April's quickly coming to an end, but if you've been wondering where your monthly serving of ATI Catalyst drivers can be found - you're in luck.
The latest release, version 10.4, is now available from game.amd.com and introduces a selection of new features, performance enhancements and bug fixes.
In an effort to bolster the media credentials of its Radeon-series GPUs, the drivers introduce support for the H.264 Level 5.1 codec at resolutions of over 4,000x2,000 - useful if you're running an insane Eyefinity configuration, perhaps?
In terms of performance, the ATI Video Converter utility is said to offer improved GPU acceleration - as well as newly added support for the H.264 format - and performance gains of up to six per cent can be had in one particular gaming title; S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – Clear Sky.
Last week's hot-fix, which solved unusually long load times in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on Radeon HD 5000, 4000, 3000 or 2000-series graphics cards, is also bundled into the update.
Catalyst 10.4's new features are detailed below, but users wanting every last detail - including a list of resolved issues for various Windows operating systems - can find the release notes available here.
ATI Catalyst – Video enhancements
- H.264 Level 5.1 support
- ATI Catalyst can now playback 5.1 level streams on all supported players
- Allows for playback of high resolutions (4Kx2K)
AMD video transcoding updates
- This release of ATI Catalyst provides enhanced support for the Windows 7 Drag
and Drop video converter
- Performance improvements
- New formats supported (H.264 file formats – MTS, and WMV9 Complex profile interlaced content)
- ATI Catalyst Control Center option for enabling/disabling GPU acceleration
- Support for the ATI Video converter is now available in the advanced view of the ATI Catalyst Control Center
