AMD has just announced its new mobile platform – previously codenamed Tigris – which goes under the common moniker of Vision. AMD claims that Vision will make it easier for consumers to choose the right notebook product for their needs, although we’re not quite sure that this really is the case.

To be fair to AMD, it’s new Vision branding does remove a lot of previously used logo’s, but with four different tiers and little else than a minor change to the sticker, we doubt most consumers will be able to tell the difference between the various product lines.

The four tiers are AMD Vision, AMD Vision Premium, AMD Vision Ultimate and AMD Vision Black. The first three are all for mainstream notebooks, but each tier has specific minimum requirements. If these requirements aren’t meet, then the notebook in question won’t be able to wear the Vision logo.

As you can see from the picture above, it’s not an easy chart to decode. However, the good news is that all Vision labelled AMD notebooks will support HD video playback as a minimum part of the hardware requirements. This isn’t really a big deal considering that AMD has had a chipset capable of playing HD video for quite some time, but at least even entry level AMD notebook will now reap the benefits from this.

The confusing part is that depending on the CPU used, the graphics hardware requirements change and it seems like even the same tier has at least two different configuration levels. This doesn’t look like a simplified system for the consumer to us, but rather a way of getting away with selling whatever the notebook manufacturer wants to pitch at the moment. Things might become clearer over time, especially as AMD moves to new platforms, although the labelling is at least clearer than what it was in the past.

Vision Black labelled notebooks won’t be out until early next year and AMD doesn’t seem to be too talkative about the Vision Black platform for now.

AMD has teamed up with eight notebook manufacturers and is expecting to have some 40 different notebooks with the Vision branding, ranging from 13.3-inch models to 17.1-inch monsters. AMD is trying to target the $550 to $750 market in the US with at least some of these notebooks, so there should be plenty of affordable notebooks on sale in time for the holiday season.

You can find out more about AMD’s Vision by visiting the new AMD Vision website