ATI Introduces Next Generation IMAGEON™ 3200

[Jason Dunn]

<a href="http://mirror.ati.com/companyinfo/press/2002/4570.html">http://mirror.ati.com/companyinfo/press/2002/4570.html</a><br /><br />Looks like ATI has a new mobile processor coming out this month - the feature list is quite impressive. Alpha blending, Gouraud shading, MPEG and JPEG decoding acceleration, USB On-The-Go, and video capture port support. Now how much do you want to bet that's why we haven't heard a peep from Toshiba yet? I bet their next device will use the Imageon 3200.<br /><br />I hope this time it will really make a difference though - I remember being excited about the Imageon 100, but when you look at the performance numbers on the Toshiba, you can't tell that it's packing a 2D accelerator.<br /><br />"ATI Technologies Inc. today introduced IMAGEON™ 3200, the most advanced multimedia co-processor for handheld electronic devices such as Personal Data Assistants (PDA) and the new generation of data-enabled Mobile Phones. IMAGEON 3200 is a member of ATI's second-generation family of media co-processors for handheld devices. It integrates an advanced 2D graphics engine and an MPEG/JPEG decoder alongside a powerful and versatile set of peripheral I/O functions. The IMAGEON 3200 highly optimized architecture and features offer the highest graphics performance and frame rates while lowering the overall system power dissipation. Handheld devices using the IMAGEON 3200 will benefit from a much longer battery life." Read on for the rest of the press release<!><br /><br />"ATI's IMAGEON 3200 raises the bar once again by taking advantage of new technologies to deliver amazing graphics quality and battery life for all handheld devices including the frugal mobile phones," said Azzedine Boubguira, Director of Marketing, Handheld Products Group, ATI Technologies Inc. "In addition to completing the architecture of mobile devices and enhancing their performance, the new IMAGEON 3200 offers more value to OEMs for cost and power saving by integrating several necessary peripheral I/O functions."<br /><br />IMAGEON 3200 continues to offer IMAGEON industry-leading functionality designed to enhance OEM (original equipment manufacturer) products. The following are just some of the outstanding IMAGEON 3200 features: <br /><br />• Enhanced 2D Graphics Engine: All basic 2D acceleration functions are supported to enable fast animation and fast drawing to the screen. <br />• IMAGEON 3200 also includes advanced features such as alpha blending, object rotation, and Gouraud shading to enhance the visual quality and help the creativity of content developers for the handheld market. <br />• MPEG and JPEG decoding: The video hardware decode functions free up more than 50% of MIPS power from the main CPU, resulting in the support of higher resolutions at higher frame rates with no visual artifacts. <br />• Integrated Memory: IMAGEON 3200 includes enough embedded SRAM (static random access memory) to support double buffering of images for higher quality graphics and video on standard PDA display resolutions (up to 320 x 480 pixels). <br />• Host Interface: IMAGEON 3200 uses a high-bandwidth, high performance host- interface to connect seamlessly to all industry-leading embedded microprocessors such as Intel's XScale, Motorola's MX1, TI's OMAP, and Samsung's S3C2400. <br />• Display Engine: The main component of the display engine is a programmable LCD Timing Controller (or TCON). The programmability of this timing generator gives OEMs the flexibility to interface to a large number of LCD panels using different technologies from different manufacturers. <br />• USB On-The-Go (OTG): IMAGEON 3200 is the first integrated co-processor to offer USB OTG (On-The-Go) - a new standard that connects two USB devices directly. USB On-The-Go is designed for mobile interconnectivity by allowing a USB device to communicate with other USB peripherals (such as printers) without the need to go through a PC. <br />Secure Digital (SD) card: Both SD memory cards and SDIO cards (with functions such as Bluetooth, digital cameras, etc…) are supported with the fully integrated and standard compliant controller. Multi-media Cards (MMC) are also supported. <br />• Video Capture Port: IMAGEON 3200 connects seamlessly to digital cameras and other video sources through its embedded capture port for images with resolutions up to VGA. Three input formats are accepted including the ITU-656 standard. <br /><br />Availability<br /><br />ATI's IMAGEON 3200 media controller is currently sampling. Mass production shipments will start by the end of November."

[vincentsiaw]

hope they make a good graphic accelator, i'm hoping to see a 40 fps in my pocket tv, it'll be nice to watch bmw films at that speed :lol:

[ThomasC22]

Yes, lets hope this one at least makes performance better rather than worse.

This is really where ATI should be putting their resources I think, as much as they try to leap frog Nvidia in the Desktop market it just isn't going to happen (Nvidia has much more money to play with) and this market seems to be one that Nvidia has completely ignored (they say they're still working on a mobile chip they got in the 3Dfx aquisition but how long does it take to finish a mobile processor?)

This could be a big market someday and ATI should pay close attention to it.

[takotchi]

Well, that just shot my next PPC idea to... ya know. I hope Toshiba is going to make an e760 or something with this thing inside. Of course, like the Imageon 100, it could just receive no support and make the thing really suck. My "dream" device would be like this...

3.5" transflective screen
400MHz XScale
Imageon 3200
64MB RAM/48MB ROM
2 SD I/O slots
Bluetooth built-in (with pulsing blue LED... :twisted: )

I would like Toshiba, or whoever else BESIDES Compaq to do a device just like this... I am hoping maybe the E-740 with all it's rebates and whatever is being shoved out of the way for a newer model, including this chip.

By the way, what other devices other than the E-740 have this chip? I've never seen any.

[Kati Compton]

Am I right in thinking that PDAs these days are all multi-chip devices? I'm surprised there hasn't been more of a move to system-on-a-chip.

I haven't looked inside a PDA (yet) myself. How many different chips are in there?

[Kirkaiya]

Am I right in thinking that PDAs these days are all multi-chip devices? I'm surprised there hasn't been more of a move to system-on-a-chip.

I haven't looked inside a PDA (yet) myself. How many different chips are in there?

I believe that (system on a chip) is the aim of the new low-cost reference-design by Samsung and Microsoft. While it will almost certainly have multiple chips (Flash RAM, ROM/Flash ROM, CPU, and some I/O processor...), you can expect fewer than in current devices (possibly integrated I/O, Video and sound, or something... not sure).

One problem with the "system on a chip" is that the manufacturers have slightly less flexibility to cherry-pick components. That is, instead of a top-of-of-line CPU (XScale 400) with a best-of-breed mobile video card (this ATI card, for example), and whatever other special coprocessors, the OEM would just have this one "all in one" chip that has integrated coprocessing for I/O, video, sound, etc.

Anyway - I think the higher-end units will tend to stay multi-chip, while cheaper devices will be more likely to go to the system-on-a-chip (which would probably make them smaller also).

The same battle played out on the desktop, with Centaur (remember them?) and Cyrix offering integrated processors (recall the MediaGX processor from Cyrix). They didn't perform all that great, since dedicated video and audio cards outperform anything you can build onto the CPU..

I guess it'll be clearer in another year or so...

[st63z]

as much as they try to leap frog Nvidia in the Desktop market it just isn't going to happen (Nvidia has much more money to play with)

A curious statement to make at this point in time, when ATI's on a roll and nVidia has had setbacks...

In fact on the desktop, notebook, handheld, ATI's currently leading...

[Paul]

Woohoo! Go ATI!
I'm guessing this chip will make it's appearance in Toshiba's successor to the e740.
Hmm, why can't the Genio have built in WiFi? That screen looks so much cooler.

Genio's 4" screen with built in WiFi, dual slots, high-cap battery, and this chip could make for a very compelling PocketPC...

[st63z]

Come on, we have all these next-gen CPUs, multimedia coprocessors/DSPs, etc.. We REALLY need a 4" VGA (640x480) Pocket PC!

[ThomasC22]

A curious statement to make at this point in time, when ATI's on a roll and nVidia has had setbacks...

In fact on the desktop, notebook, handheld, ATI's currently leading...

I wouldn't say ATI is currently leading, at least not really. Every test I've seen says that the Geforce4Go outperforms the Mobile Radeon 9000 in the notebook market.

Desktop wise, the Radeon 9700 does outperform the current GeForce4 Ti but the NV30 is, at worst, a couple months away. That puts ATI a full product cycle behind Nvidia in my book.

As for handhelds, this could change things, but to date ATI's chip has been featured in one PocketPC and that device had the worst video performance of all it's competition.

Hardly a winning streak...

[Bruno]

• Integrated Memory: IMAGEON 3200 includes enough embedded SRAM (static random access memory) to support double buffering of images for higher quality graphics and video on standard PDA display resolutions (up to 320 x 480 pixels).



Does this give us a hint of the upcoming resolution change in PocketPC.Net? 320x480 would be just nice (and make Palm Tungsten look like a bad joke over again!)

Has anyone heard of higher resolution for PocketPC.Net

[sponge]

NVidia and ATIs product lines are skewed, they never release cards at the same time. To say ATI should abandon hope in the desktop market would be suicide for them were they to actually do that. NV releases new card, prices for ATI drop down, ATI releases new card, NVidia prices go down. Currently have a GF3 TI200, I know my next card is going to be an R9700, the fact it was being used in Doom III sure helps too.

You really can't say one company is winning over another when it comes to NV and ATI, it just wouldn't be accurate for anything but short periods of time.

Sorry to go OT, but ATI is nowhere near dead in the desktop market.

[ThomasC22]

You really can't say one company is winning over another when it comes to NV and ATI, it just wouldn't be accurate for anything but short periods of time.

Sorry to go OT, but ATI is nowhere near dead in the desktop market.

I really don't understand where you guys are coming from. OK, a few facts...

Nvidia currently own 58% of the market (Up from 52%) while ATI owns 33% (down from 36%)

Nvidia and ATI are both on the same product cycle (although Nvidia missed with the NV30)

The Radeon 9700 is only barely faster than the current crop of GeForce4 processors and the NV30 is supposedly 50% faster than the Geforce4

Nvidia's revenue last quarter was 430 millions, ATI's was 235 million

I'm sorry but ATI is not in good shape and just because they have a momentary lead doesn't change the fact that they are a whole product cycle behind Nvidia (both companies usually release products in Fall and Spring).

[Janak Parekh]

Nvidia and ATI are both on the same product cycle (although Nvidia missed with the NV30)

The Radeon 9700 is only barely faster than the current crop of GeForce4 processors and the NV30 is supposedly 50% faster than the Geforce4
Eh, this is debatable. The 9700, with intensive games like UT2003, blows the GF4 out of the water (at 1600x1200, for example, the 9700 is a whopping 50% faster than the GF4Ti4600). Moreover, the NV30 has not been sampled in real silicon with real numbers just yet, and it's quite a few months away. You're also assuming ATI is sitting on its hands, which is quite definitely not the case.

Don't get me wrong, I love my GF4Ti4400, but ATI is not dead. They still are a popular OEM supplier, and that's been a core of their business for many, many years.

If anything competition is good for both, especially nVidia, which has enjoyed the open high road for some time until the R300 chips.

--bdj

[ThomasC22]

Well, they do say that the NV30 should be available "in limited quantities" by the end of the year.

But you're right, competition is good and I don't want ATI to die, I just also don't want them to sit on their laurels either...

[Janak Parekh]

Well, they do say that the NV30 should be available "in limited quantities" by the end of the year.
Those limited quantities are looking pretty bleak. Now they're saying that manufacturing is going to happen mid-November and no cards will be on the shelves by Christmas.

I think mid-January to beginning-Feburary is the reality, IMHO.

--bdj

[Pony99CA]

I really don't understand where you guys are coming from. OK, a few facts...

Nvidia and ATI are both on the same product cycle (although Nvidia missed with the NV30)

...

I'm sorry but ATI is not in good shape and just because they have a momentary lead doesn't change the fact that they are a whole product cycle behind Nvidia (both companies usually release products in Fall and Spring).
So they're on the same product cycle in one breath, and ATI is behind a whole product cycle in the next? Interesting....

Also, you haven't shown that ATI is "not in good shape"; you merely showed they trail in revenue and market share. There are plenty of "second-place" companies that trail a leader in both market share and revenue that aren't in bad shape, I suspect.

Steve