NVIDIA launch new version of PureVideo - H.264 support
Written by Andreas G 02 March 2006 21:32

NVIDIA PureVideo was a big media attraction for NVIDIA already when it launched the GeForce 6800 series. Unfortunately it turned out that you couldn't use PureVideo at the start and that the circuit was malfunctioning with the first version. NVIDIA fixed that and now both the GeForce 6 series and especially the GeForce 7 series helps the system to handle the video signals, and do so well. It wasn't until ATI launched the Radeon X1K family and AVIVO that ATI could measure up to PureVideo's video acceleration and image quality. Something that ATI has been bragging about is how its X1K family can handle the next generation DVD format, Blu-ray and HD DVD, that both use the H.264 codec.

H.264 is a very demanding for high resolution video signals and can become excessive for the processor. By letting the video card take the load of the processor you can use the system in a better way e.g. a HTPC that work with many applications at the same time.

"H.264, which is also known as the Advanced Video Codec (AVC) specification or MPEG-4 Part 10, is one of the digital video codecs specified for the Blu-ray and High Definition DVD (HD DVD) formats. H.264 delivers two to three times the compression efficiency of the MPEG-2 standard, which is used to create current DVD videos. H.264 has been adopted by both the DVD Forum for HD DVDs and the Blu-ray Disc Association for Blu-ray Discs, and VC-1 has also been adopted by the DVD Forum for HD DVDs. " 

So far only ATI has supplied support for H.264 acceleraion with its video cards through driver updates, while NVIDIA only has displayed support with its internal tests and demonstrations. However NVIDIA has now launched a new version of its PureVideo decoder that adds support for hardware acceleratino of H.264 signals. 

The new PureVideo decoder offers hardware acceleration of H.264 signals for all GeForce 6/GeForce 7 circuits for stationary and portable computers plus NVIDIA's nForce 6150 chipset.

Now we're just waiting for HDCP support so that you can actually use the H.264 acceleration when Blu-ray and HD DVD arrive.

:: Download NVIDIA's new PureVideo decoder (30 day trial)

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