Does DirectX really improve Flash video quality?

> Does Microsoft Direct X automatically come installed with Windows 7? I did a search for it on my system and could not find it.

> Does Microsoft Direct X improve the video quality of the Flash Player? According to the Flash website, Direct X needs to be installed in order for the "Enable Hardware Acceleration" to improve picture quality.

I don't like installing things unless I know beforehand that they will work.


Download details: DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer


Adobe - Flash Player : Help - Display Settings

 

Windows key+R will open a Run prompt... type in dxdiag and hit enter.

DirectX is what DXVA and GPU acceleration is built on top of, so yes, it helps. Also, it does come standard with every Windows install, but it's best most of the time to keep it up-to-date.

 

Mainly what DX acceleration does is take the processing load off of the CPU. Then the video can be rendered and "enhanced" by the GPU. Depending on your GPU settings you can change things like brightness, contrast, etc... If the video is already blocky then it really won't do much if your looking for that.

Generally leave it on if you have the latest version of flash (10.1+) as it actually works.

 

win 7 comes with dx 11 installed

 

DirectX/OpenGL is actually 2 components.

- The first is the library files which a game or software can use for 3D graphics and effects. Also, it contains additional library for sound card, and input (joystick, controller, mouse and keyboard), which provide minimum lag as the game or application has direct communication.

- The second component is used by the library which allows direct communication from the program and with the computer hardware, by-passing many layers, allowing a much much greater performance.
When you need direct mouse and image accuracy, so that FPS games are playable, for instance, you want this. You can't have a larger lag between mouse and the game at some moment and not others, it needs to be consistent.

For DirectX and OpenGL to work, it needs to have a supported hardware (GPU), the library files, and the Operating System (e.g: Windows), to allow by-passing layers to have direct communication with the hardware.

This by-pass layer thing is also the reason why DirectX 10/11 cannot be used under Windows XP, as since Vista, the core component of Windows, and layering, was restructure for more security. If all this layering system are removed, than you can have conflicts between software, and have sever security holes. It's kinda more complicated, but that is the simplified explanation.