SUN MICROSYSTEMS IGNITES PROFESSIONAL GRAPHICS MARKET WITH SUN EXPERT3D BOARDSUN MICROSYSTEMS IGNITES PROFESSIONAL GRAPHICS MARKET WITH SUN EXPERT3D BOARDGraphics Accelerator Blazes Past CompetitionPALO ALTO, CA. -- April 18, 2000 -- Aiming directly at the professional graphics market, Sun Microsystems, Inc. today surpassed competitive solutions from Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) by announcing Sun Expert3D, a high-performance graphics accelerator board with texture mapping capabilities. Designed for professionals in geotechnical, technical simulation, visualization environments and medical imaging, Sun Expert3D enables critical decisions to be made quickly and precisely based on high-resolution graphical information displayed on-screen. "The quality, performance and flexibility of graphical representations are critical in many technical markets," said Tom Copeland, vice president of Workstations and High Performance Systems at IDC. "Scientists, physicians and other professionals rely more and more on graphical images to analyze data and make complex decisions."
Sun's Expert3D tops competitive solutions in the features most
demanded by users of professional graphics: performance, quality and
flexibility. Rigorous application testing of Sun Expert3D on Sun
Ultra "The requirements of the professional graphics market have been defined by our most demanding customers," said Ken Okin, vice president and general manager, Workstation Products at Sun Microsystems. "Sun Expert3D more than satisfies those requirements and is uniquely designed to deliver the most accurate graphical representations possible." Superior graphics viewing quality is achieved by Sun Expert3D's dramatically higher screen resolution and increased texture mapping memory which permits up to 76% more complex data to be viewed. Furthermore, two Sun Expert3D cards can be installed on one workstation to support dual high-powered graphics heads, which provides the increased flexibility required by many graphics applications. "One big strength that the Expert3D board enjoys is that it employs a very high stereoscopic display rate," said John Stone, research programmer, Theoretical Biophysics Group at the University of Illinois' Beckman Institute. "The Expert3D board runs in stereo at 112Hz. The 112Hz rate (56Hz per eye) provides a significant reduction in the perceived "flicker" when viewing stereoscopic images, yielding an immersive experience. The stereo images seem very solid, and the reduction in perceived flicker is pleasant for long sessions of stereoscopic viewing." Sun Expert3D can be easily integrated into existing technical computing environments that require high-performance graphics viewing capabilities. Oil and gas industry engineers and scientists put unique demands on their graphics systems that Sun Expert3D can accommodate. "The Expert3D card brings high-performance graphics to the desktop without requiring us to do any modifications to our internal software or to vendor software," said Rob Leslie, manager, Interpretation Applications of Shell International, Exploration and Production. "The graphics needs of the seismic world differ a lot from those of other industries. We don't want to run a batch job, and then come back and look at a picture. We need to look at large data volumes in real time. Any latencies - hesitations with the displays, or with the rendering - are distracting to the interpreter. If they have a train of thought, and they're trying to understand a data set, they want to be able to manipulate it, and interact with it real time. Expert3D meets those needs." Pricing and Availability Available immediately as a stand-alone board for $3495, Sun Expert3D can also be purchased as an option to Sun's Ultra 60 and Ultra 80 workstations. Sun Expert3D is available through Sun's direct sales force including Sun telesales, Sun authorized resellers and in the United States through the SunStore online commerce services (http://www.sun.com). All prices listed are US list price and subject to change without notice. About Sun Microsystems, Inc.Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc., (NASDAQ "SUNW"), to its position as a leading provider of hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $14 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.
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