In smartphones and other tablets, hardware acceleration for decoding H.264 video is rarely available. If the software shipped with the OS typically use this function - available in most ARM SoC - the third-party software is often limited to software decoding. And ARM CPU is quite slow in this type of use, especially if the SIMD "NEON" are not available.
Fortunately for NVIDIA Tegra and 2 (which is not compatible NEON), it should change. Indeed, the latest version of Flash 10.2, the 10.2.157.51 indicates that hardware acceleration of video will be available with Android 3.1. In theory, it can decode 1080p video over a dedicated portion of the SoC, which avoids overloading the CPU and reduces consumption, although the difference is usually not huge.
Indeed, if in a classic move from one PC 3 GHz processor to a dedicated chip that runs a few hundred MHz has an impact in a smartphone the difference is less important. Remains to be seen how the acceleration will be managed in question: the decoders have integrated into the SoC performance highly variable, and some decode many formats in 1080p and with the "profiles" the most effective, others are limited to 720p in basic profile.
Hopefully the main decoders - one from NVIDIA, that Qualcomm, the Imagination and the Texas Instruments - will support prices, although this is unlikely. Indeed, on conventional computers, Adobe has taken the time to take over some chips (like Intel) and decoding hardware is not yet widespread. 
Fortunately for NVIDIA Tegra and 2 (which is not compatible NEON), it should change. Indeed, the latest version of Flash 10.2, the 10.2.157.51 indicates that hardware acceleration of video will be available with Android 3.1. In theory, it can decode 1080p video over a dedicated portion of the SoC, which avoids overloading the CPU and reduces consumption, although the difference is usually not huge.
Indeed, if in a classic move from one PC 3 GHz processor to a dedicated chip that runs a few hundred MHz has an impact in a smartphone the difference is less important. Remains to be seen how the acceleration will be managed in question: the decoders have integrated into the SoC performance highly variable, and some decode many formats in 1080p and with the "profiles" the most effective, others are limited to 720p in basic profile.
Hopefully the main decoders - one from NVIDIA, that Qualcomm, the Imagination and the Texas Instruments - will support prices, although this is unlikely. Indeed, on conventional computers, Adobe has taken the time to take over some chips (like Intel) and decoding hardware is not yet widespread.
- Flash Player 10.2 final arrives for Android 3.0 tablets (28/04/2011)
- Android Market Share Growth Accelerating, Nielsen Finds (26/04/2011)
- MIPS porting Android 3.0 Honeycomb platform (29/04/2011)
- Windows Phone 7 nears 15,000 apps, accelerates (26/04/2011)
- Qik brings full-fledged video chat app to Android (26/04/2011)
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