NVIDIA Enables an Outstanding HD DVD and Blu-Ray Movie Experience

Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Movie lovers can now build a PC to enjoy a spectacular HD DVD or Blu-ray experience with the release of new NVIDIA ForceWare drivers featuring NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology. PureVideo HD technology combines high-definition video decode acceleration and post-processing to deliver extraordinary picture clarity, smooth video, brilliant color, and precise image scaling for high definition movies(1). The drivers are available now from NVIDIA.com.

"This is a milestone in PC entertainment," said Scott Vouri, general manager of multimedia at NVIDIA. "NVIDIA is proud to be the first graphics processing company in the world to make it possible for consumers to build or upgrade a PC to play HD DVD and Blu-ray movies."

PureVideo HD technology is included with all 7-series NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards. However, there are several requirements for building or upgrading a system to enjoy protected high definition content. To enjoy the ultimate HD DVD or Blu-ray movie experience on a PC, consumers will need:

• A PCI Express graphics card with NVIDIA GeForce 7 Series HDCP-capable GPU, secure HDCP CryptoROM, and 256MB graphics memory
  
• WHQL-certified NVIDIA ForceWare drivers that feature PureVideo HD technology (www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp)
  
• An optical disc drive that supports Blu-ray or HD DVD movie playback
  
• Blu-ray or HD DVD movie player software from CyberLink, InterVideo, or Nero
  
• An HDCP-compliant display
  
• A dual-core CPU with 1GB of RAM
  

PureVideo HD provides hardware acceleration for decoding H.264, VC-1, WMV, and MPEG-2 movies to display crystal clear images that have up to six times the detail of standard DVD movies. In addition, the PureVideo discrete video processing core offloads the CPU and 3D engine of complex video tasks, freeing the PC to run multiple applications simultaneously. PureVideo HD delivers the ultimate high-definition movie experience on a PC.

PureVideo HD-compliant graphics cards include required content protection circuitry (HDCP) for playing the new Blu-ray and HD DVD movies at the highest quality possible, and are directly integrated with the leading HD movie software players.

For more information about building or upgrading a system to support Blu-ray or HD playback, go to: www.nzone.com/object/nzone_pvhd_build.html .

(1) As HD DVD and Blu-Ray are new formats containing new technologies, certain disc, digital connection, compatibility and/or performance issues may arise, and do not constitute defects in the product. Flawless playback on all systems is not guaranteed.

SOURCE NVIDIA Corporation