Monday June 29, 9:00 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: S3 Incorporated
S3 Unveils Savage3D Reference Designs for Microsoft's
WebTV for Windows Feature Of Windows 98
Windows 98 and Savage3D Merge Traditional TV-Watching With the
Interactivity Of a Personal Computer
SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Delivering a totally interactive TV
experience on your PC, S3(R) Incorporated (Nasdaq: SIII - news) announced today
Savage3D(TM) reference designs based on Microsoft's new WebTV for Windows. A new
feature within Microsoft Windows 98, WebTV for Windows will work with Savage3D's video
functionality to enable PC users to seamlessly migrate between the television and webpages,
watch TV programs on their personal computer and receive other information such as
Web-pages, multimedia files and software upgrades over broadcast airwaves.
''New video enabled graphics chips -- like S3's Savage3D -- that can support important features
of Windows 98, such as WebTV for Windows and Direct3D, will benefit the industry and
consumers,'' said Dave Marsh, the technical evangelist for TV & Video at Microsoft. ''Boards
using these chips should be able to support a wide range of Microsoft entertainment
technologies, providing realistic game play and a significantly expanded TV experience.''
Mark Farley, director of Video Marketing for S3 Incorporated said, ''We believe that S3's
Savage3D accelerator is the premier choice for the WebTV for Windows feature of Windows 98
as it delivers superior video quality and functionality. Together, our two companies are
extending the functionality of the PC platform and enabling a completely new TV/PC experience.
For example, a user can be watching TV, see a related URL appear in the upper corner screen,
and click on it to be transferred immediately to the specified webpage.''
The Savage3D Reference Designs
The Savage3D reference designs are single card solutions that incorporate a Savage3D
accelerator which includes the integrated NTSC/PAL encoder, video digitizer and TV tuner
module. S3 worked with several providers of video digitizers (Rockwell, MICRONAS
INTERMETALL, and Samsung) to offer customers a variety of options.
Savage3D and its Advanced Video Features
Savage3D outperforms all shipping 3D accelerators in AGP performance, trilinear
mip-mapping, texture compression and DVD/video processing. Delivering what S3 believes is
the highest 3D quality and performance, the 128-bit Savage3D chip achieves an unprecedented
125 million pixels per second through its single cycle trilinear architecture; and delivers more
than 4X AGP performance through its newly designed AGP engine and Microsoft-endorsed
texture compression technology. As the premier solution for video applications under Windows,
Savage3D delivers the following video features:
* VIP (Video Interface Port) 1.1 -- The VIP bus allows for a low-cost,
easy-to-implement interface to third party multimedia peripherals such
as video digitizers and MPEG-2 decoders.
* High-quality Upscaling and Downscaling -- Enables the video image to be
enlarged or reduced without degrading the picture quality. Savage3d
offers a dynamic multi-tap downscaler which provides a superior viewing
quality over a wide range of scale factors.
* De-interlacing -- Provides high-quality viewing of interlaced content on
a progressive scan (non-interlaced) PC monitor eliminating motion
artifacts.
* Bus-mastering -- Improves the rate for real-time video transmission by
allowing the CPU to compress and decompress data in parallel with data
transfers to maximize video frame rate.
* MPEG-2 Motion Compensation -- Ensures full frame-rate video (30fps) and
high-quality audio of DVD content on PCs.
* Subpicture Blending and Highlights -- Alpha-blending combines subpicture
information with video data using multiple levels of transparency. This
offers a correct display of DVD menus and other interactive graphics
encoded with DVD titles.
* Video Color Enhancement -- Allows the user to adjust the color,
saturation, hue, and brightness of the video image to his or her
preference.
* Integrated TV-Out -- Provides flicker-free video display on a
large-screen TV enhancing DVD movies & 3D games.
For more detailed information about Savage3D and to access detailed white papers, photos,
screen shots, product sheets, and press releases, log onto the S3 website at www.S3.com.
About S3 Incorporated
S3 Incorporated, founded in 1989 with headquarters in Santa Clara, California, is the world's
largest supplier of multimedia acceleration hardware and its associated software. S3 is
committed to applying its expertise in audio, video, graphics and platform acceleration to create
innovative and affordable products for the home, desktop and mobile markets.
Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, such
as statements relating to the market acceptance of Savage3D and Savage3D's performance, are
forward-looking statements that are subject to risk and uncertainties, including the impact of
competitive products and pricing and of alternative technological advances, the ability of the
company's foundries to ramp Savage3D to volume production in a timely manner, market
acceptance of the company's and its customers' new products, and other risks detailed from time
to time in S3's SEC reports, including its Quarterly Report on Form 10Q for the 3 months ended
March 31, 1998. S3 is a registered trademark of S3 Incorporated. The S3 corporate logo,
Savage3D and S3TC are trademarks of S3 Incorporated. Other marks referenced herein are the
property of their respective owners.
SOURCE: S3 Incorporated |
