943 lines
33 KiB
Plaintext
943 lines
33 KiB
Plaintext
========================================================================
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PC 3D Graphics Accelerators FAQ
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v 0.6
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9 August 1995
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========================================================================
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<http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~bm/pc-3dcards.txt>
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<ftp://ftp.cs.columbia.edu/pub/bm/pc-3dcards.txt>
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Changes and additions to:
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Blair MacIntyre
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bm@cs.columbia.edu
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Work:
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+1 212 939 7087
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Columbia University, Dept. of Computer Science
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500 W 120th St., Room 450
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New York, NY 10027
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USA
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This document provides a partial -- and not comprehensive -- list of
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3D graphics accelerators for PCs. In particular, I am interested in
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PCI-based accelerators. You can help make it more comprehensive by
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sending me additional information and/or updates. This information is
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abstracted and condensed from the posts of many different
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contributors. No guarantees are made regarding its accuracy.
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This document is available via WWW. See above URL.
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The original motivation for this document came from a list of
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accelerators compiled by Chris Hinch, Management Information Systems,
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Dunedin City Council, PO Box 5045, Dunedin, New Zealand (chris@dcc.govt.nz)
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----------------
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Changes since version 0.5
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Q02) added pointers to the OpenGL home page and the Viewperf ftp directory
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Changes since version 0.4
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Changed Entries:
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GLINT04) Fixed area code in telephone number
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Changes since version 0.3
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New entries:
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B07) Division's VPX Image Generator and ProVision Systems
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B08) Reality Simulation Systems Little Squirt
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Changes since version 0.1
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New entries:
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Q02) How does the performance of these cards compare to graphics
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workstations such as those produced by SGI, Sun, DEC, etc?
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CS03) S-MOS SPC1500 Geometry Processor
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B05) Oki TrianGL
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B06) Intergraph GLZ Series
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Changed entries:
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CS01) Changed address of www site and added email contact.
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GLINT01) added pricing information
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B01) Historical correction.
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B04) Small change (VLbus parts may not exist)
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---------------
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TODO:
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- organize the information a bit better, remove some extraneous or
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duplicate info.
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- answer some frequently asked questions
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- get more hard data comparing the boards, such as the output of the OpenGL
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viewperf program. If any manufacturers want to send me a demo
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unit, or donate one to our group, my address is above.
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- add more info, as people request and provide it!
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==================================================================
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Contents of Part 1
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Introduction
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Disclaimer
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Section I: Frequently Asked Questions
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Q01) Are there any 3D graphics accelerators for PCs?
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Q02) How does the performance of these cards compare to graphics
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workstations such as those produced by SGI, Sun, DEC, etc?
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Section II: 3D Chipsets Availability
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CS01) 3DLabs GLINT 300SX
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CS02) Lockheed Martin Real3D (not yet available)
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CS03) S-MOS SPC1500 Geometry Processor
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Section III: GLINT 300SX-based Boards
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GLINT01) Omnicomp 3DEMON
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GLINT02) Fujitsu Sapphire 2SX (?)
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GLINT03) ELSA GLoria (not yet available)
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GLINT04) Media Labs Inc. 3DMedia
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GLINT05) SPEA FireGL (not yet available)
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GLINT06) Force Inc. 3DE-300SX (?)
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GLINT07) Densan PCI-300SX (?)
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Section IV: Real3D-based Boards
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R3D01) Lockheed Martin R3D/100 (not yet available)
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Contents of Part 2
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Section V: Other boards
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B01) AccelGraphics AG300
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B02) ISC PowerGL
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B03) Evans & Sutherland Freedom (not yet available)
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B04) Matrox Impression Plus
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B05) Oki TrianGL
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B06) Intergraph GLZ Series
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B07) Division's VPX Image Generator and ProVision Systems
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B08) Reality Simulation Systems Little Squirt
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==================================================================
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Introduction
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The original motivation for compiling this list was to compare
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the features of various 3D graphics accelerators becoming available
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for microcomputers. In particular, I am interested in PCI-based
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cards which support OpenGL under Windows NT, Linux, Solaris x86
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(none yet!), etc. and support stereo head mounted displays.
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(In fact, of the currently available boards, only one qualifies.
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See if you can figure out which one.)
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Information which falls in that category will obviously be more
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complete. Other information will be included if someone sends it
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to me, but I won't be actively researching it myself. As such,
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there is little or no information right now about 3D accelerators for
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high-end machines such as those produced by SGI, Sun, HP, DEC,
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etc, except as the ones listed may also work in those machines.
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==================================================================
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Disclaimer
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I haven't seen or used many of these cards, and all figures are the
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manufacturers own, as near as I can verify. I am not promoting
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any one card or company over any other. Any anecdotes, speed
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comparisons, etc., that I collect will be included on a purely
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informational level. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Of course,
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I will not include anything I do not believe or know to be false.
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No representation is made as to the accuracy of these
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figures/technical specs. If you are going to buy/bet the
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farm/otherwise invest in one of these products, CONTACT THE
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MANUFACTURER first and make sure that what you want is what you'll
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get!!!
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CAVEAT EMPTOR!!!
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All trademarks etc are copyright of their respective owners etc. etc.
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Furthermore, many of these boards are not yet available, so
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you should find out delivery dates before getting your heart set on
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any given one.
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====================================================================
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Section I: Frequently Asked Questions
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====================================================================
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Q01) Are there any 3D graphics accelerators for PCs?
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I'm glad you asked. There are quite a few, with more coming out all
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the time. See the rest of this document for more information.
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(Ok, it's a stupid question, but I needed _something_ in the FAQ
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section)
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Q02) How does the performance of these cards compare to graphics
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workstations such as those produced by SGI, Sun, DEC, etc?
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This question is difficult to answer because there are so many factors
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affecting the overall 3D performance on a PC. Most importantly, while
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many of the boards listed below have impressive numbers in terms of
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maximum number of polygons/second, most only accelerate rendering.
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What this means is that you are still bounded by the speed at which
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your processor can transform a 3D data stream to a 2D perspective with
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lighting and material effects and then ship these numbers over the bus
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to the graphics card. So, the processor, processor speed, bus type
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and speed, software design, etc., all effect the final throughput.
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Thus, a board may perform differently on two different machines that
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have the same "specs" (ie. 90Mhz Pentium, PCI bus) if the bus was
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designed differently, or if there are other cards on the bus taking up
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bandwidth.
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What is really needed is a set of comprehensive benchmarks that give
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some more realistic numbers about the various combinations of
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hardware. The NCGA (National Computer Graphics Association) GPC
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(Graphics Performance Committee) (comprised of the major vendors along
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with UNC and SDSC) is an organization primarily concerned with
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developing benchmark standards and performance characterizations for
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graphics hardware.
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Check out:
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http://sunsite.unc.edu/gpc/gpc.html
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for information about the GPC activities.
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Unfortunately, the GPC Quarterly is about $200/year, which is beyond
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my budget. Thus, to get their benchmark results, you'll have to talk
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to them. However, the benchmarking tool they use to measure OpenGL
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performance, called Viewperf, is available for free. From the README
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that comes with Viewperf:
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What is this Thing Called 'Viewperf'
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-----------------------------------
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Rob Putney, OPC Vice Chairman
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4/21/95
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Viewperf is a portable OpenGL performance benchmark program
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written in C. It was developed by IBM. Viewperf provides a vast amount of
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flexibility in benchmarking OpenGL performance. At the current time,
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the program runs on most implementations of UNIX, Windows NT, and OS/2.
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The OpenGL Performance Characterization (OPC) Committee has endorsed
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Viewperf as its first OpenGL benchmark and results
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were first published using it in 4Q94 version of The GPC Quarterly.
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OPC member companies have ported the Viewperf code to their operating
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system and window environments. The OPC Committee maintains a single
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source code version of the Viewperf code that is available to the
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public.
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In future versions of this FAQ, performance measurements will be added
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in another section at the end. Stay tuned. If you have any
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measurements using Viewperf, please send them to me (bm@cs.columbia.edu)
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Viewperf can currently be obtained from
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ftp://net1.uspro.fairfax.va.us/pub/gpc/opc/viewperf/
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If that directory does not work, try looking on the OpenGL home page at
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http://www.sgi.com/Technology/openGL/opengl.html
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which should contain a pointer to ViewPerf.
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====================================================================
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Section II: 3D Chipsets available now or in the near future.
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There are numerous 3D chipsets being worked on, but these 2 happen to
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be the ones I have detailed information both on the chips and on
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boards built using them. If I get more information on other chips,
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I will include them here.
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====================================================================
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CS01) 3DLabs GLINT 300SX
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First, a comment about the GLINT 300SX chip, which I will make because
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it was not clear to me when I first read their specs. They mention
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texture mapping acceleration, but on the 300SX texture maps are held
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in host memory and per pixel information is sent to the chip which
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performs the necessary interpolations and applications. For the
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upcoming 300TX, the texture maps are held in local memory on the
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graphics card (the "localbuffer") and the host just sends per vertex
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information to the chip which performs all the texture mapping
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calculations.
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Information on the 300SX can be obtained from the 3DLabs home page at
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http://www.3Dlabs.com/3Dlabs/
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or by sending email to info@3Dlabs.com.
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The technical specs below were copied directly from the page
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http://www.3Dlabs.com/3Dlabs/300SXinf.html
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GLINT 300SX Overview
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The GLINT 300SX high performance graphics processor combines workstation
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class 3D graphics acceleration and state-of-the-art 2D performance
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in a single chip.
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GLINT is capable of processing 300,000 shaded, depth buffered
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and anti-aliased polygons/second. The chip provides complete 32-bit
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color, 2D and 3D acceleration, an on-chip PCI-compliant local
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bus interface and integrated LUT-DAC control, making a complete
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graphics subsystem possible with minimal chip count.
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All the rendering operations of OpenGL are accelerated by the
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GLINT 300SX, including Gouraud shading, depth buffering, anti-aliasing,
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alpha blending, and texture mapping.
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3D ACCELERATION
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o 100% OpenGL compliant rendering operations in hardware
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o Point, line, rectangle and polygon primitives
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o Gouraud shading, depth buffering, anti-aliasing, dithering,
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depth cueing, texture map filtering and alpha blending
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o 2.5 Giga operations per second
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o 300K Gouraud shaded, depth buffered triangles/sec
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2D AND GUI ACCELERATION
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o True color acceleration of window systems such as Win32 and
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X11
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o Accelerated bitBLT, line drawing, fills, text and window clipping
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SPECIAL FEATURES
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o 64-bit hyper-pipelined architecture
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o Vertex level interface
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o 112-bit pixel datapath to memory
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o High quality 16 and 8-bpp dithering of 24-bit graphics images
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o Fast frame and depth buffer clears
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o Shared framebuffer interface for easy multimedia integration
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o VRAM block fill and bit masking
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o Anti-aliasing for high quality images at 4x4 and 8x8 sub-pixel
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resolution
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DISPLAY MODES
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o Resolutions up to 2560x2048
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o 8, 16 or 32-bits per pixel RGBA and 4 or 8-bit color indexed
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o Packed 8, 16 and 32-bit pixels
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o Supports advanced modes: double buffering, stereo and overlays
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GLINT 300SX Graphics Architecture
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The GLINT 300SX delivers 3D and GUI rendering functionality to
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improve the performance and quality of graphics applications and
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APIs.
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o Gouraud shading
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o Depth buffering
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o Anti-aliasing
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o Dithering
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o Depth cueing and fog
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o Texture mapping
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o Scissor and stipple masking
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o Alpha blending
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o Logical Operations (e.g. XOR)
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The unique hyper-pipelined architecture and 112-bit memory datapath
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ensure that multiple rendering operations can be combined with
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no performance penalty - allowing a Gouraud shaded polygon to
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be processed just as fast when depth buffering, dithering and
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anti-aliasing are enabled.
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FRAMEBUFFER CONTROLLER
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The 64/32-bit framebuffer controller directly interfaces to VRAM
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or DRAM framebuffers and supports a wide range of pixel depths,
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resolutions and memory sizes - enabling systems to be tuned to
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meet specific price/performance targets.
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O 1-32 MBytes VRAM or DRAM
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O 8,16 or 32-bit RGBA color
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O 4 or 8-bit color indexed
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O 2, 4, 8 pixels per 64-bit word
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O 640x480 to 2560x2048
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O VRAM arbitrary shape block fill
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O VRAM bit masking
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O Framebuffer bypass mode
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LOCALBUFFER CONTROLLER
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The localbuffer holds optional off-screen information for
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each pixel including; depth (Z) values, stencil data, arbitrary
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window clip planes, plus a control field for fast window clearing.
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The format for each field is user defined, up to a maximum of
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48 bits.
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O 0-48 MBytes DRAM
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O 0-48-bits wide
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Depth: 0, 16, 24, 32-bit
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Stencil: 0, 4, 8-bit
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Window clipping: 0, 4-bit
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Fast depth clear: 4, 8-bit
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O Localbuffer bypass mode for direct access by external devices
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INTEGRATED VIDEO TIMING
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An internal timing generator and VRAM transfer controller
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are incorporated into the GLINT 300SX processor. Advanced systems
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requiring overlays, stereo, interlace or very large framebuffers
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can be supported using an external timing generator.
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SHARED FRAMEBUFFER
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The GLINT 300SX's on-chip shared framebuffer interface is
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a fully integrated implementation of S3's interface, allowing
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GLINT to use video and multimedia co-processors, or for the GLINT
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to be used as a 3D coprocessor to an S3 device.
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UPGRADE PATH
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The GLINT 300SX is the first of a family of GLINT graphics
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processors that are designed to meet the demands of the graphics
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designer. The GLINT300TX, is a second generation pin compatible
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processor that enhances the SX's texture capabilities - supporting
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local texture storage and pixel address generation for all OpenGL
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texturing modes.
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NOTICE: 3Dlabs reserves the right to change the above specifications
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without notice.
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From looking at the various boards, it appears that typical
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performance quotes are in the following range:
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3D Gouraud shaded, depth buffered, window clipped, stippled,
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dithered, and alpha tested rendering performance with
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24-bit RGB color depth is the following:
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300K 25 pixel triangles/sec
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500K 10 pixel vectors/sec
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8M independent points/second
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500K 9x13 pixels characters/second
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2D Graphics performance
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1M 10 pixel vectors/sec
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500K 10x10 pixel, flat shaded rectangles/sec
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500K 9x13 pixels characters/second
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Scroll Rate 48M pixels/second - 8 bits/pixel
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====================================================================
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CS02) Lockheed Martin Real3D
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Information on the Lockheed Martin Read3D chipset was obtained from
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their WWW server at the following URL:
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http://www.mmc.com/real3d/
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Check there for more information, or call 1-800-393-7730, or send
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email to real3d@mmc.com
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The following is taken from a press release found at that site:
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The REAL3D(tm) chipset is based on real-time computer image generation
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technology that gives a combination of dynamic response and realism
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previously available only on dedicated graphics workstations and high
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end custom image generators.
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The first product will be the R3D/100 graphics accelerator. Key
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performance attributes of the new chip set include an embedded 100
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MFLOPS geometry processor, pixel write rates of up to 33 million
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pixels per second, up to 750,000 polygons per second, line processing
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up to 1.5 million per second, and provides up to 192 color texture
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maps (128 x 128 mipmapped) in real-time.
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The new product is an outgrowth of Lockheed Martin's proprietary
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computer graphics technology previously used in high performance
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military simulation, engineering research and training applications
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first developed for astronaut training and military flight
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simulators.
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The chip set provides faster processing through its patented hardware
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design which incorporates geometry processing, rasterization and
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texture mapping. The R3D/100 embedded floating point geometry
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processor removes significant processing burden from the host CPU. The
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patented texture processor applies color mipmapped texture to polygons
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in true 3D corrected perspective.
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Designed as a true polygon processor with texture processing and
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scaleable texture memory from the outset, the R3D/100 chip set
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includes dedicated hardware acceleration of mipmapped texturing that
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provides continuous high fidelity image quality. This chip set
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simulates spotlights, fog and realistic curved surfaces. Additionally,
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improved image quality is provided with multi-pass anti-aliasing.
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The R3D/100 chip set directly interfaces with Microsoft 3D/DDI and
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supports all 3D/DDI-compliant APIs, such as OpenGL(tm) and comes with
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device driver software and a device driver kit.
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====================================================================
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CS03) S-MOS SPC1500 3D Graphics Geometry Processor
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S-MOS Systems is offering the industry's first commercially
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available single chip 3D geometry accelerator for the PC marketplace.
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The SPC1500 will work together with any 3D rendering processors to
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accelerate 3D graphics up to 300K+ lighted triangles per second.
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Why is geometry processing acceleration important?
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Rendering processors alone, even on Pentium class machines, can not
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deliver true workstation class performance. This is because even the
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fastest CPUs today are quickly overcome by the amount of algorithmic
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processing necessary to transform a 3D data stream to a 2D perspective
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with lighting and material effects.
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The SPC1500 integrates a 150Mflop dual floating point engine, an
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on-chip DMA processor, on-chip ROM to store the algorithm instruction
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set, and an on-chip RAM cache to store customer instructions in a
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single 223 pin PGA package.
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Easy integration
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S-MOS Systems provides a complete design package for the system
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integrator and board vendor.....
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PCI Reference Designs
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S-MOS Systems provides reference designs and evaluation kits showing
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the capabilities of the SPC1500 running OpenGL on the WindowsNT
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platform. Full technical manuals, electronic gerber files, and
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applications notes are available.
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Full Software Support
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WindowsNT and OS/2 Support
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S-MOS Systems provides OpenGL compliant software and system utilities
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for the WindowsNT platform. This software supports any rendering board
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(2D or 3D) that supports 3D DDI. It will also supports direct data
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transfer to the leading 3D rendering board vendors.
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MacOS Support
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S-MOS Systems will will support software drivers and system utilities
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for Quickdraw3D.
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An Acrobat version of the SPC1500 Datasheet is available via their page at
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http://www.smos.com/standard/spc1500.htm
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For more information contact
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Giri Venkat, Product Marketing Engineer, S-MOS Systems
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(E-Mail: venkat@smos.com).
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====================================================================
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Section III: GLINT 300SX-based Boards
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|
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The descriptions of the boards in this section will attempt to give
|
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information not common to all GLINT 300SX-based boards.
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|
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====================================================================
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|
GLINT01) Omnicomp 3DEMON
|
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FROM THE SPEC SHEET:
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|
|
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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
|
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from 3Dlabs.
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Frame buffer:
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|
|
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* 4 Mbyte high speed VRAM
|
|
* 8,12,16, and 24/32 bits per pixel
|
|
|
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Local buffer:
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|
|
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* 4 or 8 Mbyte DRAM
|
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|
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3DEMON Model SX44
|
|
|
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* 4 MByte frame buffer, 4 MByte local buffer
|
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* Double Buffered Resolutions
|
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800x600 24/32-bit (3-D)
|
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1024x768 16-bit (3-D)
|
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* Single Buffered Resolutions
|
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1024x768 24/32-bit (3-D)
|
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1280x1024 16-bit (2-D)
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|
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3DEMON Model SX48
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* 4 MByte frame buffer, 8 MByte local buffer
|
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* Double Buffered Resolutions
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800x600 24/32-bit (3-D)
|
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1024x768 16-bit (3-D)
|
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1280x1024 8-bit (3-D)
|
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* Single Buffered Resolutions
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|
1024x768 24/32-bit (3-D)
|
|
1280x1024 16-bit (3-D)
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|
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Software Compatibility
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* 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
|
|
|
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Hardware Compatibility
|
|
|
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* 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
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CONTACT INFORMATION:
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Steve Gillaspy
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Omnicomp Graphics Corp.
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1734 W. Sam Houston Pkwy N.
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Houston, TX. 77043
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Phone: 713-464-2990
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Fax: 713-827-7540
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email: omnicmp@phoenix.phoenix.net
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|
|
|
COMMENTS:
|
|
From Chris Hinch (chris@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.
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|
|
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Here's some pricing information, as of Thursday, 30 March 1995.
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|
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3DEMON SX44 (4MB VRAM, 4MB DRAM)
|
|
-------------------------------
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List $2,170
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Educational $1,995
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Quantity 1-9 $1,845
|
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Quantity 10-24 $1,715
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Quantity 25-99 $1,605
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|
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3DEMON SX48 (4MB VRAM, 8MB DRAM)
|
|
-------------------------------
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List $2,590
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Educational $2,380
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Quantity 1-9 $2,200
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Quantity 10-24 $2,045
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Quantity 25-99 $1,915
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|
|
====================================================================
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|
GLINT02) Fujitsu Sapphire 2SX
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|
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The Sapphire 2SX PCI-bus graphics accelerator uses the GLINT 300SX to
|
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provide acceleration for 3D multimedia and Virtual Reality
|
|
applications. The Sapphire 2SX supports multiple configurations and
|
|
memory options.
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|
|
|
Put out by their Microelectronic division. The following URL appears
|
|
to be partially invalid (the vspace/index.html doesn't exist anymore).
|
|
|
|
Possible URL:
|
|
http://www.fujitsu.com:80/FMI/vspace/index.html
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|
|
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Some information I received off the net (lost the source):
|
|
|
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Pixel bus: use one card - one monitor
|
|
use two cards - one monitor (double performance)
|
|
use two cards - one / two desktop
|
|
Drivers: PCI bus - Windows 95
|
|
- NT 3.5
|
|
- Apple PowerPC
|
|
|
|
Headquarters
|
|
|
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3545 North First Street
|
|
San Jose, California 95134-1807
|
|
(408) 922-9000
|
|
(408) 432-9044 (fax)
|
|
1-800-642-7616 (FMI Product Information)
|
|
|
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Manufacturing
|
|
|
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Gresham Manufacturing Divison
|
|
21015 S. E. Stark Street
|
|
Gresham, Oregon 97030-2099
|
|
(503) 669-6000
|
|
(503) 669-6109 (fax)
|
|
|
|
COMMENTS:
|
|
From Blair MacIntyre:
|
|
|
|
"They can mail but not fax information. I'm waiting to receive it."
|
|
|
|
====================================================================
|
|
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: joyl@elsa-usa.mhs.compuserve.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
COMMENTS:
|
|
From Blair MacIntyre:
|
|
|
|
"Looks pretty good. I'd choose this over a GLINT based board that
|
|
doesn't have the S3 chip on it. It will be out in late June, early
|
|
July: they say are redesigning it to increase the performance (both they
|
|
and someone at 3DLabs said they are hoping to increase performance by
|
|
30%)."
|
|
|
|
====================================================================
|
|
GLINT04) Media Labs Inc. 3DMedia
|
|
|
|
The 3DMedia SR is a true high performance 3D accelerator based on the
|
|
3DLabs GLINT 300SX chip.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
3DMedia SX
|
|
----------
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
3DMedia SX
|
|
----------
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
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):
|
|
|
|
3DMedia SX: Quantity Price
|
|
4M VRAM, 4M DRAM, Encoder, Linelock 1-99 $1895
|
|
100-999 $1795
|
|
1000+ CALL
|
|
3DMedia SX8:
|
|
4M VRAM, 8M DRAM, Encoder, Linelock 1-99 $2295
|
|
100-999 $2195
|
|
1000+ CALL
|
|
|
|
3DMedia SR: Quantity Price
|
|
4M VRAM, 4M DRAM 1-99 $1595
|
|
100-999 $1495
|
|
1000+ CALL
|
|
3DMedia SR8:
|
|
4M VRAM, 8M DRAM 1-99 $1995
|
|
100-999 $1895
|
|
1000+ CALL
|
|
|
|
One year warranty."
|
|
|
|
====================================================================
|
|
GLINT05) SPEA FireGL
|
|
|
|
(Preliminary Product Information, as of Feb. 95)
|
|
|
|
Summary:
|
|
o Dual processor 2D and 3D Graphics System
|
|
o PCI bus Support
|
|
|
|
Hardware - 3D Acceleration
|
|
o 3Dlabs GLINT 300SX Rendering Processor
|
|
o Supports advanced modes : double-buffering, stereo and overlays
|
|
o Accelerates OpenGL, HOOPS, SP3D and other 3D API4s
|
|
o 8 Mbyte local Memory - expandable to 12 Mbyte
|
|
|
|
Hardware - 2D Acceleration
|
|
o 64-bit S3 Vision968 GUI Accelerator
|
|
o 175 MHz Pixelclock
|
|
o 8 Mbyte high speed Video memory (VRAM)
|
|
o Multimedia ready through S3 Multimedia extensions
|
|
o Integrated Video Acceleration
|
|
|
|
Software & Miscelleanous
|
|
o 100 % OpenGL compatible
|
|
o SPEA 3D Software drivers for AutoCAD and MicroStation
|
|
o Third party applications based on SP3D, Criterion Renderware,
|
|
RenderMorphics RL, Intel 3DR
|
|
o GUI Support : Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT
|
|
o Multi-lingual documentation
|
|
o Software Updates via SPEA BBS or CompuServe
|
|
o 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
|
|
Availability : Q2/1995
|
|
|
|
Technical specifications subject to change
|
|
|
|
The board will cost approximately DM 5000 in Germany (as of early
|
|
April).
|
|
|
|
CONTACT:
|
|
David_Fink@spea.ccmail.compuserve.com
|
|
|
|
====================================================================
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
====================================================================
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
====================================================================
|
|
Section IV: Real3D-based Boards
|
|
====================================================================
|
|
R3D01) Lockheed Martin R3D/100
|
|
|
|
Based on the R3D/100 chipset described above. No other information
|
|
available.
|
|
|
|
CONTACT INFORMATION:
|
|
email: real3d@mmc.com
|
|
voice: 800-393-7730
|
|
fax: 407-826-3358
|
|
|
|
COMMENTS:
|
|
From Chris Hinch (chris@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."
|
|
|
|
====================================================================
|