Adobe Intros Fusion-Supported Flash Player 10.2

Adobe released a new Flash Player that provides high-definition content while barely touching the CPU.

Wednesday Adobe announced the release of Flash Player 10.2 for Windows, Mac and Linux. The new edition includes Stage Video, a full hardware accelerated video-pipeline for bringing high-quality video across all browsers and platforms. The new release also brings to the table custom native mouse cursors, multiple monitor full-screen support, Internet Explorer 9 hardware accelerated rendering support, and enhanced sub-pixel rendering for superior text readability.

"Flash Player using Stage Video can effortlessly play beautiful 1080p HD video with just 1 to 15-percent CPU usage on a common Mac or Windows computer," said Adobe's Tom Nguyen in his blog Wednesday. "Working across platforms and browsers, it will enable the best video experience for the most people. Many millions of additional PCs, from netbooks to desktops, can now become slick HD home theaters on the web."

Nguyen added that Web surfers won't see the improvement immediately, as websites and content providers will first need to update their video players. Developers will also need to update their SWF player files to support the new feature, but changes to existing video libraries and infrastructures won't be necessary. Vimeo, Brightcove and YouTube have already started the process of enabling support for Stage Video, he said.

As for the other new features, multi-screen support gives users the ability to watch videos in (true) full-screen mode on one monitor while multitasking on the other. The custom native mouse cursors allow developers to create their own static or animated cursors. Sub-pixel text rendering enhancements mean clearer, cleaner fonts, especially those used in complex character-based languages.

In addition to Adobe's announcement, AMD said that Flash Player 10.2 is fully supported on PC platforms powered by AMD's Fusion "Brazos" Accelerated Processing Units (APUs). "AMD and Adobe worked together to enable AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing technology through Flash Player 10.2 to bring users an enriched, more vivid video experience," said John Taylor, director of Client Product and Software Marketing, AMD.

To download the new Adobe Flash Player (v10.2.152.26), head here.