PC 3D Graphics Accelerators FAQ (Part 1 of 2)
Blair MacIntyre
Archive-name: pc-hardware-faq/3dgraphics-cards/part1
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PC 3D Graphics Accelerators FAQ
v 1.2
19 March 1996
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http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~bm/3dcards/3d-cards1.html
http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~bm/3dcards/3d-cards2.html
ftp://ftp.cs.columbia.edu/pub/bm/3d-cards.1
ftp://ftp.cs.columbia.edu/pub/bm/3d-cards.2
Changes and additions to b...@cs.columbia.edu
This document provides a partial -- and not comprehensive -- list of 3D
graphics accelerators for PCs. In particular, I am interested in PCI-based
accelerators. You can help make it more comprehensive by sending me
additional information and/or updates. This information is abstracted and
condensed from the posts of many different contributors. No guarantees are
made regarding its accuracy.
The original motivation for this document came from a list of accelerators
compiled by Chris Hinch, Management Information Systems, Dunedin City
Council, PO Box 5045, Dunedin, New Zealand (ch...@dcc.govt.nz)
Here are some 3D accelerator related Web sites:
* http://spider.compart.fi/~ttammi/3dcards.html
"Web Page For 3D accelerator chipsets and graphics cards" by Tiitus Leo
Tamminen
* http://www.cowboy.net/~biff
"Tommy's and Biff's 3D Accelerator Pages"
If you have or know of a 3D accelerator related site, please email it to me.
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* Changes since version 1.2
New entries:
o CS12) 3DLabs GLINTdelta
Changed entries:
o GLINT08) Changed the chipset details.
* Changes since version 1.1
Changed entries:
o B10) Changed contact info.
* Changes since version 0.95
New entries:
o B11) Matrox Millenium
o B12) APD Free Dimension
o B13) Arcobel Imagine
o B14) Synthetic Images Reality Blaster
o B15) S3 ViRGE and ViRGE/VX
o NVIDIA02) Jazz Multimedia 3D Magic
o NVIDIA03) Genoa Stratos 3D
o CS09) 3Dfx Voodoo
o CS10) TriTech Pyramid3D TR25201
o CS11) VideoLogic PowerVR
Changed entries:
o B06) Added GLZ1T and pixel fix rate.
o GLINT08) fixed typo in polygon rate, added note that PCI version
will probably support OpenGL and might be based on the Rendition
Verite instead of the PERMEDIA.
* Older changes at the end
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TODO:
* organize the information a bit better, remove some extraneous or
duplicate info.
* answer some frequently asked questions
* get more hard data comparing the boards, such as the output of the
OpenGL viewperf program. If any manufacturers want to send me a demo
unit, or donate one to our group, my address is above.
* add more info, as people request and provide it!
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Contents of Part 1
* Introduction
* Disclaimer
* Section I: Frequently Asked Questions
o Q01) Are there any 3D graphics accelerators for PCs?
o Q02) How does the performance of these cards compare to graphics
workstations such as those produced by SGI, Sun, DEC, etc?
* Section II: 3D Chipsets
o CS01) 3DLabs GLINT 300SX
o CS02) Lockheed Martin Real3D (not yet available)
o CS03) S-MOS SPC1500 Geometry Processor
o CS04) ARTIST Graphics 3GA Graphics Processor
o CS05) NVidia/SGS-THOMSON NV1/STG-2000 Multimedia Accelerators
o CS06) Rendition Vérité
o CS07) Chromatic Research Mpact
o CS08) 3DLabs Permedia
o CS09) 3Dfx Voodoo
o CS10) TriTech Pyramid3D TR25201
o CS11) VideoLogic PowerVR
o CS12) 3DLabs GLINTdelta
* Section III: Boards using Chips in Section II
o GLINT01) Omnicomp 3DEMON
o GLINT02) Fujitsu Sapphire 2SX
o GLINT03) ELSA GLoria
o GLINT04) Omnicomp 3Demon VR (was Media Labs Inc. 3DMedia)
o GLINT05) SPEA FireGL
o GLINT06) Force Inc. 3DE-300SX
o GLINT07) Densan PCI-300SX
o GLINT08) Creative Labs' 3D Blaster
o GLINT09) Microstep AGC-3D
o R3D01) Lockheed Martin R3D/100 (not yet available)
o ARTIST01) ARTIST Graphics 2000 Series
o NVIDIA01) Diamond Edge 3D Accelerators
o NVIDIA02) Jazz Multimedia 3D Magic
o NVIDIA03) Genoa Stratos 3D
Contents of Part 2
* Section V: Other boards
o B01) AccelGraphics AG300 and AG500
o B02) ISC PowerGL
o B03) Evans & Sutherland Freedom
o B04) Matrox Impression Plus
o B05) Oki TrianGL
o B06) Intergraph GLZ Series
o B07) Division's VPX Image Generator and ProVision Systems
o B08) Reality Simulation Systems Little Squirt
o B09) Western Digital Tasmania 3D
o B10) Dynamic Pictures V192
o B11) Matrox Millenium
o B12) APD Free Dimension
o B13) Arcobel Imagine
o B14) Synthetic Images Reality Blaster
o B15) S3 ViRGE and ViRGE/VX
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Introduction
The original motivation for compiling this list was to compare the features
of various 3D graphics accelerators becoming available for microcomputers.
In particular, I am interested in PCI-based cards which support OpenGL under
Windows NT, Linux, Solaris x86 (none yet!), etc. and support stereo head
mounted displays. (In fact, of the currently available boards, only one
qualifies. See if you can figure out which one.)
Information which falls in that category will obviously be more complete.
Other information will be included if someone sends it to me, but I won't be
actively researching it myself. As such, there is little or no information
right now about 3D accelerators for high-end machines such as those produced
by SGI, Sun, HP, DEC, etc, except as the ones listed may also work in those
machines.
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Disclaimer
I haven't seen or used many of these cards, and all figures are the
manufacturers own, as near as I can verify. I am not promoting any one card
or company over any other. Any anecdotes, speed comparisons, etc., that I
collect will be included on a purely informational level. USE AT YOUR OWN
RISK. Of course, I will not include anything I do not believe or know to be
false.
No representation is made as to the accuracy of these figures/technical
specs. If you are going to buy/bet the farm/otherwise invest in one of these
products, CONTACT THE MANUFACTURER first and make sure that what you want is
what you'll get!!!
CAVEAT EMPTOR!!!
All trademarks etc are copyright of their respective owners etc. etc.
Furthermore, many of these boards are not yet available, so you should find
out delivery dates before getting your heart set on any given one.
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Section I: Frequently Asked Questions
[return to index]
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Q01) Are there any 3D graphics accelerators for PCs?
I'm glad you asked. There are quite a few, with more coming out all the
time. See the rest of this document for more information.
(Ok, it's a stupid question, but I needed something in the FAQ section)
Q02) How does the performance of these cards compare to graphics
workstations such as those produced by SGI, Sun, DEC, etc?
This question is difficult to answer because there are so many factors
affecting the overall 3D performance on a PC. Most importantly, while many
of the boards listed below have impressive numbers in terms of maximum
number of polygons/second, most only accelerate rendering. What this means
is that you are still bounded by the speed at which your processor can
transform a 3D data stream to a 2D perspective with lighting and material
effects and then ship these numbers over the bus to the graphics card. So,
the processor, processor speed, bus type and speed, software design, etc.,
all effect the final throughput. Thus, a board may perform differently on
two different machines that have the same "specs" (ie. 90Mhz Pentium, PCI
bus) if the bus was designed differently, or if there are other cards on the
bus taking up bandwidth.
What is really needed is a set of comprehensive benchmarks that give some
more realistic numbers about the various combinations of hardware. The NCGA
(National Computer Graphics Association) GPC (Graphics Performance
Committee) (comprised of the major vendors along with UNC and SDSC) is an
organization primarily concerned with developing benchmark standards and
performance characterizations for graphics hardware.
Check out
http://sunsite.unc.edu/gpc/gpc.html
for information about the GPC activities.
Unfortunately, the GPC Quarterly is about US$200/year, which is beyond my
budget. Thus, to get their benchmark results, you'll have to talk to them.
However, the benchmarking tool they use to measure OpenGL performance,
called Viewperf, is available for free. From the README that comes with
Viewperf:
What is this Thing Called 'Viewperf'
-----------------------------------
Rob Putney, OPC Vice Chairman
4/21/95
Viewperf is a portable OpenGL performance benchmark program
written in C. It was developed by IBM. Viewperf provides a vast amount of
flexibility in benchmarking OpenGL performance. At the current time,
the program runs on most implementations of UNIX, Windows NT, and OS/2.
The OpenGL Performance Characterization (OPC) Committee has endorsed
Viewperf as its first OpenGL benchmark and results
were first published using it in 4Q94 version of The GPC Quarterly.
OPC member companies have ported the Viewperf code to their operating
system and window environments. The OPC Committee maintains a single
source code version of the Viewperf code that is available to the
public.
In future versions of this FAQ, performance measurements will be added in
another section at the end. Stay tuned. If you have any measurements using
Viewperf, please send them to me (b...@cs.columbia.edu)
Viewperf can currently be obtained from
ftp://net1.uspro.fairfax.va.us/pub/gpc/opc/viewperf/
If that directory does not work, try looking on the OpenGL home page at
http://www.sgi.com/Technology/openGL/opengl.html
which should contain a pointer to ViewPerf.
Q03) What are all the features, anyway?
Many of the features discussed in the 3D graphics card brochures may not be
meaningful to people not already familiar with 3D graphics. Z-buffering,
quadratic texture mapping, gouraud shading, fog, etc., are new to many
people. However, in the interest of time and space, I am not going to
discuss them here. For a comprehensive introduction, refer to a 3D graphics
textbook, such as "Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice" by Foley, van
Dam, Feiner and Hughes.
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Section II: 3D Chipsets available now or in the near future.
There are numerous 3D chipsets being worked on, but these 2 happen to be the
ones I have detailed information both on the chips and on boards built using
them. If I get more information on other chips, I will include them here.
[return to index]
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CS01) 3DLabs GLINT 300SX
First, a comment about the GLINT 300SX chip, which I will make because it
was not clear to me when I first read their specs. They mention texture
mapping acceleration, but on the 300SX texture maps are held in host memory
and per pixel information is sent to the chip which performs the necessary
interpolations and applications. For the upcoming 300TX, the texture maps
are held in local memory on the graphics card (the "localbuffer") and the
host just sends per vertex information to the chip which performs all the
texture mapping calculations.
Information on the 300SX can be obtained from the 3DLabs home page at
http://www.3Dlabs.com/
or by sending email to in...@3Dlabs.com.
The technical specs below were copied directly from the page
http://www.3Dlabs.com/300SXinf.html
GLINT 300SX Overview
The GLINT 300SX high performance graphics processor combines workstation
class 3D graphics acceleration and state-of-the-art 2D performance in a
single chip.
GLINT is capable of processing 300,000 shaded, depth buffered and
anti-aliased polygons/second. The chip provides complete 32-bit color, 2D
and 3D acceleration, an on-chip PCI-compliant local bus interface and
integrated LUT-DAC control, making a complete graphics subsystem possible
with minimal chip count.
All the rendering operations of OpenGL are accelerated by the GLINT 300SX,
including Gouraud shading, depth buffering, anti-aliasing, alpha blending,
and texture mapping.
3D ACCELERATION
* 100% OpenGL compliant rendering operations in hardware
* Point, line, rectangle and polygon primitives
* Gouraud shading, depth buffering, anti-aliasing, dithering, depth
cueing, texture map filtering and alpha blending
* 2.5 Giga operations per second
* 300K Gouraud shaded, depth buffered triangles/sec
2D AND GUI ACCELERATION
* True color acceleration of window systems such as Win32 and X11
* Accelerated bitBLT, line drawing, fills, text and window clipping
SPECIAL FEATURES
* 64-bit hyper-pipelined architecture
* Vertex level interface
* 112-bit pixel datapath to memory
* High quality 16 and 8-bpp dithering of 24-bit graphics images
* Fast frame and depth buffer clears
* Shared framebuffer interface for easy multimedia integration
* VRAM block fill and bit masking
* Anti-aliasing for high quality images at 4x4 and 8x8 sub-pixel
resolution
DISPLAY MODES
* Resolutions up to 2560x2048
* 8, 16 or 32-bits per pixel RGBA and 4 or 8-bit color indexed
* Packed 8, 16 and 32-bit pixels
* Supports advanced modes: double buffering, stereo and overlays
GLINT 300SX Graphics Architecture
The GLINT 300SX delivers 3D and GUI rendering functionality to improve the
performance and quality of graphics applications and APIs.
* Gouraud shading
* Depth buffering
* Anti-aliasing
* Dithering
* Depth cueing and fog
* Texture mapping
* Scissor and stipple masking
* Alpha blending
* Logical Operations (e.g. XOR)
The unique hyper-pipelined architecture and 112-bit memory datapath ensure
that multiple rendering operations can be combined with no performance
penalty - allowing a Gouraud shaded polygon to be processed just as fast
when depth buffering, dithering and anti-aliasing are enabled.
FRAMEBUFFER CONTROLLER
The 64/32-bit framebuffer controller directly interfaces to VRAM or DRAM
framebuffers and supports a wide range of pixel depths, resolutions and
memory sizes - enabling systems to be tuned to meet specific
price/performance targets.
* 1-32 MBytes VRAM or DRAM
* 8,16 or 32-bit RGBA color
* 4 or 8-bit color indexed
* 2, 4, 8 pixels per 64-bit word
* 640x480 to 2560x2048
* VRAM arbitrary shape block fill
* VRAM bit masking
* Framebuffer bypass mode
LOCALBUFFER CONTROLLER
The localbuffer holds optional off-screen information for each pixel
including; depth (Z) values, stencil data, arbitrary window clip planes,
plus a control field for fast window clearing. The format for each field is
user defined, up to a maximum of 48 bits.
* 0-48 MBytes DRAM
* 0-48-bits wide
Depth: 0, 16, 24, 32-bit
Stencil: 0, 4, 8-bit
Window clipping: 0, 4-bit
Fast depth clear: 4, 8-bit
* Localbuffer bypass mode
INTEGRATED VIDEO TIMING
An internal timing generator and VRAM transfer controller are incorporated
into the GLINT 300SX processor. Advanced systems requiring overlays, stereo,
interlace or very large framebuffers can be supported using an external
timing generator.
SHARED FRAMEBUFFER
The GLINT 300SX's on-chip shared framebuffer interface is a fully integrated
implementation of S3's interface, allowing GLINT to use video and multimedia
co-processors, or for the GLINT to be used as a 3D coprocessor to an S3
device.
UPGRADE PATH
The GLINT 300SX is the first of a family of GLINT graphics processors that
are designed to meet the demands of the graphics designer. The GLINT300TX,
is a second generation pin compatible processor that enhances the SX's
texture capabilities - supporting local texture storage and pixel address
generation for all OpenGL texturing modes.
NOTICE: 3Dlabs reserves the right to change the above specifications without
notice.
From looking at the various boards, it appears that typical performance
quotes are in the following range:
* 3D Gouraud shaded, depth buffered, window clipped, stippled, dithered,
and alpha tested rendering performance with 24-bit RGB color depth is
the following:
o 300K 25 pixel triangles/sec
o 500K 10 pixel vectors/sec
o 8M independent points/second
o 500K 9x13 pixels characters/second
* 2D Graphics performance
o 1M 10 pixel vectors/sec
o 500K 10x10 pixel, flat shaded rectangles/sec
o 500K 9x13 pixels characters/second
o Scroll Rate 48M pixels/second - 8 bits/pixel
[return to index]
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CS02) Lockheed Martin Real3D
Information on the Lockheed Martin Read3D chipset was obtained from their
WWW server at the following URL:
http://www.mmc.com/real3d/
Check there for more information, or call 1-800-393-7730, or send email to
rea...@mmc.com.
The following is taken from a press release found at that site:
The REAL3D(tm) chipset is based on real-time computer image generation
technology that gives a combination of dynamic response and realism
previously available only on dedicated graphics workstations and high end
custom image generators.
The first product will be the R3D/100 graphics accelerator. Key performance
attributes of the new chip set include an embedded 100 MFLOPS geometry
processor, pixel write rates of up to 33 million pixels per second, up to
750,000 polygons per second, line processing up to 1.5 million per second,
and provides up to 192 color texture maps (128 x 128 mipmapped) in
real-time.
The new product is an outgrowth of Lockheed Martin's proprietary computer
graphics technology previously used in high performance military simulation,
engineering research and training applications first developed for astronaut
training and military flight simulators.
The chip set provides faster processing through its patented hardware design
which incorporates geometry processing, rasterization and texture mapping.
The R3D/100 embedded floating point geometry processor removes significant
processing burden from the host CPU. The patented texture processor applies
color mipmapped texture to polygons in true 3D corrected perspective.
Designed as a true polygon processor with texture processing and scaleable
texture memory from the outset, the R3D/100 chip set includes dedicated
hardware acceleration of mipmapped texturing that provides continuous high
fidelity image quality. This chip set simulates spotlights, fog and
realistic curved surfaces. Additionally, improved image quality is provided
with multi-pass anti-aliasing.
The R3D/100 chip set directly interfaces with Microsoft 3D/DDI and supports
all 3D/DDI-compliant APIs, such as OpenGL(tm) and comes with device driver
software and a device driver kit.
[return to index]
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CS03) S-MOS SPC1500 3D Graphics Geometry Processor
S-MOS Systems is offering the industry's first commercially available single
chip 3D geometry accelerator for the PC marketplace.
The SPC1500 will work together with any 3D rendering processors to
accelerate 3D graphics up to 300K+ lighted triangles per second.
Why is geometry processing acceleration important?
Rendering processors alone, even on Pentium class machines, can not deliver
true workstation class performance. This is because even the fastest CPUs
today are quickly overcome by the amount of algorithmic processing necessary
to transform a 3D data stream to a 2D perspective with lighting and material
effects.
The SPC1500 integrates a 150Mflop dual floating point engine, an on-chip DMA
processor, on-chip ROM to store the algorithm instruction set, and an
on-chip RAM cache to store customer instructions in a single 223 pin PGA
package.
Easy integration
S-MOS Systems provides a complete design package for the system integrator
and board vendor.....
PCI Reference Designs
S-MOS Systems provides reference designs and evaluation kits showing the
capabilities of the SPC1500 running OpenGL on the WindowsNT platform. Full
technical manuals, electronic gerber files, and applications notes are
available.
WindowsNT and OS/2 Support
S-MOS Systems provides OpenGL compliant software and system utilities for
the WindowsNT platform. This software supports any rendering board (2D or
3D) that supports 3D DDI. It will also supports direct data transfer to the
leading 3D rendering board vendors.
MacOS Support
S-MOS Systems will will support software drivers and system utilities for
Quickdraw3D.
An Acrobat version of the SPC1500 Datasheet is available via their page at
http://www.smos.com/standard/spc1500.htm
For more information contact Giri Venkat, Product Marketing Engineer, S-MOS
Systems (E-Mail: ven...@smos.com).
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CS04) ARTIST Graphics 3GA Graphics Processor
The 3GA is a 2D and 3D graphics coprocessor with a fast VGA core which means
that boards designed around the 3GA will not only run the next generation of
software, but will run the software programs of today faster than ever
before. Bus support for PCI, ISA, and MicroChannel means that the 3GA is one
of the most flexible graphics chips available, as well as the most powerful.
The 3GA's features include built-in Windows acceleration, 2D and 3D lines,
flat-shading, Gouraud-shading, and texture-mapping. Initial benchmarks show
that the 3GA is significantly faster than the S3 968 Windows accelerator.
Technical information about the chip design is also available, and if you
have Acrobat, you can view the full 24 page datasheet.
Information on the 3GA can be obtained from the ARTIST Graphics home page at
The technical specs below were copied directly from that page.
Features
High performance 3D graphics processor
* 16 bit Z-buffer for automatic hidden surface removal
* Secondary 16 bit Z-buffer for arbitrary frontal Z clipping
* Gouraud shading for realistic 3D rendering
* Dithering for superior shading at 8 and 16 bits per pixel
* Texture mapping to map 2D textures onto 3D surfaces
* Six arithmetic raster operations (Add, Add with Saturation, Sub, Sub
with Saturation, Min, Max)
Powerful 2D GUI accelerator
* Accelerated drawing at 8, 16, 24 and 32 bits per pixel
* 256 Microsoft Windows raster operations in hardware
* Color expanding BitBLTs provide extremely fast text
* On-chip 8 x 8 color expanding pattern
* Variable sized color pattern up to 64 x 64 pixels
* Rectangular and arbitrary region clipping
* Multicolored "styled" lines and polylines
* Eight stencil modes
Display controller
* VRAM based display controller for maximum performance
* Supports displays up to 2048 x 2048 pixels
* Refresh rates up to 90Hz at 1600 x 1200 resolution
* VESA DPMS support for green applications
Video interface
* Shared frame buffer interface for multimedia
* Supports S3 Vision/VA full video with a shared frame buffer
Flexible local memory
* 64 bit wide memory bus
* VRAM block write support
* Supports 1 to 4 megabytes VRAM display memory
* Supports 0 to 8 megabytes of off screen DRAM for Z-buffers, fonts, etc.
Single chip accelerator
* On-chip 32 bit VGA for fast DOS performance
* Support for Microsoft Plug & Play ISA specification
* Interfaces directly to VESA VL-Bus and PCI with no glue logic
* Interfaces to ISA bus with two 74F245 buffers
* 128 byte host FIFO for passing data and commands
* 240 pin plastic quad flat pack
* 50 MHz clock frequency
Software drivers
* Windows 3.1, Windows NT, Windows '95, OS/2 2.1 and OS/2 Warp
* AutoCAD
* Hoops
* OpenGL
* 3D APIs: Argonaut BRender, Criterion Software RenderWare, Rendermorphic
Reality Lab, Inter 3DR
System Overview
A graphics system designed around the 3GA graphics accelerator requires only
VRAM, a video DAC, clock generator, and a small number of external buffers.
The 3GA graphics accelerator supports a 64 bit wide data path to its local
memory array and contains interfaces to an external clock generator, DAC,
and ROM BIOS.
Performance
Estimated performance, based on 8 bits per pixel, 10 pixel lines, 50 pixel
triangles, 90 MHz Pentium CPU, PCI bus.
2D lines........................................1,600,000 lines/second
3D lines (shades, Z-buffered).....................280,000 lines/second
2D texture mapped triangles........................75,000 triangles/second
3D texture mapped triangles (Z-buffered)...........65,000 triangles/second
3D Gouraud shaded triangles (Z-buffered)..........110,000 triangles/second
Screen-to-screen BitBLTs.......................80,000,000 pixels/second
Memory-to-screen BitBLTs (color expanding)....245,000,000 pixels/second
Fill rate...................................1,100,000,000 pixels/second
CONTACT INFORMATION:
You can contact the ARTIST Sales Team on the Web, or by phone at:
Tel: (800) 627 8478
(612) 631 7800
Fax: (612) 631 7802
or by sending email to sa...@artgraphics.com
COMMENTS:
There is OpenGL support under NT.
[return to index]
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CS05) NVidia/SGS-THOMSON NV1/STG-2000 Multimedia Accelerators
The information I currently have is from the press releases on the NVIDIA
Home page at
http://www.nvidia.com/
NVIDIA Corporation and SGS-THOMSON, today announced the introduction of the
NV1 and STG2000 Multimedia Accelerators. The first complete multimedia
accelerators, the NV1 and STG2000 represent the culmination of a strategic
partnership that began over a year ago. The technology will deliver powerful
multimedia capabilities exceeding that of next generation game consoles,
while preserving the versatility of the personal computer. Available now,
they are single-chip Multimedia Accelerators that delivers the power of
real-time photorealistic 3D graphics, full-motion video and special effects,
and concurrent high-fidelity audio for interactive multimedia.
They feature stunning 3D graphics capabilities with texture-mapping,
lighting effects, and a special feature called video texturing. This unique
feature allows developers to texture a 3D object with full- motion video,
creating new levels of realism never before possible in a PC application. In
addition, they deliver concurrent high-fidelity wave-table audio,
full-motion video acceleration, world-class GUI acceleration, enhanced
digital game port, and an internal synchronization timer for multimedia.
Market coverage will be provided by two versions of the multimedia
accelerator. NVIDIA will market and sell the NV1 (VRAM version) while
SGS-THOMSON will market and sell the STG2000 (DRAM version). Both products
are available with PCI and VL bus interfaces. The NV1 or STG2000 allow
leading-edge adapter card and PC OEMs to offer a multimedia sub-system with
dazzling 3D, wave-table audio, GUI acceleration, enhanced game port
performance, and video acceleration -- on a single-card with a street price
of around $200.
Information Contacts:
Bruce Brough, PR Contact
NVIDIA Corporation
Tel : (408) 438-0204
Fax : (408) 438-0204
J.P. Rossomme, PR Contact
SGS-THOMSON
Tel : (617)259-2534
Fax : (617)259-9423
COMMENTS:
There are no current plans to do an NT driver, or OpenGL, although some
third parties have expressed interest. They don't think consumers will be
running applications on OpenGL or NT. The chips does not support texture
memory. They do forward texture mapping: specify the control points (4 for
bilinear, 9 for quadratic surface), specify the subdivision of the texture,
then write texels. As you write each texel the chip computes its location
on-screen, optionally computes a blend value for it, and it shows up
on-screen.
I'm not sure, but it doesn't not appear to have a Z-buffer, either.
[return to index]
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CS06) Rendition Vérité
The information I currently have is from the Rendition home page at
http://www.rendition.com/
Rendition's first product, the Vérité(tm), is a single chip 3D graphics
engine, GUI accelerator, digital video accelerator and VGA engine for the
personal computer market designed for add-in graphics cards and OEM
motherboard implementation.
Advanced Rendering Features
The Vérité(tm) supports texture mapping with correct perspective, bilinear
filtering, z-buffering, alpha blending, fog, and other advanced rendering
features. These features will enable game developers to deliver the most
engaging, realistic interactive entertainment to date.
Sustainable High Performance
Design decisions were made with input of many game developers to ensure a
real performance advantage.
Embedded RISC Core
The Vérité(tm) employs a unique architecture, which combines a fully
programmable RISC core with a hard-wired pixel pipeline.
Optimized Memory Controller
In the cost-sensitive markets which Rendition will compete, it is imperative
to focus on total solution cost for the OEM customer. It uses low cost EDO
DRAM.
Support for Two Dimensional GUI and Multimedia Acceleration
The Vérité(tm) also provides conventional Windows acceleration, and
incorporates all control logic required for a standard graphics card. For
acceleration of digital video playback, e.g. MPEG and Indeo, the Vérité(tm)
provides YUV-to-RGB color space conversion and image scaling with bilinear
interpolation for smooth full-screen full-motion video playback.
VGA Compatibility
All of this advanced functionality will be of little value if users cannot
run their older applications. For this reason, Rendition has incorporated a
VGA-compatible core into the Vérité(tm).
[return to index]
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CS07) Chromatic Research Mpact
The information I currently have is from the Mpact home page at
http://www.mpact.com/
The Mpact media engine offers the complete multimedia solution for your PC.
For more information, go to their home page for complete technical specs and
white papers.
* Vector processor optimized for video, graphics, audio and
communications processing
* VLIW architecture with single instruction multiple data (SIMD)
* High performance (up to 2 billion operations/sec) for concurrent
multimedia functions
* PCI host interface with bus mastering capabilities
* Interfaces to popular RAMDACs, video decoders and encoders, and audio
and modem codecs
* Interfaces to Rambus RDRAM; optimized for full operation with 2MB to
4MB
* Loadable Mpact mediaware modules enable functions such as:
o Video playback processing with color space conversion, scaling/
interpolation, overlay and compositing
o MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video, audio and system decoding
o Real-time MPEG-1 video, audio and system encoding
o JPEG encoding and decoding
o Windows GUI acceleration (of all 256 ROPS)
o Graphics output supporting display modes up to 1280 x 1024 x 18bpp
at 75Hz
o 3D graphics rendering with full shading, lighting, texture mapping
and anti-aliasing support
o Industry-standard sound card compatible audio (including FM
synthesis and general MIDI)
o Dolby AC-3 and MPEG audio; wavetable audio synthesis and waveguide
physical modeling audio synthesis; 3D sound and effects
o Modem and FAX communications up to 28,800 baud with telephony
features such as speakerphone and simultaneous voice and data
communications
o H.320 and H.324 video conferencing
* Optimized real-time multitasking kernel executes multiple Mpact
mediaware modules concurrently
Contact Information:
Chromatic Research, Inc.
800A East Middlefield Road
Mountain View, CA 94043-4030
415-254-1600
email: in...@mpact.com
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CS08) 3DLabs Permedia
The information I currently have is from the 3DLabs home page at
http://www.3dlabs.com/
See section CS01 (3DLabs GLINT 300SX) for more pointers to 3DLabs.
PERMEDIA is a high performance graphics processor that balances high quality
3D texturing and graphics performance with leading edge Windows, Video and
SVGA acceleration. Based on a proven low-cost and scaleable architecture,
PERMEDIA pervasive 3D and multimedia applications, including: games,
animation, authoring, web browsing, design, visualization, publishing and
general multimedia applications.
PERMEDIA sets the standard for 3D and multimedia acceleration, making it the
ideal solution to meet the increasingly pervasive need for balanced 3D and
multimedia acceleration - and all in a single, low cost PCI device.
Pervasive 3D & Multimedia Features
* 25M pixels/sec - textured, bilinear filtered with perspective
* 500K polygons/sec - textured, bilinear filtered with perspective
* Balanced 3D feature set
* Ideal for games and pervasive 3D
o High quality texture mapping
o Smooth and Flat shading
o Optional Z-buffer
o Fog and depth cueing
o Polygon based with sprites
* Standard setting Windows acceleration
* Accelerated video playback
* Fast on-chip SVGA
* Optimized software drivers
* Register level interface
* Low-cost PCI design
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CS09) 3Dfx Voodoo
The information in this section was taken from various press releases about
the Voodoo Graphics chipset. I have no contact information for 3Dfx, and no
email to 3dfx.com has yielded a response.
3Dfx Interactive, Inc. has released information on Voodoo Graphics™, a 3D
graphics accelerator specifically designed for 3D entertainment applications
in the coin-operated/arcade and home consumer markets. Designed to enable a
new class of realistic and highly interactive 3D games, Voodoo Graphics
offers expanded capabilities above and beyond the basic 3D functionality
that will be found in commodity Windows and multimedia accelerators. Major
consumer and coin-op OEMs and developers have announced support for the
chipset.
3Dfx Interactive has announced that Orchid Technology and FMI Graphics
Products, a business unit of Fujitsu Microelectronics, Inc. have signed OEM
agreements to develop consumer 3D game boards based on Voodoo Graphics.
In addition to elementary 3D functionality, including perspective correct
polygons with point sampled texture mapping, Z- and double-buffering,
Gouraud shading capabilities and standard VGA resolution, 3Dfx Interactive
has also included level-of-detail (LOD) MIP mapping, bi-linear and advanced
filtering and SVGA resolution support. In addition, the chipset delivers
realistic imagery through sub-pixel correction, alpha blending, and
anti-aliasing. Most importantly however, unlike other multimedia
accelerators that suffer significant performance degradation when available
3D features are used, Voodoo Graphics was designed to simultaneously offer
all of these features at real-time frame rates.
Voodoo Graphics also support per-pixel effects such as fog, translucency,
and transparency, texture compositing, a variety of lighting techniques,
texture morphing, animated textures, and reflection mapping.
The Voodoo Graphics chipset supports full screen games under popular PC
operating systems including Microsoft Windows 95, MS DOS, and Microsoft
Windows 3.1 using 3D APIs including Microsoft's Direct3D, DirectDraw,
3D-DDI, and Reality Lab 2.0, as well as Intel's 3DR. The chipset also
supports embedded operating systems for coin-op/arcade platforms.
Development environments supported by the chipset include MS DOS, WindowsNT,
Windows95, and Silicon Graphics' IRIX. Important development tools and APIs
supported by Voodoo Graphics include Silicon Graphics' IRIS GL and OpenGL,
AutoDesk's 3D Studio, MultiGen's GameGen, and Gemini Technology's OpenGVS.
Packaged in a two-chip set, the Voodoo Graphics architecture is a PCI Bus
2.1 compliant device that operates transparently with existing VGA and
Windows accelerators via analog pass through or shared frame buffer
implementations on Intel or RISC-based PCI platforms. The Voodoo Graphics
chipset is priced at less than $75 in 20,000 piece quantities. On
perspective correct, texture mapped, Z-buffered, filtered, LOD MIP mapped,
fogged, alpha blended, 50-pixel triangles Voodoo Graphics delivers more than
45 megapixels per second fill rate and over 350,000 triangles per second
polygon rates on a Pentium 90. The first chip, pixelfx, is the primary
graphics controller and contains interfaces to the PCI bus and companion
texture processing unit, texelfx. The 3Dfx Interactive pixelfx graphics
controller is packaged in a 240-pin PQFP. texelfx, the advanced texture
processing unit, is packaged in a 208-pin PQFP.
For more information, contact:
3Dfx Interactive, Inc.
415-934-2400
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CS10) TriTech Pyramid3D TR25201
The information in the section was taken from the TriTech Microelectronics
International homepage at
http://www.tritech-sg.com/
The Pyramid3D family of 3D accelerator devices is designed for acceleration
of games, 3D applications and user interfaces. It offers full compatibility
with the new 3D standards (including Direct3D for Windows 95) and old
applications (built-in VGA support). In addition, Pyramid3D delivers the
performance you would expect from a serious 3D solution. It can render 800
000 z-buffered, textured, and Gouraud shaded 25 pixel triangles per second.
In addition to speed, the architecture also provides a wide range of
features, some of which have never been implemented in hardware before.
Pyramid3D Highlights:
* Unified memory architecture for efficient memory utilization
* Low host overhead because geometry can be stored in local memory
* Perspective correction for both texture and true-color shading
* Complex shading effects including bump mapping and specular lighting
* Multiple simultaneous lighted textures with filtering
* Object oriented scene storage in local memory
* Programmable geometry engine
* Programmable pixel pipeline
The family currently consists of TR25201 and TR25202. They are similar
except that only the TR25201 version contains the geometry engine. Both are
highly integrated single chip solutions for 3D graphics acceleration on the
PC. They combine high rendering quality and speed with an architecture that
makes building PCI based 3D Accelerator boards both easy and cost-effective.
Geometry
* Fixed point arithmetic optimized for 3D calculations
* Upgradable microcode allows feature upgrades
* Scene data can be stored in local memory
* Scene data format programmable
* Triangles, lines and 2D regions supported
* Primitive rotation, projection and clipping supported
* Programmable lighting modes with support for colored lights
* Programmable atmospheric effects including volumetric fog
Rendering
* Programmable pixel pipeline
* User specifiable blending
* Perspective correct true-color Gouraud lighting
* Perspective correct transparency
* Perspective correct texture mapping
* Multiple simultaneous textures
* Environment mapping
* Bump mapping
* Stencil operations
* Logic operations
* Specular highlights
* Properly handled lighted textures
* Rasterized screen door transparency
* Destination blending for transparency effects
* Fog and depth cue with vertex level control
Textures
* Texture magnification filtering with point sampling or bilinear
filtering
* Texture minification filtering with point sampling or MIP mapping
* Trilinear filtering possible
* Texture sizes from 32x32 pixels to 1024x1024 pixels (nonrectangular
supported)
* Amount of texture maps limited only by available memory
* Texture can be looped, mirrored or have a solid color border
* RGB map formats: 32 bit RGBA and 16 bit RGB and 16 bit RGBA
* Indexed map formats: 8 bit and 4 bit
* Indexed maps have an internal 256 color 32-bit palette (RGBA)
* Full blending and filtering possible with indexed maps
* Real time texture paging and animation
* Rendering directly to texture maps possible
Memory
* 2-32 Mbytes of SDRAM, SGRAM or EDO DRAM supported
* Memory bus width 64 bits or 32 bits
* Memory bandwidth up to 800 MBytes/sec with 64 bit bus
* Unified memory architecture for frame buffer, geometry and textures
Framebuffer
* Virtual resolutions up to 2048 x 2048 pixels
* 24 bit or 16 bit color (dithering supported)
* 24 bit or 16 bit depth buffer
* 1 bit stencil mask
* Frame buffer can be accessed in RGB or YUV format.
* Support for double and triple buffering and stereo imaging
Video refresh
* Display resolutions from 320 x 200 to 1600 x 1200 pixels
* Internal video refresh logic
* Internal programmable clock generator (up to 135MHz)
* Internal true-color DAC (up to 135MHz pixel clock)
Physical Characteristics
* 304-pin BGA packaging
* 100 MHz operation
* I/O interface at 3.3V
Compatibility
* Compatible VGA core
* Drivers for Microsoft Windows 95
* Drivers for DirectDraw and Direct3D (both immediate and retained modes)
Performance
* 1 000 000 randomly rotated Gouraud shaded 25 pixel triangles per second
* 800 000 randomly rotated textured Gouraud shaded 25 pixel triangles per
second
* Pixel fill rate 50 000 000 pixels per second
Pyramid3D engineering samples will be available in summer 1996. Developer
kits will be made available along with the engineering samples.
For more information, contact:
Kok Chin Chang, Product Manager Graphics Prodcuts, kcc...@tmi.com.sg.
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CS11) VideoLogic PowerVR
This information was taken from VideoLogic's home page at
http://www.videologic.com/
PowerVR was developed jointly by VideoLogic and NEC. The system is fully
scalable, allowing multiple chips to be ganged together giving a linear
increase in speed as chips are added. It can be used in a wide range of 3D
applications and entertainment markets from games consoles, through PCs,
right up to high-end arcade machines. This also allows content producers to
target a range of different platforms without redesigning their titles.
PowerVR’s core 3D rendering algorithm is infinite plane (surface) based.
This approach allows the system to efficiently cater for polygons, polygon
meshes, infinite planes, and convex objects. Its polygon object rendering
allows the use of conventional, industry-standard APIs such as Microsoft’s®
Direct3D™, and the ability to directly process infinite planes and convex
objects allows PowerVR to provide advanced features such as full shadows and
searchlights in real-time. In addition to support for industry-standard
APIs, PowerVR has its own high-level object oriented API, called PowerVR
SGL, that provides full access to all the capabilities of the PowerVR
hardware.
* Real shadows can be cast from any object over any surface, and updated
every frame
* PowerVR’s equivalent 32-bit Z buffer makes solid outdoor objects a
reality
* Pixel perfect hidden surface removal
* Anti-aliased textures using PowerVR’s mip mapping stops shimmering
* Perspective-correct textures do not bend because PowerVR performs a
division per pixel
* Smooth shading does not change when rotated
* Translucency can be applied to whole objects, polygons, or individual
pixels for effects like dirty glass, fire, water, and even simulated
lens flare and radiosity
* True logarithmic colored fog calculated per pixel
The chipsets used in the PowerVR are the NEC ISP (Image Synthesis
Processor), TSP (Texture and Shading Processor) and MC (Memory Controller).
A single chip version, the PCX1 (PC Processor), has one ISP and one TSP on a
single chip, and is designed for low cost home markets.
Performance
* Average polygon size: 100-1000 pixels
* Low cost design - 257K mip mapped textured, smooth shaded
triangles/second (one ISP or PCX1)
* Arcade design - 1028K mip mapped textured, smooth shaded
triangles/second (four ISPs)
NEC ISP: Image Synthesis Processor
* 66 MHz processor
* 32 processor elements
* 32-bit depth precision
* On-chip hidden-surface removal (no need for Z buffer memory)
* 12k parameter cache for tile caching
* Expansion bus for multiple ISPs
* 0 to 2 MB external parameter cache
* True shadow generation
* Per pixel fogging
NEC TSP: Texture & Shading Processor
* 66 MHz processor
* Perspective correct texturing (division per pixel)
* Anti-aliased texture mapping (linear Mip mapping)
* 32 x 32 to 256 x 256 texture bitmap sizes
* 4 to 16 MB texture memory
* Texture flipping (horizontal and/or vertical)
* Texture formats:
o 8-bit (2,3,2) RGB
o 16-bit (5,5,5) RGB
o 16-bit (4,4,4,4) RGBT
* Optimized architecture for low page break overhead
* 4 KB internal parameter cache
* 264 MB/sec peak texture memory bandwidth
* Smooth shading
* Smooth full shadows
* Flat shading with offset highlight
* 24-bit mixing of texture, lighting and shading
* Exponential fogging - with programmable fog color
* Accumulation buffer - allows multiple layers of translucency
* Translucent textures - 16 levels per pixel
* Global translucency allows objects to fade - 16 levels
* 2D overlay: 4/8 bit packed double buffered
* 2D scrolling
* 3D data: 16/24 bit packed double buffered 1 to 4 MB frame buffer
* Programmable SPG with sync master/slave (allows overlay)
* 1024 x 1024 maximum resolution
* 24/16 bit RGB modes
NEC MC: Memory Controller
* Support for 4300, 4400 and the latest MIPS CPUs
* SDRAM interface at 66 MHz
* System Control (SC) Bus interface at 66 MHz
* Master or Slave device
NEC PCX1: PC Processor
* 66 MHz processor incorporating ISP and TSP function
* 32 processing elements in ISP module
* On-chip 12K ISP and 4K TSP parameter caches
* Single SDRAM external interface for texture and parameter caching
* PCI 2.1 interface
* True shadow generation and per pixel fogging
* Perspective-correct texturing and anti-aliased textures
* 32 x 32 to 256 x 256 texture bitmap sizes
* 1 to 4 MB texture memory
* Texture formats:
o 8-bit (2,3,2) RGB
o 16-bit (5,5,5) RGB
o 16-bit (4,4,4,4) RGBT
* 264 MB/sec peak texture memory bandwidth
* Smooth shading
* Flat shading with offset highlights
* 24-bit mixing of texture, lighting, and shading
* Exponential fogging - with programmable fog color
* Accumulation buffer - to allow multiple layers of translucency
* Translucent textures - 16 levels per pixel
* Global translucency allows objects to fade - 16 levels
* 24/16 bit RGB and 16 bit dithered RGB modes
Software
* Microsoft Direct3D Support, PowerVR SGL 3D Graphics API and Library
* Immediate mode and Retained mode, Display list hiearchy,Object
instancing
* Features include: collision detection; level-of-detail management; full
shadows; and lighting
For more information, contact:
NEC Electronics Literature Hotline
(800) 366 9782 phone
(800) 729 9288 fax
Press Contacts in the USA
Lili McGirr, VideoLogic, 415 875 0606, li...@videologic.com.
Joany Winkler, NEC Electronics Inc., (415) 965 6495, jwin...@el.nec.com.
Press Contacts in the UK
Patrick Jubb, VideoLogic, 01923 260 511, pat...@videologic.com.
Sue Walder, NEC Electronic UK Ltd, 01908 837 238, wal...@euk.nec.co.uk.
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Section III: Boards using Chips in Section II
The descriptions of the boards in this section will attempt to give
information not common to all boards based on the chips in Section II.
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CS12) 3DLabs GLINTdelta
The information in this section was taken from a press release provided by
Dave Baldwin (dave_b...@3dlabs.com.)
The GLINT Delta is 3DLabs 3D Geometry Pipeline Processor. It accelerates
GLINT or PERMEDIA-based Graphics Boards up to three times by off-loading up
to 70% of the 3D geometry processing load into a hard-wired 100MFlop
processor that delivers 1 Million polygons/second for under $50.
3DLabs claims that when used on a high-performance PC, using a Pentium Pro
processor, GLINT Delta-based designs have been measured to deliver over 750K
polygons per second via OpenGL. For intensive 3D graphics applications,
GLINT Delta significantly improves overall system performance by freeing the
CPU from demanding 3D pipeline calculations -- providing more processor time
for application level processing.
The Delta is implemented as a PCI bridge with full PCI master capability. It
acts as a front-end processor to GLINT or PERMEDIA and processes the setup
calculations for 3D primitives such as lines and polygons. GLINT Delta's
advanced design includes support for texture-mapping, anti-aliasing and 16,
24 or 32 bit Z buffering - all with high-precision, sub-pixel accuracy.
GLINT Delta's processing throughput is up to 1 million texture-mapped,
Z-buffered polygons per second. GLINT Delta supports full byte-swapping and
is compatible with PC or Macintosh systems.
GLINT Delta provides a glueless, single-chip geometry solution for GLINT
300SX or PERMEDIA. GLINT Delta also supports multiple GLINT rendering
processors -- also without glue logic -- for high-end desktop, arcade and VR
applications seeking unmatched rendering performance. The combination of
GLINT Delta and two GLINT rendering processors enables board vendors to
provide dual- GLINT 3D acceleration on a single PCI board, seamlessly
combined with full Windows performance and functionality.
PERMEDIA does not require GLINT Delta to provide class-leading performance,
however the ability to combine the two devices in a low-cost designs enables
board vendors to provide a wide-range of price/performance options at
performance levels far beyond other 3D chip offerings.
GLINT Delta is software compatible with the GLINT and PERMEDIA families, and
3Dlabs' extensive range of software drivers is already available for GLINT
Delta-based boards. These drivers include: Windows NT, Windows 95, OpenGL on
Windows NT, OpenGL on Windows 95, Heidi from Autodesk, Direct3D from
Microsoft, CGL from Creative and QuickDraw 3D and QuickDraw 3D RAVE from
Apple. The drivers for Windows NT and OpenGL are available on Intel, Alpha,
MIPS and PowerPC processors.
Contact Info
3Dlabs Inc.
Neil Trevett,
408/436-3456
neil.t...@3dlabs.com
http://www.3dlabs.com
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GLINT01) Omnicomp 3DEMON
FROM THE SPEC SHEET:
3DEMON 3-D Graphics Accelerator for PCI Local Bus Technical Brief
The 3DEMON provides workstation class 3-D graphics and high performance 2-D
acceleration using the GLINT (tm) 300SX 3-D processor from 3Dlabs.
Frame buffer:
* 4 Mbyte high speed VRAM
* 8,12,16, and 24/32 bits per pixel
Local buffer:
* 4 or 8 Mbyte DRAM
3DEMON Model SX44
* 4 MByte frame buffer, 4 MByte local buffer
* Double Buffered Resolutions
800x600 24/32-bit (3-D)
1024x768 16-bit (3-D)
* Single Buffered Resolutions
1024x768 24/32-bit (3-D)
1280x1024 16-bit (2-D)
3DEMON Model SX48
* 4 MByte frame buffer, 8 MByte local buffer
* Double Buffered Resolutions
800x600 24/32-bit (3-D)
1024x768 16-bit (3-D)
1280x1024 8-bit (3-D)
* Single Buffered Resolutions
1024x768 24/32-bit (3-D)
1280x1024 16-bit (3-D)
Software Compatibility
* Microsoft's implementation of OpenGL under Windows NT (tm) 3.5 and
Windows 95 (tm) (included)
* 2-D drivers for Microsoft Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Windows NT 3.5
(included)
* HOOPS, 3DR, and other industry standard 3-D APIs
* Reality Lab, RenderWare, BRender, and other 3-D games APIs
* Accelerated-X drivers for The X-Window System by X-Inside
* Specific applications such as AutoCAD, Microstation, CadKey, and 3D
Studio
Hardware Compatibility
* Minimum OpenGL platform of Pentium processor, Windows NT 3.5, and 32MB
RAM recommended
* Windows NT 3.5 support for PowerPC and MIPS processors is under
development
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Steve Gillaspy
Omnicomp Graphics Corp.
1734 W. Sam Houston Pkwy N.
Houston, TX. 77043
Phone: 713-464-2990
Fax: 713-827-7540
email: omn...@phoenix.phoenix.net
COMMENTS: From Chris Hinch (ch...@dcc.govt.nz):
These guys are brilliant - they are responsive, and have been
really helpful in my own research, often pointing me in the
direction of other people and companies who can help, as well as
showing a solid technical understanding of my requirements and
making recommendations based on that understanding.
Here's some pricing information, as of Thursday, 30 March 1995.
3DEMON SX44 (4MB VRAM, 4MB DRAM)
-------------------------------
List US$2,170
Educational US$1,995
Quantity 1-9 US$1,845
Quantity 10-24 US$1,715
Quantity 25-99 US$1,605
3DEMON SX48 (4MB VRAM, 8MB DRAM)
-------------------------------
List US$2,590
Educational US$2,380
Quantity 1-9 US$2,200
Quantity 10-24 US$2,045
Quantity 25-99 US$1,915
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GLINT02) Fujitsu Sapphire 2SX
The Sapphire 2SX from Fujitsu Microelectronics, Inc. integrates GLINT 300SX
technology with a 4MB framebuffer and a 4 MB localbuffer. The Sapphire 2SX
provides full 32-bit true color at 1024 x 768 resolution (maximum is 1600 x
1200).
Fujitsu Microelectronics has developed a proprietary technology called
PixelBus which offers unprecedented multi-channel capabilities. PixelBus
allows you to link multiple Sapphire cards together to get increased speed.
PixelBus also supports a synchronized output mode for panoramic and CAVE
display systems.
Highly optimized drivers for OpenGL, Windows NT, Autocad and 3D Studio are
currently available and many others are under development. The Sapphire 2SX
is compatible with Intel and DEC Alpha processors. Support for other
processors is under development
For more information contact:
Hiten Patel
Tel: (408) 922-9770
Fax: (408) 922-9857
E-mail: hpa...@fmi.fujitsu.com
3545 North First Street, MS 255, San Jose, CA 9513l
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GLINT03) ELSA GLoria
FROM THE SPEC SHEET:
Based on the S3-Vision968 and 3Dlabs' GLINT 300SX. Has a 250Mhz RAMDAC with
built-in digital video acceleration provided by the S3 chip. Includes a DCI
driver. Comes with optimized Windows 3.X/NT/'95, OpenGL and OS/2 drivers and
utilities. Includes drivers for multi-screen support as well as Display List
Drivers for MicroStation and AutoCAD DOS/Windows for R12/R13/LT.
3D features are similar to all GLINT 300SX cards.
GLoria-8
* 8 MByte frame buffer, 8 MByte local buffer, 250Mhz pixel clock
* Double Buffered Resolutions
up to 1600x1200 at 32-bit per pixel
1920x1080 at 16-bit
GLoria-4
* 4 MByte frame buffer, 8 MByte local buffer, 220Mhz pixel clock
* Double Buffered Resolutions
up to 1024x768 at 32-bit per pixel
1280x1024 at 24 bpp
1600x1200 at 16 bpp
1920x1080 at 8 bpp
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Joy Li
ELSA Inc. Graphics Corp.
2041 Mission College Blvd.
Suite 165
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Phone: 800-272-3572
Phone: 408-565-9669
Fax: 408-565-9650
email: jo...@elsa-usa.mhs.compuserve.com
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GLINT04) Omnicomp 3Demon VR
(was Media Labs Inc. 3DMedia)
Formerly the Media Labs Inc. 3DMedia. The name changed when Media Labs was
aquired by Omnicomp. The former 3DMedia SR (which I'll call the 3Dmedia VR
(SR?)) is a true high performance 3D accelerator based on the 3DLabs GLINT
300SX chip.
The 3Demon VR (formerly the 3DMedia SX) provides the same features as the
SR, plus additional features such as genlocking to eliminate annoying
scrolling bars due to magnetic interference between two monitors in a
dual-headed configuration. Furthermore, in provides an on-board studio
quality encoder which outputs video in NTSC, PAL or S-Video formats.
3Demon VR (SR?)
3D Acceleration:
* Similar to other GLINT 300SX boards
Flexible output:
* Software selectable standard as well as custom display
* formats, interlaced and non-interlaced, are available with a
* maximum resolution of two million pixels.
Optimized Bandwidth
* PCI local bus, rev 2.0.
* Target and Read Master interface achieves 20M pixel/second sustained
image download rate.
* Refresh rates in excess of 200Hz.
Product Specification:
* PCI Rev 2.0 Target and Read Master interface
* 4M Byte framebuffer
* 4 MByte localbuffer. Extra 4M available as an option.
* Supports 64-bit/pixel, 8/8/8/8 for RGBA, 24-bit depth, 4-bit stencil,
4-bit fast clear
* Double buffering at all resolutions and depths.
* ISO and VESA Display refresh rates.
* Standard and custom resolutions up to 1280x1024.
* Pseudo color, true color and direct color output.
* Color depths of 4/8/12/15/24 bits with alpha channel for RGB color
formats.
* VGA PAss-through at any VGA resolution and color depth.
* RS-343A Graphics output level.
* Sync-on-green and external TTL sync support.
* FCC Class B certification.
* Output Support:
RGB Resolution NI Colors supported Max Refresh
in pixels 256 65K 16.7M Rates
1280x1024 yes yes yes 76
1152x900 yes yes yes yes 100
1024x768 yes yes yes yes 125
800x600 yes yes yes yes 175
640x480 yes yes yes yes 250
3Demon VR
All of the features described above, plus:
More flexible output:
* Support for stereoscopic, field sequential RGB and VR displays is
implemented in hardware reducing host overhead.
* Television and video tape recorders are driven by the studio quality
encoder. Square pixel, CCIR and 4x video resolutions can be selected in
NTSC, PAL or S-Video format.
Phase locking:
* Line-lock to external sync signals, such as VGA or other sources,
enables windowing and external video multiplexing.
* An independent 3D window can be opened within the GUI display, such as
VGA, by activating the line-locking feature.
* Independent color depth between the GUI and 3D graphics is now
possible, depending on the operating system used.
Product Specification additions:
* Max 135MHz video clock.
* Standard and custom resolutions up to 1600x1200
* Supports standard, stereoscopic, field sequential RGB, VR Glasses and
other display devices.
* Programmable video clock.
* Line-lock to external sync signals.
* Studio quality encoder with support for different NTSC, PAL, and
S-Video resolutions.
* Output Support in addition to those above:
RGB Resolution NI Colors supported Max Refresh
in pixels 256 65K 16.7M Rates
1920x1080 yes yes 45
1600x1280 yes yes 50
Use the contact information for the 3Demon above. The former Contact
Information:
Media Labs, Inc.
806 Winbern Ste 1
Houston, TX 77002
Tel: (713) 942-0670
Fax: (713) 784-5144
COMMENTS:
From Blair MacIntyre:
The SX is available now, the SR is not. The pricing is as follows
(as of Feb 1, 95):
3Demon VR44: Quantity Price
4M VRAM, 4M DRAM, Encoder, Linelock 1-99 US$1895
100-999 US$1795
1000+ CALL
3Demon VR48:
4M VRAM, 8M DRAM, Encoder, Linelock 1-99 US$2295
100-999 US$2195
1000+ CALL
3Demon VR (SR?): Quantity Price
4M VRAM, 4M DRAM 1-99 US$1595
100-999 US$1495
1000+ CALL
3Demon VR (SR8?):
4M VRAM, 8M DRAM 1-99 US$1995
100-999 US$1895
1000+ CALL
One year warranty.
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GLINT05) SPEA FireGL
(Preliminary Product Information, as of Feb. 95)
Summary:
* Dual processor 2D and 3D Graphics System
* PCI bus Support
Hardware - 3D Acceleration
* 3Dlabs GLINT 300SX Rendering Processor
* Supports advanced modes : double-buffering, stereo and overlays
* Accelerates OpenGL, HOOPS, SP3D and other 3D API4s
* 8 Mbyte local Memory - expandable to 12 Mbyte
Hardware - 2D Acceleration
* 64-bit S3 Vision968 GUI Accelerator
* 175 MHz Pixelclock
* 8 Mbyte high speed Video memory (VRAM)
* Multimedia ready through S3 Multimedia extensions
* Integrated Video Acceleration
Software & Miscelleanous
* 100 % OpenGL compatible
* SPEA 3D Software drivers for AutoCAD and MicroStation
* Third party applications based on SP3D, Criterion Renderware,
RenderMorphics RL, Intel 3DR
* GUI Support : Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT
* Multi-lingual documentation
* Software Updates via SPEA BBS or CompuServe
* 3 years warranty
Video Modes
Resolution Color depth (bit/pixel) Line Frequency (KHz) Refresh Rate (Hz)
---------- ----------------------- -------------------- -----------------
640 x 480 8, 16, 32 31,5 - 52,5 60 - 100
800 x 600 8, 16, 32 37,9 - 64,0 60 - 100
1024 x 768 8, 16, 32 48,4- 80,9 60 - 100
1280 x 1024 8, 16, (32) 64,0 - 100,0 60 - 95 (75)
1600 x 1200 8, 16 74,5 - 84,6 60 - 68
Available now in Europe.
CONTACT:
David...@spea.ccmail.compuserve.com
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GLINT06) Force Inc. 3DE-300SX
The 3DE-300SX from Force Inc. combines the GLINT 300SX with 4 Mbytes of VRAM
and up to 8 Mbytes of DRAM. Both IBM PC-AT Japanese DOS/V and NEC PC98 are
supported plus Windows NT 3.5, OpenGL and RenderWare 1.4.
Available now in Japan. For more detailed information, please contact:
Kenyu Uema, Manabu Igarashi or Tatsuya Takagi
Tel: +81 3 3490 1172
Fax: +81 3 3490 2277
6-15-9-2F, NishiGotanda Shinagawa-ku,Tokyo 141, Japan
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GLINT07) Densan PCI-300SX
The PCI-300SX is a GLINT based PCI card including 4 Mbytes of VRAM
framebuffer, 8 Mbytes of DRAM localbuffer, 64-bit IBM RGB525 RAMDAC and VGA
pass thru implementation. Optimized drivers are provided for Windows NT 3.5
and OpenGL.
The Densan PCI-300SX now shipping as part of NEC RISCstation 2200.
For more detailed information, please contact:
Tetsuya Kawamoto or Zhang Yuanli
Tel: +81 3 3329 3871
Fax: +81 3 3329 9266
5-42-1, Kamikitazawa Setagaya-Ku, Tokyo, Japan
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GLINT08) Creative Labs' 3D Blaster
The information in this section is taken from the Creative Lab's page at:
http://www.creaf.com/www/products/3d/3dfeat.html
and from the 3DLabs Press release at:
http://www.3Dlabs.com/3Dblaster.html
The VL-bus version of the 3D Blaster is based on a custom GLINT chip, which
is basically a scaled-down 300SX. The PCI version will supposedly be
initially based on the Rendition Vérité chipset, with a. possibility that
later versions will be based on the 3DLabs Permedia chip. Time will tell.
Features
* Made to run on Windows 95, Windows 3.x and DOS systems
* Industry standard Plug and Play (PnP) support
* True Texture, perspective-correct texture mapping
* Pixel fill rates of 25,000,000 pixels/second
* Processes of up to 200,000 polygons per second
* Bit Blt rates of up to 40,000,000 pixels/second
* 2 MB RAM onboard supports high-resolution, 3D graphics
* Memory is upgradeable to 4MB total RAM
* 16-bit hardware z buffering
* Hardware double-buffering
* Accelerates transparency, fogging and anti-aliased texturing
* Bundled with five 3D games written specifically for 3D Blaster
including Nascar, Rebel Moon, Magic Carpet Plus, Hi Octane and Flight
Unlimited
Specifications
DATA FORMATS
* Depth Formats
o 16 Bit Z
o 16 Bit Z plus Stencil
* Color and Texture Formats
o 8 bit index
o 8 bit RGB
o 8 bit RGBA
o 16 bit RGBA (5551)
o 24 bit RBG (2D)
TEXTURE MAPS
* 0-2MB of texture memory
* Texture Maps sizes from 32x32 to 1024x1024
* Upgrade to 4MB texture memory
SCREEN RESOLUTION SUPPORT
Standard Memory supports these common resolutions and others:
* 320x200 8/16/24 bit double buffered
* 640x200 8/16/24 bit double buffered
* 640x350 8/16 bit double buffered
* 640x480 bit double buffered
* 640x400 bit double buffered
* 800x600 bit double buffered
* 800x600 16 bit single buffered
* 1024x768 bit single buffered
2D GUI SUPPORT
* BitBlt
* Area and Pattern Fill
* 256 Raster Ops
* Hardware Cursor
API SUPPORT
* Microsoft/RenderMorphics' Reality Lab
* Criterion's RenderWare
* Argonaut's BRender
* 3DR
* Creative Graphics Library (CGL)
MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
* IBM PC or 100% compatible
* 486 DX 66MHz (486 DX4 100MHz recommended)
* Open VL-Bus slot
* Windows 3.1 or higher
* DOS 5.0 or higher
* Installed VGA
* VGA monitor
The VL-bus version of 3D Blaster will be available in November, 1995, at an
estimated street price of about $349. A PCI version of 3D Blaster will be
available in the first quarter of 1996.
COMMENT: Apparently, the VL version of the 3D Blaster will probably not
support OpenGL, but the PCI version should.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Theresa Pulido Lisa Kimura
Creative Labs, Inc. Copithorne & Bellows
(408) 428-6600, ext. 6416 (415) 284-5200, ext. 209
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GLINT09) Microstep AGC-3D
MicroStep, Inc., a California based company, specializes in the design and
manufacture of high performance computer graphics and imaging controllers.
Within 10 years, the company has developed a full line of graphics products,
including the world's highest resolution display controller.
AGC-3D is the first of MicroStep's 3D graphics accelerator family. Based on
the GLINT 300SX chip from 3Dlabs, AGC-3D delivers workstation class
performance for all 2D and 3D rendering operations, including Gouraud
shading, anti-aliasing, depth buffering, alpha blending and texture mapping
assistance.
AGC-3D incorporate 4MB of VRAM for display memory, 4/8MB of DRAM for
Z-buffering, stencil, etc., and PCI local bus. The supported display modes
include 1280x1024x16, 1152x900x24 and 1024x768x16 double buffering, etc.
Availability: Q3, 1995
For more information contact:
Ping Hu
Tel: (818) 964 5048
Fax: (818) 964 6278
17800 Castleton Street, Suite 135, City of Industry, CA 91748.
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R3D01) Lockheed Martin R3D/100
Based on the R3D/100 chipset described above. No other information
available.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
email: rea...@mmc.com
voice: 800-393-7730
fax: 407-826-3358
COMMENTS:
From Chris Hinch (ch...@dcc.govt.nz):
Contact these people and ask for the glossy brochure - WOW!!!!
(ok, so I'm not being objective...I like poring over glossy
brochures as much as the next person...*grin*)
Their staff were also really helpful and responsive.
Apparently, application notes will be available in August of this
year, with sample chipsets and reference boards available in
November. Production quantities will be available in the first
quarter of 1996. Price for the reference board is in the US$2,800
area.
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ARTIST01) ARTIST Graphics 2000 Series
These graphics boards have been specifically designed to accelerate PC CAD
programs. They contain the 3GA chipset:
ARTIST 2000
This high speed, high power graphics controller accelerates all graphic
intensive programs including Windows and OS/2. See the 2000 Pro for details.
ARTIST 2000 Pro
This card is the ARTIST 2000 bundled with high-speed CAD drivers and
graphical application software designed to accelerate CAD development.
Supports PCI, VL and ISA buses.
The ARTIST 2000 Pro is available with two and four MB of VRAM. The
processor, memory and DAC were carefully selected and integrated with GT
Express Professional, ARTIST's CAD utility software, to create the ideal
controller for the CAD marketplace. You get ARTIST's legendary quality at a
remarkably competitive price, backed by a five-year warranty.
ARTIST 2000 Twin Pro
This card has dual monitor outputs each with resolutions up to 1600 x 1200
and refresh rates up to 85 Hz, allowing a total displayed image of up to
3200 x 1200 spread across two adjacent monitors. Supports PCI and ISA buses.
The ARTIST 2000 TwinPro comes with 4 MB of VRAM. Its processor, memory and
DAC were carefully selected and integrated with GT Express Professional,
ARTIST's CAD utility software, to create the ideal controller for the CAD
marketplace. You get ARTIST's legendary quality at a remarkably competitive
price, backed by a five-year warranty.
Technical Data
Video Bandwidth: to 250 MHz
Horizontal Scan Rate: 31.5 - 106 KHz
Video Output: Analog RGB video output, separate horizontal and
vertical sync, 15 pin D-sub connector
Maximum Colors: True color
Color Palette: 16.7 million
Supported GUIs: Windows 3.1, Windows NT, OS/2 2.1, OS/2 Warp,
Windows 95
Supported Software: Includes high performance drivers for Windows,
including Command View; AutoCAD for DOS and Windows
with Flexicon 30
Technical Support: End user assistance available through telephone,
mail, FAX, E-mail, BBS or World Wide Web
Warranty: Five-year limited warranty
Model Resolution Colors Frequency
ARTIST 2000 Pro 1600 x 1280 256 60 - 80 Hz
2 MB VRAM 1600 x 1200 256 60 - 85 Hz
1280 x 1024 256 60 - 120 Hz
1152 x 870 256/6KK 60 - 150 Hz
1024 x 768 256/65K 60 - 200 Hz
800 x 600 256/65K/16.7M 60 - 300 Hz
640 x 480 256/65K/16.7M 60 - 500 Hz
ARTIST 2000 Pro 1600 x 1280 256/65,000 60 - 80 Hz
4 MB VRAM 1600 x 1200 256/65,000 60 - 85 Hz
1280 x 1024 256/65,000 60 - 120 Hz
1152 x 870 256/16.7M 60 - 150 Hz
1024 x 768 256/16.7M 60 - 200 Hz
800 x 600 256/65 /16.7M 60 - 300 Hz
640 x 480 256/65K/16.7M 60 - 500 Hz
ARTIST 2000 1600 x 1280 256 60 - 80 Hz
TwinPro 1600 x 1200 256 60 - 85 Hz
4 MB VRAM 1280 x 1024 256 60 - 120 Hz
1152 x 870 256/65K 60 - 150 Hz
1024 x 768 256/65K 60 - 200 Hz
800 x 600 256/65K/16.7M 60 - 300 Hz
640 x 480 256/65K/16.7M 60 - 500 Hz
Prices
Board Model VRAM Bus Max. Resolution Retail Price
ARTIST 2000 2 MB PCI 1280 x 1024 @ 75 Hz $395
ARTIST 2000i 2 MB PCI 1600 x 1280 @ 80 Hz $595
2 MB ISA 1600 x 1200 @ 85 Hz $595
ARTIST 2000i 4 MB PCI 1800 x 1440 @ 70 Hz $895
4 MB ISA 1800 x 1350 @ 75 Hz $895
ARTIST 2000i 4 MB PCI 1600 x 1200 @ 85 Hz $1095
TwinPro ISA 1600 x 1200 @ 85 Hz $1095
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NVIDIA01) Diamond Edge 3D Accelerators
The information on these boards were obtained from Diamond Multimedia
Systems home page at
http://www.diamondmm.com/
They contain the NVidia/SGS-THOMSON NV1/STG-2000 chipset.
The boards are PCI-based and sport a digital gameport for precise joystick
control, as well as two video gameports that allow specialized, multi-player
versions of Sega Saturn titles, such as the arcade hit Virtua Fighter Remix,
to be played on Windows 95 PCs. It is expected to be initially shipped in
late October at consumer prices starting from $249 - $299.
With Diamond Edge 3D accelerators, game developers can support resolutions
as high as 1024x768 with 65,000 colors while still achieving fast, realistic
action. In the past, this type of technology was available only to engineers
and designers with prices topping $2,000.
The 3D functions of the Diamond Edge 3D were designed specifically for the
consumer multimedia market where the primary application is interactive
entertainment. Traditionally, 3D graphics were created by drawing large
numbers of successive polygons using the CPU, which resulted in a tradeoff
between detailed graphics and speed of interactivity. With the Diamond Edge
3D, the hardware engine accelerates polygon rendering of real-time,
texture-mapped 3D images at the highest possible frame rates without unduly
slowing the CPU. In addition, the Diamond Edge 3D can create realistic 3D
graphics by using nine control points to create a curved surface, called
quadratic texture mapping (QTM).
Features of the Diamond Edge 3D engine include fast polygon rendering,
texture-mapping for photo-realism, quadratic texture-mapping for perspective
correction and rendering of curved surfaces, as well as special effects
including diffused lighting, specular highlights, reflection mapping and
alpha blending for fog, smoke and transparency.
High Performance 2D Acceleration
The Diamond Edge 3D delivers fast 2D Windows acceleration at resolutions as
high as 1280x1024, color depths to 1 billion and refresh rates of up to
120Hz.
The DRAM version of the Diamond Edge 3D, based on SGS Thomson's STG2000
multimedia accelerator chip, is available for PCI-bus in 1MB upgradable to
2MB (the Diamond Edge 3D 2120XL) or 2MB standard (the Diamond Edge 3D
2200XL.) The VRAM configuration, based on NVIDIA Corp.'s NV1 multimedia
accelerator chip, is available for PCI in 2MB upgradable to 4MB (the Diamond
Edge 3D 3240XL) or 4MB standard (the Diamond Edge 3D 3400XL.) Both chips are
based on NVIDIA's NV1 technology. Diamond estimates pricing for the 2000
series to start at $249 to $299 and for the 3000 series to start at $399 to
$449.
How to Contact Diamond Multimedia
There are many ways to reach Diamond for sales support, technical
assistance, driver updates and general information:
The Main Phone Number is 408-325-7000; Fax: 408-325-7070
Product Support Voice: 408-325-7100; Product Support Fax: 408-325-7171
24-Hour Fax On Demand Service: 1-800-380-0030
America OnLine (Keyword: DIAMOND)
CompuServe (GO DMNDONLINE or GO GRAPHBVEN) [75300,3673]
Microsoft Network: GOTO DIAMONDONLINE
Internet Web Site: http://www.diamondmm.com
FTP Site: ftp.diamondmm.com
For information on Diamond products: 1-800-468-5846
BBS numbers at 408-325-7080 (to 14.4K baud) or 408-325-7175 (to 28.8K baud)
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NVIDIA02) Jazz Multimedia 3D Magic
The information in this section was taken from the Jazz Multimedia 3D Magic
Press release.
The 3D Magic multimedia accelerators are based on the NVidia/SGS-THOMSON
NV1/STG-2000 chipset. 3D Magic doubles as a Windows 95 graphics accelerator,
provides wavetable music synthesis and MPEG playback acceleration, on one
card.
The PCI product line sports a digital gameport for precise control as well
as two Sega gameports that allow specialized, multi-player versions of Sega
Saturn titles, to be played on Windows 95 PC's. Jazz will offer 1MB and 2MB
DRAM versions and 2MB and 4MB VRAM versions. It includes built-in SRS™ 3D
sound and the availability of a Jazz Output to TV Projection Card option.
There are two DRAM versions of 3-D Magic, based on SGS THOMSON'S STG2000
multimedia accelerator chip, with 1MB and 2MB of of DRAM. Two VRAM
configurations, based on nVIDIA Corp's NV1 multimedia accelerator chip, are
also available for PCI in 2MB and 4MB versions.
As an option, 3D Magic also provides a Jazz Output to TV Projection Card
with capabilities up to 16.7 million colors in composite and S-Video. It
allows 3D game titles to be played on TV's and big-screens for total family
entertainment and game play.
A high-fidelity hardware wavetable audio engine is integrated into 3D Magic.
3D Magic uses the computer's main memory to hold wavetable samples.
Contact Information:
Jazz Multimedia corporate headquarters are located at 1040 Richard Avenue,
Santa Clara, California 95050, telephone: 408-727-8900; fax: 408-727-9092.
Corporate contact is Michael Yang, 408-727-8900, Ext. 21.
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NVIDIA03) Genoa Stratos 3D
The information in this section was taken from Genoa Systems home page at:
http://www.genoasys.com/
The Stratos 3D is Genoa’s PC gaming accelerator. Based on the
NVidia/SGS-THOMSON NV1/STG-2000 chipset, the Stratos 3D delivers true three
dimensional imaging for the latest video games. There is also a Sega Saturn
game port supporting up to two players for such games as “Virtua Fighter™
Remix.”
3D Sound
The Stratos 3D offers a complete “3Dx3D” experience using Surround Sound™
technology from SRS® with Wavetable synthesis. All game sound effects, CD
music and digital audio files are spatially referenced to envelope the
listener in a three dimensional sound environment!
Multimedia
The Stratos 3D delivers vivid 2D graphics acceleration with enhanced full
motion digital video playback, providing complete multimedia support for
Microsoft® Windows and Windows 95™. Entertainment, reference and educational
CD titles also come alive through the Stratos 3D!
Product Features
Highlights
* Acceleration for Windows 95
* Quadratic texture mapping for 3D rendering and display
* CD-quality 3D sound using SRS® technology
* 1MB EDO DRAM standard; 2MB version available
* VRAM versions available Q3/96
Video Playback Features
* Supports Indeo™ 3.2, Indeo Video Interactive, Cinepak™ and MPEG
* Supports Windows 95 Direct Draw drivers
* Full screen full motion MPEG playback
* YUV to RGB color space conversion
* Hardware scaling of the video window
* Hardware vertical and horizontal interpolation
3D Sound
* SRS® surround sound technology
* Supports Windows 95 DirectSound API for the latest entertainment titles
* 16-bit stereo recording/playback with sampling up to 48KHz
* Phase shifting and other special effects for reverb, echo, etc.
* Sound Blaster compatible
* General MIDI compatible
Hardware Configuration
GENITRONtm; Technology
* Hardware level video amplification
* Brightens and sharpens video colors
Physical Properties
* Bus Interface: PCI ver. 2.
* VGA connector: DB-15
* CD Audio In: MPC3 compliant
* External Audio In: RCA phono
* Audio Out: RCA phono
* Microphone: RCA phono
* SEGA Saturntm; Game Port: 20-pin, dual row
* Output to TV: connector for RGB to NTSC/PAL module (optional)
* IBM Digital Game Port: RJ-45*
*Joystick adapter cable included Interfaces and Compatibility
* 100% register/BIOS compatible with IBM VGA, SVGA
* Supports VGA, SuperVGA, multifrequency and analog monitors
* Supports VESA Display Power Management Signaling (DPMS)
SEGA Game Support
* Port for up to 2 SEGA Saturntm; game pads
* Supports any SEGA title ported to the NV1/STG2000 platform
System Requirements
* Intel® Pentiumtm 75 or above with one available PCI bus slot
* Microsoft® Windows 95
* CD-ROM drive (minimum 2x)
Warranty
* Two year limited warranty on parts and labor
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Display Mode Tables (UNDER CONSTRUCTION!)
1MB DRAM
Resolution 16/256 colors 65,000 colors 16.8 Million colors
640x480 Hz Hz Hz
800x600 Hz Hz Hz
1024x768 Hz Hz
1280x1024 Hz
1600x1200 Hz
2MB DRAM
Resolution 16/256 colors 65,000 colors 16.8 Million colors
640x480 Hz Hz Hz
800x600 Hz Hz Hz
1024x768 Hz Hz Hz
1280x1024 Hz Hz Hz
1600x1200 Hz Hz
NOTE: actual display modes available to user will depend on the monitor
capability
For more information please contact:
Genoa Marketing (jbru...@genoasys.com)
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--
Blair MacIntyre (b...@cs.columbia.edu), Graduate Student (Graphics and UI Lab)
smail: Dept. of Computer Science, 450 Computer Science Building, 500 W 120 St.
Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
Blair MacIntyre
Archive-name: pc-hardware-faq/3dgraphics-cards/part2
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Section V: Other boards
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B01) AccelGraphics AG300 and AG500
The AG300 and AG500 are very similar. I'll describe the AG300 first and then
outline the differences. Both support a dual screen configuration with two
of the same card.
ACCELGRAPHICS AG300
Accelgraphics is a spinoff of Kubota Graphics, which was Kubota Pacific
before that. They made the Denali graphics subsystem for DEC's Alpha-based
workstation (they were a partner with DEC).
Features
* PCI option card (short form factor)
* Accelerates OpenGL under Windows NT
* 24-bit true color and 16-bit Z buffering
* 32 color planes with 16-bit double buffering
* 1280 x 1024 @ 60-74 Hz, non-interlaced
Performance
* 1 Million 2D vectors per second (10 pixel, 24-bit)
* 1 Million 3D vectors per second (10 x 1 pixels, smooth shaded, Z
buffered)
* 205k 3D triangles/sec (50 pixels, smooth shaded mesh, lit, Z buffered)
Benefits
* Performance of a US$25k+ Unix workstation for under US$10,000.
* Standard applications with Windows NT (including Windows 3.1
applications compiled for Intel cpu).
* Scalable architecture delivers increased graphics performance with
higher performance host cpu.
Hardware Features
* Scalable architecture efficiently leverages the system CPU; a faster
CPU yields faster graphics
* 7.5 MB of total RAM
o 5 MB VRAM used as a 32 plane frame buffer, supporting:
+ resolutions up to 1280 x 1024 pixels with up to 16.7 million
colors (24 bit true color)
+ 16 bit double buffering
+ 8 bit color index
o 2.5 MB DRAM used as a 16 bit Z-buffer
* Rectangle clipping, Alpha blending and Dithering
Graphics application programming interfaces
* Open GL
* HOOPS and 3DR planned for early 1995
Supported Operating System Environments
* DOS 6.0 or later, Windows 3.1 or later, Windows 95 (Chicago), Windows
NT 3.5 with Open GL (Daytona)
Supported Applications
* Pro/ENGINEER and Pro/JR. from Parametric Technology Corporation
* AutoCAD Release 11, 12, and 13 from Autodesk
* MicroStation version 4 and 5 from Bentley Systems (including MOGLE)
* Any OpenGL application
Platforms supported: Intel, Alpha, MIPS, & PowerPC platforms
System requirements
* One free PCI slot
* VGA or SVGA compatible graphics adapter
ACCELGRAPHICS AG500
Similar to the AG300. However, it has 12.5M Memory on board and a list price
3,495.
The extra ram adds 8 GL Stencil planes and a 24bit Z-buffer.
The AG500 also has 4 hardware "lookup tables", including:
* two 256 x 24 tables for color index
* one 256 x 24 table for single-buffered overlay
* one 16 x 24 table for double-buffered overlay
Contact Information:
Corporate Headquarters:
AccelGraphics, Inc.
1942 Zanker Road
San Jose, CA 95112
408-441-1556
408-441-1599 fax
Western Region:
Kim Rawlings
714-589-2453
714-589-2483 fax
Kim_Ra...@ag3d.com
Central Region:
Dan Vitale
513-858-1400
513-858-2905 fax
Dan_V...@ag3d.com
Southern Region:
John Caravello
407-834-7275
407-834-9052 fax
John_Ca...@ag3d.com
Europe:
David Holman
011-44-1635-40122
011-44-1635-551-147 fax
dav...@perform.hiway.co.uk
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B02) ISC PowerGL
The PowerGL card is the Accelgraphics AG300 being sold OEM by ISC, which is
described above. Since the AG300 and the PowerGL are the exact same card, I
won't repeat the specs here. Talk to both companies, see which one better
suits your needs.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
International Software Corporation (ISC)
Suite 275
433 Park Point Drive
Golden, CO 80401
Orders: 1-800-488-4721
Fax: 303-526-0581
E-mail: 76516...@compuserve.com
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B03) Evans & Sutherland Freedom
PRESS RELEASE:
EVANS & SUTHERLAND BRINGS 3D GRAPHICS EXPERTISE TO THE PERSONAL
COMPUTER
SALT LAKE CITY, March 2, 1995 Evans & Sutherland Computer
Corporation (NASDAQ: ESCC) today announced Freedom Graphics(tm)
for the Personal Computer. Freedom Graphics is the first product
to bring the 3D graphics technology of E&S to the personal
computing environment.
Freedom Graphics is an implementation of the specialized features
that 3D graphics applications require for smooth, fast execution.
Users can produce impressive realistic images with the product's
rich feature set and high-performance graphics for Windows/NT(r)
applications.
The graphics card supports the OpenGL(r) software application
programming interface and is designed to accelerate OpenGL in the
PC environment. Freedom Graphics is a PCI bus-based card that
incorporates the same technology as the Freedom Series graphics
accelerators which supply high-end graphics for the world's
largest workstation vendors. Ideal markets to take advantage of
the extensive feature set of Freedom Graphics are CAD, Industrial
Design, Simulation, Visualization, Animation, Entertainment and
Game Development. Supported PC processors include MIPS(tm),
Pentium(r) and Power PC(tm).
"The interest being generated by Freedom Graphics is
extraordinary," said Jim Oyler, President and CEO of Evans &
Sutherland. "Freedom Graphics allows a low-cost PC-based system to
achieve the performance of a much more expensive workstation. This
is going to be an explosive market in the very near future."
Evans & Sutherland is the only 3D graphics vendor with a product
line that spans the entire computing industry from the personal
computer up to multi-million dollar flight simulators and
location-based entertainment systems.
"We are pleased that Evans & Sutherland has applied their
knowledge and experience in high-performance real-time 3D graphics
to the PC marketplace," said Tom Coull, President of Sense8
Corporation. "WorldToolKit and Freedom Graphics will offer a
definitive hardware-accelerated solution for texture-mapped
virtual reality applications."
Freedom Graphics' feature set includes real-time 3D graphics
rendering and animation, hardware based 24-bit texture
acceleration, scalable texture memory up to 16 MBytes, bi-linear
and tri-linear MIP-mapping, specular highlights, fast set-up
calculations, full scene antialiasing, transparency and depth
cueing. The additional experience of E&S with OpenGL will also
result in significant performance advantages for applications
using the OpenGL library from E&S.
According to Ian Reid, Vice-President of Marketing at Advanced
Visual Systems, "Freedom Graphics offers a new level of capability
for the PC user and AVS/Express allows any PC developer to take
immediate advantage of features such as hardware texture-mapping
and transparency. It's the ideal combination."
Freedom Graphics performance under Windows/NT and OpenGL is
300,000 triangles/second. The card will list price at US$2450 with
second quarter availability through OEMs and VARs. Freedom
Graphics was first shown at Fall Comdex '94 in Las Vegas.
The significance of Freedom Graphics lies in its delivery of a
graphics feature set at unsurpassed performance levels. Advanced
features such as texture mapping are still unavailable from any
other vendor for under US$10,000. Freedom Graphics also provides
performance not yet seen in the 3D PC graphics market. Nearest
competitors for performance provide minimal feature sets and are
only available at much higher prices.
Evans & Sutherland is a leader in advanced 3D graphics and
visualization systems for science, industry, education, and
entertainment. The Graphics Systems Division provides graphics
hardware and software solutions that are sold and supported by
DEC, HP, IBM, and Sun Microsystems. Evans & Sutherland was founded
in 1968 and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Freedom Graphics, and Freedom Series are trademarks of Evans &
Sutherland. OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics,
Inc. All other trade names are trademarks or registered trademarks
of their respective holders.
Freedom Graphics(tm) for the Personal Computer
High-Speed Realism from Evans & Sutherland
Evans & Sutherland pioneered the computer graphics industry over 25 years
ago. Since then our graphics know-how has been engineered into everything
from multi-million dollar flight simulators to high-end graphics
accelerators for workstations. Now, the same technology used in those
high-end workstations is available for the personal computer with Freedom
Graphics. Freedom Graphics is a 3D graphics card that delivers
high-performance, workstation-class 3D graphics for your Windows NT
applications. Freedom Graphics is a masterful implementation of the
specialized features that 3D graphics applications require for smooth, fast
execution. Users will be impressed by the realistic images they can produce
with the well-crafted feature set.
Freedom Graphic Advantages
* Real time 3D graphics rendering and animation
* 24 bit texture acceleration
* Perspective acceleration of colors & textures
* Bi-linear & tri-linear MIP-mapping
* Color modulation
* Fast set-up calculations
* Antialiased vectors and polygons
* High resolution support
* Programmable antialiasing filter
* Hardware window clipping
* Transparency & Depth cueing
* Hardware cursor support
* Line-slope intensity correction
Software Programming Environment
Freedom Graphics supports the OpenGL(tm) software application programming
interface and was designed to accelerate OpenGL in the personal computing
environment."
FROM THE SPEC SHEET:
Technical Specifications
* 3D Graphics Engine by Evans & Sutherland
* Display Memory - 4MByte of VRAM
* Z buffer Memory - 4MByte of DRAM
* Texture Memory (optional)
* 1, 4 or 16 MByte user installable SIMM 3D Resolutions (1280x1024,
1024x768, 800x600, 640x480)
* Display Colors - 8, 12, 24 bit color support
* Maximum Vertical Refresh Rates of 72Hz non-interlaced at all supported
resolutions
* PCI local bus
* Physical dimensions 12.28" Length x 4.2" Height (PCI Full Length
Compliant)
* CPU Support: Power PC, MIPS, Pentium
Software Support - 2D/3D Drivers
* Windows NT 3.5, OpenGL, DDI (Windows95/OpenGL when available)
Monitor
Video timing supports any monitor capable of displaying the listed
resolutions in non-interlaced mode. 15 pin D-shell VGA connector
Availability
The Freedom Graphics product will be initially sold through OEM's and
Value-Added Resellers, who will be announced along with the product. The
product will be available on the product announcement date.
Freedom Graphics is a trademark of Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation.
OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics Inc. All other products
are trademarks of their respective companies.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Jennifer Hughes
Evans & Sutherland
jhu...@dsd.es.com
Phone: 1-800-367-7460
Facsimile: (801) 582-0524
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B04) Matrox Impression Plus
FROM THE SPEC SHEET:
Windows Features:
* 40 million Winmarks
* 175 MHz DAC or optional 220 MHz DAC
* 1600 x 1200 in 256 and 65K colors
* 1280 x 1024 in 16.7m colors
* 110 Hz refresh at 1280 x 1024 resolution
* 120 Hz refresh at 1024 x 768 resolution
* Windows resolution and colours: (* requires 4Mb WRAM)
o 1600 x 1200 256, 65k*
o 1280 x 1024 256, 65k*, 16.7m*
o 1152 x 882 256, 65k, 16.7m*
o 1024 x 768 256, 65k, 16.7m*
o 800 x 600 256, 65k, 16.7m
o 640 x 480 256, 65k, 16.7m
Multimedia Features:
* Microsoft DCI software video acceleration (Indeo, Cinepak, Video for
Windows)
* 24 frames per second playback
MGA Video XL Upgrade Module: (Q1 95)
* Support for VESA Media Channel (VM Channel) video expansion standard
and PowerPlay64
* 32 bit connector for increased video datapath (100 Mb/second)
* Accepts up to 15 video peripherals
* Support for multiple live video windows
* VideoLogic PowerPlay64 add-on module for smooth, video playback at 1280
x 1024 at 30 frames/second
* resolution scaling using Pixel Interpolation
* color space conversion from YUV to RGB
Real-Time 2D and 3D Features:
* Accelerated 3D Gouraud shaed displays at 1152 x 882 in 65K colors, and
800x600 in 16.7 m colors
* 150,000 Gouraud shaded polygons per second
* Accelerated double buffering and z-buffering
* Support for industry standard 3D API's : 3DR, OpenGL, HOOP's and VAGI
* DynaView 2D and 3D Drivers for AutoCAD and Microstation under Windows
and DOS
* Realtime 3D Wireframe Resolutions and Color Depths: (*requires 4Mb
WRAM)
o 1600 x 1200 256*
o 1280 x 1024 256*
o 1152 x 882 256, 65k*
o 1024 x 768 256, 65k*
o 800 x 600 256, 65k, 16.7m*
o 640 x 480 256, 65k, 16.7m*
* Realtime 3D Gouraud Shaded Resolutions and Color Depths: (*requires 4Mb
WRAM)
o 1600 x 1200
o 1280 x 1024
o 1152 x 882 256*
o 1024 x 768 256*
o 800 x 600 256, 65k*
o 640 x 480 256, 65k*
Models Available:
MGA-IMP+/P: PCI Bus
2 Mb WRAM upgradable to 4 Mb
1600 x 1200 in 256 colors
800 x 600 in 16.7m colors
VM Channel upgradable
MGA-IMP+/V: VL Bus
2 Mb WRAM upgradable to 4 Mb
1600 x 1200 in 256 colors
800 x 600 in 16.7m colors
VM Channel upgradable
MGA-IMP+/A: AT Bus
2 Mb WRAM upgradable to 4 Mb
1600 x 1200 in 256 colors
800 x 600 in 16.7m colors
VM Channel upgradable
MGA-IMP+/P/220: PCI Bus
2 Mb WRAM upgradable to 4 Mb
220 MHz DAC for 85Hz @1600x1200
Other specifications same as MGA-IMP+/P
MGA-IMP+/V/220: VL Bus
2 Mb WRAM upgradable to 4 Mb
220 MHz DAC for 85Hz @1600x1200
Other specifications same as MGA-IMP+/V
MGA-IMP+/A/220: AT Bus
2 Mb WRAM upgradable to 4 Mb
220 MHz DAC for 85Hz @1600x1200
Other specifications same as MGA-IMP+/A
MGA-MOD/2Mb/1 2Mb upgrade for MGA Impression Plus
1600x1200 in 256 and 65K colors
1280x1024 in 16.7m colors
MGA-MOD/VMC VideoLogic PowerPlay64 video accelerator chip
1280 x 1024 at 30 frames per second
MGA-MOD/VMC/2MB 2 Mb upgrade for MGA Impression Plus and VideoLogic
PowerPlay64 video accelerator chip for 1280 x 1024 at 30 frames per second.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Telephone 1-800-361-1408
Matrox Graphics Inc.
1055 St Regis Blvd
Dorval, Quebec
Canada H9P 2T4
Telephone: 514.685.2630
Facsimile: 514.685.2853
COMMENT: From Chris Hinch (ch...@dcc.govt.nz):
I heard comments on comp.sys.opengl that, at the moment, the
Impression Plus doesn't have "true" OpenGL support under Windows
NT. I don't know if this is correct or not.
From Blair MacIntyre:
This is partially true. Someone from Microsoft posted saying that
NT 3.51 will include the appropriate driver for OpenGL for this
card.
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B05) Oki TrianGL
More information on Oki and their products can be found on their web page
(www.oki.com) or by sending email to tri...@oki.com
The information here was extracted from the page
http://www.oki.com/products/TrianGL.html
Oki's TrianGL is aimed at 3D applications using the OpenGL graphics API.
At the heart of the TrianGL is a custom, high-performance rendering ASIC--a
drawing engine which provides both 2D and 3D acceleration. The chip
interfaces directly to multiple banks of video RAM via a 80-bit data bus,
boosting overall drawing performance.
The four banks of VRAM, 10 MBytes in all, each operate independently to
maximize the performance efficiency of the rendering ASIC. For many drawing
primitives, all the banks can operate in parallel. However, for certain
primitives, such as vector drawing or triangle drawing, address and color
values are sent from the ASIC to the appropriate memory banks in a
pipelined, serial fashion. TrianGL's use of triangle drawing primitives
gives the board a major performance advantage over other products which use
simpler span primitives.
Two separate RGB buffers allow true hardware double buffering for smooth,
artifact-free animation. An independent 24-bit Z buffer is dedicated for
hidden surface removal during 3D object rendering. And finally, eight
utility planes support board-specific video options such as overlays, window
types and RGB double buffering. In order to support VGA compatibility, a
VESA standard VGA passthrough interface is included on the board.
Accelerated Drawing Operations
* Solid Rectangle Fill - 266 M pixels/second
* Pattern Rectangle Fill - 66 M pixels/second (8-bit), 33 M pixels/second
(24-bit)
* Screen to Screen Copy - 33 M pixels/second (8-bit), 16 M pixels/second
(24-bit)
* Raster Operations - 33 M pixels/second
* Line (2D) - 33 M pixels/second, 1.4 M 10-pixel lines/ second, random
orientation
* Triangles (3D Gouraud shaded) - 22 M pixels/second, 250K 50-pixel
triangles/second, random orientation
TrianGL Features
* Enables Workstation-class 3D performance on PCs
* Accelerates OpenGL API compatible graphics under Windows NT for 2-D and
3D applications
* Allows fully configured 3D systems for under US$10,000 (TrianGL pricing
has not been set, but it should be around US$2500)
* True 24-bit graphics
* Fully double-buffered 24-bit VRAM buffers
* 24-bit hardware Z-buffer
* 8 bits of hardware utility planes
* Large 8 kbyte FIFO allows independent host operation
* Fast internal RAM for storing patterns,line styles, and intermediate
data
* 64 x 64 hardware cursor
* Host to Screen Copy
* Screen to Host Copy
* Color Expansion
* Color Interpolation
* Linear Frame Buffer Support
Specifications
* Dimensions - Full-length VLbus/ISA board 13.5" length x 5" height
* Power Dissipation - 15 Watts typical (20 Watts maximum)
* Bus Interface - VESA VLbus Local Bus Standard, Rev. 1.1 Local Bus
Target, 32-bit data path
* VGA Support - VESA Standard VGA passthrough
* Monitor Support - Software-programmable 1024 x 768, non-interlaced,
vertical refresh rates from 60 to 76 Hz
* Frame Buffers - Two 24-bit, 1024 x 768 RGB
* ZBuffer - 24-bit, 1024 x 768
* Memory - 10 Mbytes VRAM, 512 bytes internal RAM
* FIFO - 8k x 32-bit for graphics commands and data
Software Support
Oki supports TrianGL on PC and RISC PC platforms with host software drivers
for Windows NT 3.5. OpenGL and DDI support are available for Intel and Mips
platforms. Other popular APIs, including AutoCAD, will be supported in
future software releases.
Look for future TrianGL versions with higher resolution, and a PCI bus
interface.
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B06) Intergraph GLZ Series
The GLZ series accelerates OpenGL[tm] graphics on Intergraph Computer
Systems' TDZ workstations. GLZs let you manipulate Gouraud-shaded 3D models
by adding realistic effects such as lighting, translucency, and textured
surfaces; and performing spectacular flythroughs, walkthroughs, and
animations -- all in real time, at high resolutions, and in true color.
By performing shading and geometry operations in dedicated hardware, GLZs
ease the load on the TDZ's Pentium[tm] processor(s) and cut down traffic on
the PCI bus, which results in dramatic improvements in graphics performance.
The GLZ family supports Intergraph's 17- and 21-inch multi-sync monitors and
21- and 27-inch InterVue monitors at resolutions up to 1,600 x 1,280 pixels.
The GLZs support dual screens and are ready for stereoscopic display on any
stereo-ready monitor. (LCD shutter glasses and emitter modules are required
and are available from Intergraph Computer Systems.)
The GLZ family offers a selection of 34, 24, or 12 megabytes of VRAM. 24
megabytes of VRAM supports resolutions up to 1,600 x 1,280 with 16.8 million
colors (true color). 12 megabytes of VRAM suppots true color at a maximum
resolution of 1,152 x 854. 34 megabytes of VRAM supports a 32-bit Z buffer,
double-buffered true color, and display capabilities such as translucency
and overlay at resolutions up to 1,600 x 1,280.
Intergraph Computer Systems offers six different GLZ configurations.
GLZ6
The top of our 3D graphics accelerator line -- offers shading acceleration,
geometry acceleration, and texture-processing for fast, real-time rendering
of complex and detailed designs.
Product highlights
* 34 MB of high-speed VRAM for 126 bit planes of video memory at all
display resolutions, providing:
o 24-bit, double-buffered image planes
o 32-bit Z buffer
o 8-bit, double-buffered
o 8-bit alpha buffer
o Other planes for additional features and further acceleration
* Texture processing fully supported in hardware with 8 megatextels of
texture memory (32 MB of DRAM) for full trilinear interpolation of
mip-mapped images
* Geometry acceleration to speed up lighting and transforms
* Support for the OpenGL industry-standard graphics library
* Full hardware support for Gouraud and flat shading of 3D triangle
meshes
* Anti-aliased vector support to eliminate anomalies of standard raster
displays
* Industry-standard PCI bus interface with high-speed DMA engine
* Genlock support for dual screens, eliminating the visual beat frequency
effect that can occur when two monitors are placed close together
* Support for Intergraph Computer Systems' 21- and 27-inch InterVue
monitors and 17- and 21-inch multi-sync monitors
* Stereo-ready display for 3D viewing, which enhances cartographic
applications and design visualization
* Multiple video resolution support for resolutions ranging from 640 x
480 pixels to 1,600 x 1,280 pixels
* Eight hardware color tables, allowing multiple windows to
simultaneously display using independent color palettes for
instantaneous color refinement in demanding imaging applications (see
p.11)
* 10-bit gamma correction using state-of-the-art, 10-bit
digital-to-analog converters, enabling user control of gamma values
with no loss of color resolution
GLZ5
Our GLZ5 offers the same high-performance shading and geometry acceleration
as does GLZ6. With 12 MB of VRAM, GLZ5 supports resolutions up to 1,152 x
864. Two megatexels (8 megabytes of texture memory) provide more than enough
texture storage for adding patterns to furniture, waves to water, or trees
to parks and forests.
GLZ5's low price may even tempt you to invest in dual screens and LCD
shutter glasses for a stereoscopic adventure into virtual reality!
Product highlights (same as the GLZ6, except where noted)
* 12 MB of high-speed VRAM for 92 bit planes of video memory at
resolutions up to 1,152 x 864, providing:
o 24-bit, double-buffered image planes
o 24-bit Z buffer
o 1-bit, double-buffered overlay
o Other planes for additional features and further acceleration
* Texture processing fully supported in hardware with 2 megatextels of
texture memory (8 MB of DRAM) for full trilinear interpolation of
mip-mapped images
* Support for Intergraph Computer Systems' 17- and 21-inch multi-sync
monitors
* Multiple video resolution support for resolutions ranging from 640 x
480 pixels to 1,152 x 864
GLZ4 and GLZ3
GLZ4 and GLZ3 support both shading and geometry acceleration. If you need
fast, accurate rendering of complex solid models but don't normally require
realtime texture processing for photorealism, GLZ4 (24 MB of VRAM) or GLZ3
(12 MB of VRAM) will give you performance that more than meets your
expectations. Don't worry if you occasionally need to render a textured
image. Thanks to OpenGL, texture processing is fully supported in software.
Product highlights
* 24 MB (GLZ4) of high-speed VRAM for 92 bit planes of video memory at
all display resolutions, providing:
o 24-bit, double-buffered image planes
o 24-bit Z buffer
o 1-bit, double-buffered overlay
o Other planes for additional features and further acceleration
* 12 MB (GLZ3) of high-speed VRAM for 92 bit planes of video memory at
resolutions up to 1,152 x 864, providing:
o 24-bit, double-buffered image planes
o 24-bit Z buffer
o 1-bit, double-buffered overlay
o Other planes for additional features and further acceleration
* Geometry acceleration to speed up lighting and transforms
* Support for the OpenGL industry-standard graphics library
* Full hardware support for Gouraud and flat shading of 3D triangle
meshes
* Anti-aliased vector support
* Industry-standard PCI bus interface with high-speed DMA engine
* Genlock support for dual screens
* Support for the following Intergraph Computer Systems' monitors: 17-
and 21-inch multi-sync monitors (GLZ3 and GLZ4) 21- and 27-inch
InterVue monitors (GLZ4)
* Stereo-ready display for 3D viewing
* Multiple video resolution support for resolutions ranging from 640 x
480 to 1,600 x 1,280 pixels (GLZ4)
* Multiple video resolution support for resolutions ranging from 640 x
480 to 1,152 x 864 pixels (GLZ3)
* Eight hardware color tables, allowing multiple windows to
simultaneously display using independent color palettes
* 10-bit gamma correction
GLZ2 and GLZ1
Product highlights
* 24 MB (GLZ2) of high-speed VRAM for 92 bit planes of video memory at
all display resolutions, providing:
o 24-bit, double-buffered image planes
o 24-bit Z buffer
o 1-bit, double-buffered overlay
o Other planes for additional features and further acceleration
* 12 MB (GLZ1) of high-speed VRAM for 92 bit planes of video memory at
resolutions up to 1,152 x 864, providing:
o 24-bit, double-buffered image planes
o 24-bit Z buffer
o 1-bit, double-buffered overlay
o Other planes for additional features and further acceleration
* Support for the OpenGL industry-standard graphics library
* Full hardware support for Gouraud and flat shading of 3D triangle
meshes
* Anti-aliased vector support
* Industry-standard PCI bus interface with high-speed DMA engine
* Genlock support for dual screens
* Support for the following Intergraph Computer Systems' monitors:
o 17- and 21-inch multi-sync monitors (GLZ1 and GLZ2)
o 21- and 27-inch InterVue monitors (GLZ2)
* Stereo-ready display for 3D viewing
* Multiple video resolution support for resolutions ranging from 640 x
480 to 1,600 x 1,280 pixels (GLZ2)
* Multiple video resolution support for resolutions ranging from 640 x
480 to 1,152 x 864 pixels (GLZ1)
* Eight hardware color tables, allowing multiple windows to
simultaneously display using independent color palettes
* 10-bit gamma correction
GLZ1T
This card has the same features as the GLZ1 card, accept that it adds 8 MB
of texture memory and supports hardware processing like the GLZ5 and GLZ6.
GLZ configurations at a glance
GLZ Hardware Hardware Hardware Texture Frame Max
model rendering geometry texture DRAM buffer resolution
accel accel processing VRAM (in pixels)
GLZ6 Yes Yes Yes 32 MB 34 MB 1,600 x 1,280
(8 megatexels)
GLZ5 Yes Yes Yes 8 MB 12 MB 1,152 x 864
(2 megatexels)
GLZ4 Yes Yes No No 24 MB 1,600 x 1,280
GLZ3 Yes Yes No No 12 MB 1,152 x 864
GLZ2 Yes No No No 24 MB 1,600 x 1,280
GLZ1T Yes No Yes 8 MB 12 MB 1,152 x 864
(2 megatexels)
GLZ1 Yes No No No 12 MB 1,152 x 864
Performance specifications for GLZ2, GLZ4, and GLZ6
The following table summarizes hardware performance for GLZs supporting
resolutions up to 1,600 x 1,280 (GLZ2, GLZ4, and GLZ6) on Intergraph
Computer Systems' 21- and 27-inch InterVue monitors and 17- and 21-inch
multi-sync monitors.
3D graphics performance*
3D requests (with Z buffering) Performance
Triangle, 50-pixel, Gouraud shaded 450,000 triangles/second
Triangle, 25-pixel, Gouraud shaded 515,000 triangles/second
Vector, 10-pixel, solid color 1,150,000 vectors/second
Vector, 10-pixel, Gouraud shaded 1,000,000 vectors/second
Vector, 10-pixel, antialiased 550,000 vectors/second
Texturing performance (GLZ6)*
Textured areas, 512 x 512 (trilinear 15 megatexels/second
interpolated, mip-mapped)
2D graphics performance*
2D requests Performance
Vector, 10-pixel, solid color 1,450,000 vectors/second
Vector, 10-pixel, antialiased 550,000 vectors/second
Blit: screen to screen, 64 Bit 26 megapixels/second
(R,G,B,A,Z)
Fills 400 megapixels/second
Text, 9 x 13 240,000 characters/second
*These performance numbers are the maximum hardware rate. Actual
system performance depends on host processor speed and application.
Performance specifications for GLZ1, GLZ1T, GLZ3, and GLZ5
The following table summarizes hardware performance for GLZs supporting
resolutions up to 1,152 x 864 on Intergraph Computer Systems' 17- and
21-inch multi-sync monitors.
3D graphics performance*
3D requests (with Z buffering) Performance
Triangle, 50-pixel, Gouraud shaded 230,000 triangles/second
Triangle, 25-pixel, Gouraud shaded 425,000 triangles/second
Vector, 10-pixel, solid color 800,000 vectors/second
Vector, 10-pixel, Gouraud shaded 800,000 vectors/second
Vector, 10-pixel, antialiased 285,000 vectors/second
Texturing performance (GLZ1T, GLZ5)*
Textured areas, 512 x 512 (trilinear 15 megatexels/second
interpolated, mip-mapped)
2D graphics performance*
2D requests Performance
Vector, 10-pixel, solid color 1,150,000 vectors/second
Vector, 10-pixel, antialiased 285,000 vectors/second
Blit: screen to screen, 64 Bit 13 megapixels/second
(R,G,B,A,Z)
Fills 200 megapixels/second
Text, 9 x 13 190,000 characters/second
* These performance numbers are the maximum hardware rate. Actual
system performance depends on host processor speed and application.
Display support
GLZ2, GLZ4, and GLZ6 support Intergraph Computer Systems' 21- and 27-inch
InterVue monitors and our 17- and 21-inch multi-sync monitors at resolutions
up to 1,600 x 1,280 pixels. The following table indicates the currently
supported screen resolutions in full 24-bit, true-color, double-buffered
mode.
Resolutions Colors Maximum
supported supported refresh
16.8 M rates
1,600 x 1,280 X 76 Hz
1,600 x 1,200 X 81 Hz
1,280 x 1,024 X 94 Hz
1,280 x 960 X 100 Hz
1,152 x 864 X 85 Hz
1,024 x 768 X 122 Hz
800 x 600 X 153 Hz
640 x 480 X 186 Hz
GLZ1, GLZ1T, GLZ3, and GLZ5 support Intergraph Computer Systems' 17- and
21-inch multi-sync monitors at resolutions up to 1,152 x 864. The following
table indicates the currently supported screen resolutions in full 24-bit,
true-color, double-buffered mode.
Resolutions Colors Maximum
supported supported refresh
6.8 M rates
1,152 x 864 X 72 Hz
1,024 x 768 X 85 Hz
800 x 600 X 85 Hz
640 x 480 X 85 Hz
For more information or the number of a sales representative or Intergraph
Computer Center near you, call:
U.S. and Canada : 800-763-0242
Asia-Pacific : 852-2893-3621
Europe : 31-2503-66576
Middle East : 971-4-367555
Other areas : 1-205-730-5441
Or reach us on the Internet at http://www.intergraph.com.
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B07) Division's VPX Image Generator and ProVision Systems
Division's VPX image generator board in an extended EISA board which offers
up to 300,000 fully texture-mapped, z-buffered polygons per second, with
screen-fill performance of more than 997 megapixels per second. The VPX
board can render a single image (or a stereo image on the VPX-Stereo version
only) in NTSC composite or Y/C video, or field-sequential RGB formats.
The VPX is available as an OEM PC card, for integration into the OEM's own
PC platforms, or as a fully-configured development platform.
The ProVision Merlin development platform for the VPX card includes a
high-performance Pentium(R) processor, one, two, or three VPX graphics
cards, standard MS-DOS PC I/O, and software development tools. The ProVision
Merlin is a complete solution for manufacturers who want to immediately
start development.
The VPX board is also available in Division's ProVision 10 immersive virtual
reality accelerator for the HP 700 range of UNIX workstations, or in
Division's ProVision 100 fully-integrated virtual reality workstation, which
includes an HMD, tracker, 3D audio, and all software required to create
complex virtual environments without programming.
A key feature of the VPX board is the outstanding pixel fill-rate needed to
fill the large numbers of textured polygons required for visually-realistic,
real-time applications. The VPX board has been developed from the outset for
high-end simulation and entertainment applications, and is capable of a
sustained 20-30Hz frame-rate with very rich visual content and 3D depth. The
VPX is based on the University of North Carolina's patented Pixel-Planes
(tm) massively parallel image generator technology.
PRICING
ProVision Merlin - PC/DOS based graphics System, Pentium Option
* PVMVPX1-PM: US$19,400
The ProVision Merlin is an advanced virtual reality, simulation, or
entertainment computer system with the VPX Pixel-Planes(tm) graphics. This
66 MHz Intel(R) Pentium(R) PC includes a compact, rugged, industrial-class
chassis, 300 watt power supply, 4 available EISA slots, a keyboard, mouse,
16Mbytes RAM, 500Mbyte Disk, 14" color monitor, MS DOS, MS Windows, and a
VPX-Mono image generator board. The ProVision Merlin supports mono head
mounted displays and NTSC video monitors. The graphics system includes
Division's dPL graphics runtime library for the VPX. One VPX-Mono image
generator is included in this system.
* VPX-Mono image generator board DBE0150-M: US$14,900
(For OEM sales only. Requires upgraded power supply and cooling in host
PC.)
* VPX-Stereo image generator board DBE0150-S: US$21,450
(For OEM sales only. Requires upgraded power supply and cooling in host
PC.)
The ProVision Merlin is also available in configurations with two or three
VPX image generator boards, thus achieving up to six simultaneous
out-the-window displays and 900,000 fully photo-textured, z-buffered
polygons per second.
For more information, contact:
Pierre duPont dup...@division.co.uk
Marketing Director, Division Limited
19 Apex Court, Woodlands, Bristol UK BS12 4JT
phone: +44 1454 615554
fax: +44 1454 615532
They also have a web page at http://www.division.com.
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B08) Reality Simulation Systems Little Squirt
They had an experimental WWW server running, but it has been down.
The URL is http://www.simsys.com/
You can get more info about the company by
1) finger @simsys.com
2) mail in...@simsys.com
For more information, contact:
Reality Simulation Systems, Inc.
1223 Peoples Ave.
Troy, NY 12180
Phone: 518.276.3073
Fax: 518.276.6380
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B09) Western Digital Tasmania 3D
The information I currently have is from the press release on Western
Digital's home page:
http://www.wdc.com/
The actual press release is at:
http://www.wdc.com/new/releases/950918-2.html
The board is aimed at 3D gaming and is available for either PCI- or VL-based
systems.
It has an estimated selling price of $250.
It renders high-resolution three dimensional games with detailed textures at
realistic frame rates on mainstream PCs. Its 640 by 480 resolution redefines
state-of-the-art for 3D games, quadrupling the current 320 by 200 resolution
of most software-based 3D games.
The board comes with two popular high-resolution action games, immediately
sending users into the next dimension of computing.
The design and implementation of Tasmania 3D allows it to co-exist with any
2D graphics accelerator. Users don't have to invest in any additional
hardware to play their 3D games. Tasmania 3D gives users the excitement of
3D without impacting the performance of their existing 2D graphics card.
Tasmania 3D incorporates the Yamaha YGV612 Rendering Polygon Accelerator. It
provides hardware texture mapping for the highest quality of detail, without
sacrificing performance. It also features gouraud shading for smooth,
realistic contours and Z-buffering for hidden surface removal, giving gamers
the ultimate playing experience.
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B10) Dynamic Pictures V192
The information I currently have is from Leo Merta at Dynamic Pictures, Inc.
For more information, contact Dinesh Sharma at:
Dinesh Sharma (sha...@dypic.com)
Dynamic Pictures, Inc.
5225 Betsy Ross Drive
Santa Clara, CA 95054-1102
Phone: 408 327-9000
The V192 3D Graphics Accelerator card is the first product in a new
generation of workstation-performance Peripheral Component Interconnect
(PCI) graphics acceleration cards for the PC Windows 95/Windows NT desktop
market.
Dynamic Pictures was recently responsible for developing the ZLXp-L1 and
ZLXp-L2 graphics accelerators for the Alpha AXP workstations from Digital
Equipment Corporation. The V192 accelerator card is an almost identical
product to the ZLXp-L1.
Features
* 1280x1024 24-bit Z buffer
* 1280x1024 24-bit double buffer
* 16 MB of high-speed VRAM
* On-board VGA
* Gouraud shading
* Overlays and Window ID planes
* 8-bit alpha buffer
* 4-bit stencil buffer
* Accumulation buffer
* Atmospheric effects (i.e. fog, smoke)
* Anti-aliasing - points, lines, polygons, and full scenes
* Alpha blending
* Transparency
* Scissor and stipple masking
* Stereo Display
Performance
* The V192 has application-level graphics performance comparable to SGI's
Indigo2/Extreme and the HP Visualizer 24 at a fraction of the price.
* 200K 3D triangles per second (50 pixels, smooth shaded mesh,
Z-buffered)
* 1.4 million 3D vectors per second
Software Compatibility
* 100% OpenGL compliant - The V192 3D Graphics Accelerator card comes
with OpenGL drivers developed by the industry leaders in OpenGL driver
development. Drivers are available for Pentium, MIPS, Alpha AXP and
Power PC based systems.
* Seamless integration with Windows NT 3.5 or greater.
System Hardware Requirements
* PCI-based processor (Pentium, MIPS, Alpha AXP or Power PC).
* One available PCI bus-master slot for the V192 card.
* Support for on-board VGA, no additional VGA card is required.
Availability
* The V192 3D Graphics Accelerator is available through selected OEM
partners. Please contact Dynamic Pictures for more information.
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B11) Matrox Millenium
This information was obtained from Matrox's WWW server at
http://www.matrox.com/
The Matrox Millenium is consistently reviewed as one of the best 2D graphics
cards currently available, with features including
* World's highest performance at 61 million Winmarks
* Dual ported Window RAM (WRAM) memory technology
* Optimized PCI Local Bus Design
* Resolutions up to 1600 x 1200 in 256, 65K and 16.7M Colors
* 220 Hz flicker-free screen refresh
* Base versions available with 2 or 4 MB of Window RAM
* Upgradeable to 4 or 8 MB of Window RAM
* Hardware accelerated color space conversion and video upscaling to
accelerate MPEG and AVI full screen playback.
The 3D features include
* Gouraud shading
* double buffering
* 16-bit Z-buffering
* renders 190,000 Gouraud shaded polygons per second
* display drivers for Windows {3.1, 3.11, '95, NT 3.5}, OS/2 2.1, Warp
3.0, AutoCAD 12 and 13 for DOS and Windows, Microstation 5.0, VESA 2.0
(up to 1280 x 1024)
* Support for standard 3D APIs including Silicon Graphics OpenGL,
Microsoft Reality Lab, Intel 3DR, and Criterion RenderWare
Specifications Summary and Ordering Information
Windows Resolutions With 3D
and Colors Gouraud
Shading
Resolutions Colors Resolutions Colors
1600 x 1200 256, 65K*,16.7M** 1600 x 1200 256**
1280 x 1024 256, 65K* 16.7M* 1280 x 1024 256*, 65K**
1152 x 882 256, 65K, 16.7M* 1152 x 882 256,* 65K**
1024 x 768 256, 65K, 16.7M* 1024 x 768 256*,
65K**,16.7M**
800 x 600 256, 65K, 16.7M 800 x 600 256, 65K*,
16.7M**
640 x 480 256, 65K, 16.7M 640 x 480 256, 65K*,
16.7M**
*Requires 4 MB of **Requires 8 MB of
Window RAM. Window RAM
All 3D modes are
double buffered with
16-bit Z-buffer
Refresh Rates
Resolution V. Frequency H. Frequency
1600 x 1200 60 - 85 Hz 76 - 96 KHz
1280 x 1024 60 - 110 Hz 63 - 107 KHz
1152 x 882 60 - 120 Hz 54 - 110 KHz
1024 x 768 60 - 120 Hz 48 - 104 KHz
800 x 600 60 - 200 Hz 37 - 100 KHz
640 x 480 60 - 200 Hz 32 - 100 KHz
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B12) APD Free Dimension
This information was received from Victor Silveira (VSil...@aol.com).
The APD Free Dimension is a PCI Bus 3D Graphics Board, ideally suited for
Virtual Reality, Simulation, and Entertainment. The "Free Dimension" Board
is designed and manufactured by APD, and it is marketed in Europe by APD,
and marketed in the US by SILVEIRA Corporation.
The Free Dimension Board ("FDB") is designed to provide on a PC or Macintosh
the same performance as those of a higher end more expensive workstation
(such as Silicon Graphics, or SUN, etc.), but for a fraction of the price.
The FDB provides true texture mapping and simultaneous Gouraud Shading, so
that the user may experience WorkStation Class 3D on a PC/Mac environment.
Real Time Graphics Applications are possible for Virtual Reality (VR) and
Simulation applications. FDB incorporates GUL (Graphics Ultra Light),a
Library Optimized for Real Time Graphics, that takes advantage of the
underlying hardware (GUL works with Studio and SoftImage).
Hardware Features
* True color double frame-buffer and Z-buffer
* TRUE Hardware supported texture mapping and Gouraud Shading (not just
acceleration)
* perspective correction
* 2D-overlay + 3D + 2D underlay
* multiple 3D windowing control
* frame rate regulation
* stereoscopic output at full resolution
* plug and play single slot PCI Bus
* ... and more.
Technical characteristics
* Rendering speed.
o Textured mapping and/or Gouraud shading at 20 million
pixels/second rate.
o 320 k textured and / or shared polygons / sec.
o Per polygon basis selection of the hardware coloring method
(texturing, and / or shading).
* Hardware perspective correction of textured polygons.
* Frame Buffer
o 8 MB of RAM
o four, 32 bits wide frame buffers at full-resolution for double
buffering + double camera (stereoscopic camera).
o no redraws visible
o artifact free image sequencing (buffer - switching synchronized
with vertical retrace signal)
o 24 color bits / pixel
o hardware flash erase function
o full initialization of the framebuffer in less than 77 micro
seconds.
* Z Buffer
o 16 bits wide Z Buffer
o Hardware flash erase function
o full initialization of the frame - buffer in less than 77
microseconds.
* Shading
o Three independent color interpolators
o Software definable reflection coefficients.
* Colors
o True 3D information (24 bits per pixel)
o 8 transparency levels applicable of each polygon
o 2D VGA information transparently converted to 24 bits using a
color palette.
* Resolution. Maximum 3D window size, with true color and stereo (for
each eye) is:
o 800 x 512 pixels in an 800 x 600 screen
o 640 x 480 full screen
* Stereoscopic output
o Jack output ready for standard CrystalEyes shutter glasses emitter
o 120 Hz stereo (60 Hz each eye interleaved) video output for
multisync monitor (no video synch doubler needed)
o Each eye at full resolution (800 x 512) + double buffering + true
color.
* Texture Mapping
o True hardware texture mapping at 20 Million pixels / second rate
o texture map coordinates are perspective corrected )no distortion
in the resulting image)
o textured polygons can be simultaneously lighted, at 20 Million
pixels per second rate
o texture colors corrected by hardware according to the lighting
level of each pixel
o 1 MByte texture Memory; 8 Bit wide texture maps
o 32 simultaneously definable 8 - bits palettes, of 16 million
colors
o each texture map can be dynamically associated with any of the 32
available palettes
o one of the 256 indexes of the palettes can be defined as
transparency color
o arbitrary complex shapes can be drawn in the scene using
self-orienting bitmaps
o hardware texture wrapping function (so that a repeating pattern
can be applied to a polygon)
o maximum texture size for automatic wrapping textures is 128 x 128
texels
o hardware bit mapping support for each texture map.
* Object Selection
o a 7 bit wide identification can be associated with each object
o it is stored in the frame buffer for each pixel belonging to the
object
o Point-and-select or help functions implementation with minimum
overhead
o Object tagging can be individually enabled or disabled for each
primitive
o hardware access to tagging information
o tag value returned in less than 16 msecs.
* Overlay and Underlay
o 2D images, full - motion digital video and textual information can
be freely mixed with the 3D scene
o Information from the VGA mixed with the 3D information through the
feature connector. Four Modes available to control 2D and 3D
information mixing as follows: a) pass through mode. b) 3D only
mode, c) underlay mode, d) overlay + underlay mode.
* Multiple 3D Windowing Control. 3D Rendering on multiple windows that
can be freely moved and re-sized within the screen.
* Frame Rate Regulation
o Synchronous or asynchronous image sequencing
o Erasing of frame-buffer and Z Buffer automatically performed after
each buffer switching
o Horizontal re-trace counter available in all modes
o Four different synchronization modes available: Fully Synchronous,
Normal Synchronous, Asynchronous, Software synchronization.
* System requirements. A PC pr PowerMac with a CPU running at 90MHz or
above, 16 MBytes of RAM, SVGA with a standard feature connector, 1 PCI
free slot, and Windows 95, Windows NT, MS DOS 6.2, or System 7.5.
The APD 3D PCI accelerator Board manufactured by APB scheduled for release
during February 1996 in the $4,500 range.
Contact Information:
You may contact Sales, Marketing and Technical support at the following
addresses:
APD
Attention Luis Pedro Marzan, Vice President
Madrid, Spain
Telephone: (34) (1) 798 5626
Fax: (34) (1) 797 7897
EMail: freedi...@gapd.es.
SILVEIRA Corporation
Attention: Mr. Kevin Toler, Manager
Washington DC, USA
Telephone: (202) 686 2230
Fax: (202) 686 2231
EMail: 102511,6...@compuserve.com.
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B13) Arcobel Imagine
The following information was provided by Peter Van Ackeren, Technical
Support Engineer at Arcobel (ossfs1!p...@relay.NL.net).
Features
* Based on the 60 Mhz Imagine VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) ultra
high speed graphics and image processor
* 8000 MIPS pixel processing speed
* Equipped with 8 MB of VRAM, allowing display sizes up to 1600x1280 in
true colour (32-bit)
* Image size up to 8 Mpixels (e.g. 4K x 2K x 8-bit)
* 24, 16,or 8 bit images can be combined with an 8 or 16 bit overlay
plane
* Supports Microsoft Windows '95 and Windows/NT 3.5 operating systems
* Provides Windows acceleration using optimized downloaded software
* Simultaneous support for Windows acceleration and Imagine native mode
graphics applications
* Multiple boards in one system can be synchronised with one common
signal up to 140 MHz
* Industry standard 32-bit PCI interface Rev.2.1 supports up to 132 MB/s
(master DMA burst transfers)
* Direct memory access capabilities
* Memory & I/O expansion bus (up to 240 Mpixel/s bandwidth)
* Optional broadcast standard video frame grabber (Imagine Capture Board)
Major Application Areas
* 3D-Graphics
* Multi Media Applications
* Broadcast Video Editing and Special Effects
* True Colour Desktop Publishing (DTP)
* Professional Photo Retouching
* Raster Image Processing (RIP)
Board Architecture
* The Imagine PCI-Board uses the 32-bit PCI local bus providing
compatibility with current Intel `486 & Pentium based PC's and PowerPC
MacIntosh systems. Configuration conforms to Plug & Play
specifications.
* The AMCC S5933 PCI Local Bus interface handles all accesses to on-board
locations and provides DMA support between the host memory and the
Imagine FIFO.
* The board has 3 separate memory spaces : up to 8 MB of image memory
(VRAM), 2 or 4 MB of data/texture memory and 256kB of instruction
memory (synchronous SRAM)
* The Texas Instruments TVP3026 Video Interface Palette chip provides
RAMDAC and color key functions plus a hardware cursor
* SVGA pass-through for alternated SVGA and native mode graphics
* On-board Video-In connector supports optional true colour real-time
Imagine Capture Board
Supported Operating Systems & Graphics Standards
* Software drivers for Windows '95 and Windows/NT 3.5
* Windows `95 GDI, 3D-DDI, Intel 3DR, as well as the forthcoming OpenGL
for Windows and directX
* Imagine native development environment available for Windows '95,
Windows/NT 3.5, Solaris 1.0 and Linux
Imagine SDE - The Software Development Environment
* The SDE bundles all software tools to develop Imagine native code
applications and customer specific graphics libraries:
o `GCC' ..... GNU ANSI-C Compiler
o `IMAS' .... Hierarchical Instruction Set Assembler
o `IMLIB' ... Library tool
o `IMLINK' .. Linker / loader
o `IMCOMM' .. Communication tools
o `IMSIM' ... Visual Simulator / Debugger
o `Winbug' .. Console based debugger
* Imagine Native Software Libraries
o `IMCORE' .. Memory management, arithmetic, C initialization, text
display, graphic core and timer functions
o `I1D' ..... Line drawing, bitblits and fonts
o `I2D' ..... 2D graphics image manipulation functions, e.g.
arithmetic, copy, raster, relational, blending, affine
transformation and convolution functions
o `I3D' ..... 3D texture mapped graphics, e.g. vertex based and
rendering functions
o `IMCC' .... Image compression / decompression and conversion
functions
o `IIL/SIV' . Intermediate library providing C-macros for vector
processing and fixed point arithmetic
For more information please: Call: (+31) 73 6444.144
Fax: (+31) 73 6444.150
E-mail: sale...@arcobel.nl
or write to:
Arcobel Graphics B.V.
P.O. Box 3523 DM `s Hertogenbosch
The Netherlands
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B14) Synthetic Images Reality Blaster
This information was provided by Lee Slater, lsl...@synthetic.com.
Reality Blazer, Model RB-1000PC
The Reality Blazer was created and built for one purpose - to process and
render virtual worlds. Unlike graphics accelerators, the Reality Blazer is
capable of holding an entire virtual world, and then carrying out complex
object oriented simulation completely independent of the host processor.
This leaves the host PC free to perform complex applications and interface
tasks.
FEATURES
* Designed specifically for high performance Industrial Simulation &
Virtual Reality. This is NOT just another graphics accelerator!
* Flexible and scaleable. Use a single board by itself for a monoscopic
environment. Add a second video processor channel for dual display 3-D
stereo. Add optics distortion correction as needed - all right on the
same board!
* Anti-alias processing and NTSC/PAL included!
* Run multiple boards in a single PC - for full speed stereo 3-D,
multiple view perspectives or even totally different scenarios.
* Dynamic texture swap, texture tiling (up to 8x8), rotating textures,
custom bit mapped fonts and 2D texture "stamps", for outrageous special
effects!
* 120Hz StereoGraphics and Sun ZX compatible LCD shutter glass output.
* Optional Optics Distortion Processor allows use of spherical
projections or custom optics distortion.
* Standard NTSC/PAL processors are sync locked with scene processors - no
frame latency!
* Load management, LOD blending and fading.
* Programmable 3D windows and subscreens!
SPECIFICATIONS
* 60,000 continuous polys per second
* 2,000 polys/frame @ 30 FPS update rate
* 60/120Hz video refresh rate (each channel)
* 16 million colors (24-bit) on screen
* Standard 1Mb of subdividable texture maps (64-128x128, 256-64x64, etc),
expandable
* Vector and bit mapped text fonts
* 512x480 and other resolutions
* RS-170A mode also available on VGA connector
* 200 instantaneous moving models (>1K in scenario)
* Simultaneous flat or smooth shading, texturing, transparancy,
translucency and anti-aliasing
* Standard 24-bit Z-depth buffering in hardware
* Standard 25,000 poly world size, expandable
* Object instancing allows millions of polys in world
* Standard sync-locked NTSC and PAL processor
* Standard hardware anti-aliasing
* Standard 120Hz LCD shutter glass interface (TTL)
INCLUDED SOFTWARE
* 'C' language API
* World compiler and visualizer
* Conversion utilities for DXF, 3DS and others
* Special utilities, such as font compiler and atmospheric effects
generator and others.
* Diagnostic utilities, sample worlds and programs
OPTIONS
* Plug-in 2nd channel for full stereo 3-D output
* Plug-in Optics Distortion Processor module
* Expand onboard texture map RAM to 4Mb
* Expand onboard database RAM to 225K polys
For more information contact:
Lee Slater, Director of Marketting
Synthetic Images
Voice: 408-267-8451
Fax: 408-267-1812
e-mail: lsl...@synthetic.com
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B15) S3 ViRGE and ViRGE/VX
The information in this section was taken from the S3 homepage at:
http://www.s3.com/
The ViRGE 64-bit DRAM-based accelerator combines a 135MHz RAMDAC and clock
synthesizer with the multimedia capabilities of S3's Trio64V+ including
video acceleration, video playback using both software and hardware sources,
live video support and the ability to connect with popular NTSC and PAL
decoders. Additionally, ViRGE is SVGA-compatible, so as to support legacy
DOS applications and games, and provides high-performance 2D GUI
acceleration support for resolutions up to 1280 x 1024 x 256 colors at 75Hz.
S3's ViRGE accelerator also provides support for all major 3D APIs,
including OpenGL, Microsoft's Direct3D and RealityLab, as well as Argonaut
BRender and Criterion Renderware.
The ViRGE/VX product offers all of the same features as the DRAM-based
ViRGE, but substitutes support for VRAM and WindowsRAM (WRAM), and increases
the integrated RAMDAC performance level to 220 MHz. Resolutions up to
1600x1200x16 million colors @ 75Hz are supported and higher memory bandwidth
is enabled by the block write feature.
64-bit S3d Engine
The S3d Engine provides 2D acceleration for excellent Windows applications
performance and a full-featured high-performance 3D rendering engine for
games and other interactive 3D applications.
The S3d Engine incorporates the key Windows accelerator functions of BitBLT,
line draw and polygon fill. 3D features include flat shading, Gouraud
shading and texture mapping support. Advanced texture mapping features
include perspective correction, bi-linear and tri-linear filtering, MIP-
Mapping, and Z-buffering. The S3d Engine also includes direct support for
utilizing video as a texture map. These features provide the most realistic
user experience for interactive 3D applications.
Other advanced features of the S3d Engine include S3 proprietary compressed
texture formats for improved performance and reduced memory requirements, as
well as support for S3's MUX buffering (pat. pend.) feature, which allows
for Z-buffering support with no additional memory requirement.
Streams Processor
The S3 Streams Processor provides the stretching and YUV color space
conversion features required for full screen video playback with both
software CODECs and hardware MPEG-1 sources.
The Streams Processor allows simultaneous display of graphics and video of
different color depths. For example, it is possible to display 24 bpp-
equivalent video on top of an 8- bit graphics background. This saves memory
bandwidth and storage capacity while permitting higher frame rates.
S3 Scenic Highway
The S3 Scenic Highway allows lowest cost direct connection to S3's
Scenic/MX2 MPEG-1 audio and video decoder as well as video digitizers such
as the Philips SAA7110/SAA7111.
Features
* High-Performance Integrated DRAM-based 2D/3D Graphics and Video
Accelerator
o High-performance 64-bit 2D/3D graphics engine
o Integrated 135 MHz RAMDAC and clock synthesizer
o S3 Streams Processor for accelerated video
o S3 Scenic Highway for direct interface to live video and MPEG-1
peripherals Pin compatible with S3 Trio64V+ S3d Graphics Engine
Features
o High performance 2D Windows acceleration
o Flat and Gouraud shading for 3D
o High quality/performance 3D texture mapping. Perspective
correction Bi-linear and tri-linear texture filtering MIP-Mapping.
o Depth cueing and fogging Alpha blending
o Video texture mapping
o Z-buffering
o Vertical interpolation for video playback
* S3 Streams Processor Features Supports on-the-fly stretching and
blending of primary RGB stream and RGB or YUV (video) secondary stream.
Each stream can have a different color depth. High-quality
hardware-assisted video playback with horizontal interpolation.
o Support for Indeo, Cinepak, and software and hardware-accelerated
MPEG-1 video S3 Scenic Highway Interface and Philips
SAA7110/SAA7111 video digitizers.
o S3 Scenic/MX2 MPEG-1 audio/video decoder
* High Screen Resolution (Non-package interlaced) Support
o 1280x1024x256 colors at 75 Hz refresh
o 1024x768x64K colors at 75 Hz refresh
o 800x600x16.7M colors at 75 Hz refresh
* High-Performance Memory Support
o 64-bit DRAM memory interface
o 2- and 4-MByte DRAM video memory
o Single-cycle EDO operation
* Non-x86 CPU Support
o Big endian/little endian byte ordering
o Relocatable addressing
* Industry-Standard Local Bus Support.
o Glueless PCI 2.1 bus interface
o Glueless VESA VL-Bus interface
* PCI Bus Mastering for Display List Processing and Video Capture Support
* Multimedia Support Hooks
* Full Software Support. Drivers for major operating systems: [Windows
95, Windows 3.11, Windows NT, OS/2 2.1 and 3.0 (Warp), ADI 4.2]
* Green PC/Monitor Plug and Play
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Complete Change History
* Changes since version 0.9
New entries:
o CS06) Rendition Vérité
o CS07) Chromatic Research Mpact
o CS08) 3DLabs Permedia
o B09) Western Digital Tasmania 3D
o B10) Dynamic Pictures V192
Changed entries:
o NVIDIA) Changed NVIDEA to NVIDIA
o GLINT05) now available for Windows 3.1
o GLINT07) Densan PCI-300SX now shipping as part of NEC RISCstation
2200.
o GLINT08) I finally found specs.
* Changes since version 0.8
New entries:
o CS05) NVidia/SGS-THOMSON NV1/STG-2000 Multimedia Accelerators
o GLINT08) Creative Labs' 3D Blaster
o GLINT09) Microstep AGC-3D
o NVIDIA01) Diamond Edge 3D Accelerators
Changed entries:
o GLINT02) Working URL added. Better information.
o GLINT03) now available
o GLINT04) Change entry name to Omnicomp 3Demon VR
o GLINT05) now available in Europe
o GLINT06) now available in Japan
o ARTIST01) Was the B09) entry in v0.8, but was moved due to
reorganization.
o B01) Added information on the AG500
* Changes since version 0.7
New entries:
o CS04) ARTIST Graphics 3GA Graphics Processor
o B09) ARTIST 2000
* Changes since version 0.6
Original now kept in html form and text version created by saving as
text from Netscape.
Changed entries:
o B08) Added snail mail and phone contacts.
* Changes since version 0.5
o Q02) added pointers to the OpenGL home page and the Viewperf ftp
directory
* Changes since version 0.4
Changed Entries:
o GLINT04) Fixed area code in telephone number
* Changes since version 0.3
New entries:
o B07) Division's VPX Image Generator and ProVision Systems
o B08) Reality Simulation Systems Little Squirt
* Changes since version 0.1
New entries:
o Q02) How does the performance of these cards compare to graphics
workstations such as those produced by SGI, Sun, DEC, etc?
o CS03) S-MOS SPC1500 Geometry Processor
o B05) Oki TrianGL
o B06) Intergraph GLZ Series
Changed entries:
o CS01) Changed address of www site and added email contact.
o GLINT01) added pricing information
o B01) Historical correction.
o B04) Small change (VLbus parts may not exist)