Press Release - Archives 1996 ATI Technologies Inc. unleashes 3D RAGE on the Notebook World



 World's First 3D LCD Accelerator

 The 3D RAGE LT brings no compromise desktop graphics to the portable market



November 11, 1996 Toronto, Ontario - ATI Technologies Inc., (TSE:ATY) today announced the industry's first LCD accelerator to integrate high performance 3D rendering, leading 2D performance, TV-quality video playback, true color DAC and LVDS transmitters, on a single-chip. The 3D RAGE LT will provide users of laptops, as well as emerging applications such as desktop flat panel monitors and LCD panel projectors, with a full range of features and levels of performance previously achievable only on desktop computers.



"The 3D RAGE LT is a no-compromise LCD controller chip. It results in a laptop system that can rival, even outpace a desktop system," said Henry Quan, vice-president of marketing at ATI. "In fact, ATI reverses the usual two-year lag between desktop and notebook as the 3D RAGE LT has features some desktops don't even have."



Support of multimedia expansions through the industry standard PC Card Zoom Video Port for applications such as video conferencing, viewing cable TV, receiving Intercast broadcasts or decoding MPEG2 in hardware, makes the 3D RAGE LT ideal for multimedia notebooks.



"The addition of 3D and the advanced functionality it will provide in terms of 3D rendering, presentation creation and even portable gaming, will see the notebook become the primary machine for a number of users," said Dean McCarron, Principal, Mercury Research. "Expect to see 3D as a critical feature in notebook computers by the end of 1997."



A highly integrated single chip solution

The high integration of the 3D RAGE LT results in a low cost, small footprint, power efficient graphics subsystem that fits in a 256-pin BGA package (ideal for notebook designs). It incorporates a dual-clock synthesizer and a triple 8-bit palette DAC with Gamma correction that provides for true WYSIWYG color and pixel clock rates up to 170MHz, enabling high refresh rates and resolutions. Achieving a 1024x768 resolution at more than 85Hz when connected to a CRT, eliminates the limitation to 60Hz common to existing solutions. Different types of memories (DRAM, EDO DRAM, SDRAM and SGRAM) and different configurations (up to 4MB) are supported across a 64-bit interface, enabling both mainstream and performance oriented solutions.



The high performance of this chip is complemented by a very efficient power management design for longer battery life. It uses active power management techniques to monitor activity levels within itself and to perform real-time power reductions such as dynamic clock control, and graphics engine or DAC shutdown. It complies with both the Intel/Microsoft APM specification and the Intel/Microsoft/Toshiba ACPI specification. It also supports 3.3V PCI Local Bus version 2.1 with full bus mastering and is fully compliant with Mobile PCI rev 1.0 spec.



Superior LCD Panel Support

The 3D RAGE LT is the only LCD panel controller that includes on-chip Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) transmitters for a further enhancement of the performance, a lower cost, and a significant area saving on the motherboard. The LVDS transmitters were designed and optimized to provide a high speed data-transfer rate (385Mbps) with a narrow interface to the LCD panel, good noise immunity and lower EMI while achieving low on-chip power dissipation.



The chip is also capable of driving an external PanelLink interface. LCD panel support is provided for color STN panels up to XGA (1024x768) resolution and color TFT panels up to SXGA (1280x1024) resolution with color depths up to 16.7Million colors (dithered and non-dithered).



Another unique feature of the 3D RAGE LT is the ratiometric expansion of the active display area to fill the entire LCD screen when the current graphics mode is smaller than the panel resolution (up to a 1024x768). Filtering is implemented to improve expansion quality. The ratiometric expansion operation is similar to a desktop multi-sync monitor where applications are automatically scaled to fill the screen while maintaining a high quality of the displayed content. This is an important feature for the end user either when playing games or reading text. Other panel supported features include: Universal Panel Interface allowing for manufacturing-time configuration, simultaneous display to CRT and LCD panel, and back-light modulation for brightness control.



Twice the 3D performance

3D RAGE LT is based on ATI's successful 3D RAGE II accelerator, which doubles the 3D performance of the 3D RAGE and competing solutions now on the market for desktops. It not only covers the complete 3D primitive elements, but adds a comprehensive enhanced feature set for a stunning 3D graphics and performance. Features like perspective correction, texture filtering, mip-mapping, Gouraud shading, Z-buffering, Direct3D texture lighting and alpha-blending provide game enthusiasts, content developers and design professionals with a highly realistic 3D world.



With performance rates of over 26 million perspectively correct texture mapped pixels per second, the 3D RAGE LT sets a precedent and raises the bar for the 3D LCD accelerator market.



Motion Video Acceleration and Video Conferencing Support

The 3D RAGE LT is capable of supporting full-screen, full motion TV-quality video for MPEG2, DVD, and all other video formats, without sacrificing system performance, and without the need for costly hardware video decoder chips.



To achieve TV-quality video images, the 3D RAGE LT video scaler interpolates in both the horizontal and vertical directions, resulting in a more natural and appealing motion video.



It also features smooth video scaling and enhanced YUV to RGB color space conversion, with support for both packed and planar YUV, for full-screen, full-speed video playback. An enhanced bus mastering engine, hardware video mirroring and on-the-fly still capture are some of the many implemented features to enable video conferencing acceleration which constitutes a natural application for notebooks in the professional market segment.



With the addition of ATI's new ImpacTV companion chip for flicker-free output to TV, business people and professionals will appreciate the convenience and quality of a larger display medium for their presentations, demos, and training, while the only thing they have to carry around is their laptop computer. Home users can enjoy watching movies, playing games and browsing the Internet on their big screen television in their living-room without the inconvenience of moving their desktop.



Multimedia Upgrades

By complementing Intel's MMX multimedia technology and through its Zoom Video Port and a general purpose 8-bit data streaming port for programming devices, the 3D RAGE LT is capable of supporting many popular upgrades such as video capture and video conferencing, hardware MPEG1 and MPEG2 decoders, TV-Tuner with Intercast support, TV-out chips and I2C interface to control peripherals.



Best 2D Performance in its Class

The 3D RAGE LT delivers 40 million Winmarks under WinBench96, making it the fastest 2D accelerator in its class. This level of performance was attained due to a completely re-engineered mach64 GUI engine that provides optimal 2D performance with up to 4MB single-cycle EDO DRAM or high-speed SGRAM memory. It is also the best accelerator for photo-realistic applications by providing great true color performance at resolutions up to 1280x1024.



Software Support

The 3D RAGE LT is register-compatible with the ATI mach64 accelerator series, providing immediate compatibility with a wide range of application and operating system drivers (such as Windows 95, Windows NT, MacOS and OS/2). Support is also provided for all major 3D API's including Microsoft Direct3D, QuickDraw 3D Rave, as well as Heidi and OpenGL drivers for the professional 3D and CAD community. Extensive BIOS support includes power management capabilities, hot-key support and VESA display modes.



Availability

The 3D RAGE LT chips are available now in sample quantities and will be available for volume production by January, 1997. The price is (USD)$40 for quantities of 10,000. Copyright © ATI Technologies Inc., 1999. All company and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective manufacturers. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice. Toronto, Ontario - ATI Technologies Inc., (TSE:ATY) today announced the industry's first LCD accelerator to integrate high performance 3D rendering, leading 2D performance, TV-quality video playback, true color DAC and LVDS transmitters, on a single-chip. The 3D RAGE LT will provide users of laptops, as well as emerging applications such as desktop flat panel monitors and LCD panel projectors, with a full range of features and levels of performance previously achievable only on desktop computers."The 3D RAGE LT is a no-compromise LCD controller chip. It results in a laptop system that can rival, even outpace a desktop system," said Henry Quan, vice-president of marketing at ATI. "In fact, ATI reverses the usual two-year lag between desktop and notebook as the 3D RAGE LT has features some desktops don't even have."Support of multimedia expansions through the industry standard PC Card Zoom Video Port for applications such as video conferencing, viewing cable TV, receiving Intercast broadcasts or decoding MPEG2 in hardware, makes the 3D RAGE LT ideal for multimedia notebooks."The addition of 3D and the advanced functionality it will provide in terms of 3D rendering, presentation creation and even portable gaming, will see the notebook become the primary machine for a number of users," said Dean McCarron, Principal, Mercury Research. "Expect to see 3D as a critical feature in notebook computers by the end of 1997."The high integration of the 3D RAGE LT results in a low cost, small footprint, power efficient graphics subsystem that fits in a 256-pin BGA package (ideal for notebook designs). It incorporates a dual-clock synthesizer and a triple 8-bit palette DAC with Gamma correction that provides for true WYSIWYG color and pixel clock rates up to 170MHz, enabling high refresh rates and resolutions. Achieving a 1024x768 resolution at more than 85Hz when connected to a CRT, eliminates the limitation to 60Hz common to existing solutions. Different types of memories (DRAM, EDO DRAM, SDRAM and SGRAM) and different configurations (up to 4MB) are supported across a 64-bit interface, enabling both mainstream and performance oriented solutions.The high performance of this chip is complemented by a very efficient power management design for longer battery life. It uses active power management techniques to monitor activity levels within itself and to perform real-time power reductions such as dynamic clock control, and graphics engine or DAC shutdown. It complies with both the Intel/Microsoft APM specification and the Intel/Microsoft/Toshiba ACPI specification. It also supports 3.3V PCI Local Bus version 2.1 with full bus mastering and is fully compliant with Mobile PCI rev 1.0 spec.The 3D RAGE LT is the only LCD panel controller that includes on-chip Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) transmitters for a further enhancement of the performance, a lower cost, and a significant area saving on the motherboard. The LVDS transmitters were designed and optimized to provide a high speed data-transfer rate (385Mbps) with a narrow interface to the LCD panel, good noise immunity and lower EMI while achieving low on-chip power dissipation.The chip is also capable of driving an external PanelLink interface. LCD panel support is provided for color STN panels up to XGA (1024x768) resolution and color TFT panels up to SXGA (1280x1024) resolution with color depths up to 16.7Million colors (dithered and non-dithered).Another unique feature of the 3D RAGE LT is the ratiometric expansion of the active display area to fill the entire LCD screen when the current graphics mode is smaller than the panel resolution (up to a 1024x768). Filtering is implemented to improve expansion quality. The ratiometric expansion operation is similar to a desktop multi-sync monitor where applications are automatically scaled to fill the screen while maintaining a high quality of the displayed content. This is an important feature for the end user either when playing games or reading text. Other panel supported features include: Universal Panel Interface allowing for manufacturing-time configuration, simultaneous display to CRT and LCD panel, and back-light modulation for brightness control.3D RAGE LT is based on ATI's successful 3D RAGE II accelerator, which doubles the 3D performance of the 3D RAGE and competing solutions now on the market for desktops. It not only covers the complete 3D primitive elements, but adds a comprehensive enhanced feature set for a stunning 3D graphics and performance. Features like perspective correction, texture filtering, mip-mapping, Gouraud shading, Z-buffering, Direct3D texture lighting and alpha-blending provide game enthusiasts, content developers and design professionals with a highly realistic 3D world.With performance rates of over 26 million perspectively correct texture mapped pixels per second, the 3D RAGE LT sets a precedent and raises the bar for the 3D LCD accelerator market.The 3D RAGE LT is capable of supporting full-screen, full motion TV-quality video for MPEG2, DVD, and all other video formats, without sacrificing system performance, and without the need for costly hardware video decoder chips.To achieve TV-quality video images, the 3D RAGE LT video scaler interpolates in both the horizontal and vertical directions, resulting in a more natural and appealing motion video.It also features smooth video scaling and enhanced YUV to RGB color space conversion, with support for both packed and planar YUV, for full-screen, full-speed video playback. An enhanced bus mastering engine, hardware video mirroring and on-the-fly still capture are some of the many implemented features to enable video conferencing acceleration which constitutes a natural application for notebooks in the professional market segment.With the addition of ATI's new ImpacTV companion chip for flicker-free output to TV, business people and professionals will appreciate the convenience and quality of a larger display medium for their presentations, demos, and training, while the only thing they have to carry around is their laptop computer. Home users can enjoy watching movies, playing games and browsing the Internet on their big screen television in their living-room without the inconvenience of moving their desktop.By complementing Intel's MMX multimedia technology and through its Zoom Video Port and a general purpose 8-bit data streaming port for programming devices, the 3D RAGE LT is capable of supporting many popular upgrades such as video capture and video conferencing, hardware MPEG1 and MPEG2 decoders, TV-Tuner with Intercast support, TV-out chips and I2C interface to control peripherals.The 3D RAGE LT delivers 40 million Winmarks under WinBench96, making it the fastest 2D accelerator in its class. This level of performance was attained due to a completely re-engineered mach64 GUI engine that provides optimal 2D performance with up to 4MB single-cycle EDO DRAM or high-speed SGRAM memory. It is also the best accelerator for photo-realistic applications by providing great true color performance at resolutions up to 1280x1024.The 3D RAGE LT is register-compatible with the ATI mach64 accelerator series, providing immediate compatibility with a wide range of application and operating system drivers (such as Windows 95, Windows NT, MacOS and OS/2). Support is also provided for all major 3D API's including Microsoft Direct3D, QuickDraw 3D Rave, as well as Heidi and OpenGL drivers for the professional 3D and CAD community. Extensive BIOS support includes power management capabilities, hot-key support and VESA display modes.The 3D RAGE LT chips are available now in sample quantities and will be available for volume production by January, 1997. The price is (USD)$40 for quantities of 10,000.

Corporate Profile



ATI Technologies Inc., the world's largest supplier of 3D graphics and multimedia technology, designs, manufactures and markets innovative and award-winning multimedia solutions and graphics components for the personal computer, set-top box and consumer electronics appliance markets. An ISO 9002 company, ATI is the world's leading supplier of video and 2D/3D graphics accelerators to OEM and retail customers. Founded in l985, ATI employs more than 1,700 people at headquarters in Thornhill, Ontario, and in offices in the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Barbados, Malaysia, Japan and Hong Kong. ATI is a public company whose shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.



Contact Information



For more information on ATI's System Builder Program, visit channel_programs for other ATI news releases visit our web site at http://www.ati.com.



For further information contact

ATI Technologies Inc.

Brian Hentschel Media Relations

(905) 882-2600 x 8130