PowerVR5 on consoles ?

[pc999]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20040522053649.html

New ( for me at least )

 

[AlphaWolf]

arcade machines for now is what I see

 

[Lazy8s]

Imagination's financial review didn't state that they were signed on for a console, only that the technology which would target such markets was brewing.

 

[pc999]

We are close to delivering our very high-end next generation graphics technology that targets arcade, PC and console

 

[Sonic]

It targets that market segment, it doesn't mean it will find application in it. 3dfx also targeted the console sector but lost to VideoLogic/IMG during the development of the Dreamcast.

 

[akira888]

It would greatly behoove Sony to license PVR Series 5 (or help finance a DX10 Series 6) rather than vainly attempt to develop a rasterizer from the ground up. It's a win-win deal, ImgTec gets a huge sum of cash and Sony gets cutting edge graphics technology. They should have licensed Kyro for PS2, but oh well.

 

[Megadrive1988]

Imagination's financial review didn't state that they were signed on for a console, only that the technology which would target such markets was brewing.

We are close to delivering our very high-end next generation graphics technology that targets arcade, PC and console

It targets that market segment, it doesn't mean it will find application in it. 3dfx also targeted the console sector but lost to VideoLogic/IMG during the development of the Dreamcast.

Lazy8s pc999 and Sonic are exactly right. PowerVR5 is targeted at arcades, PC and console, but it doesn't mean they have a console deal for Series 5 as they did with Sega in 1997 with Series 2 for what would become the Dreamcast.

 

[Megadrive1988]

It would greatly behoove Sony to license PVR Series 5 (or help finance a DX10 Series 6) rather than vainly attempt to develop a rasterizer from the ground up. It's a win-win deal, ImgTec gets a huge sum of cash and Sony gets cutting edge graphics technology. They should have licensed Kyro for PS2, but oh well.

Well, some sort of 'Super' PowerVR Series 3 / KYRO for PS2's rasterizer, if arranged in a 16 pipeline chip like Graphics Synthesizer would've been interesting I suppose. but a standard PowerVR3 / Kyro chip wouldn't have been of much use to Sony with only 2 pipes. That is not the road Sony decided to go down-which was extremely high fillrate & bandwidth. Besides, you've got to remember the timeline. when PS2 and GS was in development ( 1995 to 1997-8 ), there *was* no PowerVR3/KYRO. there was only Series 1 (PCX1/PCX2) available and Series 2 (CLX, PMX/Neon250) still in development. PowerVR3/KYRO probably did not go into development until 1998 at the soonest. too late to be ready for PS2 which was unveiled in early 1999.

However, in 1995-1996 there were rumors of Sony using a PowerVR Highlander graphics chip for PSX2/PS2. Highlander, if you recall, was the early name for PowerVR Series 2 in general, until Videologic clairified the names of the various chips within the Series 2 family. I don't know if there was any truth to those rumors of Sony using PowerVR. maybe for a much different version of PS2 that would've been intended for 1998.

 

[zurich]

I think it may be difficult for Sony to bolt something like a PVR graphics controller onto a system as complex as the PS3.. (or PS2 back then).

 

[jvd]

I think it may be difficult for Sony to bolt something like a PVR graphics controller onto a system as complex as the PS3.. (or PS2 back then).

right so complex . The gs wasn't very complex at all.

 

[akira888]

MegaDrive:

The Kyro should have been in planning by 1996-1997 in order to make a 1999 unveilment as it takes three years to go from white sheet to silicon generally. Also, remember that Xbox was released only around 6 months after NV20 (and before NV25). Had Sony been interested in PVR tech no doubt they would have been shown the long term roadmap and would have received advance technical data about the chips yet to be released.

 

[akira888]

I think it may be difficult for Sony to bolt something like a PVR graphics controller onto a system as complex as the PS3.. (or PS2 back then).

Actually a PC should be much more complex due to all of the legacy support required, and Sony will have to put a graphics chip in there somehow.

But I wonder why you feel the PS3 will be so much more complex than similar hardware? I see no reason to believe that. I'd say on the whole Xbox is just as complex (if not more complex in many ways) than PS2.

 

[zurich]

I think it may be difficult for Sony to bolt something like a PVR graphics controller onto a system as complex as the PS3.. (or PS2 back then).

Actually a PC should be much more complex due to all of the legacy support required, and Sony will have to put a graphics chip in there somehow.

But I wonder why you feel the PS3 will be so much more complex than similar hardware? I see no reason to believe that. I'd say on the whole Xbox is just as complex (if not more complex in many ways) than PS2.

I'm referring to the effort required to integrate a graphics controller (see 'bolt on' comment). And with regards to the PS3, I'd say the whole system was built around the Cell architecture - slapping a PVR chip or something similar doesn't sound as easy as many people make it sound.

 

[Megadrive1988]

MegaDrive:

The Kyro should have been in planning by 1996-1997 in order to make a 1999 unveilment as it takes three years to go from white sheet to silicon generally. Also, remember that Xbox was released only around 6 months after NV20 (and before NV25). Had Sony been interested in PVR tech no doubt they would have been shown the long term roadmap and would have received advance technical data about the chips yet to be released.

Akira:

Indeed you could be absolutely right. PowerVR2 was in planning / development in 1995, so it is not inconcievable that PowerVR3/KYRO was in planning / dev. by 1997. you are absolutely right about Xbox timing in relation to NV20 and NV25. As well as about Sony, if they had been interested in PowerVR they most likely would have been shown a roadmap on future PowerVR technologies. The Playstation2 could have been powered by an advanced version of PowerVR2 (more advanced than DC) or even perhaps PowerVR3. your points are fair and reasonable 8)

 

[Farid]

Akira:

Indeed you could be absolutely right. PowerVR2 was in planning / development in 1995, so it is not inconcievable that PowerVR3/KYRO was in planning / dev. by 1997. you are absolutely right about Xbox timing in relation to NV20 and NV25. As well as about Sony, if they had been interested in PowerVR they most likely would have been shown a roadmap on future PowerVR technologies. The Playstation2 could have been powered by an advanced version of PowerVR2 (more advanced than DC) or even perhaps PowerVR3. your points are fair and reasonable 8)

Nvidia, Ati have at least two team working at the same time, is that the same with Imgtech's PowerVR?
Because if they only have one team working on one chip at the time, it's hard to have a close release date between two chips (if they are "really" different, of course). Wich mean that when Nvidia had already started the work on NV20 and 25 when MS asked them to "create" the XGPU, in the meanwhile PowerVR "may" have not started concrete work on the PVR3 by the time they were creating PVR2, therefore the PVR3 would have not maked it on time to be aboard of PS2. Maybe a souped up PVR2 could have be an alternative, as you said.

 

[Simon F]

I think it may be difficult for Sony to bolt something like a PVR graphics controller onto a system as complex as the PS3.. (or PS2 back then).

right so complex . The gs wasn't very complex at all.

Just enormously big?

 

[Panajev2001a]

I think it may be difficult for Sony to bolt something like a PVR graphics controller onto a system as complex as the PS3.. (or PS2 back then).

right so complex . The gs wasn't very complex at all.

Just enormously big?

Oh stop it, leave the GS alone .

 

[Megadrive1988]

GS-lover!

 

[Megadrive1988]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=dev&aid=3520

oh, looks like Sammy is getting a new low-end board powered by PowerVR as well as Sega's new high-end board.

Imagination working on next-generation arcade systems for Sega

Rob Fahey 16:16 25/05/2004
High end arcade board to be delivered early next year


British technology firm Imagination is preparing to deliver a new arcade system to Sega at the start of next year, according to the company's financial statements, which will be based on the firm's next-generation graphics system.

Imagination - which owns the PowerVR brand of graphics accelerator technology, the latest iteration of which will be used in the new Sega cabinets - previously supplied technology for Sega projects including the Dreamcast and the Naomi arcade cabinets.

The firm is also working with Sammy on a new arcade board development, although it's not thought to be cutting edge technology - Sammy has generally preferred to focus on low-cost solutions rather than high end systems.

The new Sega board would be the first arcade hardware to be developed by the Japanese giant since the Naomi boards, which benefited from being very similar in design to the Dreamcast. In recent years, Sega has focused on Microsoft's Chihiro arcade boards, which are based on the Xbox architecture, and is expected to work increasingly on Sammy's Atomiswave platform - which is not dissimilar to Naomi - in future.

The news that Imagination is to supply technology for a new cutting-edge Sega arcade system comes following the decision of gambling machine and arcade giant Sammy to complete its acquisition of the Japanese publisher, in which it purchased a 22 per cent stake late last year.

Sammy president - and now Sega chairman - Hajime Satomi has said since the acquisition that he wants to see Sega focusing increasingly on the profitable arcade business, which has in recent years been compensating for losses in the company's home console software division.

I suppose we'll see something somewhat more powerful than Atomiswave for Sammy, in addition to the high-end Sega.

 

[Megadrive1988]

ack, dp.