200 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
200 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
ATI TECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCES 3D RAGE - VALUE-PRICED CHIP TO ENABLE
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ARCADE-EQUIVALENT GAMING ON MULTIMEDIA HOME PCs
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NOVEMBER 13, 1995 - Las Vegas, Nev. - ATI Technologies Inc. (TSE:ATY) today
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announced 3D RAGE, the first 3D chip that meets the price/performance
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milestones set by manufacturers of the next generation of Multimedia Home
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PCs and provides a comprehensive 3D arcade-caliber tool kit for games
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developers to create visually stunning games on the PC.
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Value-priced, and featuring dizzying arcade-caliber gaming on the PC, 3D
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RAGE is the most integrated high performance multimedia accelerator in its
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class. 3D RAGE marries rich 3D features with all of the capabilities of its
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award winning mach64 2D accelerators, adds full-screen, full-motion 30
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frames per second (fps) MPEG video playback and enhanced support for all
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major consumer video applications to produce the most intense gaming
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experience available on a PC. The new chip also utilizes the latest SGRAM
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memory providing four times the performance of current DRAM products at
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DRAM comparable pricing. Next generation synchronous memories keep
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bandwidth-hungry video and 3D engines found in advanced multimedia
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accelerators running smoothly.
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"With 3D RAGE, ATI completes the PC gaming puzzle," said Henry Quan, ATI's
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vice president of marketing. "Capitalizing on proven technologies and
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stable, open platforms, we have brought together the best of 3D, 2D and
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video, all in one product, which will not only produce the most powerful
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experience for the hard core gamer but will provide the ultimate, maximized
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tool for games developers."
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"After years of anticipation, everything will finally be in place over the
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next 12 months to foster a leap forward for the PC viewing experience,"
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said Mike Feibus, Analyst with Mercury Research. "This is due primarily to
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the confluence of three factors. First and foremost is Windows 95, with
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open and available APIs. Second is the emergence of accelerators like ATI's
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3D RAGE that provide support for 3D and video as well as two-dimensional
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graphics. And third, the developing hardware-software platform is spurring
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games developers to make use of the technology. It will be an exciting
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year."
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"Companies like Microsoft and ATI are leading the industry to transform the
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PC into the ultimate gaming platform," said Kate Seekings, Microsoft's 3D
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Evangelist. "With the introduction of 3D RAGE, ATI has once again shown
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that they understand the needs of games developers and systems
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manufacturers and have built in all the features and performance these two
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parties need to capitalize on this huge business opportunity."
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Built for Current and Future Needs
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Priced at $48 (in quantities of l0,000), with samples available now and
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full production to begin in first quarter 1996, 3D RAGE is the first chip
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of its kind which will enable systems manufacturers to provide completely
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integrated, high performance 2D/3D/video for arcade-caliber gaming in an
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easily upgradeable multimedia system which could sell for less than $2,000.
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The second in its accelerator family to incorporate ATI's recently
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announced Enhanced Visual Architecture (EVA), 3D RAGE allows OEMs to design
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a single low-cost multimedia motherboard which incorporates the critical
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features the new multimedia consumer is demanding such as TV-tuner,
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hardware MPEG and video conferencing.
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The PC - An Inherently Superior Gaming Machine
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With industry experts predicting sales volumes of "next generation"
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multimedia PCs at over 10 million units in l996, the revenue potential for
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PC games is far greater than that of "next generation" games consoles. As
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well as providing the virtual reality experience of 3D, the PC as a gaming
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platform supports TV-quality video, interactivity for tele-gaming and
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LAN-based multi-player gaming, making it an inherently superior gaming
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environment, virtually unmatchable in the console market. Games developers
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need a predictable, stable, high performance platform to ensure that PC
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games can be created that will be a significant improvement over the
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console experience. ATI's 3D RAGE has been built to meet these criteria and
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with an installed base of over l0 million accelerators, ATI is a proven
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volume supplier of multimedia hardware and can deliver the customers for
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games publishers to support the development of 3D games on the PC.
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Rather than catering to a proprietary, closed environment like some other
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multimedia accelerator vendors, ATI's 3D RAGE leverages off the strong
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industry standards being developed by companies like Microsoft. It supports
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all major Application Programming Interfaces (API) including Microsoft's
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Windows 95 Direct3D and Reality Lab, Apple's TinselTown and QuickDraw 3D,
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Argonaut's BRender and Criterion's RenderWare. Coupled with the latest
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gaming add-ons such as joysticks, 3D input devices, Virtual Reality
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headsets and Digital Simultaneous Voice Data (DSVD) modems used for
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tele-gaming, 3D RAGE will enable totally new gaming categories.
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The Ideal Development Tool
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"While other graphics and video vendors continue to launch 'trade-off
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technology', ATI's 3D RAGE supports all major APIs, accelerates all six
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Direct 3D texturing modes and incorporates all the features a games
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developer needs to optimize the gaming experience," said Craig Fryar from
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the OEM division of game publisher Interplay Productions. "Put this amazing
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product together with ATI's reputation for shipping quality multimedia
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hardware in volume and games developers have a winner."
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With performance rates of over 20 million perspectively correct texture
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mapped pixels per second and 575K+ Gouraud shaded triangles per second, 3D
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RAGE has the best single chip performance currently available in this
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category. To achieve comparable functionality and performance, other
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vendors require the use of multiple chips like triangle set-up engines and
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DACs, which adds to total system costs. Also, many chip manufacturers
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provide limited features forcing the game developer to compromise image
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quality in favor of speed, or vice versa. ATI allows the games developers'
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creativity to reign supreme by allowing them to decide how they want to use
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3D RAGE features to create the ultimate experience depending on the class
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of game they are developing.
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By utilizing PCI bus mastering, 3D RAGE further increases system
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performance. For example, texture maps can be swapped at high speeds
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between system and graphics memory which offloads the CPU to perform tasks
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such as calculating triangle vertices, resulting in significantly higher
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frame rates, which provides a dramatically enhanced gaming experience.
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3D Rage supports perspectively-corrected bi- and tri-linear filtered
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texture mapping for the highest level of virtual reality immersion. In
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addition, support for all six Direct 3D modes in conjunction with sub-pixel
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accuracy creates an amazing gaming experience. It also supports 3D Gouraud
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shaded polygons to accelerate the rendering of solid color surfaces. Hidden
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surface removal using Z-buffering is also available so the developer can
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decide whether to use graphics memory to offload the CPU from having to
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perform the taxing Z-sort algorithm when building 3D images.
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Ardent gamers are truly addicted to eye-popping 3D which games developers
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achieve using special effects, such as alpha blending, fog and texture
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lighting, which have all been incorporated into 3D RAGE. With the video
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texturing feature of 3D RAGE, developers can render live video images
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direct from an MPEG source onto 3D surfaces for state-of-the-art visual
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effects.
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The Ultimate Video Accelerator
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3D RAGE provides the highest possible video functionality including support
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for all major consumer video applications. MPEG playback functionality
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provides broadcast-quality, full screen, full motion, true color video. To
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transform your PC into an intelligent TV that harnesses all of the
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entertainment capabilities of a TV with the processing power of a PC, a
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TV-tuner capability can be added on so users can channel surf, do instant
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replays, capture their own TV transcripts and more. An optional hardware
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MPEG upgrade will provide the highest quality video images at full screen,
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30 fps speeds guaranteed, completely removing the task of processing video
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from the CPU. Enabling all of this multimedia expansion is ATI's EVA
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architecture with its built-in ATI Media Connector (AMC) which allows for
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the efficient transport of video and audio between multimedia devices and
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cards.
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ATI is the first to include both front-end and back-end video hardware
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scaling to handle two or more video streams simultaneously, a key
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requirement for the burgeoning modem-based video conferencing market. PCI
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bus mastering offloads the CPU from bi-directional transfer of video
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between the system memory and the accelerator.
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3D RAGE - The Ideal OEM Product
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ATI clearly has an advantage over the several new entrants who have
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appeared in the 3D acceleration market. OEMs are building Home PCs for
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users who are not only demanding great 3D, 2D and video acceleration, but
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who also want proven feature rich drivers and utilities. In addition, OEM
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system manufacturers are selling into a multiple niche market where
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TV-tuners, hardware MPEG and videoconferencing are in high demand. 3D RAGE
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provides all of this functionality plus ensures pin compatibility with
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current and future mach64 multimedia accelerators and options provides
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local language support to lessen the cost for the OEM to sell the product
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in international markets.
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Other Features
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- PCI 2.1 Plug and Play with bus mastering
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- Bi-endian support for broad processor compatibility including PCI
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PowerMacs
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- Integrated 135mhz DAC support 1280x1024 resolution
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- Supports 1, 2, 4MB FP/EDO DRAM, SDRAM and SGRAM
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- Unique color calibration support in hardware
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- DDC1 and DDC2 Plug and Play monitor support
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- Power-on diagnostics and active and passive power management
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Corporate Profile
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ATI Technologies designs and manufactures products for the Intel-compatible
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personal computer and Apple PCI Power Macintosh markets. These products
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include graphics accelerators and components, communications products and
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video hardware and software. Founded in l985, the firm's revenues for
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fiscal 1995 were over $359 million. ATI employs 650 people worldwide and
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has a product line that is sold through an international network of
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computer manufacturers and leading computer distributors. ATI is a publicly
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traded company on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE:ATY).
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# # #
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Copyright ATI Technologies Inc., 1995. 3D RAGE, EVA, AMC and mach64 are
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trademarks of ATI Technologies Inc. All other company and/or product names
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are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective
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manufacturers. Features and specifications are subject to change without
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notice.
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