Graphics power is key to playing HD videos on a PC

Chicago (IL) - Games may not be the only applications anymore that create an incentive for buying a faster graphics card. HD DVD and Blu-ray videos require enormous processing power to decode codecs and overwhelm virtually all CPUs available today. So, how much does it take to make HD look good on a PC screen? TG Daily got a first impression at an exclusive meeting with Nvidia.

Let's just assume for a moment that you are the proud owner of decent dual-core PC and you have just got your hands on one of one of those rare HD-DVD or Blu-ray PC drives, which you intend not to use just for storing huge amounts of data. Would you be surprised, if powerful notebook or desktop computer can't play a high definition movie on a HD DVD or BD ROM?

The VC-1 encoded HD DVD video used up all resources of the Pentium D 830 CPU

In the second run, Vouri enabled hardware acceleration, which requires an updated version of Nvidia's Forceware driver with support for Purevideo HD (Nvidia says this update will be available in the July/August time frame). As you might expect, the visual result improved dramatically: We didn't recognize any frames being dropped and the CPU utilization somewhat stabilized around 60%. It's still significant, but it will allow you to watch that HD movie and work with a second and less demanding software at the same time.

With GPU support: The processor load drops to about 60%

Nvidia hopes that gaming isn't the only application anymore that creates an incentive for users to consider a faster graphics card. At least for now and at least for video enthusiasts that may be true - as the demonstrated dual-core processor was simply overwhelmed by the amount of data that was thrown at it. But what about Intel's new and more powerful Core processors? Do they have enough horsepower to decode VC-1 and even H.264? We used the opportunity of an interview with Intel's top mobility executive David Perlmutter to find out: After the Core 2 Duo interview, he told us that H.264 "will remain a challenge. You will see more things being done in terms of specializing the hardware to accelerate the codec. It is important to us."

Tom's Hardware will be testing the video coding capabilities of Core 2 Duos and high-definition drives in the not too distant future to see just how much Core 2 Duo improves H.264 acceleration over the Pentium D.

There won't be special Nvidia Geforce cards with HDCP support: It is up to system builders to add the chip. Look for special markings on the product box: The picture shows the box of an MSI Geforce 7600GT card.

For now, hardware acceleration through a graphics card may be a solution for video enthusiasts who want to watch 1080p movies on a PC system now. If you are among those, make sure that you are buying a graphics card that clearly indicates HDCP support; otherwise you are stuck with an empty screen. Vouri told us that there won't be Nvidia graphic card sequence numbers dedicated to HDCP - it's pretty much up to the add-in card builders to integrate the chip. The only way to find out whether a card has HDCP capability will be a special marking on the box of the product. According to Vouri, HDCP-enabled graphics cards are currently available for prices below $200.

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