World's first graphics add-in board to support both VGA and new Digital Flat Panel specifications

TORONTO,  - ATI Technologies Inc. (TSE:ATY - news) today announced the XPERT LCD(TM) graphics accelerator add-in board that delivers high performance 3D, 2D and DVD video acceleration to the new all-digital flat panel monitors beginning to appear on the market, as well as legacy cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors. Using the Digital Flat Panel (DFP) 20 pin connector also appearing on products from other vendors, the XPERT LCD board will offer all the advantages of the new digital flat panels, including crisper images and space-saving design, while remaining compatible with existing VGA monitors.

Digital flat panel monitors offer images that are crisper and brighter than those possible with today's analog CRTs. They consume significantly less power and space while offering better image quality than CRT monitors because of the use of digital signals. The new industry-wide DFP initiative brings lower cost, high-quality digital images to desktop flat panel monitors without the need of converting graphics data from an analog signal.

Compaq Computer Corporation today announced their new Series of Presario personal computers shipping with a digital flat panel connector, featuring the XPERT LCD board and complimented by Compaq's new FP500 Digital Flat Panel Display.

``The new Compaq Presario PCs equipped with the XPERT LCD and DFP interface, jumpstart the consumer market for high-quality digital flat panel monitors today,'' said Mike Rubin, Director, Presario Desktop Division, Compaq Computer Corporation [NYSE:CPQ - news]. ``We will continue to work with companies like ATI who support the DFP initiative and will make digital flat panel monitors commonplace on the desktop.''

The acceleration of the adoption of flat panels will cause prices to drop significantly over the next 6 to 9 months, to a price of perhaps 20-50% more, or 1.5 times the cost of a CRT monitor.

``With falling prices pushing the mass-market acceptance of flat panel monitors, we expect flat panel monitors to stall the CRT monitor market within 4 years and send it into negative growth in both units and revenue,'' said David E. Mentley, vice president of display industry research at Stanford Resources. ``A digital interface will help move the industry closer to replacing conventional desktop monitors with flat panel displays.''

With both the legacy analog VGA connector as well as the DFP connector included on the same card, the XPERT LCD enables end users to upgrade to a digital flat panel monitor without sacrificing the ability to use existing VGA monitors.

``The dream of flat panel monitors on every desktop is quickly becoming a reality with Compaq leading the charge to digital flat panel monitors,'' said Ed Grondahl, vice-president of product marketing, ATI. ``With the XPERT LCD, customers can protect their investment by using their existing CRT monitor and upgrading to a new high-quality digital flat panel in the future, protecting their investment for years to come.''

RAGE(TM) LT PRO chip for no compromise graphics and video

Based on ATI's RAGE LT PRO chip, the XPERT LCD delivers superior 3D acceleration and comprehensive 3D support including a triangle set-up engine, single-pass trilinear filtering, six perspectively correct texturing modes, video texturing, Gouraud and specular shading and a host of 3D special effects. The XPERT LCD features ATI's TriView display technology which enables the simultaneous use of a CRT monitor, a digital flat panel and even a TV set.

The only complete AGP 2X board available for digital flat panels

A no compromise accelerator, the XPERT LCD is the first graphics board to provide full 2X AGP support, with SideBand Addressing, to display all the massive 3D textures of AGP content to conventional CRT monitors and DFP flat panel monitors. With the ability to quickly access large 3D textures stored in system memory, the XPERT LCD's full 2X AGP support delivers extremely detailed textures producing richer and more exciting 3D images.

Full-screen playback of DVD movies

DVD playback of the highest quality is possible, with no additional DVD hardware installation required, using software with the XPERT LCD board. With an existing DVD-ROM, a 233MHz Pentium II processor or above, and the RAGE LT PRO chip, ATI's hardware-assisted software DVD solutions provide the highest quality DVD playback while saving an average of $100 in additional cost because hardware-decoding DVD technology is not required.

Tuned for Windows 98

The XPERT LCD has been designed to take full advantage of Microsoft's Windows 98 operating system, slated for shipping later this month. The XPERT LCD supports the multiple monitor feature of Windows '98, as well as the AGP optimizations that Windows 98 will offer. The most significant area of the Windows 98 readiness of the XPERT LCD is the enhanced performance levels that will result under the Microsoft Direct3D API. By adding the ATI-TV(TM) TV tuner, the XPERT LCD becomes broadcast PC ready and fully supports all of the WebTV features available under Windows 98.

Pricing and availability

The XPERT LCD will ship June 1998, with a Suggested Retail Price of $145 suggested retail price for the 8MB PCI board and $149 suggested retail price for the 8MB AGP board. The XPERT LCD AGP includes DVD playback software. Other drivers supplied include support for Windows 98, Windows 95, Window NT 4.0, Direct3D and OpenGL.

ATI Corporate Profile

ATI Technologies Inc., the world's largest supplier of 3D graphics and multimedia technology, designs, manufactures and markets innovative and award-winning multimedia solutions and graphics components for personal computers. An ISO 9002 company, ATI is one of the world's leading suppliers of video and 2D/3D graphics accelerators to OEM and retail customers. Founded in l985, ATI employs more than 1,000 people at headquarters in Thornhill, Ontario, and in offices in the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan and Malaysia. ATI is a public company whose shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

For other ATI news releases visit our web site at http://www.atitech.com.

Copyright (C) ATI Technologies Inc., 1998. All company and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective manufacturers. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice.

SOURCE: ATI Technologies Inc.