Stemming from all the discussion from our NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology article, CyberLink has released PowerDVD for HD-DVD and Blu-ray drives with hardware acceleration for NVIDIA and ATI/AMD GPUs.  They promised it before Christmas, but they are cutting it close!  🙂

New features for PowerDVD Ultra include:

  • Support for HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc playback on leading drives, including the Microsoft Xbox 360 HD DVD external drive
  • Playback of high-definition Hollywood movie content
  • Optimized performance for playback of high-definition video content on graphics cards featuring NVIDIA PureVideo, ATI Avivo, and Intel Clear Video technology
  • Support for new next-generation disc features, like Picture-in-Picture movie mode, networking, interactive BD-J and iHD features, bookmarks, and advanced disc navigation
  • High-definition audio with support for Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD technologies
  • 6.1-channel surround sound, ensuring compatibility with home theater audio systems, and audio expansion of up to 8 channels
  • Support for double-layer HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs
  • Conformance to the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) specifications for the playback of premium content through DVI and HDMI connectors
  • Support for BUS Protection ensures premium content protection via VGA systems.