Info History of ATi Graphics cards Vol. 1

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History of ATi Graphics cards Vol. 1
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On August 20, 1985, Lee Ka Lau, P. H. Lau, Kwok Yuen Ho, and Benny Lau from Hong Kong, China founded ATI as Array Technology Inc. in Canada.On December 18, 1985, it was renamed ATI Technologies Inc.

On June 24, 2006, AMD announced the acquisition of ATi for US$5.4 billion and completed the acquisition on October 25, 2006.

In the past 21 years, ATI has dedicated many beautiful graphics cards, even ATI cannot sort out the graphics card information. Many articles related to the history of ATI graphics cards are too superficial, which is not very helpful for computer hardware collectors. As a collector of computer hardware, the author writes a history of ATI graphics cards from the perspective of collection identification, focusing on introducing early ATI graphics cards and engineering sample graphics cards to create a collection guide for ATI graphics cards. In order to fully display the ATi graphics card, this article uses many pictures from collectors and websites. Thank you very much!

1.Graphics Solution series

At the beginning of its establishment, Working primarily in the OEM field, ATI produced integrated graphics cards for PC manufacturers such as IBM and Commodore.

ATI’s early graphics cards have very little information. Fortunately, almost all of them have passed the FCC ID certification, which is an important way to understand ATI graphics card models.

ATI's first product is Color Emulation Card. The card came equipped with a minimum of 16KB of memory. It was used for outputting text to a TTL monitor via a 9-pin DE-9 connector. I have never seen the Color Emulation Card, even the pictures are not left, maybe it is not a standard ISA interface card.

Graphics Solution series graphics cards are the earliest ATI graphics cards and the earliest ATI graphics cards that can be collected. The main chips and components of Ati's early graphics cards were not all developed by itself, but they were keen to put on the logo to declare the brand.

Graphics Solution series graphics cards have four models.

1.1 Graphics Solution

Graphics Solution is based on the UM6845E CRT controller, with the use of Central chip CW16800-A (ATI used ASIC technology to develop the first chip in October 1985), manufactured 8-bit ISA interface graphics card. This card uses the 64KB DRAM,supports Hercules Graphics Card mode and extended 132x25 / 132x44 text-modes on TTL Monochrome monitors,以及All CGA modes on both CGA/EGA and TTL Monochrome monitors。Composite output is available on an internal 3-pin connector (no support for colors, Works only in the 40x25 text-mode or 320x200 graphics modes)

Graphics Solution graphics cards have 3 revisions. Most of the ones that can be seen and collected are the REV 3 version, the REV 2 version is very rare, and the REV 1 or REV 0 version is only seen in the promotional pictures of ATi.

1.1.1 Graphics Solution REV 1

Graphics_Solution_rev1.jpg

The Graphics Solution graphics card in the picture is from ATI's official announcement picture, which is undoubtedly an engineering sample. It may be REV 1 or even REV 0 . The display chip is Hitachi HD460505SP-1, not UM6845 commonly used by ATI.
 

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6.3 Win Turbo

Mach64 GX2 MB VRAM

Similar to GRAPHICS Pro Turbo, without the memory upgrade board, non-upgradable to 4MB video memory, or only 2MB video memory. There are PCI, VESA, ISA interface versions.

There are also specially designed Win Turbo graphics cards, such as:

PN 109-23600-10 FCC ID:EXM236

Win_Turbo_Palcal's.jpg

(From Palcal on vgamuseum.info)

OEM products have PCI and VESA interface versions.
 

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6.5 Win Boost

Mach64 GX1/2 MB DRAM

Mach64 CT1/2 MB DRAM

More distinctive is the PCI interface graphics card with Mach64 CT chip(Cost-reduced Mach64 with integrated RAMDAC and clock chip) and 1/2 MB display memory:

PN 109-33100-10 FCC ID:EXM331

WinBoost.jpg
 

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6.7 Video Xpression

Mach64 VT/VT2,1/2 MB DRAM,PCI

PN 109-34000-00 FCC ID:EXM340

On sale around April 1996.
Video_Xpression_Palcal.jpg


(From Palcal on vgamuseum.info)

OEM products include Video Boost.
 

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6.8 Video Xpression+

Mach64 VT4,2MB SDRAM,PCI

December 2, 1996 ATI Technologies Inc. has introduced the VIDEO XPRESSION+, providing superior TV-quality video and 2D graphics acceleration.

PN 109-40900-10 FCC ID:EXM409

ati-264vt4.jpg
 

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6.9 Video-It!& Video Basic

ATI’s 68890 PC TV decoder chip was announced in mid-November 1993. The 68890 chip was first used on the Video-It! card. Video-It! was launched in June 1994. With the help of the onboard Intel i750PD VCP (Video Compression Processor), the chip can capture video at 320x240 @ 15 fps or 160x120 @ 30 fps, and can compress/decompress in real time. "Video Basic" without onboard Intel i750PD chip can only capture video at 320x240 @ 10 fps or 160x120 @ 24 fps.

PN 109-28500-00 FCC ID:EXM285

Video-It!

EXM285.jpg
 

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6.10 ATI TV

ATI-TV.jpgOctober 28, 1996 ATI Technologies Inc. announced that its multi-function "smart" ATI-TV tuner card is now shipping. ATI-TV is the most feature-rich TV tuner card Enable Windows Internet TV, zoom in, capture videos from TV shows or camcorders, watch PC video clips, and still enjoy fast graphics processing.

PN 109-34100-10 FCC ID:EXM341
 

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7. Rage 3D series

In the mid-1990s, the development of graphics technology reached a new peak. Traditional 2D display technology has long been unable to meet the demand, especially in the game field. The embryonic form of 3D has emerged. Many graphics manufacturers have launched the first generation of 3D graphics cards, such as NVIDIA's NV1, Matrox's Mlennium and Mystique, PowerVR's PCX1, S3's Virge3D and so on. ATI also launched the first-generation 3D graphics chip 3D Rage to enter the 3D battlefield.

3D Rage is ATI's fifth-generation graphics chip. The 2D core inherits from Mach64 and adds 3D processing functions. It has a rendering pipeline and a TMU; the process is 0.5 microns, equipped with 2MB DRAM memory, and supports MPGE-1 hardware acceleration , Is ATI's fifth-generation graphics chip. However, although it provides 3D acceleration features such as light source processing, it does not support hardware Z-buffer, so it is not a true 3D chip.

3D RageAnnounced date is 13th of November 1995, Release Date is March 31, 1996. The actual release date may be a bit later, after all, its product advertisement was only launched in August 1996.

7.1 3D Xpression

PN 109-34000-00 FCC ID:EXM340

In the era of Rage, ATi rarely passes FCC ID certification, and every type of graphics card does not have FCCID, but the information is abundant, and the identification of graphics cards is not difficult.

The graphics card that uses the 3D Rage chip only has 3D Xpression, which is particularly common because it directly uses the PCB board of Video Xpression. As a result, there is no picture of the graphics card in the ATI advertisement, only the words "RAGE 3D" are highlighted.

3D Xpression

3D_Xpression.jpg
 

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7.2 Sell chip

Entering the 3D era, ATI is still OEM and selling chips. The 3D Rage display chip is used by PASTEL on the TGS-5700 TV card, which really proves that the 3D performance of 3D Rage is really not surprising. Of course, it also pointed a way to ATI-All In Wonder.

PASTEL TGS-5700

TGS-5700.jpg
 
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8. Rage II series

3D Rage quickly faded out of the market due to compatibility issues. Six months later, on September 5, 1996, ATI released a new and improved 3D Rage II. 3D Rage II is the first 3D chip in the true sense. 3D RAGE II has corrected the compatibility problem of 3D RAGE. The 2D aspect uses the redesigned MACH 64 GUI engine, and the 2D performance is increased by 20%. 3D Rage II supports bilinear, trilinear filtering, Z-buffer and some Direct3D material blending modes, but the pixel filtering is only slightly better than S3's ViRGE, which can only be regarded as quite satisfactory compared to other products at the time. The video memory is matched with a single-cycle EDO of 2 to 4 MB or a high-speed SGRAM. The 3D RAGE II chip is compatible with 3D RAGE feet. In addition, MPEG-2 (DVD) playback function has been added. This chip also supports Direct3D, OpenGL and other drivers. The driver also supports Windows 95, Windows NT, Mac OS and OS/2 operating systems. ATI also equips RAGE II with ImpacTV TV encoding chip.

Rage II series chips include Rage II, Rage II+DVD, and Rage LT.

8.1 3D Xpression+ PC2TV

Rage II/Rage II+DVD,2/4 MB SDRAM

September 13, 1996 - ATI Technologies Inc.launched the first graphics accelerator board to offer both powerful 3D acceleration and a TV out capability -- the 3D XPRESSION+ PC2TV.

Providing the highest quality 3D rendering and fast 2D acceleration , the 3D XPRESSION+ PC2TV features ATI's ImpacTV which allows output directly to a TV screen, even a large-screen TV.

3D_Xpression+_PC2TV.jpg
 

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8.3 3D Pro Turbo PC2TV

Rage II/Rage II+DVD,2/4 SGRAM

September 18, 1996,ATI Technologies Inc., announced the 3D Pro Turbo PC2TV.

3D Pro Turbo PC2TV equipped with ImpacTV video output.

8.3.1 Early

PN 109-40700-00

The early 3D Pro Turbo PC2TV used EPROM.

3D_PRO_TURBO_PC2TV_avito.ru.jpg
 

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8.4 3D Pro Turbo

Rage II/Rage II+DVD,2/4MB SGRAM

3D Pro Turbo is 3D Pro Turbo PC2TV that cancels the video output of ImpacTV.

The castrated Version of Xclaim 3D is also 3D Pro Turbo.

PN 109-38200-00 FCC ID:EXM382

3D_PRO_TURBO.jpg

PN 109-34600-10

2MB SGRAM Graphics memory daughter card

3D_PRO_TURBO_1.jpg
 

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8.5 Xclaim 3D

Rage II/Rage II+DVD,4/8MB SGRAM

PN 109-39200-00

August 7, 1996 - ATI Technologies Inc announced the Xclaim 3D graphics accelerator。

Xclaim_3D.jpg

PN 109-38000-00

4MB SGRAM

Xclaim_3D_1.jpg
 

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8.6 Xclaim VR

Rage II/Rage II+DVD,4/8MB SGRAM

PN 109-37100-00

August 7, 1996 - ATI Technologies Inc. announced Xclaim VR, a 3D graphics and multimedia accelerator that brings arcade-quality, big screen TV gaming plus a full suite of multimedia features to PCI enabled Macintosh systems.

Xclaim TV, which was launched on the same day, the external TV tuner that brings the world of broadcast TV to the Mac desk top. For use with ATI's Xclaim VR, the 3D and multimedia accelerator.

Xclaim_VR.jpg
 

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8.7 All In Wonder

Rage II/Rage II+DVD,2/4MB SDRAM

PN 109-38600-00

November 11, 1996 ATI Technologies Inc. announced the All-In-Wonder 3D accelerator and multimedia board for Pentium PCs that provides no fewer than seven of the most sought-after features by gamers and multimedia enthusiasts - (1) fast 3D acceleration, (2) 64-bit 2D performance, (3) TV-quality video acceleration, (4) still and motion video capture, (5) advanced TV tuner capabilities, (6) flicker-free TV-out for big screen viewing and (7) stereo TV audio for high quality stereo sound.
ALL_IN_WONDER_38603.jpg