PAVP (Intel Corporation

Intel Corporation

Intel Corporation is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California, United States and the world's largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. It is the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors, the processors found in most...

)

PAVP protects the data path within a computer during video playback (e.g. Blu-ray discs). It is supported by newer chipsets (e.g. Intel G45) and operating systems (since Windows Vista

Windows Vista

Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

). PAVP does the video decoding in the chipset to reduce processor load.

PAVP can be configured in the BIOS

BIOS

In IBM PC compatible computers, the basic input/output system , also known as the System BIOS or ROM BIOS , is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface....

. Different modes are supported:

1. Disabled.
2. PAVP Lite: Reserves buffer memory for encryption of compressed video data.
3. Paranoid PAVP: Reserve memory during boot which isn't seen by the Operating System. This disables Windows Aero
   Windows Aero
   Windows Aero is the graphical user interface and the default theme in most editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7, operating systems released by Microsoft. It is also available in Windows Server 2008, but is not enabled by default. Its name is a backronym for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective and...
   
    in Windows Vista
   Windows Vista
   Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
   
   .

The default setting in most BIOS is PAVP Lite.