NVidia drives HD playback on PCs

NVidia claims to be the first graphics company to allow PCs to play HD-DVD and Blu-ray movies. 

The company has released a new set of Forceware drivers that use its PureVideo HD technology for accelerated decoding and precise playback of high-definition movies.

"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."

Vouri explained that the PureVideo HD system uses post-processing to deliver extraordinary picture clarity, smooth video, brilliant colour and precise image scaling for high-definition films.

The technology is included with all 7-series GeForce graphics cards.

However, nVidia warned that there are several requirements for building or upgrading a system to enjoy high-definition content. Consumers will need:

• A compatible nVidia GeForce 7-series graphics card
• The latest Forceware drivers
• A Blu-ray or HD-DVD disc drive
• Compatible movie player software
• An HDCP-compliant display
• A dual-core processor with 1GB of Ram

The Forceware drivers can be downloaded from the the nVidia software download page.