Fujitsu Ltd has launched a new AG series of super-high-speed three-dimensional computer graphics accelerators for use in Sun Microsystems Inc workstations, which are sold by Fujitsu as the S series. The AG series incorporates advanced computer graphic techniques such as reconfigurable parallel processing architecture for efficient polygon processing and hypercube architecture for execution of photorealistic algorithms, for which technology Fujitsu has applied for a total of 71 patents. It says that this is the first time that photorealistic imaging is being performed by hardware, complete with shadows, light reflection and transparency. Fujitsu has also come out with new application software to go with the accelerator boards, including the Super BLD/SX architectural design presentation tool which can display video-rate simulation display in real-time, and plans to develop other application software including computer-aided design, fluid analysis and presentations. The company hopes to sell 6,000 units of the AG series in the next four years. They are priced at from $46,000.
