The Secret World of Triangle Rendering Technology

Zardon · Oct 25, 2002, 08:47 PM

ATI and Nvidia are in a back-and-forth race to the top," IDC analyst Alan Promisel told NewsFactor. "Some people say ATI has a performance lead, while Nvidia has a stronger market share."

In a techno-economy in which the next "killer app" may be a sophisticated game called Doom 3, makers of graphics chips and video cards must stay several steps ahead of mouse-wielding, saber-bearing gamers bent on nothing less than total domination of perfectly rendered virtual worlds. In this special report, NewsFactor takes a look at the mind-bending technology of triangle rendering, vertex manipulation and pixel shading that turns PCs into dream machines. Intrigued?

"The search for a realistic game-playing experience is really driving most graphics innovations," Mike Economy, sales vice president of graphics card maker Trident Microsystems.

In addition, according to IDC analyst Alan Promisel, "The high-end gaming market is one of the fastest-growing segments in consumer technology today. Gamers compete with each other at conventions using localized LAN connections, or over the Internet, and while the lower-end PC market has taken a beating over the past few years, the high-end market -- computers with 64 MB of dedicated video memory, priced at $1,500 to $2,000 -- is doing well."

full article in the forum

Zardon · Oct 25, 2002, 08:48 PM

Nvidia "actually employs a staff of sixty to seventy people who work with game developers to stay ahead of the curve," Nvidia desktop information manager Brian Burke told NewsFactor. That effort pays off in video card and graphics innovations that appear "about every six months," he explained. "Video cards represent one of the last bastions of innovation on a computer today." Chief among those innovations are rapid-fire rendering, vertex manipulation and pixel shaders.

"We strive to emulate the [film industry]," Burke said. "We look at Pixar or ILM and say 'How did they do that?' But where they have 'rendering farms' with hundreds of computers that can take however long they need to render an animation or frame, we have to do virtually the same thing in one-sixtieth of a second."

Rendering, Burke explained, is the process of delivering a completed image -- in all its finished glory -- to a screen or viewing platform. Pixel and vertex shading make rendered images seem more lifelike and less virtual.

"Any 3D-type frame is created by little triangles that meet at their vertices," Burke told NewsFactor. "Programmable 'engines' allow you to add special effects to these triangles. You can create the illusion of movement or animation by manipulating the vertices, or apply waves and light refraction to a lifeless image of water with pixel shading."

Game developers, such as EA Sports, the maker of Madden 2003, use a programmers' version of Nvidia's graphic chip technology called "Quadro," Burke noted. Gamers, on the other hand, buy computers loaded with Nvidia's GeForce or Microsoft Xboxes equipped with the Nvidia X-GPU chip.

In addition to Nvidia and Trident, top players in the graphics chip game include ATI, Creative Labs and Matrox.

"ATI and Nvidia are in a back-and-forth race to the top," IDC's Promisel told NewsFactor. "Some people say ATI has a performance lead, while Nvidia has a stronger market share." Both companies offer high-priced, high-performance video cards starting at $399 in addition to lower-cost lines with less horsepower.

Meanwhile, a "focus on bringing high-end features at an affordable price to the masses" is the mission of Trident Microsystems, Economy said.

Trident spokesperson Rob Gelphman elaborated, telling NewsFactor that "Trident's new graphics processor family enables the construction of high-end graphics cards for 75 percent less than comparable cards -- at similar performance levels."
Two major innovations will dominate the video card industry in coming years, according to Nvidia's Burke. "Vertex and pixel shading are very difficult to program, so we will be seeing a simpler, C++-type 'high-level shading program' that's easier to use," he explained. "We'll also see 64-bit and 128-bit color that adds more precision to color control."

These and other innovations in the video card and graphics chip business are driven by one goal, he added. "It's all about making everything look more and more like the movies."

Oct 25, 2002, 08:47 PM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	The Secret World of Triangle Rendering Technology ATI and Nvidia are in a back-and-forth race to the top," IDC analyst Alan Promisel told NewsFactor. "Some people say ATI has a performance lead, while Nvidia has a stronger market share." In a techno-economy in which the next "killer app" may be a sophisticated game called Doom 3, makers of graphics chips and video cards must stay several steps ahead of mouse-wielding, saber-bearing gamers bent on nothing less than total domination of perfectly rendered virtual worlds. In this special report, NewsFactor takes a look at the mind-bending technology of triangle rendering, vertex manipulation and pixel shading that turns PCs into dream machines. Intrigued? "The search for a realistic game-playing experience is really driving most graphics innovations," Mike Economy, sales vice president of graphics card maker Trident Microsystems. In addition, according to IDC analyst Alan Promisel, "The high-end gaming market is one of the fastest-growing segments in consumer technology today. Gamers compete with each other at conventions using localized LAN connections, or over the Internet, and while the lower-end PC market has taken a beating over the past few years, the high-end market -- computers with 64 MB of dedicated video memory, priced at $1,500 to $2,000 -- is doing well." full article in the forum

Oct 25, 2002, 08:48 PM	Thread Starter #2
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Nvidia "actually employs a staff of sixty to seventy people who work with game developers to stay ahead of the curve," Nvidia desktop information manager Brian Burke told NewsFactor. That effort pays off in video card and graphics innovations that appear "about every six months," he explained. "Video cards represent one of the last bastions of innovation on a computer today." Chief among those innovations are rapid-fire rendering, vertex manipulation and pixel shaders. "We strive to emulate the [film industry]," Burke said. "We look at Pixar or ILM and say 'How did they do that?' But where they have 'rendering farms' with hundreds of computers that can take however long they need to render an animation or frame, we have to do virtually the same thing in one-sixtieth of a second." Rendering, Burke explained, is the process of delivering a completed image -- in all its finished glory -- to a screen or viewing platform. Pixel and vertex shading make rendered images seem more lifelike and less virtual. "Any 3D-type frame is created by little triangles that meet at their vertices," Burke told NewsFactor. "Programmable 'engines' allow you to add special effects to these triangles. You can create the illusion of movement or animation by manipulating the vertices, or apply waves and light refraction to a lifeless image of water with pixel shading." Game developers, such as EA Sports, the maker of Madden 2003, use a programmers' version of Nvidia's graphic chip technology called "Quadro," Burke noted. Gamers, on the other hand, buy computers loaded with Nvidia's GeForce or Microsoft Xboxes equipped with the Nvidia X-GPU chip. In addition to Nvidia and Trident, top players in the graphics chip game include ATI, Creative Labs and Matrox. "ATI and Nvidia are in a back-and-forth race to the top," IDC's Promisel told NewsFactor. "Some people say ATI has a performance lead, while Nvidia has a stronger market share." Both companies offer high-priced, high-performance video cards starting at $399 in addition to lower-cost lines with less horsepower. Meanwhile, a "focus on bringing high-end features at an affordable price to the masses" is the mission of Trident Microsystems, Economy said. Trident spokesperson Rob Gelphman elaborated, telling NewsFactor that "Trident's new graphics processor family enables the construction of high-end graphics cards for 75 percent less than comparable cards -- at similar performance levels." Two major innovations will dominate the video card industry in coming years, according to Nvidia's Burke. "Vertex and pixel shading are very difficult to program, so we will be seeing a simpler, C++-type 'high-level shading program' that's easier to use," he explained. "We'll also see 64-bit and 128-bit color that adds more precision to color control." These and other innovations in the video card and graphics chip business are driven by one goal, he added. "It's all about making everything look more and more like the movies."