Tech

ATI releases 10.7 Catalyst drivers, brings GPU boost to VLC users

It's a little this month, but ATI has released a new batch of Catalyst drivers for its range of GPUs, and this batch brings with it an interesting new feature.

Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Senior Contributing Editor July 26, 2010 at 7:50 a.m. PT

It's a little this month, but ATI has released a new batch of Catalyst drivers 10.7 for its range of GPUs, and this batch brings with it an interesting new feature.

So what's this new feature - it's GPU acceleration for VLC media player users running version 1.1.1 of the player and with either a 4000 or 5000 series GPU.

Here's a rundown of what's new:

New Windows Features

Highlights of the ATI Catalyst^TM 10.7 release for Microsoft Windows include:

ATI Eyefinity Technology - Enhancements for HydraVision^TM

Maximizing a window across multiple displays will now take user defined bezel compensation into account
Automatically adjusts window position when dragging and dropping windows to ensure title bar visibility
Proper dialog box placement - dialogs do not cross displays, are not hidden behind bezels, and can be designated to be shown on the users "preferred" display

Enhanced Pull-down detection

The Pull-down detection algorithm has been enhanced for higher visual quality on certain types of video content
Supported on the ATI Radeon^TM HD 5000 Series of GPUs

ATI CrossFireX^TM technology - support for rotated displays

This release of ATI Catalyst^TM enables end users running supported ATI CrossFireX^TM configurations to rotate their displays (single or ATI Eyefinity display configurations) and still enjoy the performance benefits of ATI CrossFireX^TM technology

ATI Radeon^TM GPU acceleration of VLC 1.1.1 Media Player

Enables GPU acceleration of h.264 video content when using the VLC 1.1.1 Media Player - enabling a better user experience by consuming less system resources
Supported on the ATI Radeon^TM HD 5000 and ATI Radeon^TM HD 4000 Series of GPU products
Requires VLC version 1.1.1 and later

Highlights of the ATI Catalyst^TM driver for Linux 10.7 release include:

Support for new Linux operating systems