Capability of microcontroller

Thread Starter

Kittu20

Joined Oct 12, 2022
463
I have a stupid question running in my head. I thought I should ask because this thought came to my mind that's why I am asking.

When I compare device ( Raspberry PI) with device ( 8 bit AVR, 8 bit PIC) I find that device ( Raspberry PI) can play audio, video signal and can do so many things while device ( 8 bit AVR, 8 bit PIC) can't play audio, video and can't do so many things.

The simple reason I found is that the microcontroller used inside the raspberry Pi is more powerful than 8 bit AVR, 8 bit PIC. It has higher speed and more memory storage than 8 bit AVR and PIC.

I am not satisfied with the answer I have presented, I want to know in more detail why the 8 bit AVR and PIC is failed.

I have done a lot of research to find the reason but still I can't find the exact reason.

I would really appreciate if experts would clarify how device ( 8 bit AVR, 8 bit PIC) fails to play audio and video signals due to low speed and low memory
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,714
I have a stupid question running in my head. I thought I should ask because this thought came to my mind that's why I am asking.

When I compare device ( Raspberry PI) with device ( 8 bit AVR, 8 bit PIC) I find that device ( Raspberry PI) can play audio, video signal and can do so many things while device ( 8 bit AVR, 8 bit PIC) can't play audio, video and can't do so many things.

The simple reason I found is that the microcontroller used inside the raspberry Pi is more powerful than 8 bit AVR, 8 bit PIC. It has higher speed and more memory storage than 8 bit AVR and PIC.

I am not satisfied with the answer I have presented, I want to know in more detail why the 8 bit AVR and PIC is failed.

I have done a lot of research to find the reason but still I can't find the exact reason.

I would really appreciate if experts would clarify how device ( 8 bit AVR, 8 bit PIC) fails to play audio and video signals due to low speed and low memory
Simple answer, the processor in a Raspberry Pi is more powerful than an 8-bit AVR or 8-bit PIC,
powerful meaning processing capabilities, speed, bandwidth, hardware, on-board peripherals, and memory capacity.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,846
The simple reason I found is that the microcontroller used inside the raspberry Pi is more powerful
There are a number of Pi models. Some have a single core and others have multiple. All of them operate at higher speeds and have more memory than any PIC I'm aware of.

There are times when less memory and slower speed is offset by the ability to respond to events in real time.
 

ronsimpson

Joined Oct 7, 2019
2,989
There are many different versions of Pi, but some do 800 million instructions/second. The first PIC is used ran about 1 million instructions/second.
Most 8 bit computers can only add 8 bit numbers in one instruction. So the simplest fastest math is limited to numbers in the 0 to 255 range. It takes many instructions to add 16 bit numbers. Most 64 bit computers can add 64 bit numbers in one instruction.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,714
I don't think you fully understand what I'm asking or trying to figure out. The reason you are telling about, I have already mentioned in my initial post.
Well I have no idea what is the answer you seek that is not already available on the web.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,087
I have a stupid question running in my head. I thought I should ask because this thought came to my mind that's why I am asking.

When I compare device ( Raspberry PI) with device ( 8 bit AVR, 8 bit PIC) I find that device ( Raspberry PI) can play audio, video signal and can do so many things while device ( 8 bit AVR, 8 bit PIC) can't play audio, video and can't do so many things.

The simple reason I found is that the microcontroller used inside the raspberry Pi is more powerful than 8 bit AVR, 8 bit PIC. It has higher speed and more memory storage than 8 bit AVR and PIC.

I am not satisfied with the answer I have presented, I want to know in more detail why the 8 bit AVR and PIC is failed.

I have done a lot of research to find the reason but still I can't find the exact reason.

I would really appreciate if experts would clarify how device ( 8 bit AVR, 8 bit PIC) fails to play audio and video signals due to low speed and low memory
You've asked the same question many different ways and received many good answers. The simple reason you found is the correct reason. It's up to you to learn what computer power means in each computer application niche. Real power is whether it gets the job done in the required time. For complex low speed logic that requires small amounts of memory and lower speeds, a 8 bit AVR, 8 bit PIC is extremely powerful. For complex number crunching required for real-time video a RPi-4 is not so powerful.
 

Thread Starter

Kittu20

Joined Oct 12, 2022
463
There are many different versions of Pi, but some do 800 million instructions/second. The first PIC is used ran about 1 million instructions/second.
RPI executes more instructions in less time as compared to PIC. This is why RPi is faster than 8 bit PIC

How many minimum instructions are required to play audio, video?
 

Thread Starter

Kittu20

Joined Oct 12, 2022
463
It's up to you to learn what computer power means in each computer application niche. Real power is whether it gets the job done in the required time.
Can you tell me the minimum amount of time an audio or video should take to play?

I think this would be a good start to understand the reason.

after which we can find out how much time the raspberry pi takes and how much time the 8 takes due to which it fails
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,087
Everything is available on internet but there is lack of understanding. I have spent at least 4 days to find the exact reason.
Can you tell me the minimum amount of time an audio or video should take to play?

I think this would be a good start to understand the reason.

after which we can find out how much time the raspberry pi takes and how much time the 8 takes due to which it fails

Sadly there are no short-cuts. 4 days is a very short period of time to understand the complexity of AV computing even you already have a broad background in the basic concepts of the required mathematics, computer science and hardware engineering.
It's not realistic to use 40 question to gain the knowledge quickly when others have taken years.

So, the short answer is no, it's not a good start to understand the reason and nobody will be able to answer in detail your questions because your questions lack the background knowledge to make them reasonable, narrow, limited questions to be answered here IMO.

It's time to get back to reading for a lot more than 4 days.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,714
Can you tell me the minimum amount of time an audio or video should take to play?

I think this would be a good start to understand the reason.

after which we can find out how much time the raspberry pi takes and how much time the 8 takes due to which it fails
What a vague and incomplete question!

A 3-minute song would take 3 minutes to play.
A 60-minute video would take 60 minutes to play.
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
Can you tell me the minimum amount of time an audio or video should take to play?

I think this would be a good start to understand the reason.

after which we can find out how much time the raspberry pi takes and how much time the 8 takes due to which it fails
First, what do you mean by “an audio file”? There are many different formats, with varying depths, sampling rates, compression, etc…

Taking one as an example, DSD results in 2.8 million changes per second. Multiply that by the number of instructions needed to play that one sample, you get many more instructions per second than the 1 million maximum that the PIC can execute.
 

BobTPH

Joined Jun 5, 2013
8,813
They are all lying to you! I’m sure yoy know that electronics work on magic smoke.

Well, the Rpi uses premium supercharged magic smoke ($200 per gram,) whereas AVR uses only bargain magic smoke ($1.98 per gram.)
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,979
This is like someone asking, "I'm trying to understand difference between Estes model rocket and Saturn V rocket. Why can one take humans to the moon and the other can't. I know that Saturn V rocket is millions of times more powerful than Estes rocket, having enormously greater thrust and ability to sustain that thrust for a much longer period of time, but I'm not satisfied with this answer. Please explain the exact reason."
 

ronsimpson

Joined Oct 7, 2019
2,989
RPI executes more instructions in less time as compared to PIC. This is why RPi is faster than 8 bit PIC
My Pi has four CPUs running in parallel. Some of the new Pi board have 6 or 8 CPUs in one IC plus there are 1, 2 or more drawing on the LCD in a different IC and some have a separate CPU for the USB.
 
Last edited:

Papabravo

Joined Feb 24, 2006
21,159
Part of the TS's problem is the lack of specificity with respect to what the processor is actually doing. A decade and a half ago I worked in a high-end audio company. Think several thousand dollars for a CD player. In one particular product there were 2 8-bit processors. One was a legacy Motorola 68HC11 and the other was an ATmega128. Neither of them touched the actual digital data stream from the CD drive that was handled by an FPGA. The MC68HC11 configured and controlled the DAC, (Volume and Balance etc.) and the ATmega128 configured and controlled the CD drive (OPEN, CLOSE, PLAY, PAUSE, STOP etc.) and the IR remote.

Your specific examples may or may not be doing what you think they are doing which is reading the digital data stream from memory or media and creating the actual analog output. Back then digital audio was 16 bits @ 44.1 kHz. which may have been within the capability of extant processors of the time. Today 32-bit @ 384kHz digital audio would not surprise me and would probably be out of reach for most 8-bit devices.

1675450947815.png
 
Last edited:

Thread Starter

Kittu20

Joined Oct 12, 2022
463
I understand that the question I have asked is complex and understanding it at the same time is beyond my knowledge and skills. I still don't want to give up I'm still eager to figure it out.

To tackle this problem can anyone suggest some initial steps which I should understand first. I am reading information related to it but if I put my time in right direction it will be easy for me to understand it.

Can any one offer the initial three steps which I need to understand first to clear the concept
 

Papabravo

Joined Feb 24, 2006
21,159
I understand that the question I have asked is complex and understanding it at the same time is beyond my knowledge and skills. I still don't want to give up I'm still eager to figure it out.

To tackle this problem can anyone suggest some initial steps which I should understand first. I am reading information related to it but if I put my time in right direction it will be easy for me to understand it.

Can any one offer the initial three steps which I need to understand first to clear the concept
I think it would be helpful for you to research and understand digital audio and video formats. This would allow you to accurately compute the total amount of data represented by a 3-minute song or a half hour video. Knowing the total amount of data to be moved or processed will tell you how fast each unit of data needs to be handled. From this you can relate to the time it takes a given processor to handle that unit of data. I should warn you that this may be a challenging project for you. I have worked with FLAC before and it produces impressive results to my untrained ear. FYI, I'm not one of the "Golden Ears".

Digital audio interface standards include, but are not limited to MIDI, I2S and S/PDIF.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_file_format
 
Last edited:
Top