ATI 14.4 Graphics drivers - Media Foundation drivers gone?

jrichrds

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
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There have always been "Media Foundation Drivers" in previous ATI Catalyst graphics driver releases, which from the description, appears to be for hardware-accelerated decoding of video content. But they disappeared from the the latest ATI v14.4 graphics drivers. So I'm wondering if they're no longer needed anymore, or if they were never for hardware-assisted decoding of video files in the first place?
 

Anarchist420

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Feb 13, 2010
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There have always been "Media Foundation Drivers" in previous ATI Catalyst graphics driver releases, which from the description, appears to be for hardware-accelerated decoding of video content. But they disappeared from the the latest ATI v14.4 graphics drivers. So I'm wondering if they're no longer needed anymore, or if they were never for hardware-assisted decoding of video files in the first place?
I guess AMD quit making drivers with hardware assisted decoding because their competitor just quit making drivers with hardware encoding.
 

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
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Media Foundation in this context is for hardware assisted video encoding within the Windows Media Player ecosystem. e.g. drag & drop transcoding. The MF drivers have never been used for decoding; for that there's DXVA.
 
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jrichrds

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
2,537
3
81
Media Foundation in this context is for hardware assisted video encoding within the Windows Media Player ecosystem. e.g. drag & drop transcoding. The MF drivers have never been used for decoding; for that there's DXVA.

Thanks. Actually, AMD included both Media Foundation encoders and decoders in their previous driver packages (if their description is to be believed). But yes, it appears only Windows Media Player can utilize them.

The Diamond S3 ViRGE was my first graphics card. :)