3Dlabs
Encyclopedia
3DLABS was the name of the fabless semiconductor company
that originally developed the GLINT and PERMEDIA high-end graphics chip technology that was used on many of the worlds leading computer graphics
cards in the CAD and DCC
markets, including its own Wildcat and Oxygen cards.
In 2006 the company focused development efforts on its emerging media processing business and in 2009 rebranded as ZiiLABS
. Information on the new ZiiLABS can be found at ZiiLABS
in October 1996. 3DLABS acquired Dynamic Pictures in July 1998 and the Intense3D division of Intergraph
in July 2000 before being acquired by Creative Labs in June 2002. In February 2006, 3Dlabs announced that it would stop developing professional 3D graphic chips and focus on embedded and mobile media processors.
3DLABS was an early pioneer in bringing 3D graphics to the PC. Its GLINT 300SX graphics processor was the industry's first single chip, 3D-capable graphics device that was shipped on graphics boards from multiple vendors. Gamma was the first single chip graphics geometry processor for the PC. Permedia was the first low-cost OpenGL
accelerator chip. 3Dlabs was a member of the OpenGL Architecture Review Board and played an important role in the development of OpenGL 2.0 and ongoing evolution of the OpenGL API.
The new media processor business was developed out of the original UK R&D center with most of the workstation graphics teams that came from Intense3D and Dynamic Pictures having been hired by Intel http://uk.theinquirer.net/?article=33812 and NVIDIA http://uk.theinquirer.net/?article=33873.
In November 2006 3DLABS introduced the DMS-02, its first media processor capable of 720P HD Video for portable devices. In January 2009 the SoC team merged with a Creative product division and rebranded as ZiiLABS
to offer processors and complete market-ready hardware and software platforms to consumer OEMs and ODMs.
cores for handling traditional CPU tasks plus a closely coupled, fully programmable SIMD
array processor to do the heavy lifting for intensive media processing tasks such as; 2D graphics, 3D graphics, video decode/encode, image processing
and floating point (32-bit IEEE). The processors integrate on-chip peripherals and interfaces suitable for a broad range of handheld and embedded devices.
Originally developed under the 3DLABS name, the processor related products are now sold and supported by ZiiLABS
.
Chips:
Boards:
Acquired with Intense3D:
Acquired with Dynamic Pictures Inc.:
Before ATI
acquired the FireGL team in 2001, Diamond Multimedia
used 3Dlabs chipsets for some of their FireGL cards. Formac
also made a number of Macintosh graphics cards using Permedia 1, 2, and 3 chipsets.
Fabless semiconductor company
A fabless semiconductor company specializes in the design and sale of hardware devices and semiconductor chips while outsourcing the fabrication or "fab" of the devices to a specialized manufacturer called a semiconductor foundry...
that originally developed the GLINT and PERMEDIA high-end graphics chip technology that was used on many of the worlds leading computer graphics
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
cards in the CAD and DCC
Digital content creation
Digital Content Creation is a modern term denoting the creation and modification of digital content, such as animation, audio, graphics, images and video, as part of the production process before presentation in its final medium. This large field encompasses many segments such as 3D graphics,...
markets, including its own Wildcat and Oxygen cards.
In 2006 the company focused development efforts on its emerging media processing business and in 2009 rebranded as ZiiLABS
ZiiLABS
ZiiLABS is a global technology company, whose ZMS media-rich application processors, reference platforms and enabling software are designed to enable OEMs and ODMs to create products that target a range of low-power consumer electronics and embedded markets, including Android based tablets.-...
. Information on the new ZiiLABS can be found at ZiiLABS
ZiiLABS
ZiiLABS is a global technology company, whose ZMS media-rich application processors, reference platforms and enabling software are designed to enable OEMs and ODMs to create products that target a range of low-power consumer electronics and embedded markets, including Android based tablets.-...
3DLABS History
3DLABS was formed from a management buy-out of Dupont Pixel Systems in the UK in April 1994 and went public on NasdaqNASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
in October 1996. 3DLABS acquired Dynamic Pictures in July 1998 and the Intense3D division of Intergraph
Intergraph
Intergraph Corporation is an American software development and services company. It provides enterprise engineering and geospatially powered software to businesses, governments, and organizations around the world. Intergraph operates through two divisions: Process, Power & Marine and Security,...
in July 2000 before being acquired by Creative Labs in June 2002. In February 2006, 3Dlabs announced that it would stop developing professional 3D graphic chips and focus on embedded and mobile media processors.
3DLABS was an early pioneer in bringing 3D graphics to the PC. Its GLINT 300SX graphics processor was the industry's first single chip, 3D-capable graphics device that was shipped on graphics boards from multiple vendors. Gamma was the first single chip graphics geometry processor for the PC. Permedia was the first low-cost OpenGL
OpenGL
OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...
accelerator chip. 3Dlabs was a member of the OpenGL Architecture Review Board and played an important role in the development of OpenGL 2.0 and ongoing evolution of the OpenGL API.
The new media processor business was developed out of the original UK R&D center with most of the workstation graphics teams that came from Intense3D and Dynamic Pictures having been hired by Intel http://uk.theinquirer.net/?article=33812 and NVIDIA http://uk.theinquirer.net/?article=33873.
In November 2006 3DLABS introduced the DMS-02, its first media processor capable of 720P HD Video for portable devices. In January 2009 the SoC team merged with a Creative product division and rebranded as ZiiLABS
ZiiLABS
ZiiLABS is a global technology company, whose ZMS media-rich application processors, reference platforms and enabling software are designed to enable OEMs and ODMs to create products that target a range of low-power consumer electronics and embedded markets, including Android based tablets.-...
to offer processors and complete market-ready hardware and software platforms to consumer OEMs and ODMs.
Media Processors
The ZMS processors are based on a low-power multicore architecture including dual ARMARM architecture
ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by ARM Holdings. It was named the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that, the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit ISA in numbers produced...
cores for handling traditional CPU tasks plus a closely coupled, fully programmable SIMD
SIMD
Single instruction, multiple data , is a class of parallel computers in Flynn's taxonomy. It describes computers with multiple processing elements that perform the same operation on multiple data simultaneously...
array processor to do the heavy lifting for intensive media processing tasks such as; 2D graphics, 3D graphics, video decode/encode, image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...
and floating point (32-bit IEEE). The processors integrate on-chip peripherals and interfaces suitable for a broad range of handheld and embedded devices.
Originally developed under the 3DLABS name, the processor related products are now sold and supported by ZiiLABS
ZiiLABS
ZiiLABS is a global technology company, whose ZMS media-rich application processors, reference platforms and enabling software are designed to enable OEMs and ODMs to create products that target a range of low-power consumer electronics and embedded markets, including Android based tablets.-...
.
Legacy Graphics cards
These are the legacy cards supplied by 3DLABS. Drivers and limited support for these products can be found at: http://www.3dlabs.com/content/legacy/Chips:
- 3Dlabs Permedia 2
- 3Dlabs Permedia NT (Permedia + GLINT Delta)
- 3Dlabs Permedia
- 3Dlabs GLINT GMX - GMX 1000 (Gamma + MX), GMX 2000 (Gamma + 2xMX)
- 3Dlabs GLINT Gamma (geometry processor)
- 3Dlabs GLINT DMX - DMX 1000 (Delta + MX), DMX 2000 (Delta + 2xMX)
- 3Dlabs GLINT Delta (geometry processor)
- 3Dlabs GLINT MX
- 3Dlabs GLINT 500TX
- 3Dlabs GLINT 300SX
Boards:
- 3DLABS Wildcat Realizm 100, 200, 500, 800
- 3DLABS Wildcat 4 7110, 7210
- 3DLABS Wildcat VP560, VP570, VP760, VP870, VP880 Pro, VP990, VP990 Pro
- 3DLABS Wildcat III 6110, 6210
- 3DLABS Wildcat II 5000, 5110
- 3Dlabs Oxygen GVX420 - 2xGLINT R4 + GLINT Gamma G2 + 128 MB SGRAM
- 3Dlabs Oxygen GVX1 Pro - GLINT R4 + GLINT Gamma G2 + 64 MB SDRAM + DVI-I
- 3Dlabs Oxygen GVX210 - 2xGLINT R3 + GLINT Gamma G2 + 64 MB SGRAM
- 3Dlabs Oxygen GVX1 - GLINT R3 + GLINT Gamma G1 + 32 MB SDRAM, PCI and AGP version available
- 3Dlabs Oxygen VX1 - GLINT R3 + 32 MB SDRAM
- 3Dlabs Oxygen VX1-16 - GLINT R3 + 16 MB SDRAM
- 3Dlabs Oxygen VX1 Stereo - GLINT R3 + 32 MB SDRAM + CrystalEyes
- 3Dlabs Oxygen VX1 1600SW - GLINT R3 + 32 MB SDRAM + LVDS connector (for use with the SGI 1600SWSGI 1600SWThe 1600SW is a widescreen flat panel video monitor from Silicon Graphics introduced in 1998. It won many awards after release and sold 54,000 units...
flat panel) - 3Dlabs Permedia3 Create! - Permedia3
- 3Dlabs Oxygen GMX - a GMX 2000 based card
- 3Dlabs Oxygen RPM - dual RPM based card
- 3Dlabs Oxygen ACX - a Permedia 2 based card
Acquired with Intense3D:
- Intense3D Wildcat 4210
- Intense3D Wildcat 4110
- Intense3D Wildcat 4105
- Intense3D Wildcat 4000
- Intense3D Wildcat 3510
- Intense 3D Pro 3600
- Intense 3D Pro 3400
- Intense 3D Pro 2200S
- Intense 3D Pro 2200
- Intense 3D Pro 1000
Acquired with Dynamic Pictures Inc.:
- Dynamic Pictures Oxygen 102, 202, 402
- Dynamic Pictures V192
Before ATI
Ati
As a word, Ati may refer to:* Ati, a town in Chad* Ati, a Negrito ethnic group in the Philippines* Ati-Atihan Festival, an annual celebration held in the Philippines* Ati, a queen of the fabled Land of Punt in Africa...
acquired the FireGL team in 2001, Diamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia is a company that specializes in many forms of multimedia technology. They have produced graphics cards, motherboards, modems, sound cards and MP3 players, however the company began with the production of the TrackStar, a PC add-on card which emulated Apple II computers...
used 3Dlabs chipsets for some of their FireGL cards. Formac
Formac Elektronik GmbH
Formac is a European based manufacturer of various PC devices. Formac is most widely known for its TFT Display range, desktop and portable data storage products, or historically for its advanced Graphics cards and video conversion products.- Displays :...
also made a number of Macintosh graphics cards using Permedia 1, 2, and 3 chipsets.
See also
- MultimediaMultimediaMultimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
- Graphics card
- Graphics processing unitGraphics processing unitA graphics processing unit or GPU is a specialized circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory in such a way so as to accelerate the building of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display...