Nieuwkomer GigaPixel wandelt de 3D graphics markt binnen met de release van de Giga3D architectuur. De specs zien er erg interessant uitk, hoewel we nog geen harde getallen over de fillrate e.d. hebben. Hier heb je de bijna volledige press release:
GigaPixel Corporation today enters the 3D graphics market with the GP-1, a silicon-proven intellectual property (IP) core that brings a new level of visual quality to mainstream 3D graphics applications.GP-1 achieves higher levels of performance through the use of full-scene anti-aliasing and Giga3D(TM) technology, a state-of-the-art visibility subsystem that applies an innovative approach to rendering 3D graphic images. The combination elevates visual quality on mainstream PCs to levels previously only available from high-end workstations.
Giga3D technology enables high-end visual performance on mainstream applications through a tiling architecture that processes only the polygons that the user will see on the screen. As a result, GP-1 reduces memory bandwidth requirements by up to 10 times, compared to existing solutions. GigaPixel has elevated performance without compromising die size.
GigaPixel's goal in the design of the GP-1 was to be 100 percent compatible with existing and future 3D applications and API's including Direct3D and OpenGL. Using a standard system interface, GP-1 is the only IP core with a tiling architecture that is completely compatible with existing and future 3D applications.
Evolving Market Requires New Solutions
``The market for graphics systems is very dynamic, characterized by emerging companies and evolving technology,'' said George Haber, president and CEO of GigaPixel. ``We have made an incredible breakthrough with innovations in 3D architecture. With our tile-based architecture, we believe that we are well-positioned to provide a market-leading visual experience while meeting the price and time-to-market windows of our licensees.''
``Our research indicates the market for 3D graphics on the PC is $400 million'' said Dr. Jon Peddie, President of Jon Peddie Associates (Tiburon, Calif.), the leading market research firm tracking digital media. ``Conventional single pipeline graphics rendering schemes have reached their potential in visual performance, and cannot accommodate the increased requirements of emerging 3D applications. GigaPixel's architecture could change mainstream expectations by raising the bar for both performance and visual quality. Their core will be of interest to virtually all 3D market players.''
Giga3D(TM) Architecture
As the depth complexity of 3D applications increases, the end-user is most affected by the frame rate. Conventional architectures tend to drop frames when many overlapping objects appear in the scene, resulting in jerky motions and jagged edges. To eliminate these effects, Giga3D uses visibility algorithms to determine if a pixel will be visible when the final scene is rendered. The setup only occurs with visible polygons, reducing power and processing requirements. The core is independent of memory types. SDRAM, SGRAM, DirectRDRAM and DDR can be supported. The off-chip memory accesses are burst on and off the chip for efficient memory bandwidth utilization, resulting in full speed multi-texturing.
The visibility algorithm also decreases the number of Z buffer writes and reads, texture fetches and frame buffer writes. Reducing reads, writes and fetches to memory, decreases the bandwidth requirements by up to ten times compared to alternative solutions. Pixel processing is done on chip, so that Giga3D does not cause any CPU overhead. This allows licensees to utilize the CPU bandwidth for other applications, which further increases the quality and speed of the graphics subsystem.
GP-1 also applies full-scene anti-aliasing to remove jaggies from polygon edges and intersections. Unlike other solutions, Giga3D maintains its performance when full-scene anti-aliasing is enabled. Each pixel's color value is averaged with the adjacent pixels, resulting in smooth intersections between polygons after the image has been rendered. These visual quality and performance levels have previously been seen only on high-end SGI workstations.
Compatibility, Support and Availability
GigaPixel supports integration efforts through a synthesized design that enables smooth IP integration. The company develops and provides standard drivers to the content developers for designing next generation 3D applications.
Giga3D architecture is available now for licensing to 3D chip, graphics card manufacturers and system companies, as well as content developers.
Om ff de belangrijkste punten bij elkaar te harken:
- full-scene anti-aliasing
- tiled-rendering (alleen de pixels die je ook daadwerkelijk ziet worden gerenderd, dus de fillrate wordt efficiënter benut)
- compatible met D3D en OpenGL
- support voor SDRAM, SGRAM, Rambus en DDR
