Quote:...we fully expect even the lowliest of Core 2 Duo processors to be able to handle 1080p content (with any encoding), though they will still likely be very close to 100% CPU usage. For those of you still running single core CPUs, things aren't looking too good right now as far as high definition support. It appears that NVIDIA, ATI, or someone else is going to need to do far more than offloading 20% of the CPU requirements before any single core CPU is going to be able to manage 1080p decoding without dropping frames.
Anything less heavy duty than H.264 (read: all current American content) is watchable without GPU accelerated decoding enabled on the system we tested. VC-1 seemed to run near the limits of the system, but didn't run into the same trouble we saw while watching the Japanese version of The Chronicles of Riddick. For the general American HD content consumer with a PC, a decent (dual core) midrange system will be able to playback video just fine.
"The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate."
-Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Home Entertainment Feb 19, 2008
Thanks for the interesting link eatsushi. So theoretically once they sort out the software issues and when hardware becomes more available we can build an HTPC with both an HD-DVD and BluRay drive and use it like a combo player. It will have to be a real powerhouse too since MPEG2 and AVC require more processing power. This will be an interesting future project. Any aricles on the ATI solution?
