The driver has progressed to the stage at which it is ready for testing by a wider group of users. Amiga OS 4.x beta testers have already had access to an early beta. However, very few people have RadeonHD graphics cards, and more testers are needed. To that end, I am accepting applications to beta test the RadeonHD.chip driver.

The poll that was run asking for input as to what should be developed next has now been closed. 151 votes were cast, of which 85 (56%) were for R5xx compositing and 66 (44%) were for R6xx blitter hardware acceleration. Given these results, R5xx compositing will be developed next.

This is just a quick post to the RadeonHD development log in order to point people to the poll regarding what should be developed next. Basically the choice is between finishing off 2D support for R5xx based cards (i.e., Radeon X1000 series) in the form of hardware compositing, or starting on 2D blitter support for R6xx based cards (i.e., Radeon HD 2000 and 3000 series). This is your chance to have a direct input on what happens next. Please note that R5xx chipset compositing will be completed eventually regardless of which option is chosen; the results of the poll will change what order things are implemented.

Hardware acceleration of 2D blitter operations for R5xx chipsets (Radeon X1000 series cards) was completed last with the exception of blitting patterns. This is another milestone in the development of the RadeonHD for Amiga OS 4.x graphics driver. Blitting patterns was left out because it is a less frequently used operation that cannot be performed efficiently by the R5xx's 2D acceleration hardware. Instead, it would require using the R5xx's 3D capabilities. This will be added later, after hardware compositing is added (which also uses the 3D capabilities).