mikeh@lupine.UU.NET (Mike Harrigan) (02/08/90)
NEW COLOR X WINDOW DISPLAY STATION FROM NCD DISPLAYS 256 COLORS ON 17-INCH FLAT SCREEN WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 23, 1990 -- Network Computing Devices, Inc., has expanded its family of X Window Systems network display stations with a color version that displays up to 256 colors simultaneously on a 17-inch flat color CRT. The new NCD17c is a high-resolution (1024- X 768-pixel)color display station that uses the X Window System to provide a complete workstation-style interface to a variety of host computers connected to a network. NCD Executive Vice President Judy Estrin said the NCD17c, priced starting at $5,000, costs about half as much as color workstations which, unlike X terminals, include applications processing and operating system overhead. The NCD17c is suited for a wide variety of applications where color enhances the usefulness or appearance of the data displayed: business graphics; desktop publishing of newsletters, manuals and data sheets; electronic design automation tasks such as computer-aided design, manufacturing and software engineering (CAD/CAM and CASE); and any application enhanced by the highlighting of data, such as factory or hospital monitoring systems, or stock-trader stations. First Color Unit Designed for X The NCD17c is the "first color product designed from the ground up to be an X Window terminal, rather than having color capability patched onto a monochrome unit," Estrin said. "We developed a set of custom ASIC graphics engines and the software to drive those engines, all optimized for the best possible color X performance. NCD17c performance has been measured at more than three times that of a color Sun-3/80 running X." The use of eight bit planes provides 256 simultaneously displayable colors, selected from a palette of 16.7 million. "A large number of available colors is particularly important in a windowing environment, when a user might have up to 16 unique colors per window, with four or five windows on the same screen at once," Estrin said. "With just the 16 colors that some X terminals support, the user would be unable to give more than one window the distinctive look that is critical to such applications as mechanical CAE, cartography and animation." Large, Flat Screen for Sharper Images The NCD17c's large 17-inch-diagonal "landscape" (horizontal) display provides plenty of space for multiple readable windows, its flat screen producing crisp, true-to-life images. Sharp graphics and text are enhanced by a 70-Hz non-interlaced refresh rate, 0.26 mm dot pitch, and 75 dots-per-inch resolution. A 20-MHz 68020 microprocessor, combined with two custom graphics chips and NCD's enhanced version of the X.11 server software, results in fast geometry rendering, raster operations and text and window manipulation, as well as text generation and scrolling. The NCD17c implements such X features as backing store, save-unders and offscreen graphics. Like NCD's two monochrome X terminals, the new NCD17c offers advanced ergonomic features such as a small footprint that easily accommodates tight workspaces, tilt-and-swivel screen for easy viewing, adjustable keyboard angle, and silent operation without fan or disk. Fully Software-Compatible with NCD Family Fully compatible with NCD's NCDware software that runs on the entire NCD X terminal line, the NCD17c supports Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) and thin Ethernet with the TCP/IP and optional concurrent DECnet protocols, allowing simultaneous access to X and DECwindows applications from networked hosts running the UNIX VMS, and ULTRIX operating systems. For remote host access or in the absence of Ethernet, NCD's XRemote serial communication is supported. The optimized NCD Software also supports Telnet terminal emulation and TFTP or NFS for font selection over the network. The unit is fully compatible with standard graphical user interfaces such as DECwindows, OSF/Motif and OPENLOOK. Configuration and boot-file information can be PROM-loaded or centralized on one host and loaded over the network, reducing the administrative load in large installations. System memory is expandable from two to eight megabytes using SIMMs. Keyboard options include PS/2-style, DEC LK201- style, UNIX, and Kana (Japanese) keyboards. Pricing/Availability Available 60 days after receipt of order, the NCD17c is priced at $5,000 (including 2MB RAM, three-button mouse, choice of keyboard), plus $50 for TCP/IP protocols or $200 for TCP/IP and DECnet protocols. Network Computing Devices, Inc., formed in February 1988, is a leading supplier of network display stations providing users simultaneous access to multi-vendor computers on a network via the industry-standard X Window System. The NCD16 (16-inch) and NCD19 (19-inch) monochrome displays, and the NCD17c (17-inch flat- screen) color display, offer workstation-style multi-user interfaces for users in the UNIX, VMS and ULTRIX operating system environments. A privately-held company, NCD has raised $17 million in two rounds of venture financing. Company Contact: Judy Estrin; Network Computing Devices, Inc.; (415) 694-0650 email: info@ncd.com Agency contacts: William Orrange; Janis Ulevich; Ulevich & Orrange, Inc. (415) 329-1590