MSI on Friday launched a total of five graphics cards that include native HDMI support. Among the new cards are the ATI Radeon HD 4670 and Radeon HD 4650 models: R4670-MD1G, R4670-512, R4650-MD1G, R4650-512, and R4650-MD512Z. For detailed information on each of the cards please click here.

Albatron today introduced a new graphics card touting compatibility with single-lane PCI-Express interface. The Albatron GeForce 9500GT PCI-E 1X, as the name suggests, is an entry-level graphics accelerator which is compliant with most of the current generation standards. It is based on the NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT, which gives it a fair chance to make it to HTPCs and multi-head display setups. Being based on PCI-E x1 bus, the card will fit into a PCI-Express slot of any length and generation.

The GeForce 9500 GT provides 32 stream processors, and is CUDA-supportive. The card packs 256 MB of DDR2 memory clocked at 1400 MHz. The core and shader domains are clocked at 550 MHz and 1375 MHz respectively. The card uses a half height PCB, and comes with a low-profile bracket. DVI and composite connectors are provided on the card, while a header extends out a D-Sub connector. HDMI is supported by means of a dongle. The card relays audio to the HDMI connector from an SPDIF source. Albatron will price this card well within the US $100 mark.

After the heated feedback of the M912 Series with swivel screens that were launched in 2008, GIGABYTE will demonstrate various 10.1-inch mobile PCs at the CeBIT 2009 held in Hannover according to public expectation. These include the Touch Note M1028 also equipped with the swivel screen, the Thin Note M1024 which is only 890 grams and 2cm thick, and the Booktop M1022 equipped with the exclusive docking station for turning the Booktop into a desktop. These models will again display GIGABYTE's excelling R&D power. Also, the new-generation Intel Centrino 2 notebook PCs with different screen sizes will be the focus at the present CeBIT. As one of the leading brands in notebook PCs, GIGABYTE will surely bring refreshing models to the public in 2009.

Touch Note M1028: With a fashionable and elegant appearance, the Touch Note M1028 has a golden coffee top cover of exquisite quality and a 10.1-inch LED backlight swivel screen. It is a combination of notebook and tablet PCs that delivers multiple application modes for convenience use. The two resolution options for this model include 1024x600 and 1366x768, which are the mainstreams of the market. In addition to the mobile features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Express Card slot. What is noteworthy is that the M1028 is equipped with a wide range of crafty designs from GIGABYTE. Besides the 92% full-scale keyboard with premium quality, the M1028 supports the embedded 3.5G (HSDPA) module for users to experience the wonder of mobile life.

LG announced a new fleet of full-HD capable LCD monitors today. The lineup consists of three models of different screen-sizes under the Wxx53V-PF naming scheme: the 22 inch W2253V-PF, 24 inch W2453V-PF and 27 inch W2753V-PF. LG seems to have emphasized on both form and function with these ones. Sporting a piano-black shell with a dash of clear acrylic, the monitors pack LCD panels with 2 ms response time. All models have native resolutions of 1920 x 1080 pixels (1080p HD), and are HDCP-capable.

Additionally, they feature intelligent Auto Bright, Live Sensor, and Cinema mode proprietary features. The monitor detects the intensity of light in the environment it's working in, and accordingly adjusts brightness and contrast levels. All models support offer DVI-D, D-SUB, and HDMI port as input connectivity options. LG is yet to release or price these monitors outside the Japanese market as of now.

About a week into introducing the high-definition LCD-MF242X family of 23.6 inch monitors, I-O Data adds another one to its ranks, the 21.3 inch LCD-MF221XGBR. The new monitor seems to be more of a scaled-down version of the LCD-MF242X. Dimensions aside, it has an identical feature-set.

The monitor comes with a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (1080p-ready), and an LCD response-time of 5 ms. It comes with a maximum brightness of 300 cd/m², static contrast-ratio of 1,000:1 and dynamic ratio of 10,000:1. Coming with a generous set of connectivity options, the monitor takes input from DVI, D-Sub and HDMI 1.2a connectors. It tips the scales at 4.5 kg (around 9.92 lbs). Backed by a three-year company warranty, the LCD-MF221XGBR sells for around US $227.

Known to be an innovative lot when it comes to designing graphics cards, Palit has quitely slipped in a new variant to its Radeon HD 4850 series: the Palit Radeon HD 4850 Sonic Special Edition. What makes this card special, or rather different from the HD 4850 Sonic, are its memory and connectivity options. This is perhaps the first and only Radeon HD 4850 accelerator with GDDR5 memory. The card features 512 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide bus.

It uses an identical dual-slot cooler design to that of the HD 4850 Sonic. If the faster memory wasn't incentive enough, Palit has also expanded the connectivity options. The card provides a DVI, D-Sub (analog), HDMI and DisplayPort connectors all on the card. Owing to the Sonic branding, the card definitely sports higher clock-speeds than what AMD specifies. Further blurring the line between this card and a Radeon HD 4870, is its requirement of two 6-pin PCI-E power inputs. We are in the process of finding out its exact clock speeds, price and a larger picture.

S3 Graphics today announced the latest addition to its power-efficient Chrome 500 Series graphics processor family, with the unveiling of an 850MHz clocked GDDR3 based Chrome 540 GTX. Today's users can convert an ordinary PC into a Hi-Def entertainment powerhouse for Dual-Stream Blu-ray and HD videos, using the newly defined DisplayPort digital interface, HDMI and Dual-Link DVI for seamless connectivity to the latest digital monitors and HDTVs.

Today's multimedia enthusiasts require extra GPU horsepower to perform high-quality HD video decoding, image post-processing, and stunning color enhancement when displaying the latest HD content on Blu-ray or streaming video-on-demand. With the Chrome 540 GTX, you now have the power to bring every movie experience to life, and enjoy bonus footage through Picture-in-Picture, all while enjoying 8 channels of high fidelity audio with the S3 Graphics built-in Dolby 7.1 digital surround sound processor.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphics cards, is excited to announce PowerColor's collaboration with KONNET. KONNET is a leading developer of audio/video components. As a team, PowerColor and KONNET are bringing you a supreme bundle-the combo of quality graphics and HDMI cable to all gamers.

In order to deliver life-like gaming experience, PowerColor bundles HD4870X2 with KONNET FidelityHD standard HDMI cable and HD4870/HD4850 with KONNET ExpressHD standard HDMI cable. Both of them support 480i/p, 720i/p and 1080i/p high definition video display and digital audio, with 24K gold plated connectors to provide maximum conductivity and minimum data loss. This duo is ready to bring you the ultimate HDTV experience!

S3 Graphics made a quiet addition to its lineup with the Chrome 540 GTX graphics card. Spotted first on the GStore by TechConnect Magazine, the new graphics card made it to the company's store without the company even announcing it, or assigning a product page on the company website. From what the card's specifications on GStore and its tiny picture tell, this card builds on the basic architecture of its predecessor the Chrome 530 GT, by increases in clock-speeds and expanding connectivity options.

The Chrome 540 GTX features a core clock speed of 800 MHz, its memory is clocked at 850 MHz. The card uses a 64-bit wide GDDR3 memory interface that holds 256 MB of memory. It is compliant with the latest graphics standards: DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.0, and uses a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 interface. Compliance aside, the accelerator is built mainly for HD video acceleration and multi-head display. The Chromotion 2.0 technology is said to provide hardware-acceleration for Blu-ray, H.264 and VC-1 video standards. It uses a full-height PCB to hold three connectors on-board: DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort. The card is HDCP-capable and has an integrated audio controller that is routed to the connectors. The Chrome 540 GTX is available at the GStore for US $69.95.

AOC has launched their Gamer Certified series of displays designed to offer the latest in graphic technologies geared toward today's high definition, fast moving games.

AOC's Gamer Certified displays allow gamers to view HD games the way designers intended. All AOC Gamer Certified displays offer high contrast ratios and industry leading 2ms response times with DCR (dynamic contrast ratio) control, HDMI inputs and gaming modes for adjusting them to meet gamer needs on any HD game, whether it be on a console or PC.

Gigabyte today, has released a new graphics card based on the ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics processor (GPU), in a non-reference design. While sporting a thin and light appearance, the card retains high-grade electrical components such as digital PWM circuitry the reference PCB sports. The prominent features of the card include a DisplayPort connector alongside an HDMI port, both on the PCB. The card features 1 GB of GDDR5 memory made by Qimonda, across a 256-bit wide bus.

Being non-reference and Gigabyte, it's expected to have a blue coloured PCB. The GPU is cooled by a Zalman VF830 cooler, which features on several of today's graphics cards by Gigabyte. The memory is left to be cooled under its air-flow. The VRM area gets a heatsink of its own. The card is powered by two 6-pin PCI-Express power connectors. It uses reference clock speeds of 750 MHz for the GPU and 900 MHz (effective 3600 MT/s) for the memory. It is yet to be priced.

AMD processors finally get to address DDR3 memory on the new AM3 socket. Compatible processors under the Phenom II and Athlon X3, X4 banners that come in AM3 socket packages, will run initially on updated AMD 7-series chipset variants, and later be succeeded by the the company's RD890 and RS880 chipset cores. HKEPC compiled some information on the RS880 core logic. The "RS" prefix for AMD GPG chipsets mark the presence of integrated graphics. Based on the performance efficiency of the RSx80 dice, they're branded into the mainstream RSx80 product (eg: RS780 for AMD 780G), RSx80C for a value product (eg: RS780C for AMD 740G) and a high-end RSx80D (eg: in AMD 790GX).

The RS880 will use feature-set refresh, though will embed a rather dated RV620-class graphics processor. The IGP will have DirectX 10.1 API compliance. Specifications-wise it is identical to the RS780, both sport 40 stream processors, 8 texture address and 4 texture filtering units, though the core speed on the RS880 is expected to be significantly higher. The feature-set refresh, as stated earlier, includes support for Universal Video Decoder 2 (UVD-2), in addition to 100% hardware acceleration for VC-1, H.264 and MPEG-2 bitstream decoding. Also provided is video dynamic-contrast. The IGP supports HDMI with audio routing, and DisplayPort. The chipset will be released in Q3 2009. Like the current RS780, the RS880 will be manufactured on the 55nm node of TSMC. It will be used on motherboards with companion SB710 or SB800 southbridge chips.

Keeping its position as one of the world's industry leaders in innovation and technology, MSI, the world's top motherboard manufacturers, today launched the world's first mATX motherboard, G45M Digital, which utilizes the server-class DrMOS. It provides the best energy-saving solution for multimedia entertainment applications. The new G45M Digital motherboard provides energy-saving power transmission. All CPU power supply modules are using the high-quality DrMOS chip, and the exclusive GreenPower/APS (Active Phase Switching) power-saving technology. Even when it is used for a long time, users do not have to worry about the power consumption. G45M Digital motherboard utilizes the latest Intel G45/ICH10R chipset based, built-in Intel X4500HD graphics core and Intel Clear Video high-definition technology to provide high-performance 3D graphics and images. Through hardware decoding acceleration, users can also enjoy the Blu-ray high-resolution HD movies which significantly reduce the CPU loading. In addition, it also provides HDMI, DVI, D-Sub multiple display output, as well as 8-channel HD audio quality, enabling users to experience the perfect multimedia applications.

Taiwan's SPARKLE Computer announced availability of its new Calibre P980X+ graphics card, a highly customized GeForce 9800 GTX+ VGA. The Calibre P980X+ uses a 55nm version of the G92 GPU from NVIDIA, with raised core and shader clocks to 761MHz (738MHz) and 1911MHz (1836MHz stock) respectively. There's a 512MB of GDDR3 memory onboard, working at 1161MHz. Calibre customizes the card with the company's Dual Fly Fan System that consists of a copper base, two massive heat-pipes and two cooling fans situated at an angle. The Calibre P980X+ is also bundled with an overclocking software called SPA Tune. It will let users to choose between three modes of operation: Overclocking mode (OC), standard mode (STD) and green mode (GRN). There's no need to describe each one, their names are pretty self-explanatory. Each mode changes the card's clock speeds and fan rotation speed. At last, there's the back of the card where a HDMI, VGA D-sub and a DVI connector are lockated. Currently, there is no information on the availability and pricing of the card.

The company slogan change, from "Smarter Choice" to "The future is fusion" marked a major shift in core-Strategy for AMD. The company now focuses on delivering solutions, more so than mere products, with a solution comprising of several products working together to let the PC serve a purpose. One such solution is the AMD Maui entertainment platform. Maui platform makes AMD hardware work with AMD's own Live! Media Center software to deliver a complete home-theater PC solution.

On the hardware front, Maui includes a qualifying AMD Athlon X2 or Phenom series processor, a motherboard based on the AMD 7-series chipset with integrated graphics. Video is handled by the 7-series IGP, while audio is handled by a special audio component-riser card that has pre-amp circuitry onboard, which enables users to connect speakers in the 5.1 channel configuration directly to the motherboard. Future models would bring in 7.1 channel support. The first motherboard to use this design, is the MSI Media Live DIVA 5.1 780M.

Iomega, an EMC company and a global leader in data protection, today added to its ScreenPlay series of Multimedia drives with the new Iomega ScreenPlay Pro HD 1.0TB Multimedia Drive.

The new ScreenPlay Pro HD Multimedia Drive creates a convenient link between the home network and the home theater, giving users a convenient way to show off their family photos, play music, and enjoy their videos from the best seat in the house.

Gainward has launched a custom design Radeon HD 4670 graphics card featuring the latest GPU from ATI. The card spans across two slots. While cooling might attribute to that, the other reason is that Gainward has provided every kind of display connector that's standard today. The card has a dual-link DVI, an analog D-Sub, a HDMI with 7.1 ch audio, and a DisplayPort connector.

It comes with the RV730 core clocked at 750 MHz, features 512 MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 2000 MHz. Underneath the sporty grill hood of the card is a cooler consisting of a fan blowing air onto a heatsink with radially projecting fins. Such a cooler can be seen on some of Gainward's own mid-range GeForce Golden Sample series graphics cards, though this card didn't get that title.

Donanimhaber released pictures of the upcoming ASUS Radeon HD 4670 graphics card (model EAH4670). The card is based on the newer graphics processor from ATI, the RV730. There are two models by ASUS lined up for release. The first one being a standard 512 MB GDDR3 model, and another 1 GB model. The card provides HDMI port onboard, neighboured by D-Sub and DVI connectors. The card supports ATI Crossfire X.

The card features a custom design by ASUS. A rather large GPU cooler that spans across two slots is featured. It is advertised to keep the GPU 15 °C cooler than the reference cooler. Specifications wise, the card features GDDR3 memory clocked at 2008 MHz, with the core at 750 MHz. It is HDCP compliant.

Turkish website DonanimHaber presented the first picture of Gigabyte's entry-level GeForce 9400 GT accelerator. From the specifications and hardware bundle, it is clear that this one is for your HTPC. It provides sufficient graphics processing power for HD Videos, high resolution imaging and Windows Aero acceleration. The card is made from high quality components brandished under "Ultra Durable 2" by Gigabyte. The card allows SPDIF digital audio pass and a HDMI dongle is provided.

It's been a few weeks since Intel launched its latest chipset with integrated graphics, the Intel G45. Among other things, Intel claimed this chipset accelerated HD video formats such as Blu-ray, where the integrated graphics logic is supposed to off-load the CPU of processing the video. Such as it is, Intel's integrated graphics processors (IGP) have been hugely reliant on the CPU for its functions.

Aaron Brezenski, a product engineer for Intel at its Chandler, Arizona US facility. In his recent blog entry (read here), he writes about the G45 not exactly achieving what it set out for, in other words, it was "still imperfect". He mentions about AMD hosting a demo booth where it was publicly demonstrated that a G45 based notebook made by HP failed to accelerate Blu-ray playback, the processor tipped 100% load throughout the playback which isn't what G45 is intended to bring about.

Pictures of a fresh-bake Radeon HD 4670 have surfaced. There are several iterations of this card (as in display output configurations), the one in the picture has a dual-link DVI port along with two DisplayPort connectors. Sources tell GPU Café that the card manages a 3DMark Vantage Performance score of P32xx (anywhere between P3200 and P3299).Here are its GPU specifications:

Just when you thought Mini-ITX would mean extremely compact system components for great HTPC builds, came in the limitations of integrated graphics and relatively weak processors. VIA for example, have had ITX boards for quite some time. Just that the features most essential for HTPC builds such as graphics capable of high-definition video output, processors capable of decoding them at acceptable rates lacked, and hence those older ITX solutions from VIA remained a niche solution for embedded computing or thin-clients.

Picture this: a Mini-ITX board, AM2+ socket, AMD 780G (one of the fastest integrated graphics embedded), four SATA II ports, video output as HDMI (with digital audio pass, HDCP compliant) DVI-D / D-Sub, 8-channel audio with SPDIF optical and co-axial pass, all rolled into one? Awesome, isn't it? Several sources point out that J&W Technology is planning the release of such a board next week, the MINIX-780G-SP128MB.

That's right, a new 22" widescreen monitor by AOC, the 2230Fm is a PC monitor. It supports DVI-D and D-Sub VGA and HDMI inputs and sports a native resolution of 1680 x 1050 px. Stylish looks aside it adds a nifty feature that makes it a media-center in itself, the feature is called HD3.

Says AOC: "HD3 defines a new category in high definition displays with its built-in media player, allowing consumers, for the first time, to view movies without the use of an external DVD player or PC. With the 2230Fm, simply load a film onto a memory device, plug it into the display and use AOC's proprietary, user-friendly menu and remote control to enjoy a movie PC-free. AOC's first HD3 Display is the 2230Fm, a combination of multi-functional high-definition video capabilities and stylish, 360° design that provides a stunning array of features all developed to cater to the digital needs of today's consumers."

Simply put, the monitor has a 4-in-1 digital media reader and has three USB 2.0 ports. You can connect a USB flash-drive. You do have flash-drives with really high capacities these days capable of carrying Hi-resolution videos, also that in some European countries a new video-download facility has come up where you download movies onto a flash drive in public shacks a-la ATMs. Apart from videos, this device can view images up to 8000 x 8000 px, and play audio files from its integrated stereo speakers. It remains to be seen if the USB 2.0 hub could connect to external hard drives or external optical drives. That would make it a full-on media center. It lacks a TV-tuner though. The embedded media software looks pretty intutive, The 2230Fm supports MPEG-1, 2, and 4 video formats. the supported audio format are too numerous to list, but they include MP3, WMA, WAVE, OGG-Vorbis, FLAC, and M4A. Supported photo formats include JPG, TIFF, PNG, BMP, and GIF images with resolutions up to 8000x8000 pixels.

The monitor has a 2ms response time making it ideal for gaming consoles and gaming PCs, it has a respectable 20,000:1 contrast ratio. It is priced at a US $399 and will be available next month onwards. Talk about convenience.

HIS is trying to set itself apart from the competition by offering a very unique and surely well performing HD 2600 Pro with DDR3 memory. The card comes with a blue PCB, black and golden DVI connectors, a black and blue heatsinkg & fan combination. The 256MB 128-bit DDR3 memory runs at a whooping 1400 MHz while the core is set at 600 MHz.

ASUS today introduced the ASUS EAH2600PRO/HTDI/256M and EN8600GT/HTDI/256M - high performance graphics cards that feature bundled high-quality HDMI adaptors certified by HDMI Licensing, LLC. Home theatre lovers can now enjoy enhanced and convenient home multimedia to the fullest with these newly launched ASUS "HDMI Certified" graphics cards.