What an utter waste and complete disappointment... I'm even considering getting a refund and going with another encoding and editing program.

After installing the updated version and comparing production encoding times with and without CUDA acceleration enabled, I've come to the conclusion that this is not for the average user.

"PowerDirector 7’s advanced NVIDIA CUDA-enabled video effects include: Gaussian Blur, Kaleidoscope, Radial Blur, Color Edge, Light Ray, Replace Color, Pen Ink, Color Painting, Abstractionism, Glow."

The CUDA acceleration is only for the advanced video effects. Combining clips, encoding HD MPEG2 files, and encoding AVC MPEG4 files are not accelerated with this function.

The whole CUDA optimization is a small, largely useless, benefit to most powerdirector users.

I do not recommend buying Powerdirector 7 Ultra for improved video encoding times unless you use the advanced video effects on every clip. There is no encoding benefit with this program.

Once again, this is only a marketing ploy and the deceiving product pages make you think that the video encoding performance will improve with an Nvidia card. RIGHT!

"NVIDIA CUDA technology enables CyberLink PowerDirector to deliver an improved user experience by RENDERING CERTAIN VIDEO EFFECTS SIGNIFICANTLY FASTER."