Causing a Chromotion

S3 isn't dead - despite popular belief that it had vanished into the video graphics ether. In any case, it’s thrashed back into existence with the announcement of its DeltaChrome graphics chipset.

How it will fare against competing

S3 isn't dead - despite popular belief that it had vanished into the video graphics ether. In any case, it's thrashed back into existence with the announcement of its DeltaChrome graphics chipset.

How it will fare against competing solutions is anyone's guess, but it'll probably go up against mid- to top-range chipsets.

The DeltaChrome will sport a DirectX 9 compatible core, with both V2.0+ pixel shaders and vertex shaders, putting it in the league of the 9500, 9700 and FX chips.

It'll also come with its own HDTV decoder and will provide support for monitors and televisions that are able to use the technology.

The chip's amusingly named 'Chromotion' engine will have an advanced Z-culling function, called 'Advanced Deferred Rendering', which promises to do away with bandwidth issues. Not that they're that big a problem these days, thanks to the 9700. Also included is the 'V8' pipeline, which will have a tidy sum of eight pixel pipelines, along with being sophisticated and complex. According to information, the DeltaChrome will be at home both in a desktop or a laptop.

One interesting feature is the video decoder, which will introduce programmable video functions for decoding MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video, as well as WMV. How this will work will be good to see.

'The Chromotion engine's real-time rendering capabilities bring video effect processing to the mainstream. The home video enthusiast can now exercise as much ArtisticLicense™ as advanced video artists. All can edit and process video with Chromotion quality using familiar effects and filters for professional looking results for any project, whether simple or involved.'

Apparently, you can buy ArtisticLicense as a feature.