B03 Evans & Sutherland Freedom
Description
This item is from the PC 3D Graphics Accelerators FAQ, by Blair MacIntyre with numerous contributions by others. (v1.2).
B03 Evans & Sutherland Freedom
PRESS RELEASE:
EVANS & SUTHERLAND BRINGS 3D GRAPHICS EXPERTISE TO THE PERSONAL COMPUTER
SALT LAKE CITY, March 2, 1995 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation (NASDAQ: ESCC) today announced Freedom Graphics(tm) for the Personal Computer. Freedom Graphics is the first product to bring the 3D graphics technology of E&S to the personal computing environment.
Freedom Graphics is an implementation of the specialized features that 3D graphics applications require for smooth, fast execution. Users can produce impressive realistic images with the product's rich feature set and high-performance graphics for Windows/NT(r) applications.
The graphics card supports the OpenGL(r) software application programming interface and is designed to accelerate OpenGL in the PC environment. Freedom Graphics is a PCI bus-based card that incorporates the same technology as the Freedom Series graphics accelerators which supply high-end graphics for the world's largest workstation vendors. Ideal markets to take advantage of the extensive feature set of Freedom Graphics are CAD, Industrial Design, Simulation, Visualization, Animation, Entertainment and Game Development. Supported PC processors include MIPS(tm), Pentium(r) and Power PC(tm).
"The interest being generated by Freedom Graphics is extraordinary," said Jim Oyler, President and CEO of Evans & Sutherland. "Freedom Graphics allows a low-cost PC-based system to achieve the performance of a much more expensive workstation. This is going to be an explosive market in the very near future."
Evans & Sutherland is the only 3D graphics vendor with a product line that spans the entire computing industry from the personal computer up to multi-million dollar flight simulators and location-based entertainment systems.
"We are pleased that Evans & Sutherland has applied their knowledge and experience in high-performance real-time 3D graphics to the PC marketplace," said Tom Coull, President of Sense8 Corporation. "WorldToolKit and Freedom Graphics will offer a definitive hardware-accelerated solution for texture-mapped virtual reality applications."
Freedom Graphics' feature set includes real-time 3D graphics rendering and animation, hardware based 24-bit texture acceleration, scalable texture memory up to 16 MBytes, bi-linear and tri-linear MIP-mapping, specular highlights, fast set-up calculations, full scene antialiasing, transparency and depth cueing. The additional experience of E&S with OpenGL will also result in significant performance advantages for applications using the OpenGL library from E&S.
According to Ian Reid, Vice-President of Marketing at Advanced Visual Systems, "Freedom Graphics offers a new level of capability for the PC user and AVS/Express allows any PC developer to take immediate advantage of features such as hardware texture-mapping and transparency. It's the ideal combination."
Freedom Graphics performance under Windows/NT and OpenGL is 300,000 triangles/second. The card will list price at US$2450 with second quarter availability through OEMs and VARs. Freedom Graphics was first shown at Fall Comdex '94 in Las Vegas.
The significance of Freedom Graphics lies in its delivery of a graphics feature set at unsurpassed performance levels. Advanced features such as texture mapping are still unavailable from any other vendor for under US$10,000. Freedom Graphics also provides performance not yet seen in the 3D PC graphics market. Nearest competitors for performance provide minimal feature sets and are only available at much higher prices.
Evans & Sutherland is a leader in advanced 3D graphics and visualization systems for science, industry, education, and entertainment. The Graphics Systems Division provides graphics hardware and software solutions that are sold and supported by DEC, HP, IBM, and Sun Microsystems. Evans & Sutherland was founded in 1968 and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Freedom Graphics, and Freedom Series are trademarks of Evans & Sutherland. OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. All other trade names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
Freedom Graphics(tm) for the Personal Computer
High-Speed Realism from Evans & Sutherland
Evans & Sutherland pioneered the computer graphics industry over 25 years ago. Since then our graphics know-how has been engineered into everything from multi-million dollar flight simulators to high-end graphics accelerators for workstations. Now, the same technology used in those high-end workstations is available for the personal computer with Freedom Graphics. Freedom Graphics is a 3D graphics card that delivers high-performance, workstation-class 3D graphics for your Windows NT applications. Freedom Graphics is a masterful implementation of the specialized features that 3D graphics applications require for smooth, fast execution. Users will be impressed by the realistic images they can produce with the well-crafted feature set.
Freedom Graphic Advantages
* Real time 3D graphics rendering and animation
* 24 bit texture acceleration
* Perspective acceleration of colors & textures
* Bi-linear & tri-linear MIP-mapping
* Color modulation
* Fast set-up calculations
* Antialiased vectors and polygons
* High resolution support
* Programmable antialiasing filter
* Hardware window clipping
* Transparency & Depth cueing
* Hardware cursor support
* Line-slope intensity correction
Software Programming Environment
Freedom Graphics supports the OpenGL(tm) software application programming interface and was designed to accelerate OpenGL in the personal computing environment."
FROM THE SPEC SHEET:
Technical Specifications
* 3D Graphics Engine by Evans & Sutherland
* Display Memory - 4MByte of VRAM
* Z buffer Memory - 4MByte of DRAM
* Texture Memory (optional)
* 1, 4 or 16 MByte user installable SIMM 3D Resolutions (1280x1024, 1024x768, 800x600, 640x480)
* Display Colors - 8, 12, 24 bit color support
* Maximum Vertical Refresh Rates of 72Hz non-interlaced at all supported resolutions
* PCI local bus
* Physical dimensions 12.28" Length x 4.2" Height (PCI Full Length Compliant)
* CPU Support: Power PC, MIPS, Pentium
Software Support - 2D/3D Drivers
* Windows NT 3.5, OpenGL, DDI (Windows95/OpenGL when available)
Monitor
Video timing supports any monitor capable of displaying the listed resolutions in non-interlaced mode. 15 pin D-shell VGA connector
Availability
The Freedom Graphics product will be initially sold through OEM's and Value-Added Resellers, who will be announced along with the product. The product will be available on the product announcement date.
Freedom Graphics is a trademark of Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation. OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics Inc. All other products are trademarks of their respective companies.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Jennifer Hughes Evans & Sutherland jhughes@dsd.es.com Phone: 1-800-367-7460 Facsimile: (801) 582-0524
Continue to:
My Books
