[comp.newprod] High Performance Graphics from Megatek

rgs@megatek.UUCP (Rusty Sanders) (03/28/89)

                    NEW MEGATEK GRAPHICS WORKSTATION
                     ECLIPSES PERFORMANCE BARRIERS
     2 MILLION VECTORS/SEC;240K POLYGONS/SEC;40 MILLION PIXELS/SEC
                         IN A SUN-BASED SYSTEM

   SAN DIEGO -- Megatek Corporation announced today its new Sigma 70(tm)
graphics workstation and established the high-water mark for super
graphics workstation performance.

   Positioned for real-time visualization applications in military and
commercial markets, the Sigma 70 delivers usable graphics speeds of
2,000,000 2-D vectors/second, 1,250,000 3-D vectors/second, 240,000 flat
and 200,000 smooth-shaded polygons/second.

   Sigma 70 uses Sun(tm) 4 SPARC-based CPUs from Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Like its predecessor, the Sigma 20(tm), it retains the complete "look
and feel" of the Sun software environment.

   The first public showing will be at the National Computer Graphics
Association Conference and Exposition in Philadelphia, April 17-20.
Shipments will begin in July. Prices start at $99,950.

   "We really pulled out all the stops on the Sigma 70," said Megatek's
Pice President of Marketing, Robert Varga. "Yet, beneath the
specifications, there is a balanced design, delivering unprecedented
performance that developers can exploit and users can experience. And
it's packaged with a Sun CPU, the industry standard UNIX(tm) platform."

   "The performance specs quoted are SUSTAINED and achievable even with
Z-processing," said Varga. "We know our customers do not want
theoretical 'peak' specifications based on special system operating
conditions. They want pixels rendered to the screen! Moreover, out
graphics speeds do not rely on CPU MIPS and MFLOPS. So, when we say
'sustained', this is the graphics performance you get independent of the
CPU, the system memory, floating point processing, etc. An application
gets to 'own' the host completely, which is what was intended."

TECHNOLOGY

   Megatek's Sigma 70 design provides extraordinary geometry and pixel
bandwidth using state-of-the-art components in a highly parallel design.
Graphics database traversal is performed by a custom bit-slice integer
processor operating at 16 MIPS.

   Geometry transformations use four floating point units in a SIMD
(Single Instruction Multiple Data) array which delivers 145 MFLOPS of
processing power. Vector and polygon pixelation is maintained with three
custom bit-slice processors in another SIMD array achieving 680 MIPS.

   Heavy interleaving of the frame buffers improves memory access by an
order of magnitude over standard VRAM implementations. A major benefit
of this design is that hidden-surface processing is accomplished without
degrading rendering performance.

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

   Sigma 70 is available in three configurations all on Sun 4 SPARC
platforms with extensive options for memory, mass storage and I/O
devices.  Graphics subsystem options include 4-16 MBytes of display list
memory to handle large graphics models.

   Resolution is 1280 x 1024 at 60Hz with a choice of 8, 12 or 24 bit
double-buffered color planes. The graphics frame buffer also provides an
additional 4-8 bits of double-buffered memory which the user can
configure for overlays, underlays and cursor functions. A 20 bit Z-
buffer provides hidden-surface removal with no performance penalty to
system throughput.

   A significant feature of the Sigma 70 product line is its unique
parallel frame buffer design. In addition to the graphics frame buffer,
an auxiliary frame buffer is provided for tasks managed by the window
system.  The image driven by the graphics pipeline is seamlessly
integrated into the window environment using a window concept called
"portals." The result is that accelerated graphics and window processes
can be displayed simultaneously on a single monitor without degrading
the performance on either.

   Hardware support is provided for smooth horizontal and vertical
scrolling of text and for real-time cursor response.

SOFTWARE STORY

   System software for the Sigma family is standard Sun, including
SunOS(tm) release 4.0 and all of Sun's popular development tools and
networking solutions.

   Compatibility with graphics applications written for the Sun is
achieved through two mechanisms. First, the Sigma 70 auxiliary frame
buffer is able to mimic a Sun CG4 frame buffer. Programs that use Sun's
Pixrect(tm) graphics library (e.g. SunCore(tm), SunCGI(tm), SunView(tm)
and a variety of third party packages) can run on the Sigma 70 without
modification or relinking. Secondly, the Sigma 70, like Sun, is
supported by the GKS and PHIGS graphics standards.

   In addition to support for SunView, Megatek offers an optimized
version of the X Window System(tm) from MIT. This X.11 R3 server is
augmented by dedicated hardware that provides distinctive performance
for X Window applications.  Megatek also plans to support Sun's merged
X/NeWS(tm) window system when it becomes available.

   The native graphics library for both the Sigma 20 and 70 is a high-
performance, PHIGS-like package called ACCESS(tm). A companion package
called EXPLORE(tm) is a prototyping and debugging tool for graphics
performance.

   Software vendors who will support the Sigma 70 at introduction
include Merit Technology Inc., Virtual Prototypes, Inc. and Sherrill-
Lubinski.  In addition, Megatek plans to announce other vendors who will
support the Sigma family in applications that include mapping, military
intelligence, simulation and animation.

   Founded in 1972, Megatek Corporation, a United Telecom Company, is a
leading designer and manufacturer of customized high-performance
graphics workstations, terminals and software used in a variety of
government applications including C3I (command, control, communication,
intelligence), training, simulation and real-time data analysis. Megatek
also serves commercial markets requiring high-performance graphics like
modeling and visualization.

For more information on this or any other Megatek product contact:

      John Stampfli
      Manager, Communications
      9645 Scranton Road
      San Diego, CA 92121
      619/455-5590

Or, contact me by email (rgs@megatek.UUCP).