Would you be happy to install a $150,000 and up graphics subsystem on an $11,000 workstation? The concept sounds gross, but Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp fervently hopes you will. The $11,000 is the price of a fully loaded Windows NT workstation with dual processors, 128Mb memory and a top-of-the-line 21 screen from Compaq Computer Corp. The $150,000 and up is what the Salt Lake City, Utah company wants for its three-dimensional graphics subsystem for any NT workstation, which comprises the Harmony real-time image generator and Integrator NT software package designed to enable graphics databases to be created, stored and shared. Harmony uses a Pentium Pro processor for geometry processing, includes texturing sharpened on a pixel- by-pixel basis; pixel-rate lighting effects, such as shiny surfaces, reflections and directional beams; and bump mapping providing a three-dimensional surface, PC Week reports. Integrator NT includes database content creation and scene renderers for interactive or real-time control, for any NT station supporting OpenGL.
