Indy3D Answers Industry Cry for Fast, Easy-to-Use Measurement of OpenGL Hardware Performance and Image Quality.SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 1997-- Indy3D Application-Focused Graphics Performance and Quality Benchmark Addresses Needs of MCAD MCAD Microsoft Certified Application Developer MCAD Mechanical Computer Aided Design MCAD Medium-Chain Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase (inherited metabolic disease) MCAD Minneapolis College of Art and Design , Animation and Simulation End-User Communities Solving the industry need for an application-focused comparison of OpenGL(R) hardware, SENSE8 Corp. and Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc. today announced Indy3D(TM), a fast, easy-to-use 3D graphics performance and quality benchmark for Mechanical Computer-Aided Design computer-aided design (CAD) or computer-aided design and drafting (CADD), form of automation that helps designers prepare drawings, specifications, parts lists, and other design-related elements using special graphics- and calculations-intensive (MCAD), animation and visual simulation professionals. Unlike current benchmarks, Indy3D measures performance based on a variety of typical application uses and provides a method of independently evaluating image quality. Indy3D simplifies benchmarking by producing a single comparative value for each of three different tests: MCAD, animation and simulation. In addition, users can explore underlying performance issues using primitive level measurement tools for polygon rate, fixed rate and fill rate. "We designed Indy3D for 3D professionals who need to compare their current hardware performance and quality with the hottest products on the market," said Ken Pimentel, vice president of business development at SENSE8. "End users can easily download Indy3D or run it off a CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). . Each official Indy3D test takes less than two minutes, and the results enable users to compare their 3D accelerator's performance with five of the industry's top performing graphics cards." Test reports and system information can be immediately accessed in either text or user-friendly HTML HTML in full HyperText Markup Language Markup language derived from SGML that is used to prepare hypertext documents. Relatively easy for nonprogrammers to master, HTML is the language used for documents on the World Wide Web. format. For easy comparison, Indy3D comes with official Indy3D scores for five graphics cards. Official results are submitted to SENSE8 and maintained on the SENSE8 Web site at www.sense8.com/indy3d/index.htm and the Indy3D Web site at www.indy3d.com . SENSE8 is solely responsible for guaranteeing the accuracy and reliability of the official results. Measurements for the five official cards included with Indy3D are obtained by SENSE8 using a single reference machine in a controlled setting. System configuration for the official results is as follows: --300-MHz Pentium II The successor to the Pentium Pro from Intel. Pentium II refers to the CPU chip or the PC that uses it. Code named "Klamath," the Pentium II was a Pentium Pro with MMX multimedia instructions. with 256-MB RAM, Windows NT (Windows New Technology) A 32-bit operating system from Microsoft for Intel x86 CPUs. NT is the core technology in Windows 2000 and Windows XP (see Windows). Available in separate client and server versions, it includes built-in networking and preemptive multitasking. (R) 4.0 --1280 x 1024 screen resolution --1024 x 768 rendering window resolution "Indy3D is not intended to replace existing benchmarks but instead to compliment today's options," said Joe Eschbach, assistant vice president of Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc. "Current benchmarks are not designed for the end user. Consequently the reporting is usually confusing, the tests are limited to one application area, they are difficult to install and run, and there is no image-quality test. Indy3D solves these problems." "The Indy3D benchmark is an important tool for testing 3D performance," said Dr. John Dr. John (also Dr. John Creaux) is the stage name of Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (born November 21, 1940), a colorful pianist, singer, and songwriter, whose music spans, and often combines, blues, boogie woogie, and rock and roll. Latta, president of 4th Wave Inc. "The methodology and visual nature of the MCAD, animation and simulation tests coupled with its image quality test separates Indy3D from the pack. This is a benchmark which users and many others in the industry can productively use to separate 3D accelerator performance." In addition to the official tests, Indy3D provides settings that can be changed, allowing users to run customized, unofficial performance tests. Optional settings include fog, translucency, shading, texturing, and lighting. These settings are fixed when running the official Indy3D tests. Turning Indy3D Over to the Industry SENSE8 and Mitsubishi intend to turn Indy3D over to the industry. Both companies are currently evaluating the most effective method for completing that goal. Starting in January, the two companies are releasing all Indy3D source code and requesting industry feedback for improving the tests. Indy3D source code will be available at www.indy3d.com and www.sense8.com/indy3d/indysource.htm . Indy3D feedback should be sent to feedback@indy3d.com . The Tests Indy3D is organized into three sets of tests: application, quality and primitive. There are three application tests (MCAD, animation and simulation); one quality test; and three primitive tests (polygon rate, fixed rate and fill rate). The tests are designed for 3D professionals who work with models of 10,000 or more polygons and for whom superior 3D frame-rate and response time must be delivered with exceptional image quality. Indy3D specifically stresses 3D hardware for rendering performance and image quality. The systems appropriate for Indy3D are medium to high-end PCs and workstations with a minimum memory of 96 MBytes. "The methodology behind Indy3D is sound. The test is easy to understand, a pleasure to use, and solid in its reporting," said Dr. Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Associates of Tiburon, Calif. "We expect users in the three major professional graphics market segments of CAD, animation, and simulation will find this benchmark very helpful in understanding how the OpenGL graphics subsystem affects application performance." Applications Tests The three application tests are composed of scene data designed to represent typical use in targeted markets. No knowledge of 3D rendering issues is required to run these tests or understand the results. MCAD The MCAD test displays an engine database provided by Engineering Animation Inc. and created using Structural Dynamics Structural dynamics is a subset of structural analysis which covers the behaviour of structures subjected to dynamic loading. Dynamic loads include people, wind, waves, traffic, earthquakes, and blasts. Any structure can be subject to dynamic loading. Resource Corp.'s (SDRC (company) SDRC - The company behind VGX. http://sdrc.com/. ) I-DEAS Master Series. The official test consists of 42,267 meshed, z-buffered, Gouraud-shaded, lit polygons rendered in a 1024 x 768 x 24 window (1024 x 768 pixels and 24 bit color). It measures the average frame-rate over 66 frames while the engine "tumbles." One-third of the frames are rendered as anti-aliased wireframe An umbrella term for a general outline of some structure. For example, the rough design of Web pages may be called wireframes. See wireframe modeling. , and the other two-thirds as Gouraud-shaded polygons. Animation The animation test illustrates a human animation via a "walking man" figure created by Westwood Studios Westwood Studios (1985-2003) was a computer and video game developer, founded in 1985 as Westwood Associates by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle and based in Las Vegas, Nevada. . Each figure consists of 22,342 meshed, z-buffered, Gouraud-shaded, bilinear bi·lin·e·ar adj. Linear with respect to each of two variables or positions. Used of functions or equations. Adj. 1. bilinear - linear with respect to each of two variables or positions filtered, fogged, lit polygons. The character's motion is created from six separate frames of animation. The image is rendered in a 1024 x 768 x 24 window, and the test measures the average frame rate over 245 frames while sequentially cycling through the animations. Simulation The simulation test is a sailboat, designed by SENSE8, moving through the San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay, 50 mi (80 km) long and from 3 to 13 mi (4.8–21 km) wide, W Calif.; entered through the Golden Gate, a strait between two peninsulas. . The default test consists of 7,260 meshed, z-buffered, Gouraud-shaded, translucent, fogged, trilinear tri·lin·e·ar adj. Relating to, having, or bounded by three lines. filtered, MIP MIP See: Monthly income preferred security mapped, lit polygons rendered in a 1024 x 768 x 24 window. The simulation test measures average frame rate over 225 frames while running boat and wave dynamics with a viewpoint circling the boat. Image Quality Test The image quality test is one scene divided into multiple sections. Each section demonstrates a specific quality feature designed to stress the graphics card. The end user can see how the card handles the following: texture mapping In computer graphics, the application of a type of surface to a 3D image. A texture can be uniform, such as a brick wall, or irregular, such as wood grain or marble. The common method is to create a 2D bitmapped image of the texture, called a "texture map," which is then "wrapped around" , z-buffer, antialiasing See anti-aliasing. , texture filtering In computer graphics, texture filtering is the method used to determine the texture color for a texture mapped pixel, using the colors of nearby texels (pixels of the texture). In short, it blends the texture pixels together by breaking them up into tinier pixels. and MIP mapping A texture mapping technique that uses multiple texture maps, or MIP maps. Each MIP map is half the size of the first one, providing several texture maps for various levels of depth. MIP mapping is combined with various other techniques to produce different amounts of realism. , polygon seaming, perspective correction Perspective correction or perspective control is a procedure for composing or editing photographs to better conform with the commonly accepted distortions in constructed perspective. , and translucency. The user has access to a reference JPEG JPEG in full Joint Photographic Experts Group Standard computer file format for storing graphic images in a compressed form for general use. JPEG images are compressed using a mathematical algorithm. image that shows how the scene should look if rendered correctly. The user also has access to a reference JPEG image that shows how the scene looked when rendered by the five official Indy3D cards. "The image quality test is outstanding," said Roy Latham, president of Computer Graphics Systems Development Corp., and editor and publisher of Real Time Graphics. "It is extraordinarily revealing of how each card handles antialiasing, transparency, and texture under many combinations of conditions. Users will find this test an invaluable tool for comparing image quality among cards." Primitive Tests The primitives are intended to provide insight for performance beyond the single value measurement. These tests are designed for people who understand 3D rendering issues and enjoy experimenting with multiple rendering issues. No official results are given for the primitive tests. Polygon Rate The polygon rate test measures triangles per second and stresses the underlying transform, lighting, and setup calculations of the system and graphics board. For databases composed of tens of thousands of polygons, this typically becomes the limiting factor in achieving better performance. In addition to graphics board issues, the underlying CPU CPU in full central processing unit Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. and system performance significantly influences this measurement. The test automatically generates triangles until 10 Hz is reached, then averages the measurement over 30 frames. Fixed Rate The fixed rate test is targeted for the simulation community and measures the number of polygons rendered at 20 Hz. This is an important measurement as it drives the acceptable size and design of the visual database used for a simulation. The test automatically generates triangles to reach 20 Hz, and the resulting polygon count is used as the measurement. Fill Rate The fill rate test measures the speed or bandwidth of the graphics hardware to draw pixels. This is measured in millions of pixels per second. To achieve high frame-rates when rendering high-resolution images requires significant bandwidth. Rendering a single polygon that fills a 1024 x 768 window at 10 Hz requires 7.8 Mpixels per second bandwidth. Typical databases require two to four times this amount. The default test creates quads that are automatically generated to reach 10 Hz, then averages the measurement over 30 frames. Indy3D Compatibility The initial public release of Indy3D (version 2.0) is compatible with Microsoft Windows(R) 95 and Windows NT operating systems running on Intel processors with a minimum memory of 96 MBytes. Operating system, API and CPU compatibility for future versions is currently under evaluation. Availability Indy3D can be downloaded at www.sense8.com/indy3d/index.htm or at www.indy3d.com . A CD-ROM version can be ordered at www.indy3d.com starting in January. About SENSE8 Founded in 1990, SENSE8 Corp. is the world's leading provider of software tools for professional 3D/virtual reality application developers. As part of its solutions-oriented focus, the company also provides systems integration, training and custom programming services for its customers. Since 1990, WorldToolKit has won numerous virtual reality industry awards including Computer Graphics World, CyberEdge Journal and Meckler awards for technology excellence. SENSE8's World Up has won awards from IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, www.ieee.org) A membership organization that includes engineers, scientists and students in electronics and allied fields. Computer Graphics and Applications and Computer Graphics World. About Mitsubishi Electric Corp. Mitsubishi Electric is a transnational corporation Any corporation that is registered and operates in more than one country at a time; also called a multinational corporation. A transnational, or multinational, corporation has its headquarters in one country and operates wholly or partially owned subsidiaries in one or more that focuses on developing technology-based products for industries ranging from communications to consumer to industrial markets. Mitsubishi combines its systems level expertise and high-level silicon process technology to provide chip, chipset and system-on-a-chip solutions. Mitsubishi Electric groups responsible for the 3DPro/2mp chipset include its Japan-based IC design and wafer fabrication entities, and VSIS VSIS Vault Safety and Inventory System VSIS Victualling Stores Issuing Ship Inc., its Sunnyvale-based systems design and engineering company. VSIS Inc. (pronounced "Vee-sis") is a Silicon Valley start-up company start-up company A new business. incorporated in Delaware on April 1996 with 100 percent venture capital funding provided by Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc. VSIS' mission is to develop new systems-level technologies in new markets. To learn more, please visit http://www.3dpro2mp.com for more information. Trademark Information SENSE8, WorldToolKit, and World Up are registered trademarks of SENSE8 Corp. VSIS and the VSIS logo are trademarks, and "The System Is The Chip" is a service mark of VSIS Inc., a Mitsubishi Electric America Inc. group company. 3DPro is a trademark of Mitsubishi Electric America Inc. Mitsubishi and the Mitsubishi logo are registered trademarks of Mitsubishi Electric Corp. in the USA, Japan and other countries. Indy3D is a trademark of Mitsubishi Electric America Inc. OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics Inc. Windows and Windows NT are registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Note to Editors: Reproducible electronic images of Indy3D tests and Indy3D frequently asked questions can be accessed at www.indy3d.com, or by calling Julianne Whitelaw at 650/919-2048. CONTACT: Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc. Bill Cottrell, 408/774-3098 bill.cottrell@vsisinc.com or KVO KVO Keep Vein Open KVO Key-Value Observing KVO Kunstvakonderwijs (Dutch) KVO Keeler, Vandyke, O'Brien (KVO Industries; Santa Rosa CA) Public Relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most Julianne Whitelaw, 650/919-2048 julianne_whitelaw@kvo.com or SENSE8 Ken Pimentel, 415/289-5278 ken@SENSE8.com |
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