3Dlabs Ships Permedia Pervasive 3D Processor; Fast 2D, VGA, Video and 30 Million texture-mapped pixels/sec in one integrated chip; New boards to start at less than $195; Silicon exceeding performance targets by 20%; Immediate high-volume availability.

NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 5, 1996--3Dlabs(R) Inc. (San Jose, CA) today announced immediate availability of its second-generation low-cost 3D processor - Permedia(R).

Permedia is the first Pervasive 3D processor to integrate all the pixel processing needs of a high-performance 3D PC into a single low-cost device and Permedia is shipping immediately in high-volume.

Permedia is the first, fully-integrated single-chip 3D processor that combines mainstream, no-compromise 2D functionality and performance with stunning second-generation 3D graphics.

Permedia-based boards provide fast SVGA, 64-bit 2D windows acceleration delivering over 30 million Winmarks, 30 frames-per-second video playback, and over 30 million texture-mapped, bilinear-filtered 3D pixels/second through Direct3D(TM), and yet can cost under $195.

Permedia is designed to provide optimal acceleration through standard APIs such as Direct3D. No proprietary libraries or coding are necessary to achieve smooth, textured, full-screen 3D gameplay and animations at well over 30Hz. As well as seamlessly accelerating the growing number of Direct3D titles and applications, 3Dlabs has an exclusive CGL license from Creative Labs that enables any Permedia board to run 3D Blaster(R) titles.

Many industry observers believe that 3D graphics will truly enter the PC mainstream when end-users are able to actively create and modify 3D information using powerful, low-cost authoring tools.

Permedia is unique among low-cost 3D graphics chips by providing a robust rendering pipeline which is 100% compliant with both Direct3D and OpenGL(R), enabling full acceleration of powerful authoring applications in a full windowed environment, as well as making VRML-based 3D environments fully interactive, and providing fast, immersive gameplay.

Permedia is shipping with an extensive set of production-quality software drivers including highly-optimized Direct 3D and DirectDraw(TM) for Windows(R) 95. Permedia also fully accelerates Autodesk's Heidi(TM), Silicon Graphics' OpenGL(R) and Apple's QuickDraw(TM) 3D and QuickDraw 3D RAVE, providing acceleration for any almost any 3D application. Permedia also ships with drivers for Windows NT.

Industry Support

Permedia has already been adopted by a wide range of board and system companies including Acer, Elsa, Symmetric and NeTpower for their TrueFX graphics accelerators. In January 1996 3Dlabs announced Creative Labs had licensed the Permedia Core, enabling Creative to manufacture standard Permedia graphics chips for its own use, and incorporate the Permedia core into fully-integrated multimedia chips.

In May 1996, Texas Instruments (TI) and 3Dlabs announced a strategic alliance whereby TI will manufacture, market and sell TI-branded devices that will be pin and software compatible with the Permedia from 3Dlabs. TI will also develop and market derivative products incorporating its own technologies and enhancements. Samples of these devices are expected to be available during the fourth quarter of 1996 - increasing the range of devices and choice of supplier for OEMs using Permedia-based designs.

Quotes

"Permedia has exceeded even our own aggressive expectations and is delivering outstanding Direct3D performance for all kinds of applications and titles under Windows 95," said Neil Trevett, vice president of marketing at 3Dlabs. "Just as importantly, Permedia's 2D is without compromise - with fast, flawless VGA and lightning-speed Windows acceleration. We believe that as pervasive 3D applications become common over the next few months, Permedia's 2D/3D integration, breadth of API support and superior 3D performance will prove to be an irresistible combination."

"Permedia is an ideal accelerator for Direct 3D, and for accelerating the wide range of applications using Microsoft's DirectX APIs," said Kate Seekings, 3D technology evangelist at Microsoft. "Microsoft welcomes 3Dlabs applying their expertise to making Windows(R) a compelling 3D platform. Permedia delivers high-performance Direct3D acceleration in a package that will make it accessible to a wide range of end-users."

"Innovative second-generation processors like Permedia are what we need to make the dream of real-time immersive 3D gameplay a reality," said Richard Leinfellner, vice president of research and development at Mindscape. "3Dlabs has done the right thing and invested heavily in their Direct3D drivers, letting us harness the power of Permedia through a standard API. Title portability through the use of standard APIs is a vital step to making the 3D games hardware market, and we applaud 3Dlabs in recognizing and encouraging this trend."

"When we first tried running Permedia, we were amazed at the level of real-time performance we were getting from a board costing less than $195," said Ken Pimentel, vice president of technology at Sense8. "Many applications of virtual reality and low-cost simulation are going to be truly enabled by fast, inexpensive hardware like Permedia. We look forward to working closely with 3Dlabs to make our WorldToolKit and WorldUP simulation authoring tools take full advantage of this new class of accelerator."

"Macromedia wants to target broad-based hardware solutions that are not only inexpensive, but also capable of running sophisticated authoring tools like Extreme 3D. Extreme 3D v2.0, due out in Fall 1996, will support Direct 3D and QuickDraw 3D renderers," said Rix Kramlich, senior product manager for 3D Products at Macromedia. "Permedia gives our users the performance and functionality they need, and 3Dlabs provides the necessary Windows and Macintosh(R) drivers. We welcome Permedia as a significant advance in hardware acceleration that will in turn let us expand the capability and scope of our authoring products."

Technical Information

Permedia silicon has exceeded previously announced performance targets by 20% and generates 30 million texture-mapped pixels-per-second with high-quality, true per-pixel perspective correction and full bi-linear filtering. Permedia's well-balanced 3D capabilities also include Gouraud shading, optional Z-buffering, full-scene anti-aliasing, specular texture highlights, fogging, blending, translucency, overlays and stencils at a rate of up to 600,000 50 pixel triangles-per-second.

Permedia contains a compact and highly-optimized unified graphics engine, re-architected using technology developed for 3Dlabs' GLINT workstation-class graphics processors. Permedia is also protected with the same fundamental patent estate as the GLINT product line.

Permedia uses Synchronous Memory that provides substantially more memory bandwidth than expensive fast-access EDO DRAMs. Permedia can use SDRAM on boards where low-cost is paramount, or SGRAM for superior performance. With a fully synchronous 64-bit external data path, the combination delivers a memory bandwidth of up to 480 Mbytes/sec. Future devices in the Permedia family using a higher clock frequency will be able to exploit high frequency SGRAMs to raise this bandwidth to 800 Mbytes/sec - almost doubling graphics performance. Permedia is a bus-mastering device fully conforming to PCI Bus (Version 2.1) specifications.

Permedia holds all the graphics buffers in one unified physical remory which provides considerable advantages to the latest-generation 3D applications. For example, a rendered 3D image can be used as a texture map for advanced rendering effects, and a rendered image can be scaled and filtered in real-time, providing fast, low-cost, full-scene anti-aliasing.

Pricing and Availability

Permedia is shipping in volume immediately and is priced at $53 in quantities of 10K/month.

Company Information

3Dlabs is a worldwide supplier of merchant chips, software and core technology for 3D graphics. With over 10 years experience in 3D graphics, the company's products enable chip, board and system manufacturers to integrate advanced 3D capabilities into their products for such applications as multimedia authoring, CAD, simulation, virtual reality, interactive TV and video games. 3Dlabs has consistently led the industry in being first to deliver successive generations of 3D devices that precisely meet the emerging needs of the 3D market.

In a recent article the company was positioned as the "First member of the next generation of chip companies," by the influential Red Herring magazine. In January 1996, 3Dlabs' GLINT and Permedia silicon were honored with a "First Place Computer Graphics World Editor's Choice Award for Outstanding Innovation." 3Dlabs Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, CA., was founded in April 1994, and is privately owned. -0-

Note to Editors: Photography of this product is available. 3Dlabs and GLINT are registered trademarks and Delta and Permedia are trademarks of 3Dlabs Inc. Ltd. OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. Microsoft, Windows Direct3D, DirectDraw are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are acknowledged and recognized.

CONTACT: 3Dlabs Inc.

Neil Trevett, 408/436-3456

[e-mail]

http://www.3dlabs.com

or

Horizon Public Relations 

Jonathan Hirshon, 408/982-2555

[e-mail]

http://www.horizonpr.com