Santa Clara, California-based S3 Inc has announced the S3 Vision family to provide users with more than double the power of the previous generation products to display sharp screen images with improved colour depth and the ability to incorporate video. The 64-bit Vision family consists of two multimedia-enabled single-chip graphics accelerators – the dynamic RAM-based S3 Vision864 and the video RAM-based S3 Vision964 – and a companion video accelerator, the S3 Vision/VA. The products operate with a variety of processors, including iAPX-86, PowerPC, Alpha and R-series. The single-chip S3 Vision/VA video accelerator, jointly developed with IBM Corp’s Technology Business Segment in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, operates with Vision964-based systems. It shares graphics memory to deliver video to the personal computer in adjustable window sizes, and supports video playback. The S3 SDAC peripheral chip combines two display-related functions on a single chip, the clock and the RAMDAC, and supports high resolutions to provide a rich image for Vision864-based systems, the firm claims. The dynamic RAM-based Vision864 is aimed at cost-sensitive users and the video RAM-based Vision964 for power users. The Vision family operate with industry-standard VL or Peripheral Component Interconnect busses, are compatible with VGA and Super VGA and feature VESA-compatible Green PC support. The Vision family will be compatible with S3’s software drivers: the S3-developed Windows NT driver and a 32-bit OS/2 driver, and will be available with the production release of the Vision family. Samples are available this month and production is expected in the first quarter of 1994. Prices per 1,000 are $45 for S3 Vision864, $75 for S3 Vision964 and S3 Vision/VA, $8.81 for S3 SDAC, 110MHz and $10.56 for S3 SDAC 135MHz.
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