Flash Player Question (Slightly Off Topic)

Last spring I purchased a Samsung Smart T.V. I haven't used it much
and recently I missed a T.V. program I wanted to see, It was available
on a network site so I decided to stream it on the T.V., but it
wouldn't work. I called Samsung and was informed that the T.V. I
bought does not have Flash capability, only the more recent units have
that capability. I thought Flash was just a software utility, but they
told me that Flash required some hardware. Any info on that?

Barry Bruyea wrote:
Last spring I purchased a Samsung Smart T.V. I haven't used it much
and recently I missed a T.V. program I wanted to see, It was available
on a network site so I decided to stream it on the T.V., but it
wouldn't work. I called Samsung and was informed that the T.V. I
bought does not have Flash capability, only the more recent units have
that capability. I thought Flash was just a software utility, but they
told me that Flash required some hardware. Any info on that?

There's a hint here.

https://web.archive.org/web/20120225...eleration.html

Modern versions of Flash, use either the CPU (central processor)
or GPU (graphics card), to play video. That article says the
underlying video is H.264. Some desktop computers, the graphics
card has a video block in it that does H.264. In Windows, the
software subsystem may involve the word DXVA, but that isn't mentioned
in the above article.

(Generations of flash)

1) "CPU only" for everything. First generation. May use IDCT available
in every graphics card for the last 15 years.
2) CPU decode, GPU compositing and scaling. Hardware scaler means
less work for the CPU to do, if the decoded size doesn't match
the display size.
3) GPU decode, GPU compositing and scaling. CPU may still
be required for 3:2 pulldown, and other filtering functions
they forget to include in the GPU.

If a video is played by the guts of the TV set, the
environment is quite different. A TV set processor can be
a MIPS architecture processor running at 450MHz. That will
not be sufficient for "CPU" type decoding of any arbitrary
video format. The graphics part of the TV hardware, will
be inside the same SOC (system on a chip) as the CPU.
It may support certain OpenGL operations, have programmable
shaders and so on. The GPU in the TV set, probably doesn't
clock that much faster than the CPU, but the difference is,
the GPU can have a lot more parallel execution units.

For the TV SOC, option (3), the most recent innovation,
is what they'd attempt to do. A gutless CPU, needs a
beefy GPU, with special function units in it.

I looked up this datasheet a couple days ago, because someone
had a question about encryption, and I was curious what
encryption these things had in hardware. It happens to have 3DES
and AES. But this diagram also happens to show other
useful things a TV could use. Such as the Advanced Video Decoder.

http://www.st.com/st-web-ui/static/a...CD00209329.pdf

They may not stamp the word "Flash" on the blocks in that diagram,
but something in there is likely designed to do H.264 at
1920x1080. All without breaking a sweat. If the CPU portion
tried to do that, you'd need anywhere from 1.5GHz to 3GHz or so.
The 450MHz is just a bit too low for comfort, if all you
had was CPU, and the GPU wasn't a modern one.

The way the ST7105 diagram is drawn, the video decoder appears
to be a co-processor, and the GPU appears to be relatively
dumb. So it's not exactly the same as perhaps the ARM SOC in
a tablet or smart phone would be. But that chip was purpose
built for this sort of thing, so it should be powerful
enough.

Now, the question would be, what does your TV have for a SOC inside ?

It could be, all the TV is missing is good firmware. But
they wouldn't want to admit they didn't do a good job on
that. Or, that they don't support their hardware for
very long, after it is released. Some TVs, you get
firmware updates. Just like a PC and its BIOS.

Paul

Barry Bruyea wrote:
Last spring I purchased a Samsung Smart T.V. I haven't used it much
and recently I missed a T.V. program I wanted to see, It was available
on a network site so I decided to stream it on the T.V., but it
wouldn't work. I called Samsung and was informed that the T.V. I
bought does not have Flash capability, only the more recent units have
that capability. I thought Flash was just a software utility, but they
told me that Flash required some hardware. Any info on that?

In addition to what Paul said, check for firmware updates from the Samsung
web site. But I don't know if this issue is solvable by a firmware update,
or not (based on what Paul already mentioned about the CPU hardware
requirements).

But you might check and see what firmware update is available, and if
addresses that issue (on their web page). If it is available, you can
download the firmware update to a USB pendrive, and plug that into your
Samsung to update the firmware.

"Barry Bruyea" wrote in message ...
Last spring I purchased a Samsung Smart T.V. I haven't used it much
and recently I missed a T.V. program I wanted to see, It was available
on a network site so I decided to stream it on the T.V., but it
wouldn't work. I called Samsung and was informed that the T.V. I
bought does not have Flash capability, only the more recent units have
that capability. I thought Flash was just a software utility, but they
told me that Flash required some hardware. Any info on that?


We need to know more about you Computer
To help you set up Samsung Smart T.V. Netware
To a Player on your Computer
So you can get that
Flash T.V. program I wanted to see

Have a good day

"Barry Bruyea"

Samsung Smart T.V.
as a PC Monitor
I missed a T.V. program I wanted to see,
It was available on a network site

PC have Flash capability
Samsung have PC capability

so you can decided to stream it on the T.V.,

Have a good day