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Alliance Semiconductor
Adds High-Performance 3D
To ProMotion® Multimedia Accelerator Family
ProMotion-AT3D
Offers Speed, Upgradability at Mainstream Price Point
COMDEX, Las Vegas, November 18, 1996
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Alliance Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq: ALSC) today announced the new ProMotion®-AT3D accelerator, a high-performance 128-bit 3D/2D/video multimedia accelerator for personal computers. ProMotion-AT3D delivers true second-generation 3D acceleration, including on-chip hardware geometry setup, to bring the fast frame rates of console gaming to the PC platform. The new accelerator supports popular 3D applications without sacrificing the high quality 128-bit 2D and video capabilities that PC users demand.
Together with 3Dfx Interactive, Inc., Alliance further announced that ProMotion-AT3D is the first multimedia accelerator with seamless support for 3Dfx's Voodoo Rush 3D accelerator chipset. The two companies today unveiled a unique upgrade port, jointly developed by Alliance Semiconductor and 3Dfx Interactive, which permits a Voodoo Rush upgrade module to be integrated tightly into the ProMotion-AT3D hardware and software environment. "This announcement enhances the technical lead Alliance ProMotion enjoys in multimedia accelerator
performance, affordability and scalability," said Sid Agrawal, Vice President of Marketing at Alliance. "ProMotion-AT3D will please the many manufacturers and end customers who have been disappointed with the slow performance and frame rates of first-generation 3D chips currently on the market. ProMotion-AT3D offers a fast 3D engine optimized for fast frame rates for mainstream users, while 3Dfx's Voodoo Rush upgrade will appeal to diehard 3D enthusiasts who want to bring the arcade experience home."
"Alliance has taken a leadership
role in developing mainstream graphics technology with its ProMotion
product line. Orchid's Righteous 3D, the first retail product
based on 3Dfx Interactive Voodoo Graphics, has set the performance
benchmark for stand-alone 3D graphics," said Bill Crouch,
Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Micronics/Orchid.
"ProMotion-AT3D, with its Voodoo
Rush upgrade option, promises to bring these two exciting technologies
together to offer scaleable and flexible performance no other
integrated 2D/3D accelerator can deliver."
"ProMotion-AT3D sets a new
price/performance mark for 2D/3D controllers," said John
Edeleanu, president of Hercules Computer Technology, Inc. "Hercules'
proven engineering, drivers, and support, combined with the AT3D's
performance and upgradability, will yield a compelling product
for PC gamers."
Fast on-chip 3D rendering
engine
ProMotion-AT3D's built-in
3D engine accelerates real-time, interactive rendering for games,
modeling, virtual reality, and other applications. The engine
includes geometry setup in hardware, offloading a compute-intensive
bottleneck which first-generation accelerators leave to software.
Other aspects of the architecture are further optimized for fast
frame rate to ensure maximum interactivity. All features supported
by the engine can be used simultaneously, with only one rendering
pass required for any combination. "This is a significant
new twist in the 3D hardware market. The pairing of Alliance's
ProMotion-AT3D and 3Dfx's new Voodoo Rush gives system and board
OEMs several attractive ways to deliver 3D solutions for their
customers," said John Peddie of John Peddie Associates (Tiburon,
CA), a leading technical marketing and management consulting firm
specializing in desktop graphics. "We see the PC 3D market
growing at a phenomenal rate and products like these will be able
to deliver the type of experiences that motivate users to upgrade."
The ProMotion-AT3D is sampling now
and priced at $29 for quantities of 10,000. Other advanced features
include:
- Industry-standard polygon-based
rendering model
- 100% perspective-correct texture
mapping
- Hardware hidden surface removal
- Proprietary Pseudo-Bilinear Filtering
(PBF) technology for faster, smoother images
- Advanced lighting modes, including
Gouraud shade, flat shade, and full color programmable fog
- Support for alpha and transparency
special effects
- MIP mapping with programmable
map levels
3D Accelerator upgrade
port
For even higher 3D performance,
with dramatic special effects, ProMotion-AT3D supports an external
3D accelerator through the new 64-bit VR interface jointly developed
with 3D technology leader 3Dfx Interactive. The first device
to support the interface, announced concurrently with ProMotion-AT3D,
is 3Dfx's Voodoo Rush chipset. Voodoo Rush brings 3Dfx's
Voodoo Graphics technology into a tightly coupled, 2D/3D/video
environment."ProMotion-AT3D and the new 64-bit VR interface
allow us to bring true arcade quality Voodoo technology to a new
class of user," said Andy Keane, VP of Marketing at 3Dfx
Interactive. "Voodoo Rush and AT3D together give all the
sizzling 3D performance users expect from 3Dfx, coupled with a
proven, compatible robust 2D engine. We are delighted with how
successful this joint effort has been."
Proven 128-bit 2D/video
engine and drivers
ProMotion-AT3D integrates a full-featured,
128-bit 2D and video accelerator, the fourth generation of Alliance
Semiconductor's high-volume ProMotion graphics and video
architecture. The ProMotion core meets the most demanding 2D
and video requirements, featuring a fast 128-bit internal drawing
engine; DVD and live video input port; video playback acceleration,
including full bilinear filtering; and hardware gamma correction
and chroma correction.
ProMotion family accelerators are
supported by a compatible, robust driver suite which has undergone
thousands of hours of testing. Drivers include:
- Microsoft® Windows95;
Windows NT 4.0, 3.5X; Windows 3.X
- Microsoft DirectX, continually
updated to latest releases
- IBM OS/2 Warp 2.11, 2.1
- ProMotion Director's Chair
graphics & video utilities
- AutoCAD®, AutoShade®,
3D Studio
- SCO Open Desktop, Linux
- WordPerfect®
Company Information
Alliance Semiconductor Corporation
is a leading supplier of high performance memory and memory intensive
logic products. The Company designs, develops, and manufactures
its products using advanced 0.5 micron and below CMOS technology,
with many of its leading edge products being developed using advanced
0.35 micron CMOS technology. The Company manufactures its products
through a combination of independent manufacturing facilities
and joint ventures. Alliance markets its products to the desktop
and portable computing, networking, telecommunications and instrumentation
markets. The Company's four, core product lines are Static Random
Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Flash
Memory and Multimedia Graphics. Company information can be found
on our home page: http://www.alsc.com.
The Alliance logo and ProMotion
are registered trademarks of Alliance Semiconductor Corporation.
All other trademarks are property of their respective holders.
NOTE TO EDITORS: See Alliance ProMotion-AT3D
at Fall Comdex 96, in Meeting Room LGC10, upstairs in the Las
Vegas Convention Center, near the Press Center. Call Janine Whittington
408/383-4900 to schedule an appointment. |
