3Dlabs Announces Advanced GLINT Performance Profiling Tools; Developers gain increased 3D performance and faster time to market; Available free-of-charge to GLINT software developers

Business Wire, July 25, 1995

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 25th, 1995--3Dlabs Inc. today announced immediate availability of three new profiling tools to assist software developers in utilizing the 3D acceleration capabilities of GLINT(R)-based graphics boards. The new profiling tools are based on 3Dlabs' extensive experience in profiling and optimizing applications such as MicroStation(TM), 3D Studio(TM) and Pro/ENGINEER(TM). These tools are available now for Windows NT 3.5, with versions for Windows 95(TM) to follow shortly. All of these products will be made available free-of-charge to software developers using boards with 3Dlabs' GLINT 3D processor chip.

Profiling Tools

The three new profiling tools provide developers with a new and dynamic insight into application bottlenecks, allowing software to be tuned for best use of GLINT's 3D processing speed.

(1) PERFscope(TM) extends the standard Windows NT graphical performance monitoring tool, Perfmon, to collect and display key information about GLINT utilization in real time. PERFscope gives a precise indication of whether an application is host or GLINT bound, allowing developers to tune their software quickly and effectively. PERFscope is minimally invasive and can be used across a network.

(2) GLscope(TM) allows developers to log the OpenGL calls made by an application, without access to the source code, and is useful for debugging, optimizing and eliminating redundant calls and modes.

(3) GLINTscope(TM), similar to GLscope, this tool displays an easy-to-read interpreted trace of all register accesses being made to GLINT to assist in debugging and optimization.

Quotes

"Many software developers are now adding 3D graphics capability to their applications or are developing new and exciting 3D software such as VRML 3D Internet browsers," said Osman Kent, president of 3Dlabs. "Our new profiling tools will allow these developers to ensure their applications gain the maximum benefit from GLINT-based 3D accelerators. 3Dlabs is working closely with software developers through our ISV program and is giving top priority to developer support."

"Users of our OpenGVS computer image generation software on the PC see a tremendous performance improvement when using GLINT," said John L. Archdeacon, vice president of business development at Gemini Technology Corporation. "OpenGVS is our 3D graphics API for developers which need power and portability. OpenGVS relies on fast rendering technology from OpenGL or Reality Lab. Not only does GLINT provide exceptional rendering performance for the PC, but the 3Dlabs performance analysis tools assist Gemini and our end users in harnessing that performance directly from our applications."

"The 3Dlabs performance analysis tools are invaluable as we work to integrate high performance 3D acceleration into our customers' applications using the 3Demon(TM) family of GLINT accelerators," said Huling Parker, President of Omnicomp Graphics Corporation. "Enabling applications to rapidly and effectively harness the power of GLINT will be an important boost to the growth of the 3D market. We see the 3Dlabs performance analysis tools as a significant step towards making 3D graphics on the PC an easier and more effective tool."

"This announcement demonstrates the continued leadership of 3Dlabs in providing developers with the highest-level of 3D performance," said Thomas Neubert, vice president of sales and marketing for ELSA, Inc. "ELSA's GLoria(TM) graphics board is a single-slot solution that combines our unique 3D drivers for Windows(R), Windows NT(TM) and OS/2(R) with both an S3 Vision 968 and a GLINT 300SX. This provides customers with access to our optimized GLINT and 2D drivers for high performance graphics. The integration of sophisticated performance analysis tools in the standard GLINT OpenGL driver will prove invaluable as we continue our customized design activities based on the GLINT architecture."

GLINT 300SX Information

To support advanced CAD and visualization applications, the GLINT 300SX provides 100% of the OpenGL rendering operations in silicon -- including 32-bit color support, Gouraud shading and depth buffering. The GLINT also implements advanced functionality such as texture-mapping, anti-aliasing and alpha blending at rendering speeds of up to 300,000 polygons per second. The GLINT 300SX is available in volume, and is currently the only chip with shipping with an OpenGL Installable Client Driver -- providing highly-optimized OpenGL performance, integrated seamlessly into the Windows NT Environment.

Company Information

3Dlabs is a worldwide OEM supplier of chips, enabling software and technology for 3D graphics. The company's products enable board and system manufacturers to integrate 3D capabilities into their products for such applications as CAD, multimedia authoring, simulation, virtual reality, interactive TV and video games. Currently, over 40 companies have incorporated GLINT into their 3D products and GLINT is recognized as the industry-standard accelerator architecture for high-performance 3D graphics on the PC. 3Dlabs provides GLINT-optimized drivers for many industry-leading graphics APIs, allowing a growing number of applications to achieve 3D interactivity on low cost platforms. 3Dlabs Inc., headquartered in San Jose, CA., was founded in April 1994, and is privately owned. -0-