Blu-ray Done Right: How Does Your Integrated GPU Stack Up?
Table of contents
- 1. The State Of HD Video On Integrated Graphics
- 2. The Competitors
- 3. Choosing The Hardware: AMD Platforms
- 4. Choosing The Hardware: Intel Platforms And Other Components
- 5. A Trouble-Free PC Blu-ray Playback Experience? Maybe In 2010
- 6. Test Systems And Benchmarks
- 7. Image-Quality: HQV’s High-Definition Video Benchmark
- 8. Image-Quality: HQV’s High-Definition Video Benchmark, Cont'd
- 9. CPU-Usage Benchmarks: H.264 Codec
- 10. CPU-Usage Benchmarks: MPEG-2 Codec
- 11. CPU-Usage Benchmarks: VC-1 Codec
- 12. CPU-Usage Benchmarks: Picture-In-Picture Acceleration
- 13. Power-Usage Benchmarks
- 14. Dynamic Contrast And Color Enhancements: AMD Versus Nvidia
- 15. Conclusion
- 16. Video Jargon Quick Reference
In our last Avivo HD Versus PureVideo HD face-off, we compared the newest chipsets with integrated graphics processors (IGPs) and examined how well they played back Blu-ray content. Frankly, the results were a bit surprising, as both the AMD 780G and GeForce 8200 chipsets scored a zero in the HQV video quality benchmarks. While they managed to provide basic hardware acceleration for smooth Blu-ray playback, the quality just wasn't there, according to the tests. At the end of our review, we concluded that the best option for a serious HD video enthusiast would be a discrete card, such as the Radeon HD 2600 XT.
However, our last Avivo HD versus PureVideo HD comparison was written a long time ago, and the drivers have come a long, long way. In addition, there are some new players to consider: the Intel G45, the GeForce 9300/9400, and the AMD 790GX/785G.
Just how far has the software supporting these integrated GPUs come? Are integrated chipsets now able to compete with discrete solutions as far as video quality is concerned? How do the new options perform? Let's dig in and see if we can sort out the current state of integrated HD video playback on the PC.
- Graphics,
- avivo ,
- purevideo ,
- clearvideo
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"To do this, we will use the Blu-ray dick Sunshine, which utilizes the H.264 codec and features PIP commentary during playback."
lmao
So Intel's offering isn't good enough, and needs to come upto scratch to be able to perform with the competition. If AMD can be criticised in this way with some (not all) of their portfolio, so should Intel
Small error on page 2: GF9300/9400 is listed as IGP for AMD CPU's.
i cant find a bluray compatible player that ever looks good they always make bluray look like dvds
so i just end up ripping it to hard disk and then watch it with ffdshow enhancements. looks way better and i dont think you have to worry about all the gpu based stuff (or you can use DXVA on MPC-home theatre.) but i guess this article really applies to low end systems not quad core machines whith plenty of power to spare 
Nice article there Don
Good bit about the AMD AoHDMI issue: if you're that worried about top-quality 7.1 over HDMI you're probably better off with a Xonar anyway! 
Great to find this kind of article online but I'm confused, why would you need to enable noise reduction to play a Blue-ray disc on your 1080p screen - surely the Blue-ray disc is already encoded at the very best of picture quality?! (I have an 8200 chipset with the lovely AMD 4850e and was considering the purchase of a blue ray drive.)