AMD Image Quality Beats Competition By Up To 87 Percent in HQV 2.0 Image Quality Benchmark

Every minute, more than 24 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube indicating that image quality is an increasingly important part of the PC experience.¹ With this in mind, AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced improvements to its ATI Catalyst™ 10.6 driver suite that further strengthen the company’s leadership position in image quality as measured by the HQV^® Benchmark, Version 2.0. AMD scored 48 percent better than the competition in discrete graphics and up to 87 percent better than the competition in integrated graphics.² In addition, AMD supports the newly released Adobe^® Flash^® Player 10.1 technology for more seamless video playback from popular online video sites.

"Through advancements in AMD hardware and software, we are helping people have a richer online experience,” said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD Graphics Division. "Whether you plan to stream games during the world soccer event, watch last night’s episode of your favorite show or play online video games, having the right hardware and software can make a big difference in achieving the best possible image quality.”

HQV^® Benchmark, Version 2.0

HQV^® Benchmark, Version 2.0, is a collection of short videos, each presenting a hardware-intensive video playback scenario. The reviewer is prompted to evaluate the success with which the video processor under load handles various video artifacts which may appear in the scene. Unlike 3D performance, where frame rate is the benchmark, video performance in HQV 2.0 is focused on gauging image quality and how often that quality is degraded by visual artifacts or other issues. HQV Benchmark version 2.0 provides a useful means to closely evaluate Blu-ray™ and DVD performance.

In HQV Benchmark, Version 2.0, AMD graphics hardware achieved significantly higher scores relative to graphics hardware from competitors. Additionally, features introduced in the newly released ATI Catalyst 10.6 driver further enhanced the image quality of AMD graphics products and increased the overall score of AMD discrete and integrated graphics products in HQV Benchmark, Version 2.0.

ATI Catalyst™ 10.6

ATI Catalyst™ 10.6 drivers build upon AMD’s leadership in video quality through improved cadence detection, dynamic contrast, and skin tone correction. In addition, new video post-processing features help with some of the issues, commonly called artifacts, which can occur when watching video that has been compressed onto a Blu-Ray™ or standard definition DVD disc. In particular, ATI Catalyst™ 10.6 helps reduce mosquito noise, the shimmering artifacts that appear near edges in videos, as well as deblocking, or smoothing out images that have become distorted by the compression process.

Adobe^® Flash^® Player 10.1

Adobe^® Flash^® Player 10.1 takes advantage of both CPU and GPU hardware acceleration for more seamless video playback. Adobe^® Flash^® Player 10.1 is the first consistent runtime release of the Adobe^® Open Screen Project that enables uncompromised Web browsing of expressive applications, content and HD videos across devices. Leveraging graphics acceleration allows the PC to offload tasks from the CPU to reduce resource utilization.

Arcsoft TotalMedia^® Theater 3

For a limited time and while quantities last, ArcSoft is offering users 50% off the retail purchase of ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre 3 Gold or ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre 3 Platinum editions when they purchase an ATI Radeon™ HD 5550 graphics card, unlocking even sharper, more vivid digital media. The Arcsoft TotalMedia Theater 3 suite includes SimHD, helping to enable seamless upscaling of standard definition DVDs and MPEG video files. In addition, SimHD utilizes ATI Stream technology to further enhance playback performance, ensuring smooth playback of media files with amazingly high bitrates. More information on this special offer can be found at http://www.arcsoft.com/intouch/amdhd5550.

Supporting Resources

• Learn more about Adobe^® Flash Player 10.1 and the AMD advantage at http://www.amd.com/bettervideo
• Learn more about the ATI Radeon™ HD 5000 Family of graphics cards
• Download the latest ATI Catalyst™ drivers
• Follow the AMD@Play blog for the latest gaming news
• Twitter: Follow AMD graphics news on Twitter at @ATIGraphics
• Facebook: Become a fan of AMD technology on Facebook

About AMD

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and technology partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home and play. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, ATI, the ATI logo, Catalyst, Radeon and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Adobe, and Flash are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

¹ 24 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every minute: http://www.youtube.com/t/fact_sheet

² HQV 2.0 is a tool used by AMD to evaluate video playback quality. HQV 2.0 provides visual feedback for scoring by the AMD reviewer. Scores may vary based on the skill and opinion of the reviewer.

Below are the scores obtained in the HD HQV 2.0 Benchmark. All machines were tested with Microsoft Windows 7 64bit, using a 40” Sony Bravia HDTV connected via HDMI, at 1920x1080p resolution. Cyberlink PowerDVD 10 was used for all testing. The ATI Radeon HD 4200 IGP performs 48% better than the nVidia G210, while the ATI Radeon HD 4200 IGP performs up 87 percent better than the Intel GMA X4500 (G41).

System configurations:

INTEL® GMA X4500 (G41)

The first system represents a current basic, entry-level desktop computer with integrated graphics, from Intel. It uses Intel’s GMA X4500 integrated graphics (G41 Express Chipset) with a Pentium Dual Core E5400 processor running at 2.7GHz. This system was equipped with 2GB (2x1GB) DDR3-1066, and Intel display driver 8.15.10.1872.

INTEL® HD GRAPHICS (I3)

The second machine is a current "premium” IGP solution from Intel, using a Core i3 530, running at 2.93GHz. This system was equipped with 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1066, and Intel display driver 8.15.10.1952.

ATI RADEON™ HD 4200 (RS880 IGP)

Third on the list is an AMD integrated graphics solution, which includes an integrated ATI Radeon™ HD 4200 graphics processor and an Athlon™ II X4 630 Quad Core CPU running at 2.8GHz. This system was equipped with 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1333 and ATI display driver version 8.73 (soon to be released as "Catalyst 10.5”).

ATI RADEON™ HD 5450 (DISCRETE)

In the fourth machine, an Athlon™ II X4 640 CPU running at 3.0GHz is paired with an ATI Radeon™ HD 5450 graphics card, to show the HQV2.0 performance of our discrete graphics solutions. This system was also equipped with 4GB of DDR3-1333 and display driver version 8.73.

NVIDIA G210 (DISCRETE)

The final system uses an nVidia GeForce G210 graphics card in a desktop system with an Intel Core i3 540 CPU at 3.06GHz. The nVidia machine was equipped with 4GB DDR3-1333 and display driver 197.45.