AMD partners fooled by ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT's lack of UVD

Posted on Tuesday, May 29 2007 @ 20:18 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
Last week it was discovered that ATI's new Radeon HD 2900 XT lacks the Universal Video Decoder (UVD) which is a technology to provide Blu-ray and HD DVD video acceleration. Several hardware review sites were fooled and even several ATI partners mistakenly believed the R600 features UVD support:
When asked why AMD never contacted any trade publications to correct the misconception that UVD was included in Radeon 2900, our contact declined to comment. He did add that full HD acceleration is present on the R600 ASIC, and it will eventually be enabled via driver updates.

“Unfortunately, try as we might, we could not get UVD to work with the current drivers provided by AMD and the PowerDVD release that is supposed to enable the hardware acceleration on HD 2000 series parts,” states AnandTech Senior CPU and Graphics Editor Derek Wilson said. “We will have to take a second look at hardware decode when AMD and CyberLink or Intervideo get their software in order.”

AMD has not released a driver that takes advantage of the ATI Radeon HD 2000-series multimedia features nor has a software company released a player that takes advantage of the hardware.

Last year ATI made false claims of HDCP compatibility with its Radeon X1900-series graphics cards, despite the lack of HDCP keys. Eventually ATI was sued over these claims under false advertising pretenses.

ATI board partners potentially face the same false advertising claims. Today, no less than four AIB partners claim UVD support on their Radeon HD 2900 XT boxart. Surprisingly absent from that list: Built-by-ATI boards.
Source: DailyTech.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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