Grab this GPU driver to play DRM-protected 4K videos on an RX 5700 card

(Image credit: AMD)

Attention Radeon GPU owners, there is a new Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition driver release available, version 19.8.1, which introduces PlayReady 3.0 support for Radeon RX 5700 graphics cards.

This enables owners of a 5700 series card to play 4K content that is locked down with Microsoft's digital rights management (DRM) scheme. That includes 4K videos on Netflix, when streamed and played on a PC via Edge or Internet Explorer (Bleeping Computer has a rundown of what resolutions are supported on various browsers, due to DRM).

There is no mention of any specific game optimizations with the 19.8.1 release. However, there are several bug fixes, including one that pertains to auto overclocking memory on the 5700 series. The bug fixes include the following:

  • Some system configurations may experience color corruption after install of Radeon Software when running Windows 10 May 2019 update. Issue is resolved in the latest Windows Update 18362.267 (KB4505903).
  • Radeon Chill settings may not sync with game profile settings when changed in-game through Radeon Overlay.
  • Radeon RX 5700 series graphics products may experience a black screen or flickering when applying auto overclocking memory with games or applications running in fullscreen.
  • Radeon AntiLag may slightly impact performance in select games.
  • Radeon RX 5700 series graphics may experience a black screen during uninstall on Windows 7 system configurations. A work around is to perform uninstall in safe mode.
  • Recording clips with Radeon ReLive may result in blank clips on Radeon RX 5700 Series Graphics with Windows 7 system configurations.

AMD also lists an equal number of known issues in its release notes. They include:

  • Stutter may be experienced when Radeon FreeSync is enabled on 240Hz refresh displays with Radeon RX 5700 series graphics products.
  • Radeon Performance Metrics may report incorrect VRAM utilization.
  • AMD Radeon VII may experience elevated memory clocks at idle or on desktop.
  • Radeon Overlay may intermittently fail to appear when toggled in game.
  • Audio for clips captured by Radeon ReLive may be corrupted or garbled when desktop recording is enabled.
  • Enabling Enhanced Sync may cause game, application or system crashes on Radeon RX 5700 series graphics products.

Follow this link to download the latest Radeon driver.

Paul Lilly

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).