ATI's and Nvidia's Video Accelerating Technologes Compared

Avivo and PureVideo Examined

by Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 02/09/2006 | 10:11 PM ]

The majority of computers these days come with integrated graphics and perfectly cope with programs like Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer browser. But in case a computer is bought for entertainment purposes, then users get concerned both about performance in modern games as well as multimedia playback. Both ATI and Nvidia have implemented technologies into their graphics chips which are claimed to improve different video data playback. The question for end-users is to find out whose one is better.

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ExtremeTech takes a look at ATI’s Avivo as well as Nvidia’s PureVideo technologies in order to determine, which approach delivers better image quality and higher video decoding performance.

“Clearly, ATI offers better video support in their latest graphics cards than Nvidia does. They dominate the HQV benchmark tests, offer much lower CPU utilization for DVD playback, and offer solutions for acceleration H.264 and DivX (though one requires a specific codec and the other a specific player). In really tough video scenarios, like those with odd cadence patterns or noisy DVDs, ATI delivers better quality. Their de-interlacing algorithms seem just a little bit better, too,” writes ExtremeTech.

• ExtremeTech: Video Shootout: ATI vs. Nvidia.