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High-Level Shading Language
The High-Level Shader Language or High-Level Shading Language (HLSL) is a proprietary shading language developed by Microsoft for the Direct3D 9 API to augment the shader assembly language, and went on to become the required shading language for the unified shader model of Direct3D 10 and higher. HLSL is analogous to the GLSL shading language used with the OpenGL standard. It is very similar to the Nvidia Cg shading language, as it was developed alongside it. Early versions of the two languages were considered identical, only marketed differently. HLSL shaders can enable profound speed and detail increases as well as many special effects in both 2D and 3D computer graphics. HLSL programs come in six forms: pixel shaders (fragment in GLSL), vertex shaders, geometry shaders, compute shaders, tessellation shaders (Hull and Domain shaders), and ray tracing shaders (Ray Generation Shaders, Intersection Shaders, Any Hit/Closest Hit/Miss Shaders). A vertex shader is executed for ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rasterization
In computer graphics, rasterisation (British English) or rasterization (American English) is the task of taking an image described in a vector graphics format (shapes) and converting it into a raster image (a series of pixels, dots or lines, which, when displayed together, create the image which was represented via shapes). The rasterized image may then be displayed on a computer display, video display or printer, or stored in a bitmap file format. Rasterization may refer to the technique of drawing 3D models, or the conversion of 2D rendering primitives such as polygons, line segments into a rasterized format. Etymology The term "rasterisation" comes . 2D Images Line primitives Bresenham's line algorithm is an example of algorithm used to render a line. Circle primitives Algorithms such as Midpoint circle algorithm are used to render circle onto a pixelated canvas. 3D images Rasterization is one of the typical techniques of rendering 3D models. Compared with other r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radeon X1000
The R520 (codenamed Fudo) is a graphics processing unit (GPU) developed by ATI Technologies and produced by TSMC. It was the first GPU produced using a 90 nm photolithography process. The R520 is the foundation for a line of DirectX 9.0c and OpenGL 2.0 3D accelerator X1000 video cards. It is ATI's first major architectural overhaul since the R300 and is highly optimized for Shader Model 3.0. The Radeon X1000 series using the core was introduced on October 5, 2005, and competed primarily against Nvidia's GeForce 7000 series. ATI released the successor to the R500 series with the R600 series on May 14, 2007. ATI does not provide official support for any X1000 series cards for Windows 8 or Windows 10; the last AMD Catalyst for this generation is the 10.2 from 2010 up to Windows 7. AMD stopped providing drivers for Windows 7 for this series in 2015. A series of open source Radeon drivers are available when using a Linux distribution. The same GPUs are also found in some A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radeon R420
The R420 GPU, developed by ATI Technologies, was the company's basis for its 3rd-generation DirectX 9.0/OpenGL 2.0-capable graphics cards. Used first on the Radeon X800, the R420 was produced on a 0.13 micrometer (130 nm) low-''K'' photolithography process and used GDDR-3 memory. The chip was designed for AGP graphics cards. Driver support of this core was discontinued as of Catalyst 9.4, and as a result there is no official Windows 7 support for any of the X700 - X850 products. Development In terms of supported DirectX features, R420 (codenamed Loki) was very similar to the R300. R420 basically takes a "wider is better" approach to the previous architecture, with some small tweaks thrown in to enhance it in various ways. The chip came equipped with over double the pixel and vertex pushing resources compared to the Radeon 9800 XT's R360 (a minor evolution of the R350), with 16 DirectX 9.0b pixel pipelines and 16 ROPs. One would not be far off seeing the X800 XT basically as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GeForce FX
The GeForce FX or "GeForce 5" series (codenamed NV30) is a line of graphics processing units from the manufacturer Nvidia. Overview Nvidia's GeForce FX series is the fifth generation of the GeForce line. With GeForce 3, the company introduced programmable shader functionality into their 3D architecture, in line with the release of Microsoft's DirectX 8.0. The GeForce 4 Ti was an enhancement of the GeForce 3 technology. With real-time 3D graphics technology continually advancing, the release of DirectX 9.0 brought further refinement of programmable pipeline technology with the arrival of Shader Model 2.0. The GeForce FX series is Nvidia's first generation Direct3D 9-compliant hardware. The series was manufactured on TSMC's 130 nm fabrication process. It is compliant with Shader Model 2.0/2.0A, allowing more flexibility in complex shader/fragment programs and much higher arithmetic precision. It supports a number of new memory technologies, including DDR2, GDDR2 and GDDR3 and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ATi Radeon R300 Series
The R300 GPU, introduced in August 2002 and developed by ATI Technologies, is its third generation of GPU used in ''Radeon'' graphics cards. This GPU features 3D acceleration based upon Direct3D 9.0 and OpenGL 2.0, a major improvement in features and performance compared to the preceding R200 design. R300 was the first fully Direct3D 9-capable consumer graphics chip. The processors also include 2D GUI acceleration, video acceleration, and multiple display outputs. The first graphics cards using the R300 to be released were the Radeon 9700. It was the first time that ATI marketed its GPU as a Visual Processing Unit (VPU). R300 and its derivatives would form the basis for ATI's consumer and professional product lines for over 3 years. The integrated graphics processor based upon R300 is the ''Xpress 200''. Development ATI had held the lead for a while with the Radeon 8500 but Nvidia retook the performance crown with the launch of the GeForce 4 Ti line. A new high-end refresh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matrox Parhelia
Matrox Parhelia-512 is a graphics processing unit (GPU) with full support for DirectX 8.1 and incorporating several DirectX 9.0 features. Released in 2002, it was best known for its ability to drive three monitors ("Surround Gaming") and its ''Coral Reef'' tech demo. As had happened with previous Matrox products, the Parhelia was released just before competing companies released cards that completely outperformed it. In this case it was the ATI Radeon 9700, released only a few months later. The Parhelia remained a niche product, and was Matrox's last major effort to sell into the consumer market. Background The Parhelia series was Matrox's attempt to return to the market after a long hiatus, their first significant effort since the G200 and G400 lines had become uncompetitive. Their other post-''G400'' products, G450 and G550, were cost-reduced revisions of ''G400'' technology and were not competitive with ATI's Radeon or NVIDIA's GeForce lines with regards to 3D computer gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ATI Radeon R200 Series
The R200 is the second generation of GPUs used in Radeon graphics cards and developed by ATI Technologies. This GPU features 3D acceleration based upon Microsoft Direct3D 8.1 and OpenGL 1.3, a major improvement in features and performance compared to the preceding Radeon R100 design. The GPU also includes 2D GUI acceleration, video acceleration, and multiple display outputs. "R200" refers to the development codename of the initially released GPU of the generation. It is the basis for a variety of other succeeding products. Architecture R200's 3D hardware consists of 4 pixel pipelines, each with 2 texture sampling units. It has 2 vertex shader units and a legacy Direct3D 7 TCL unit, marketed as ''Charisma Engine II''. It is ATI's first GPU with programmable pixel and vertex processors, called ''Pixel Tapestry II'' and compliant with Direct3D 8.1. R200 has advanced memory bandwidth saving and overdraw reduction hardware called ''HyperZ II'' that consists of occlusion culling ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3Dlabs
3Dlabs was a fabless semiconductor company. It was founded in 1994 with headquarters in San Jose, California. It originally developed the GLINT and PERMEDIA high-end graphics chip technology, that was used on many of the world's 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 became the Singapore-based ZiiLABS. History 3Dlabs was formed from a management buy-out of Dupont Pixel Systems in the UK in April 1994 and went public on Nasdaq in October 1996. 3Dlabs acquired Dynamic Pictures in July 1998 and the Intense3D division of Intergraph in July 2000. It was itself 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GeForce 3
The GeForce 3 series (NV20) is the third generation of Nvidia's GeForce graphics processing units (GPUs). Introduced in February 2001, it advanced the GeForce architecture by adding programmable pixel and vertex shaders, multisample anti-aliasing and improved the overall efficiency of the rendering process. The GeForce 3 was unveiled during the 2001 Macworld Conference & Expo/Tokyo 2001 in Makuhari Messe and powered realtime demos of Pixar's Junior Lamp and id Software's Doom 3. Apple would later announce launch rights for its new line of computers. The GeForce 3 family comprises 3 consumer models: the GeForce 3, the GeForce 3 Ti200, and the GeForce 3 Ti500. A separate professional version, with a feature-set tailored for computer aided design, was sold as the Quadro DCC. A derivative of the GeForce 3, known as the NV2A, is used in the Microsoft Xbox game console. Architecture Introduced three months after Nvidia acquired the assets of 3dfx and marketed as the ''nFinite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3dfx
3dfx Interactive was an American technology company headquartered in San Jose, California, founded in 1994, that specialized in the manufacturing of 3D graphics processing units, and later, video cards. It was a pioneer in the field from the late 1990s until 2000. The company's original product was the Voodoo Graphics, an add-in card that implemented hardware acceleration of 3D graphics. The hardware accelerated only 3D rendering, relying on the PC's current video card for 2D support. Despite this limitation, the Voodoo Graphics product and its follow-up, Voodoo2, were popular. It became standard for 3D games to offer support for the company's Glide API. The success of the company's products led to renewed interest in 3D gaming, and by the second half of the 1990s, products combining a 2D output with reasonable 3D performance were appearing. This was accelerated by the introduction of Microsoft's Direct3D, which provided a single high-performance API that could be implemente ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
