Silicon Graphics Extends Leadership in Visual Computing
With Host of Announcements at SIGGRAPH '94
- Advanced Technologies Focus on Indy Presenter, Indy XZ and POWER Onyx
- Silicon Graphics and ILM Reveal Next Generation of Animation
- Entertainment Authoring Conference Announced
On July 26, 1994, Silicon Graphics, Inc.
further extended its dominant reach in visual computing with the introduction
of new products, technologies and partnerships at SIGGRAPH '94. The
announcements, which range from enhancing 3D performance on Silicon Graphics'
popular Indy(tm) desktop system to adding supercomputing-class microprocessor
technology to the company's powerful Onyx(tm) line, focus
on technology advances and industry alliances that further solidify Silicon
Graphics' position as the world's leading supplier of visual computing systems.
"By adding to our product lines such advanced technologies as the world's
fastest microprocessor and the industry's most advanced flat panel color
display, Silicon Graphics once again proves its commitment to innovative
engineering and rapid product evolution," said Mike Ramsay, senior vice
president of Silicon Graphics' Visual Systems Group. "Silicon Graphics
continues to lock its
sights directly on visual computing, a focus that remains clear and consistent
after more than a decade of serving the world's most demanding graphics
computer users."
Silicon Graphics' announcements at Siggraph '94 include the following:
INDY PRODUCT LINE ADDITIONS
The Indy Presenter(tm) display is the first flat
panel to offer both a direct view display and overhead projection capability.
Indy XZ offers hardware-accelerated 3D graphics previously available only on
higher-end Indigo(r) family systems. Finally, the 133MHz MIPS(r) R4600(tm)SC
processor replaces the 100 MHz MIPS R4000(r)SC in midrange Indy configurations
with no price increase.
ONYX PRODUCT LINE ADDITIONS
A new graphics supercomputer based on the MIPS
R8000(tm) RISC microprocessor, the POWER Onyx(tm) delivers true supercomputing
performance coupled with the world's leading graphics capabilities. The
Extreme(tm) Graphics option offers a new entry point to the Onyx product line.
Also, the Triple Keyboard Option allows three graphics users to share a single
Onyx system.
JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT WITH INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC
ILM illustrated recent
developments in computer-generated animation and special effects that enabled
ground-breaking advances in recent films such as "Forrest Gump," "The Mask" and
"The Flintstones."
THE ENTERTAINMENT AUTHORING CONFERENCE
Silicon Graphics also announced a
three-day conference to explore artistic challenges and techniques in authoring
digital content for interactive media. It is slated for Nov. 8-10 at the
Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.
NEW INDY PRODUCTS
INDY PRESENTER
The Indy Presenter display is the first color flat panel display to offer both
a direct view display and overhead projection capability. Designed for the
Indy desktop line, the flat panel display enables users to carry a complete
Silicon Graphics workstation in a shoulder bag, and to make presentations using
the powerful 3D graphics, audio and video capabilities of Indy systems. Based
on a digitally driven active matrix LCD panel customized for Silicon Graphics
by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, the Indy Presenter display delivers
saturated 15-bit color on a flicker-free 1,024-by-768 direct view display. The
Indy Presenter display is available immediately from Silicon Graphics.
A specially designed projector is also available.
View more Details on Indy Presenter
INDY XZ SYSTEM
Indy XZ brings to the Indy product line hardware-accelerated 3D graphics
previously available only on higher-end Indigo family systems. The Indy XZ
high-performance systems will give animators and CAD designers the interactive
3D modeling and high-throughput rendering they require. The Indy XZ system
delivers 128MFLOPS of dedicated graphics compute power over a highly integrated
267MB/second system bus. The Indy XZ system is a full 24-bit color
workstation with a 24-bit hardware Z buffer. Complete new Indy XZ systems are
available immediately. The XZ graphics system also
is available as an upgrade for current Indy system owners.
View more Details on Indy XZ
INDY R4600SC
The 133MHz MIPS R4600SC processor boosts application performance of midrange
Indy systems without increasing the cost, replacing the 100MHz MIPS R4000SC
processor in all new Indy midrange systems. Compared with the original
R4000SC-based systems, the Indy R4600SC system delivers approximately 40
percent higher application performance, with AIM
results increasing from 74.0 to 104.0. Integer and floating point-performance
increase as well, with SPECint92 accelerating from 58.6 to 93.7 and SPECfp92
increasing from 63.2 to 72.96. The Indy R4600SC will be available in August.
NEW ONYX PRODUCTS
POWER ONYX
Based on the MIPS R8000 RISC processor, the new POWER Onyx graphics
supercomputer provides true supercomputing performance coupled with the world's
fastest graphics to meet the needs of a diverse and demanding computing
community. With floating-point computational performance roughly equivalent to
a Cray-YMP(tm) processor, the POWER Onyx offers a record-
setting SPECfp92 of 310 and delivers up to 3.6 gigaflops of peak performance.
The POWER Onyx system is offered with Silicon Graphics' RealityEngine2(tm)
graphics subsystems to provide customers with the world's fastest interactive
and high-end 3D design and real-time capabilities. RealityEngine2 graphics
subsystems contain 1.2 gigaflops of floating-point processing power dedicated
solely to performing geometric transformations. In addition to its advanced
texturing and anti-aliasing capabilities, RealityEngine2 graphics subsystems
set new standards for image quality and offer unprecedented performance and
realism for complex 3D environments. The POWER Onyx system is available in
August in configurations supporting two to 12 processors.
View more Details on Power Onyx
EXTREME GRAPHICS
In addition to its RealityEngine2 graphics subsystems, Silicon Graphics now
provides an Extreme Graphics option for its POWER Onyx and Onyx product lines.
As the low-cost entry point into the POWER Onyx and Onyx families, Extreme
Graphics provides fast, interactive 3D graphics and is based on a single
graphics board design delivering 600K triangle mesh/second and features a
24-bit hardware Z buffer, 24-bit color, advanced lighting models, point/line,
anti-aliasing, atmospheric effects and software texture mapping.
TRIPLE KEYBOARD OPTION
The new Triple Keyboard Option (TKO) allows Onyx customers to support up to
three graphics users on one workstation. Designed to increase productivity and
maximize workstation resources, the Onyx TKO option allows three separate
graphics users, with individual keyboards and monitors, to share a single Onyx
system. This option combines processing, memory and disk resources, while
simplifying administration, networking and maintenance functions.
ADDITIONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEW GENERATION OF ANIMATION FROM ILM AND SILICON GRAPHICS
Silicon Graphics and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a division of Lucas
Digital, Ltd., illustrated recent developments in computer-generated animation
and special effects, and described the central role played by the Joint
Environment for Digital Imaging (JEDI) in enabling these ground-breaking
advances. The JEDI production environment was established in April 1993 to
join the resources of
ILM, the world's leading visual effects facility, and Silicon Graphics.
Three new feature films, "Forrest Gump," "The Mask" and "The Flintstones,"
display computer-generated effects which have been seamlessly integrated with
live-action characters, giving birth to a new generation of digital
enhancements which blur the distinction between live filming and special
effects. Using JEDI, character animators now can breathe life into
computer-generated actors, giving them personalities and enabling them to
interact with live actors.
SILICON STUDIO '94: THE ENTERTAINMENT AUTHORING CONFERENCE
Silicon Graphics also announced today that it will host Silicon Studio(tm) '94:
The Entertainment Authoring Conference, Nov. 8-10 at the Westin Bonaventure
Hotel in Los Angeles. The conference will explore artistic challenges and
techniques in digital content authoring and pinpoint new business opportunities
in emerging media markets, such as interactive television, CD-ROM and
location-based entertainment. The conference will target creators of media
content, as well as
publishers and distributors of various entertainment media, theme park
operators, cable television and telephone companies. Individuals interested in
registering for The Entertainment Authoring Conference should call
1-800-685-2578.
View more Details on Silicon Studio '94
Silicon Graphics, Inc. is the leading manufacturer of
high-performance visual computing systems. The company delivers interactive
three-dimensional graphics, digital media and multiprocessing supercomputing
technologies to technical, scientific and creative professionals.
Itubsidiary, MIPS Technologies, Inc., designs and licenses the industry's
leading RISC processor technology for the computer systems and embedded control
markets. Silicon Graphics has offs sices worldwide and headquarters in
Mountain View, California.
