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Today in DCC Workstation
3D
Graphics Cards for DCC
Intro,
Why Accelerate?, What
to Look For, PCI vs. AGP
Entry-Level,
Low-Cost, High-Speed 3D Acceleration: Sub $300 Cards
Mid-Range, High-Speed
3D Acceleration: Sub $1000 Cards
3Dlabs
Oxygen GVX1, 3Dlabs Oxygen RPM,
Intense3D Wildcat 3510, E&S
Lightning 1200, E&S AccelGalaxy,
Appian Jeronimo Pro, Diamond
Fire GL1
High-End,
Maximum 3D Acceleration: Cards Over $1,000
Appian
Jeronimo Pro
 The
Appian Jeronimo Pro graphics accelerator
card comes with either dual or quad 3Dlabs Permedia 2 64-bit processors.
The Permedia 2 chips provide 64-bit access to graphics processor, memory,
and the internal processor bus. The card lets you operate two or four
monitors from a single PCI 1.0/ATX compatible slot with two or four 64-bit
accelerators, leaving additional slots open for other expansion capabilities.
The Appian Jeronimo Pro is the only multiple monitor card that has received
Microsoft's WHQL (Windows Hardware Quality Labs) certification for Windows
95/98 and NT 4.0. It is also the only multiple monitor card compatible
with Media 100 Inc.'s Finish product line.
The Jeronimo Pro uses the Permedia 2 chip from 3Dlabs to quickly redraw
screens and reduce rendering time. Integrated in the P2 is a 230MHz RAMDAC.
Resolutions of up to 1280 x 1024 in 32-bit are possible in Windows NT.
Hardware support for texture-mapped surfaces gives you more realistic
images and scenes, without waiting or having to settle for shaded approximations.
The card is available with 8, 16, or 32MB of 100MHz SGRAM shared between
frame and texture memory; 8MB per channel provides optimized 3D buffering
and best OpenGL performance.
Several options are available for the Appian Jeronimo Pro 4-port. One
of these is the ability to overlay a live video feed from a NTSC, PAL
or SECAM baseband source (pre-tuned via a TV, VCR, camcorder, etc.) seamlessly
across multiple monitors. Another is a TV Tuner which provides users with
a complete video overlay solution including the ability to select and
display broadcast channels with stereo sound on their PC. The Display
Data Channel (DDC2B) feature provides plug-and-play monitor connection
and the ability to change monitors without reconfiguration.
Appian's HydraVision software lets you manage and manipulate your information
across multiple monitors, with time-saving features like automatic dialog
box repositioning, multi-desktop management and SnapApp hot key window
placement. Together, the card and software provide a good multi-monitor
solution.
Appian is unique in providing portrait display technology that is designed
for multiple monitors. AppianRotate provides this capability with the
Jeronimo Pro 2 and 4-port models in Windows NT 4.0. This driver-based
support allows you to use multiple monitors in a vertical orientation
and lets you take advantage of flat panels that can physically rotate
from a landscape to portrait (vertical) orientation. Appian's direct implementation
of this support within its device driver and desktop manager, rather than
through an additional layer of software, means that high-speed graphics
display is uncompromised.
The street price for the Appian Jeronimo Pro ranges from around $599 for
the base 8MB (4MB per channel) 2-port model, to $999 for the 32MB (8MB
per channel) 4-port card.
Lead
on to the Diamond Fire GL1
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