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Technology Stocks : 3DFX -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Piranha who wrote (11649)	4/9/1999 6:21:00 PM
From: Jeff Lins	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16960

Yeah, stops are the worst thing in the world (when they aren't the best thing in the world :) beyond3d.com "Ok, went to VE and they had a link to 16bit vs 32bit output pitting the V3 against the TNT (here we go again)...don't have the link, but I stared reaaaal close...and was almost sure they had the images backwards...V3 looked just as good with less dithering...one of the images had a sky scene between Jax bar and a sign that said Ice...TNT looked more dithered...I still say who the hell cares for now, it looks great. That guy that had a nice article on dithering and the 22bit TDFX bullsh*t output has put up a second article in which he claims that 22 bit output IS possible...my hat is off to him for posting this: Since I am not sure whether 3dfx is using this advanced technique or not, I am unable to make any conclusions about 3dfx's claims. What I can say is that when I first heard about 22-bit output from 16-bit dithered input, I believed that it was a load of crap. By now I have seen several algorithms that indeed seem to approach 22-bit color by starting from a 16-bit dithered input. One thing I can tell you: it is not impossible to go from 16-bit dithered input to 22-bit output. If 3dfx is using a method like the one described in this article, then I can only say that it is a smart choice. This filtering is capable of seriously decreasing the visibility of dithering patterns while maintaining a clear, sharp image. While this technique is no replacement for true 24-bit rendering (note that 3dfx never claimed this), it is probably a good way to create very high quality 16-bit output. Right now I am tempted to say that 3dfx should have the best 16-bit quality out there. At this point I would like to thank Brain Burke from 3dfx/STB for replying so swiftly to my request for a Voodoo3 board. I am looking forward to receiving it and you can be sure that I will try to find out the difference between the buffered information and the real onscreen results. " In an email response to the previous article, a writer said, "he point is this: let us gamers have our choice - WE DECIDE WHAT IS BEST FOR US - not 3dfx ramming 16 bit (or 22 bit) down our throats and not offering us that option. The only reason I see why 3dfx is not doing this (allowing 32bit) is simply that THEY DON'T HAVE IT - they are not capable of producing 32 bit. They have been milking the same old engine while they were king of 3d - and have remained too complacent so much so that their competitors have overtaken them and when they realized it, they came out with lots of lame excuses for this 22 bit bullshit... " (Excerpt from an email)" Yeah, TDFX is ramming it down his throat...I guess with a dozen other nice boards out there he feels he must have a TDFX board...nothing wrong with that...