computer solution that is reasonably priced that would work for us?

We are looking at replace 8-10 old XP machines. We purchased a Raspberry Pi to try but it doesn't stream video very well at all. I was recommended by a friend that the Arduino would work better for us but I was just recommended BeagleBone Black. We will basically be using them online using Google Docs, YouTube and other educational sites. It would also be nice if they had VGA output as that is the equipment we have. Do you know of a single board computer solution that is reasonably priced that would work for us?

BeagleBone Black doesn't have the sort of hardware acceleration needed to be good at streaming video. 

The Raspberry Pi should be a lot better for video, but it will depend on what compression method is in use. You may need to buy some codec licenses for it from here http://www.raspberrypi.com/license-keys/

It's also likely that you need to use omxplayer on the Pi to get the best out of it's video capabilities as other players may not be optimised for the Pi

VGA output is problematic, most of the current boards have HDMI outputs which means DVI or using an HDMI-to-VGA converter. Some working converters for the Pi are listed here http://elinux.org/RPi_VerifiedPeripherals#HDMI-.3EVGA_converter_boxes

Other things to look at are Sabre-Lite (but cost of these is encroaching on a cheap Intel Atom based PC), Wandboard, or perhaps Minnowboard (which is a cheap Atom PC)

Richard Moeller wrote:

 

We are looking at replace 8-10 old XP machines. We purchased a Raspberry Pi to try but it doesn't stream video very well at all. I was recommended by a friend that the Arduino would work better for us but I was just recommended BeagleBone Black. We will basically be using them online using Google Docs, YouTube and other educational sites. It would also be nice if they had VGA output as that is the equipment we have. Do you know of a single board computer solution that is reasonably priced that would work for us?

Using BeagleBone Black...

You could build something using the design materials from http://circuitco.com/support/index.php?title=BeagleBone_VGA to add VGA.

Or, you could use an HDMI to VGA converter.

Or, you could make a VGA adapter out of resistors: http://hackaday.com/2012/06/26/offloading-vga-generation-onto-a-coprocessor/

Or, you could contact CircuitCo for a custom version of BeagleBone Black that included VGA.

Pi streams video well in my experience with RaspBMC (XBMC Media Center).  Download NOOBS to try it out: http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads

The BeagleBone Black provides a much faster web browser experience I have found.  This is because it has a newer generation ARM processor (e.g. CPU) than the Pi.  It would probably be the best bet since Google Docs is pretty CPU intensive I'd imagine (lots of javascript).  You could also run Android on the Bone and use the Android version of the Google programs.

I don't believe either the Bone or Pi will play YouTube in the browser.  XBMC with YouTube add-on installed is the best route I believe.

Neither have VGA and a HDMI -> VGA converter isn't cheap compared to the price of these boars.  I'd recommend looking at the Olimex OLinuXino A13 which has VGA:

https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/

I believe Farnell should be getting in the future:

http://uk.farnell.com/olimex/a13-olinuxino-micro/a13-cortex-a8-olinuxino-micro-sbc/dp/2308267

And Newark would then have it via direct ship:

http://www.newark.com/olimex/a13-olinuxino/a13-cortex-a8-olinuxino-linux-sbc/dp/69W8086

cheers,

drew

Jason Kridner wrote:

 

Or, you could make a VGA adapter out of resistors: http://hackaday.com/2012/06/26/offloading-vga-generation-onto-a-coprocessor/

Pity that the link from hackaday to the details seems to be dead now

Still, interesting and creative use of the PRU..

Or, you could make a VGA adapter out of resistors: http://hackaday.com/2012/06/26/offloading-vga-generation-onto-a-coprocessor/

Cool! I didn't realize that was possible.

paging shabaz

funny, that's what I was thinking

selsinork wrote:

 

BeagleBone Black doesn't have the sort of hardware acceleration needed to be good at streaming video.

For rendering, you are likely limited to 720p video (vs. accelerated 1080p video) and more practically probably about 480p when looking at streaming+rendering situations. Streaming video is a lot more than just video rendering. As a capture endpoit, BeagleBone Black's USB performance is far superior and has been shown to be quite capable streaming 1080p video streams (see OpenROV and Derek Molloy videos) from USB over Ethernet. Much of the R-Pi problems with streaming come down to other bottlenecks outside of rendering.

Hehe sounds like a challenge!

The PRU VGA link doesn't point any more to the details, but it could be straightforward, if the video memory location is known. The circuit below is what the 'Minimig' project uses for VGA. PRU#1 could be used, which has lots of PRU GPO capable pins (i.e. the video pins used for HDMI).

Don't forget that on the BBB the ethernet controller is integrated in the AM3359 when on the Rpi is an external controller combo USB switch that shares a single USB interface out of the BCM with a not extermely functional pseudo USB host intertace.

-J