H.264 decoding and cpu load

It's no secret that H.264 is cpu hungry. A few tests proved that its appetite for processor power is gargantuan. We monitored Quicktime playing an HD movie trailer via top.
Playing an HD 720p (1280x544) file eats between 48 and 54% of cpu in a G5 dual 2.5 GHz (N.B. : a dual processor cpu usage goes up to 200%). The same trailer encoded in 1080p (1920x816) eats between 80 and 106% cpu power on the same machine. In any case, the playback was smooth, of course.
H.264 is way ahead of the game. So much, that it'll have to be a few years before it can become the standard codec for video on Joe Sixpack's machine.