FAQs
Browse questions and answers on DaVinci™ Technology,
digital media and associated programmable DSP-based SoCs,
development tools, reference designs, applications frameworks
and comprehensive training and support.
What is DaVinci?
TI’s DaVinci™ Technology is a collection of
DSP-based system solution components tailored for efficient
and compelling digital video – for digital cameras,
video security, advanced medical imaging, portable video players
or any other video application you can imagine.
DaVinci™ Technology consists of:
- DaVinci Software: Interoperable, optimized,
production-ready video and audio "standards" codecs leveraging
DSP and integrated accelerators, built into configurable
frameworks, and presented via published APIs within popular
operating systems (Linux) for rapid software implementation.
- DaVinci Development Tools/Kits: Complete
development systems, reference designs and a comprehensive
ARM/DSP system-level Integrated Development Environment
to speed the design and development of any digital video
application.
- DaVinci Processors: Scalable, programmable
DSPs and DSP-based SoCs (system-on-chip) processors tailored
from DSP cores, accelerators, peripherals and ARM processors
optimized to match various price, performance and feature
requirements in a spectrum of digital video end equipments.
- DaVinci Support: System integrators,
hardware and software solution providers in the TI third
party partner network with DaVinci Technology knowledge
and video system expertise to help you get to market faster.
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What are the primary benefits of DaVinci™ Technology
for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)?
DaVinci™ Technology provides OEMs with an easy-to-use,
integrated digital video platform that supports the development
of virtually all digital video applications. DaVinci™
Technology significantly reduces design cycles, development
costs and the amount of customization required to produce
innovative digital video end equipments. The standardized
codecs and APIs will make it easier for OEMs to develop interoperable
code that will work with other DaVinci-based applications,
simplifying future development efforts. DaVinci support also
includes application specific development tools, such as development
platforms and reference designs for OEMs to speed their time
to market. The integration of DaVinci processors will also
provide significant cost reductions for final products.
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How will consumers benefit from DaVinci™ Technology?
The flexibility of DaVinci™ Technology will benefit
consumers in many ways, including fewer individual electronics
products in their pocket, equipment with much more interoperability
and longevity, hassle-free products with compelling cost and
feature options, and products that are easy to upgrade with
a longer battery life.
In addition to inclusion in a host of consumer products that
we can imagine today, DaVinci technology will also significantly
impact consumer lifestyle in the near future. Through the
use of DaVinci technology for applications such as machine
vision, products can now become a reality in consumer’s
eyes, helping produce products such as advanced security systems,
new automotive vehicle controls and more precise medical diagnostic
tools.
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What DaVinci™ products are available?
DaVinci products from Texas Instruments are now available
and including multimedia codecs, APIs, frameworks and the
following digital media processors, software and development
tools:
| TMS320DM643x Processors |
TMS320DM644x Processors |
Software and Development Tools |
| TMS320DM6437 |
TMS320DM6446 |
DM644x Digital Video Evaluation Module (DVEVM) |
| TMS320DM6435 |
TMS320DM6443 |
DM644x Digital Video Software Development Kit (DVSDK) |
| TMS320DM6433 |
TMS320DM6441 |
DM6437 Digital Video Development Platform (DVDP) |
| TMS320DM6431 |
|
|
Custom DaVinci solutions are also available for digital still
cameras and portable audio applications.
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I already use TI DSPs to develop video applications. How
can I benefit from DaVinci™ Technology?
DaVinci will make it even easier and faster to develop digital
video applications with TI technology. DaVinci™ Technology
provides a completely integrated platform of processors, software
and development tools that are optimized for digital video
applications, simplifying design and stimulating innovation
in less time. The off-the-shelf codecs, integrated accelerators,
published APIs and application specific frameworks enable
digital video engineers to focus on value-added development
and get to market quickly with new designs. DaVinci silicon
is based on the new TMS320C64x+™ core and it is code
compatible with TI’s TMS320C64x™ DSPs.
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Where can I get more information on DaVinci?
For more information on the Web, please visit www.thedavincieffect.com.
You may also contact a Product
Information Center or your TI sales representative.
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Who is Using DaVinci Technology?
From portable media players and set-top boxes, to video surveillance
and on-board navigation, a variety of companies are leveraging
DaVinci technology in the products. Visit www.ti.com/davincicustomers
to learn more about DaVinci customer products.
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Where can I get information about which codec(s) are available
for DaVinci technology?
Customers can view our currently available codec(s) as well
as our roadmap for future codec(s) by going to www.ti.com/dmsinventory.
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Where can I get free evaluation codec(s) for Davinci technology?
Interested parties can request free 60-day trial evaluations
of our available codec(s) at www.ti.com/digitalmediasoftware.
This will put you in contact with a TI representative which
will help you through this process. Please note that codec(s)
are supported by our Authorized Service Provider (ASP) network
and hence you will be asked to choose an ASP when requesting
a free evaluation of a codec.
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Why doesn’t my DaVinci codec engine open after I upgraded
my software?
When a new Davinci DVEVM software release comes out via our
software update site:
https://www-a.ti.com/extranet/cm/product/dvevmsw/dspswext/general/homepage.shtml
one cannot install components of the new software release
together with components of an older release and expect things
to work properly (although they may work to some extent).
With this in mind, anytime you upgrade to a new software release,
you must upgrade each of the following:
Please note that the above components are not limited to
the locations listed above; these are just the most common places
where they are normally found. Often customers update these
three components only for their current configuration (e.g.
u-boot in NOR, uImage via TFTP, File System via NFS). In such
cases, their software stops working when they change to a different
configuration, say File System from the HDD instead of NFS.
Therefore, it is important to note the various locations where
the three components listed above can reside. Having one of
these with an incompatible version is the most common reason
for a failure when opening the codec engine.
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Where can I get the latest DaVinci™ technology-based digital video evaluation module (DVEVM) software?
Register DVEVM users can get the latest DVEVM software from
our DaVinci Software Update site accessed via the following
link
https://www-a.ti.com/extranet/cm/product/dvevmsw/dspswext/general/homepage.shtml
To get access to our DaVinci Software Update site, please
register your DVEVM at www.ti.com/dvevmupdates
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How do I build U-Boot for DaVinci technology-based processors?
If you do not already have the u-boot source code, you can
get it from our DaVinci Software Update Site available to
registered DVEVM users.
https://www-a.ti.com/extranet/cm/product/dvevmsw/dspswext/general/homepage.shtml
Please make sure you have the version of u-boot source code
that corresponds to the version of the DVEVM software release
you are working with. Once you have the u-boot source code
on your Linux host work-station, you can go to the top level
directory in the u-boot source tree and execute the following
three commands to build u-boot for DVEVM.
host % make mrproper
host % make davinci_config
host % make
The ‘make mrproper’ command is analogous to ‘make
clean’ command; the ‘make davinci_config’
command sets up the necessary environment for u-boot to be
built for DVEVM platform; finally, the ‘make’
command builds u-boot.
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I accidentally overwrote my u-boot in a Davinci based system. How do I recover if I do not have Code Composer Studio™ (CCStudio) IDE or a JTAG emulator?
Many of our customers develop their code entirely on the
ARM side and have no need to purchase the CCStudio Integrated
Development Environment (IDE) for doing DSP programming. In
the past, the only way to recover from u-boot corruption was
to re-flash u-boot via the CCStudio IDE and the appropriate
JTAG emulator. However, in order to better meet the needs
of our customers, we have created a solution to allow customers
to re-flash u-boot (or any other application) via the UART
port. We expect this solution will be extremely useful at
manufacturing time as well. View the “Booting and Flashing
via the DaVinci TMS320DM644x Serial Interface”
application note which details this solution and provides
the necessary source code at
http://focus.ti.com/dsp/docs/dspsupporttechdocsc.tsp?sectionId=3&tabId=409&familyId=1302&abstractName=spraai4
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How do I build NAND version of U-Boot for DaVinci™
technology-based processors?
Building NAND version of u-boot is very similar to building
NOR (default) version of u-boot, except for one main difference.
The main difference is that before you build NAND version
of u-boot, you must edit:
$(UBOOT_ROOT_DIR)/include/configs/davinci.h
File and comment out the following line near the top of this
file:
#define CFG_ENV_IS_IN_FLASH 1
This single line (uncommented by default) is what controls
whether NOR or NAND version of u-boot gets built. After this,
the process to build u-boot is the same; mainly, go to the
top level root directory of the u-boot source tree and execute
the following commands.
host % make mrproper
host % make davinci_config
host % make
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Why do I sometimes get artifacts on the screen when using the Davinci VPSS Resizer?
Please note that write overflow conditions are the most common
cause of video artifacts when using the Resizer. A write overflow
condition occurs when data is being input from SDRAM and processed
by the Resizer faster then data can be output back to SDRAM,
likely due to output bandwidth starvation.
To detect overflow conditions, check the VPSS PCR register;
this register includes fields which indicate overflow conditions
for the various Video Processing Subsystem (VPSS) hardware
blocks. In particular, 4 of the fields in the VPSS PCR register
are used to indicate Resizer overflow conditions: RSZ1_WBL_O,
RSZ2_WBL_O, RSZ3_WBL_O, and RSZ4_WBL_O.
The VPSS SDR_REQ_EXP register can be programmed to control
the rate at which the VPSS module (which includes the Resizer)
reads data input from SDRAM. This in turn indirectly controls
the output bandwidth Resizer has available to SDRAM since
total bandwidth = input bandwidth + output bandwidth. Therefore,
to alleviate overflow conditions, program a higher value into
the SDR_REQ_EXP register; this will cause the input to be
read at a slower rate, thus leaving more output bandwidth
available to alleviate overflow conditions.
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