NEWS---Flat panel monitors are coming soon!
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Number Nine Visual Technology Corporation and Silicon Graphics, Inc.
Silicon Graphics and Number Nine Bring Award-Winning Silicon Graphics 1600SW Flat Panel Monitor to Apple Macintosh
Silicon Graphics 1600SW Flat Panel Monitor and the Number Nine Revolution IV-FP is the First Professional LCD Monitor Solution for the Apple Macintosh
MACWORLD EXPO, SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Silicon Graphics (NYSE: SGI - news) and Number Nine (Nasdaq: NINE - news) today introduced their award-winning digital flat panel monitor bundle into the Apple® Macintosh® market. The Silicon Graphics 1600SW™ flat panel monitor, bundled with the powerful Number Nine® Revolution® IV-FP graphics accelerator for the Mac® system, provides the first professional LCD monitor solution for visual professionals using Macintosh. The Silicon Graphics 1600SW flat panel monitor features a 19-inch CRT-equivalent, 17.3-inch 1600x1024 pixel SuperWide™ format screen with category defining image quality. The monitor has won 11 awards worldwide since its release in September of 1998 including PC Computing's prestigious MVP Breakthrough Award.
As part of its strategic initiative to bring professional-quality visual computing to the mainstream, Silicon Graphics has partnered with Number Nine Visual Technology Corporation to create the Digital Flat Panel Solution Pack for Mac. This solution pack includes the high-performance 2D/3D/Video Revolution IV-FP graphics accelerator with the all-digital Silicon Graphics 1600SW flat panel monitor, bringing Silicon Graphics magic to professional Mac users. Formac Elektronik of Germany, a long-time partner of Number Nine, played a significant role in the development of the Macintosh display drivers for the Revolution IV-FP. The Revolution IV-FP is outfitted with 32-megabytes of memory as a standard feature and is powered by Number Nine's forth generation, 128-bit ''Ticket To Ride™ IV'' processor. The Mac bundle will be available through a broad range of resellers worldwide in the first calendar quarter of 1999 and carries a US suggested list price of $2,895.
SGI Visual Magic on the Mac
As the industry's first all-digital high-resolution flat panel monitor, Silicon Graphics 1600SW offers the highest resolution on the market, as well as the finest dot pitch of any mainstream LCD or CRT monitor (110 dpi) plus vastly superior color, brightness, contrast, and pixel performance. The Silicon Graphics 1600SW flat panel monitor incorporates a broad range of technical innovations, including the industry's first high-resolution digital flat panel interface and color stability that exceeds that of the best color managed CRT monitors.
''Silicon Graphics is committed to delivering the ultimate visual computing experience,'' stated Eric Carlson, vice president and general manager of Silicon Graphics' Volume Products Division. ''This new digital flat panel solution pack brings the magic of Silicon Graphics to the Mac community.''
Extending Silicon Graphics innovation into the broader PC and Apple Macintosh markets was one of the key driving forces behind Silicon Graphics relationship with Number Nine Visual Technology Corporation.
''Number Nine is pleased to be able to work with Silicon Graphics to bring this innovative display solution to the Mac platform,'' noted Andy Najda, CEO and Founder of Number Nine Visual Technology. ''Now Macintosh owners can benefit from the state of the art in graphics and display technology while retaining all of the benefits for which the Mac platform is renowned.''
Breakthrough LCD Technology
The Silicon Graphics 1600SW flat panel monitor offers the SuperWide format, similar to High Definition TeleVision (HDTV) with a 16:10 aspect ratio. This format is more space efficient and offers enhanced ergonomics over traditional flat panel monitors. It is also the first to enable users to display two entire pages of information simultaneously, a benefit of particular importance to the publishing industry. The large, 17.3-inch diagonal screen is comparable in viewable size to a 19-inch CRT though it requires only a fraction of the desk space. It consumes less than 30 watts, gives off very low heat, and weighs just 16 pounds with the desktop stand.
''Mac has long been the platform of choice for visual professionals in desktop publishing and digital content creation,'' observed Joshua Mogal, manager of display products at Silicon Graphics. ''Silicon Graphics' charter is centered around visual computing and our first monitor, the Silicon Graphics 1600SW, has proven itself as the standard-bearer for image quality, having won 11 awards worldwide since its introduction at the end of September. Included among these awards are the Computer Graphics World Innovation Award, Imaging Magazine's Product of the Year, and the prestigious PC Computing MVP Breakthrough Award.''
Combining a large viewing format and ultra-high resolution, the Silicon Graphics 1600SW flat panel monitor provides 110 dots-per-inch (dpi) at a .231mm dot pitch. Virtually all high-end flat panel monitors offer a coarse dot pitch of 0.28 to 0.31mm, typically providing less than 90 dpi. This difference is best seen in the fine quality of images, where even the smallest details are cleanly viewed and jagged edges are minimized. This feature is enhanced by the use of a dedicated digital path from the graphics card to the display, delivering superior image quality and consistency.
''This high-resolution flat panel monitor is a prime example of the benefits of LCD display devices: higher resolution, higher quality, and a more convenient form factor than a CRT,'' said Martin Reynolds, vice president of technology for market researcher Dataquest. ''The digital interface guarantees delivery of that promise. Coupled with a much longer useful life and lower use of desk space, the overall cost of an LCD can come out below that of a CRT display despite the price premium.''
Designed for the Visual Professional
The Silicon Graphics 1600SW monitor provides 24-bit true color support with no dithering and extremely high levels of color saturation, brightness, and contrast. Silicon Graphics has also incorporated exclusive new technology which enables the user to adjust the color temperature independently from gray-scale, a feature important to professionals in desktop publishing, digital content creation, and image processing. This unique capability provides support for future color-calibration solutions.
In addition, visual computing professionals demand the ability to see real-time video or animation at their full frame rate. Traditionally, LCD monitors have not provided both wide viewing angles and fast pixel performance. The Silicon Graphics 1600SW flat panel monitor incorporates advanced technology that provides for wide viewing angles, yet enables the pixels to respond up to three times faster than competing displays. As a result, the Silicon Graphics 1600SW monitor delivers real-time video and animation without visual artifacts like blurring or ghosting.
Ease of Use
The Silicon Graphics 1600SW flat panel monitor is not only innovative in its technology offering, but in its ease of use as well. The tilt of the display is adjustable within a 20-degree range and the monitor can be raised or lowered 3.5 inches. The Silicon Graphics 1600SW flat panel monitor was also designed to comply with most every regulatory requirement, worldwide. Its low power consumption readily addresses the EPA Energy Star and NUTEK power-saving guidelines while its ergonomic characteristics adhere to TCO, VDE, CE, VCCI, and other worldwide requirements. To ensure its safety for use in home as well as office environments, Silicon Graphics 1600SW is certified as FCC Class B.
Ordering Information
The Silicon Graphics 1600SW flat panel monitor will begin shipping bundled with the PCI-format Revolution IV-FP graphics card for the Macintosh platform in the first calendar quarter of 1999. The product will be carried through distribution to a large number of worldwide resellers and carries a manufacturer's suggested list price of $2,895 in the US. Distributors in individual countries will set international prices.
The Silicon Graphics 1600SW flat panel display is covered by a three-year limited warranty. For more information on the monitor, see sgi.com.
About Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. (NYSE: SGI - news) is a leading supplier of visual computing and high-performance systems. The company offers the broadest range of products in the industry -- from low-end desktop workstations to servers and high-end supercomputers. Key industries include communications, energy, entertainment, government, manufacturing and sciences. Silicon Graphics and its subsidiaries have offices throughout the world and corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California.
About Number Nine
Number Nine Visual Technology Corporation, nine.com, is a leading supplier of high-performance visual technology solutions, including video/graphics accelerator subsystems, chips and productivity-enhancing software. Number Nine is a publicly held company (Nasdaq: NINE - news) headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts, with research and development, sales and/or marketing offices in Munich, Germany and Redmond, Washington.
Silicon Graphics is a registered trademark, and SuperWide, the Silicon Graphics logo, and Silicon Graphics 1600SW are trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc. Apple, Macintosh, and Mac are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Number Nine and Revolution are registered trademarks, and Ticket to Ride is a trademark, of Number Nine Visual Technology Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Number Nine Visual Technology Corporation and Silicon Graphics, Inc.
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