R520 (Kaleidoscope?) HD Decode/Decompression Capabilities

[Dave Baumann]

MARKHAM, Ontario & TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 26, 2005-- ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX:ATY)(NASDAQ:ATYT) solidifies its PC video and display leadership with the first public demonstration of high-definition H.264 video playback with hardware acceleration on the PC platform. H.264 is the video compression standard that will be used in the next generation high-definition video players such as Blu-ray and HD-DVD. The ATI H.264 video demonstration with ATI's next generation Radeon® technology will occur during Computex Taipei 2005 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

H.264 is a new video compression standard that's designed to have two to three times the compression efficiency of current schemes such as MPEG-2, while simultaneously improving overall image quality. This increased compression efficiency is highly computationally demanding, therefore graphics hardware assistance is crucial for real-time decoding of high bit-rate video. Working with industry leaders including CyberLink Corp., ATI's Radeon graphics acceleration technology meets the high-definition and computational demands of H.264.

"Consumers are clamoring for the amazing visual quality that Blu-ray and HD-DVD will bring to PCs," said Rick Bergman, Senior Vice President, PC Business Unit, ATI Technologies. "ATI is transforming the PC video landscape by leading the industry adoption of Blu-ray and HD DVD on the PC. This new innovation builds upon ATI's unrivaled video and display technologies."

The ATI demonstration at Computex features H.264 playback with Radeon technology and a CyberLink video player application. In addition to hardware acceleration of H.264, the Radeon processor is performing next generation video processing and showing off advanced display capabilities.

Looks like R520 has integrated HD decode capabilities and I'm guessing that this is part of the Kaleidoscope capbilities.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Can you tell us what "kaleidoscope capbilities" means yet? :?

 

[AlNom]

Whatever happened to WMV (HD?) acceleration? :? Does the R520 HD acceleration include that

 

[Geo]

Greedy greedy boys. Take your worm like good little birdies --more will be along later.

 

[CJ]

At least we now know it's still called "Radeon".

 

[digitalwanderer]

Mmmmmmm.........worms........mmmmmmmmmm.

 

[Kombatant]

Greedy greedy boys. Take your worm like good little birdies --more will be along later.

Damn, you took the words right out of my mouth

 

[incurable]

Re: R520 (Kaleidoscope?) HD Decode/Decompression Capabilitie

I hope the fact that the first thing their showing off is the freakin' video engine doesn't bode ill for the card's rendering power.

I mean H.264 acceleration is all nice and dandy, but I have exactly zero use for it today and unless this whole BR/HD-DVD mess is sorted out like yesterday, that wont change in the foreseable future.

 

[Sonic]

I have great use for H.264 seeing as it is a great compression tool. There is some artifacting, but not quite compared to DivX or other compression schemes out right now. It is processor intensive and if the new ATI cards support hardware decode then it will mean that we can get great video quality at a lower size down the tiny pipes that is broadband internet.

 

[Diplo]

Re: R520 (Kaleidoscope?) HD Decode/Decompression Capabilitie

"Consumers are clamoring for the amazing visual quality that Blu-ray and HD-DVD will bring to PCs," said Rick Bergman

Are they? Are they really? I thought the vast majority of people prefered to watch DVDs on their TVs in the comfort of their living room...

 

[DOGMA1138]

any one who can buy a HD-DVD and a PC that can run and decode it, has an huge HDTV in the living room, so unless they`ll watch porn in HD(hmmm ) i doubt they`ll use thier tiny(21">) screenies to watch movies.

 

[digitalwanderer]

any one who can buy a HD-DVD and a PC that can run and decode it, has an huge HDTV in the living room

I don't.

i doubt they`ll use thier tiny(21">) screenies to watch movies.

Me and my wife do, but they're 17" montiors.

 

[AlNom]

Stop proving him wrong! It's....uncivilized.

You could be an exception to the rule though.

 

[trinibwoy]

I would go with Diplo on this. The last time I watched a movie on a monitor was in college. I really can't see a family all huddled around a 17" monitor to watch a movie, high-def or not.

I can see some singles doing it but computer monitors (especially small ones) don't really make for good tv's. But I guess it depends on how you have your entertainment area setup. My tv is the centerpiece of my living room and a monitor definitely couldnt replace it the way my place is setup.

 

[thatdude90210]

Some of us have PC's that aren't just connected to monitors, but also to HDTV's.

 

[rwolf]

Perhaps if it is built in to the video card the video features will be used in games and other content.

 

[Aivansama]

I would go with Diplo on this. The last time I watched a movie on a monitor was in college. I really can't see a family all huddled around a 17" monitor to watch a movie, high-def or not.

I can see some singles doing it but computer monitors (especially small ones) don't really make for good tv's. But I guess it depends on how you have your entertainment area setup. My tv is the centerpiece of my living room and a monitor definitely couldnt replace it the way my place is setup.

I actually bought my tv (27" 16:9 LCD) because it also doubles as a display for my htpc. So I can indeed picture myself watching movies on a 27" display instead of a 27" tv...

(LCD-)TV with a DVI-D input is the best thing since sliced bread, imho. Along with wireless keyboard & mouse.

 

[DOGMA1138]

any one who can buy a HD-DVD and a PC that can run and decode it, has an huge HDTV in the living room

I don't.

then get one

i doubt they`ll use thier tiny(21">) screenies to watch movies.

Me and my wife do, but they're 17" montiors.

normal divx is fine for small screens, i watch them too. but downloading HDvideo for such a small screen is a total waste.

 

[Ostsol]

Can't modern video cards output to TVs? :?

 

[Mariner]

HTPCs are going to become more and more prevalent, IMO. Therefore extra video encoding/decoding capabilities can only be a good thing in the future.