S3 Jumps On GPGPU Bandwagon 86
arcticstoat writes "It's sometimes easy to forget that the PC graphics market isn't owned by ATI and Nvidia, and the company that first gave us 3D acceleration, S3, is very much still around. So much so, in fact, that it's now even developed its own GPGPU technology. S3 claims that its Chrome 400 chips can accelerate gaming physics, HD video transcoding/encoding and photo enhancement. To demonstrate the latter, S3 has released a free download called S3FotoPro, which enhances color clarity and reduces haze in photos. However, the company hasn't yet revealed whether it plans to support OpenCL in the future."
The Tech Report also points out that this could allow S3's parent company, VIA, to compete with Intel and AMD in graphics processing technology.
S3 (Score:3, Funny)
Re:what (Score:2, Funny)
How is enhancing photos the business of a central processing unit? That can be done in hardware acceleration at incredible speeds without software.
Re:what (Score:1, Funny)
how is enhancing photos the business of a computer? That can be done with professional equipment and professional lighting.
Re:not the first time we hear that S3 can compete. (Score:3, Funny)
Hey, give them a chance. If their excellent 3D graphics chipsets are anything to go by this could give you the power of a 386 processor ON YOUR DESKTOP! Imagine it: DooM running in practically real-time. This baby could render the teapot POV example in 3/4 mins rather than the hours it would take on the older XT class machine.
Re:not the first time we hear that S3 can compete. (Score:2, Funny)
America really has gone downhill.
Re:what (Score:3, Funny)
Hos is enhancing photos the buisness of professional equipment and lighting? That can be done with a few lenses, a cheap pen light and some cardboard.
Re:what (Score:3, Funny)
I'm fairly sure that's what he said. He even specifically mentioned photoshop
Re:Easy to forget (Score:2, Funny)
And they have some of the easiest Linux support.
That surely explains their 60% market share
Re:what (Score:3, Funny)
Or you can just squint a bit, or step back a little. Cheap and fast and used to work just as well.