AMD Releases Radeon Software ReLive Crimson Edition 17.4.1

The game releases trickle this time of year, but the progression of technology marches on. More specifically VR is still a developing phenomenon, and 8K is just cresting the Horizon. Today’s AMD driver provides its fixes and steps us a little further along and prepares us for things to come.

This week’s AMD Radeon Software Crimson 17.4.1 release brings us Display Driver version 17.10.1061 (Windows Driver Store Version 22.19.156.1) and comes with multiple bug fixes, including a fix for Radeon Settings becoming unresponsive during a driver upgrade, a fix for display flicker when running windowed borderless applications on an AMD FreeSync display, and some improvement of Multi GPU scaling while playing Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands. Additionally, a sudden unplugging of AMD XConnect after installation of Radeon Software will no longer cause a system hang.

Meanwhile As the VR agenda continues to move forward, support for the ecosystem continues to improve. First on the list, this AMD driver release enables support for Oculus’ Asynchronous Spacewarp technology, the company’s latest frame extrapolation feature, on more AMD cards. Async Spacewarp support launched on AMD’s RX 400 series (Polaris) cards last year, and as of this driver update, the Radeon R9 Fury (Fiji), Radeon R9 390, and Radeon R9 290 series (Hawaii) cards have been added to the list. On a similar note, support for Valve’s functionally similar SteamVR Asynchronous Reprojection technology has been added to AMD’s drivers. However also like Spacewarp, AMD is starting slow in adding support for Reprojection; only the Radeon RX 480 and Radeon RX 470 cards on Windows 10 get support for Reprojection today.

On the video interface front, AMD has finally formally enabled DisplayPort 1.4 HBR3 support. The Polaris hardware has been able to support this feature since the start, however as displays are still catching up, AMD is only now finally enabling it. This opens display possibilities requiring much more bandwidth, and listed on the release notes are 8K 30Hz on a single cable and 8K 60Hz on two cables. 8K monitors are slim pickings right now but it’s great for video card vendors to be prepared.

As always, those interested in reading more or installing the updated hotfix drivers for AMD’s desktop, mobile, and integrated GPUs can find them either under the driver update section in Radeon Settings or on AMDs Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition download page.

Apple To Develop Own GPU, Drop Imagination’s GPUs From SoCs

In a bombshell of a press release issued this morning, Imagination has announced that Apple has informed their long-time GPU partner that they will be winding down their use of Imagination’s IP. Specifically, Apple expects that they will no long…

Cosemi Announces 328-Feet ‘8K-Ready’ OptoDP Active DisplayPort 1.4 Optical Cable

Cosemi has announced its first OptoDP active optical cable that supports a DisplayPort 1.4 connection. That in itself isn’t newsworthy, but up to 328 feet, or 100 meters, it seems rather interesting. The cable supports resolutions up to 8K60 4:4:4 at 60 Hz and is designed for users who need to connect ultra-high-definition displays/TVs or projectors to sources located far away.

Compared to DP 1.3, which supports up to 4Kp120 and 8Kp30, DP 1.4 can enable Display Stream Compression 1.2 and Forward Error Correction, despite no difference in bandwidth between the two standards. This allows DP 1.4 hardware to support 7680×4320 resolution with 4:4:4 chroma subsampling at 60 Hz with 10-bit color and HDR (as well as 4Kp240) over a ~25.92 Gbps interconnection. Cosemi’s OptoDP active optical cable guarantees DP 1.4 signal integrity at the length of up to 100 meters without any additional external power. 

Cosemi demonstrated the work of its cable with 8Kp60 resolution at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC), with the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) and TechnoAP. Keep in mind that the showcase was focused on demonstration of signal integrity and not on an actual 8Kp60 display with appropriate content.

Technically speaking, there are DisplayPort 1.3-compliant active optical cables supporting up to a ~26 Gbps bandwidth. However, Cosemi’s cable is extremely long and the company has demonstrated that it works. Before coming to a commercial product, the cable will actually get an official DP 1.4 certification.

Cosemi said that it would start production of OptoDP active optical cables shortly. In addition, the company is prepping an active optical USB Type-C cable that would enable DisplayPort 1.4 over USB-C interconnections at long distances. The manufacturer said nothing about pricing of its cables, but given that we are talking about a 100-meter active optical solution for prosumers as well as cinemas, they will everything but cheap. For example, a 30-meter active optical DP 1.3-compliant cable retails for $799.99.

Related Reading:

• VESA Releases DisplayPort 1.4 Standard: DisplayPort Adds Compression & HDR
• Club3D Releases Their DisplayPort 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 Adapter: The Real McCoy
• CEATEC 2016: Sharp Showcases 27-inch 8K 120Hz IGZO Monitor with HDR, also 1000 PPI for VR