It is nearly impossible to discuss video acceleration on the PC without mentioning ATI. As one of the first vendors to offer motion compensation, iDCT and alpha-subpicture blending in hardware, ATI has set the precedent in this realm, rivaled only by the now-defunct S3 add-in boards. To this day, Matrox has yet to include any form of hardware acceleration for MPEG-2 decoding!

Performance features assist the CPU in the decoding process, leaving the CPU free to handle other applications. System requirements are also lowered, since powerful processors aren't needed for full-frame decoding. Motion compensation is the first of these features, decreasing CPU load by about 25%. Also integrated into the RADEON core is an iDCT engine, which complements the motion compensation unit. iDCT accounts for roughly 15% of the decoding process, so a machine boasting both of these features will enjoy roughly 40% less CPU utilization while engaged in video playback than a system lacking them.

Some of the performance features may also bleed into the quality category. For instance, motion compensation uses a 9-bit error term that may be truncated to 8-bits by some engines, resulting in a loss of quality. ATI's motion compensation engine uses the full 9-bits to maintain video integrity and thus does not suffer the loss. In addition, the RADEON also supports alpha subpicture blending. This is another quality-targeted feature that takes a menu or subtitle and blends it to the background in hardware to avoid stressing the CPU with the signal processing that is associated with alpha blending.

The newest addition to ATI's video repertoire for the RADEON is adaptive de-interlacing, a quality feature that blends bob and weave de-interlacing on a per-pixel level for a smoother image. If motion is detected on any given pixel, bob interlacing is used, if there is no motion on the pixel, weave interlacing is used instead. Unfortunately, adaptive de-interlacing isn't recognized by Video 2000, so while we'd love to run MadOnion's video benchmark on the RADEON, the numbers that are returned don't represent actual performance.

Owners of older All In Wonder products have complained about the lack of an S/PDIF output for digital audio, the only reason left for picking up a hardware decoder in our eyes. With the release of the RADEON, ATI has decided to include the S/PDIF output, allowing those with Dolby Digital speaker systems to enjoy the full 5.1 experience through the Rage Theater companion chip. We were able to get the S/PDIF output working without issue under Windows 98, however it should be noted that the shipping driver does not support Windows ME.

DVD playback on the PC was just as we'd expect. Using ATI's Multimedia Center 7.0 software we were treated to high-quality playback on our Compaq P110 21" monitor. Subpicture blending worked as advertised and the software was very robust under Windows 98 (Windows 2000 performance could use a little help). Watching a movie on a PC monitor just isn't the same as lounging in front of a television, though.

Offering both composite and S-Video outputs, the All In Wonder is relatively flexible in terms of connectivity. All of the cables necessary to make the connection between the PC and TV (we used a 27" Panasonic SuperFlat TV for testing) are included with the card, an addition we definitely appreciate. Playback quality on the TV was acceptable, but lacked the crispness and clarity offered by a good standalone unit. While it is obvious to the trained eye that a PC-DVD player was never meant to replace the dedicated component DVD player, ATI's All In Wonder delivers commendable quality thanks to the 10-bit DAC integrated into the Rage Theatre.