PureVideo
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BenQ's showy 15.4-inch Joybook R56 laptop
Another month, another Joybook. Thankfully, BenQ's workin' overtime to keep things fresh in its ever-growing laptop lineup, and the flashy R56 doesn't disappoint. The machine sports a 15.4-inch WXGA widescreen display with an eight-millisecond response time, HDMI output, and NVIDIA's GeForce 8400M G to boot. Additionally, you'll find an Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 processor, 512MB to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, up to 160GB of SATA hard drive space, an optional dual-layer DVD writer, six-cell Li-ion battery, 802.11a/g/n, built-in stereo speakers / subwoofer, and a slew of ports including Firewire, Ethernet, VGA, audio in / out, eSATA, ExpressCard, and four USB 2.0 connectors. Unfortunately, BenQ's not handing out any pricing or availability deets just yet, but click on through for a few more angles of this stylish machine.[Via Electronista]
Alienware m9750: now with dual 512MB NVIDIA GPUs
We can just imagine the smiles creeping over the faces of FPS freaks everywhere as they dream about owning a laptop with twin 512MB NVIDIA GPUs, and thanks to Alienware's refreshed m9750, you can now replace those visions with an actual order. The newly revamped 17-inch machine still offers up a WXGA+ or WUXGA display, up to 400GB of internal HDD space in a RAID 0 array, Blu-ray support, and a plethora of connectivity options, but it now includes Intel's 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo and a delightful pair of 512MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX graphics cards for all the battery-drainin', high-rez gaming you can handle. The freshened up system is due to ship late next month, and while you can get your own for $2,099, the upgraded graphics rig alone will set you back another $600.
NVIDIA vs. ATI for HD movie playback
Whether playing HD DVD and Blu-ray discs from a drive, or files obtained or stored via other means, you'll need plenty of horsepower to keep the HD flowing smoothly. Hardware Zone took a look at NVIDIA and ATI's competing platforms for hardware acceleration of h.264 and VC-1 decoding on PCs. They tested a few 1080i h.264-encoded movies from Japan and found neither solution was able reduce CPU load by more than 20-30% on their Core 2 Duo equipped test machine, with similar reductions on less CPU-intensive VC-1 discs. Overall they like the NVIDIA's PureVideo GeForce 7600 GT over the comparably priced ATI Radeon X1650 XT with Avivo, but check out the head to head for all the numbers before deciding which videocard goes in your next Media PC.[Via MPEG4.net]
NVIDIA releases new drivers featuring PureVideo HD
NVIDIA, like Intervideo, wants to help you build that next Blu-ray or HD DVD drive-equipped media PC, and has released new ForceWare drivers for GeForce 7-series graphics cards to enable PureVideo HD acceleration. It'll take plenty of processing power to move that HD video, with a recommended minimum of a dual core processor and 1GB of RAM. FiringSquad got an early look at a PureVideo HD-powered setup, and confirmed that on PCs, unless ICT is enabled, you will be able to play back AACS-protected discs at full resolution over VGA. DVI connections without HDCP support on the graphics card and monitor get nothing, but HDCP support on both ends enables full resolution playback in any situation. NVIDIA has also launched an nZone store with links to all the graphics cards, monitors and software one could ever need -- how nice of them. Since FiringSquad's tests showed even on a Core 2 Duo system high bitrate h.264-encoded files were chugging without assistance, we see a system upgrade in your future.[Via DV Guru]Read - NVIDIA PureVideo HD with HD-DVD Quick ShotRead - NVIDIA Enables an Outstanding HD DVD and Blu-Ray Movie Experience with Newly Released NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology
MSI's NX7600GT Diamond Plus brings NVIDIA & HDMI to retail
For future-proofing PC builders looking ahead to HDCP, you now have an NVIDIA-based graphics option for your HDMI-compatible Media Center box. While Sapphire was the first to release an ATI AMD ATI-based HDMI graphics card, the MSI NX7600GT Diamond Plus brings its copy protected digital audio/video output to the masses, unlike previous NVIDIA HDMI cards which were only available in Sony OEM boxes. Beyond the 560Mhz 7600GT GPU and 256MB of GDDR3 RAM this card utilizes an Silicon Image SiI 1930 HDCP PanelLink Transmitter for both encryption and audio mixing, with support for 7.1 audio sources. If for some reason you don't want your A and your V in one cable, there are DVI-I and S/PDIF outputs available, but why? 1080p output, PureVideo HD support and a pricetage between $200 and $250 make this an ideal card if you're looking to build your own Blu-ray or HD DVD player, shipping later this month.
Acer's new HD DVD Laptops; NVIDIA or ATI?
Engadget already let us know about rumors indicating Acer would be one of the first third parties to release notebooks with either HD DVD or Blu-ray drives. Now, both NVIDIA and ATI have announced that their graphics cards will be available in Acer's HD DVD laptops. The Aspire 9110, 9510 and 9800 will all feature graphics technology from NVIDIA, including their PureVideo HD acceleration. The Aspire 5670 will utilize ATI's Mobility Radeon X1600 GPU and Avivo high-def acceleration. According to Acer's announcement, all will feature HDMI and HDCP support for outputting high-def content to TVs. The LCD screens on the laptops themselves range in size from 15.4 to 20.1 inches, plus Core Duo CPUs, Acer's stereo speaker and subwoofer technology as well as S/PDIF output for Dolby and DTS output. They should all be available later on this month, no price mentioned.Read - NVIDIA powers Acer HD DVD LaptopsRead - ATI drives high definition in Acer HD DVD LaptopsRead - Acer unveils high definition notebooks
NVIDIA brings you "Extreme HD" gaming
Because HD just wasn't HD enough, now it's extreme. As I was sitting back eating my HD cereal, listening to my HD radio, preparing for an HD videoconference with a doctor looking at my HD MRI and I was thinking man, how can I get more HD in my life? Luckily NVIDIA has answered my unspoken call for more.Their GeForce Go 7900 series enables gaming at not-quite exactly-1080p resolutions of 1920x1200, along with their PureVideo hardware acceleration. I began to question how worthwhile all that is given the size of a typical laptop screen, although the fact you're generally sitting so close may cause the need for higher resolutions.That's well and great, however (I can't believe I'm saying this) can we get a little less HD? At least according to Ben's definition, NVIDIA is using the term appropriately, but still, everything that is newer and better does not need to be HD (except for HD Beat and HDTVs of course). Find your own term marketers.
Intervideo & NVIDIA = hardware assisted h.264 decoding
At HDBeat, we like High Definition not Working Hard, so anything that makes things easier works for us. We've been talking about how ATI and NVIDIA are including technology in their videocards to make watching high definition video easier on your PC, so it's a double bonus. Now Intervideo has announced that they will support NVIDIA's PureVideo hardware assisted h.264 decoding in their WinDVD software. The software will work with GeForce series 6 & 7 GPU's.With both Blu-ray and HD-DVD expected to make use of h.264 compression, your computer will need all the help it can get.
