S3 readies 3-D for businesses
By Mark Hachman
Silicon Valley- The top chip maker in the mainstream graphics market, S3 Inc., has decided that the corporate PC world is ready for 3-D.
In its Trio3D, S3 has combined the core of one of its most popular graphics products, the ViRGE/GX 3-D chip, with a new 2-D graphics engine.
"We see high-performance 2-D graphics as still being the most necessary feature, with 3-D features as a checkoff item [in this market]," said Le-Hang Cao, product marketing manager of the desktop product line at S3, Santa Clara, Calif.
According to Jon Peddie of Jon Peddie Associates, Tiburon, Calif., "Our research indicates a continued strong demand for solid 2-D capabilities, especially in the business segment. By providing higher 2-D graphics performance without compromising video and 3-D graphics, S3's Trio3D has the right set of features for next-generation business graphics solutions."
Key features of the Trio3D's 2-D graphics engine include a 128-bit pipelined architecture, support for 125 MHz of SGRAM, and a proprietary burst command interface that accelerates either of the chip's two interfaces: PCI or 1X AGP.
Video-manipulation features such as scaling and interpolation are combined with what S3 calls the first use of the Video Interface Port, which transfers data from peripherals such as TV tuners.
Available in either a 208-pin QFP or 336-pin BGA, the Trio3D is pin-compatible with both the existing ViRGE family and future S3 3-D accelerators. The company's plans for 1998 include two newly developed 3-D engines targeting both the mainstream and the performance-graphics markets, S3 said.
The Trio3D is sampling now and will be in volume production by the first half of 1998. In 10,000s, the Trio3D will be available for $22.
Copyright (c) 1997 CMP Media Inc.
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