ATI Further Supports Linux By Offering Graphics Accelerated Video Playback
ATI Technologies Inc. announced the development of the ATI VHA (Video Hardware Acceleration) Software Development Kit for the Linux operating system. The ATI Linux VHA Kit will add hardware support for high quality video such as MPEG-2 to Linux. It provides a software interface between the iDCT and motion compensation video acceleration of the ATI RAGE 128 based accelerators, and MPEG-2 and DVD video playback formats. Supported products include RAGE 128 and RAGE 128 PRO chips and boards such as the RAGE FURY PRO, All-in-Wonder 128 and XPERT 2000. This announcement also confirms ATI's pursuit to become the Linux community's number one graphics vendor. It builds on the company's earlier announcement of official support for the Linux OS, and release of development information for ATI's products. With release of the VHA Software Development Kit for MPEG-2 and DVD playback, ATI now offers the industry's most complete and robust product support for the Linux operating system. Initiatives are underway for Linux development in ATI's set-top products. ""We are working closely with ATI on ATI's VHA Software Development Kit to incorporate high-quality MPEG playback into our games using SMPEG, Loki's open source MPEG playback library,"" said Scott Draeker, President, Loki Entertainment Software. ""Soon SMPEG and ATI hardware will allow Linux users, for the first time, to enjoy the exceptional visual quality and performance of hardware accelerated MPEG, including DVD playback, with third party drivers."" ATI offers the highest quality and most complete video decoding technology available today, setting the benchmark in MPEG-2 playback with full-frame, full-screen video for a true multimedia experience. Linux community support for ATI's popular All-in-Wonder products, which offer video capture, TV tuner, 2D and 3D graphics capabilities, already exist or are well-advanced in development. As ATI is the world's largest graphics vendor, introduction of the ATI VHA Software Development Kit is expected to act as a major spur to the further development of the Linux OS. ""ATI is committed to the advancement of Linux, and offering high quality video playback is the next major step forward,"" said Henry Quan, Vice President of Corporate Marketing, ATI. ""We are enabling the Linux community to take advantage of our industry-leading video playback technology, which is the key missing link in developing full multimedia support for ATI."" The ATI VHA Software Development Kit will be available for use by recognized software developers from March 2000 onwards through the ATI Registered Developer Program, and comprises an MPEG-2 accelerated driver and sample code for MPEG-2 playback. Although the sample code will be released open source, the MPEG-2 driver will be released in binary format in order to maintain DVD security. ""With the release of the VHA Software Development Kit for MPEG-2 and DVD playback, ATI now offers one of the industry's most complete and robust multimedia solutions for the Linux operating system,"" said Paul McNamara, Director of the Enterprise Business Unit, Red Hat, Inc. ATI is working with major industry players to provide the Linux community with a complete DVD and video solution based on the RAGE 128 and RAGE 128 PRO product family. The addition of video capture and TV-out features will complete the multimedia solution. ""Open Source has proven to be the right solution for many key players in the software industry"", says Dirk Hohndel, Vice President of The XFree86 Project. ""ATI's support for Open Source developers is something we are grateful for. In providing documented interfaces to advanced hardware features ATI allows the Open Source community to take advantage of the capabilities of its latest graphics boards."" ""ATI is a leading supplier of computer multimedia technology. We are pleased that they are taking a leadership position with Linux and helping to open new areas for Linux such as DVD playback. We look forward to cooperating with ATI on the first complete Linux multimedia solution for the ATI Rage 128 and Rage 128 Pro,"" said Craig Oda, Vice President, Strategic Alliances, TurboLinux. ""This is a significant milestone for the Linux community and for TurboLinux."" About ATI Technologies Inc. ATI Technologies Inc., the supplier of 3D graphics and multimedia technology, designs, manufactures and markets and multimedia solutions and graphics components for the personal computer, set-top box and consumer electronics appliance markets. For more information, visit ATI's Web site at http://www.ati.com.