Imagination announces Shader Model 3 capable mobile graphics processors

Imagination, a UK-based IP company that licenses its technologies to chip and electronics manufacturers such as Intel and Nintendo, unveiled a new graphics core technology, which promises to advance 2D and 3D graphics acceleration on mobile wireless devices.

The 90 nm R SGX cores are part of the firm's PowerVR Series5 programmable unified shader graphics and video core family. The chips target cellphone classes and integrate a feature set that, according to Imagination, "exceeds OGL 2.0 shader and Microsoft Vertex and Pixel Shader Model 3 requirements" and includes H.264 capability, supports OpenGL ES 2.0, D3D Mobile, Open VG, Open GL 2.0 and DirectX9+ running under Linux, Symbian, WinCE and Windows Mobile OS.

The product family is available in three variations, the SGX510, SGX520, and the SGX530. Fillrate spec for the chips range from 200 million to 1.2 billion pixels per second at a clock speed of 200 MHz. Polygon performance is rated at 2 to 13.5 million polygons per second.

The PowerVR SGX family will co-exist alongside the PowerVR MBX product, which is currently licensed to manufacturers of mobile handhelds, car navigation and entertainment systems, Imagination said. (THG)