S3 Graphics
Encyclopedia
S3 Graphics, Ltd is an American company specializing in graphics chipsets. Although they do not have the large market share that they once had, they still produce graphics accelerators for home computers under the "S3 Chrome
" brand name.
and Ronald Yara. On March 5, 1993, S3 began an Initial Public Offering
of 2,000,000 shares of common stock
on Nasdaq
. After several profitable years as an independent startup company, struggling with the transition to integrated 3D cards, S3 remodeled itself as a consumer electronics company and sold off its core graphics division to a joint venture with VIA Technologies
for $323 million. The joint venture, S3 Graphics, continues to develop and market chipsets based on the S3 graphics technology.
The reformed company carried over a substantial cash pile from the profitable TRIO days and a successful investment in UMC
, a Taiwan
ese semiconductor foundry. On November 15, 2000, S3 changed its name to SONICBlue and its NASDAQ stock symbol to SBLU. The new business model focused on digital media and information appliance opportunities while the graphics division was sold to VIA Technologies as S3 Graphics. ReplayTV, Rio, and GoVideo were some of the brands developed by SONICBlue. On March 21, 2003 SONICBlue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
S3 Graphics first only developed graphic cores for VIA IGP chipset while some years later they again began to produce graphics accelerators for home computers under the "Chrome" brand name. These include the Deltachrome, Gammachrome, Chrome S27 and Chrome 440GTX.
On July 6, 2011 it was announced that HTC Corporaton would buy VIA Technologies stake in S3 Graphics thus becoming the majority owner of S3 Graphics.
and then Savage
cards. More recently S3 chipsets have been sold as integrated VIA northbridge
parts. However these units are also available for PCI-E. The Chrome 440 series supports DirectX 10.1, HD Blu-ray video, and 3D acceleration powerful enough to run most of today's games on moderate settings. Their latest graphics card, the Chrome 530gt supports DirectX 10.1, OpenGL 3.0, HD-DVD and HD Blu-ray video playback and GPGPU
acceleration for image processing using S3FotoPro, video color correction, video encoding and transcoding, scientific research, game physics, engineering analysis, financial analysis and signal processing.
Media chipsets
(GUI) accelerator. Integrated functionality enabled attractive pricing, and solid features for competitive prices remained a hallmark of S3's strategy.
S3's most notable product range is the S3 TRIO 2D chipset. It remains one of the best selling graphics chipsets of all time. Updated in a number of timely revisions, each time S3 managed to keep the series one step ahead of the competition.
However, TRIO was a 2D range, and by the mid 1990s consumers and OEMs started to demand 3D functionality from graphics cards. Internally, S3 failed to recognise this transition quickly enough, and had to rush out the S3 ViRGE
range of 3D cards. While cheap, and popular with some OEMs for this reason, performance and drivers were poor. Some enthusiasts even nicknamed them graphics decelerators.
The integrated modern style 3D feature produced by S3, was the Savage
series of graphics cards. Notably these pioneered S3TC under the proprietary METAL API
, subsequently adopted by Microsoft under royalty, as an industry standard for texture
compression in DirectX
.
Savage also introduced an industry-leading motion compensation
engine, a quality video scaler, as well as hardware alpha-blended sub-picture blending, a first. However, the 3D performance of the Savage cards was never quite enough to take significant market share. Poor yields meant actual clock speeds were 30% lower than had been projected during development, and the transform and lighting engine implementation was flawed.
It became apparent the excellence of S3's integrated 2D technology, was no longer enough to ensure the overall success of the chipset. While S3 could have continued development of the Savage cards, and most likely resolved the outstanding issues, instead in 2001 the S3 management decided to sell off the core business to VIA for $323 million.
Subsequently, Savage derived chips turned up in numerous VIA motherboard chipsets as an integrated north bridge solution, such as Twister and UniChrome. More recent discrete derivations have carried the brand names DeltaChrome and GammaChrome. In this manner, S3 derived chips have held onto about a 10% share of the overall PC graphics market.
and graphics chipset maker S3 Incorporated.
In November 2000, the combined company changed its name to SONICblue and changed its focus from graphics chipsets and computer peripherals to consumer electronics, such as the Rio
line of MP3 players. In January 2001, the graphics chipset business was sold to a joint venture between SONICblue and VIA
called S3 Graphics. Later that same year, the company bought ReplayTV
, a maker of PVR systems, and Sensory Science Corporation, a company selling dual-deck DVD/VCR systems under the GoVideo brand name.
On March 21, 2003, SONICblue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and sold off its main product lines.
On April 16, 2003, D&M Holdings
, the parent company of Denon
Ltd. and Marantz
Japan Inc. purchased virtually all operating assets from SONICblue and now produces ReplayTV and Rio units under a new subsidiary, Digital Networks North America (DNNA), Inc. The last piece of the company was effectively sold in late 2003, when Best Data acquired the Diamond's Supra modem business along with rights to the Diamond Multimedia name for use in a new video card division.
In August 2005, that company said it would discontinue making MP3
players, after it had licensed its digital audio software technology to chipmaker SigmaTel
the month before.
S3 Chrome
S3 Graphics' Chrome series of graphics accelerators arrived in 2004 with the DeltaChrome line of chips. They are designed to be used as discrete, mobile, and integrated graphics solutions.-Overview:...
" brand name.
History
S3 was founded and incorporated in January 1989 by Dado BanataoDado Banatao
Diosdado Banatao , popularly known by his nickname Dado, is a Filipino entrepreneur and engineer working in the high-tech industry...
and Ronald Yara. On March 5, 1993, S3 began an Initial Public Offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
of 2,000,000 shares of common stock
Common stock
Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. It is called "common" to distinguish it from preferred stock. In the event of bankruptcy, common stock investors receive their funds after preferred stock holders, bondholders, creditors, etc...
on Nasdaq
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
. After several profitable years as an independent startup company, struggling with the transition to integrated 3D cards, S3 remodeled itself as a consumer electronics company and sold off its core graphics division to a joint venture with VIA Technologies
VIA Technologies
VIA Technologies is a Taiwanese manufacturer of integrated circuits, mainly motherboard chipsets, CPUs, and memory, and is part of the Formosa Plastics Group. It is the world's largest independent manufacturer of motherboard chipsets...
for $323 million. The joint venture, S3 Graphics, continues to develop and market chipsets based on the S3 graphics technology.
The reformed company carried over a substantial cash pile from the profitable TRIO days and a successful investment in UMC
United Microelectronics Corporation
UMC was founded as Taiwan's first semiconductor company in 1980 as a spin-off of the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute .-Overview:...
, a Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
ese semiconductor foundry. On November 15, 2000, S3 changed its name to SONICBlue and its NASDAQ stock symbol to SBLU. The new business model focused on digital media and information appliance opportunities while the graphics division was sold to VIA Technologies as S3 Graphics. ReplayTV, Rio, and GoVideo were some of the brands developed by SONICBlue. On March 21, 2003 SONICBlue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
S3 Graphics first only developed graphic cores for VIA IGP chipset while some years later they again began to produce graphics accelerators for home computers under the "Chrome" brand name. These include the Deltachrome, Gammachrome, Chrome S27 and Chrome 440GTX.
On July 6, 2011 it was announced that HTC Corporaton would buy VIA Technologies stake in S3 Graphics thus becoming the majority owner of S3 Graphics.
Products
S3 produces graphics cards primarily for PCs. While the earlier products such as the TRIO range were 2D only, later 3D functionality was added with the ViRGEVirge
A virge, from the Latin virga, is a type of rod, made of wood.Originally it was one or more branches used as an instrument for corporal punishment, or as a riding crop.It is presently best known as the ceremonial staff of the Anglican...
and then Savage
S3 Savage
Savage was a product-line of PC graphics chipsets designed by S3.-Savage 3D:At the 1998 E3 Expo S3 introduced the first Savage product, Savage3D. Compared to its ViRGE-derived predecessor , Savage3D was a technological leap forward...
cards. More recently S3 chipsets have been sold as integrated VIA northbridge
Northbridge (computing)
The northbridge has historically been one of the two chips in the core logic chipset on a PC motherboard, the other being the southbridge. Increasingly these functions have migrated to the CPU chip itself, beginning with memory and graphics controllers. For Intel Sandy Bridge and AMD Fusion...
parts. However these units are also available for PCI-E. The Chrome 440 series supports DirectX 10.1, HD Blu-ray video, and 3D acceleration powerful enough to run most of today's games on moderate settings. Their latest graphics card, the Chrome 530gt supports DirectX 10.1, OpenGL 3.0, HD-DVD and HD Blu-ray video playback and GPGPU
GPGPU
General-purpose computing on graphics processing units is the technique of using a GPU, which typically handles computation only for computer graphics, to perform computation in applications traditionally handled by the CPU...
acceleration for image processing using S3FotoPro, video color correction, video encoding and transcoding, scientific research, game physics, engineering analysis, financial analysis and signal processing.
Graphics controllers
- S3 911, 911A (June 10, 1991) - S3's first WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
accelerators (16/256-color, high-color acceleration) - S3 924 - 24-bit true-color acceleration
- S3 801, 805, 805i - mainstream DRAMDramDram or DRAM may refer to:As a unit of measure:* Dram , an imperial unit of mass and volume* Armenian dram, a monetary unit* Dirham, a unit of currency in several Arab nationsOther uses:...
VESAVESA Local BusThe VESA Local Bus was mostly used in personal computers. VESA Local Bus worked alongside the ISA bus; it acted as a high-speed conduit for memory-mapped I/O and DMA, while the ISA bus handled interrupts and port-mapped I/O.-Historical overview:In the early 1990s, the I/O bandwidth of...
Windows accelerators (16/256-color, high-color acceleration) - S3 928 - 24/32-bit true-color acceleration, DRAM or VRAMVRAMVideo RAM, or VRAM, is a dual-ported variant of dynamic RAM , which was once commonly used to store the framebuffer in some graphics adapters....
- S3 805p, 928p - S3's first PCIPeripheral Component InterconnectConventional PCI is a computer bus for attaching hardware devices in a computer...
support - S3 Vision864, Vision964 (1994) - 2nd generation Windows accelerators (64-bit wide framebufferFramebufferA framebuffer is a video output device that drives a video display from a memory buffer containing a complete frame of data.The information in the memory buffer typically consists of color values for every pixel on the screen...
) - S3 Vision868, Vision968 - S3's first motion video accelerator (zoom and YUVYUVYUV is a color space typically used as part of a color image pipeline. It encodes a color image or video taking human perception into account, allowing reduced bandwidth for chrominance components, thereby typically enabling transmission errors or compression artifacts to be more efficiently...
->RGB conversion) - S3 TrioS3 TrioThe S3 Trio range were popular graphics chipsets for personal computers and were S3's first fully integrated graphics accelerators. As the name implies, three previously separate components were now included in the same ASIC: the graphics core, RAMDAC and clock generator...
32, 64, 64V+, 64V2 (1995) - S3's first integrated (RAMDACRAMDACRandom Access Memory Digital-to-Analog Converter is a combination of three fast DACs with a small SRAM used in computer graphics display adapters to store the color palette and to generate the analog signals to drive a color monitor...
+VGA) accelerator. The 64 bit versions were S3's most successful product range. - ViRGEVirgeA virge, from the Latin virga, is a type of rod, made of wood.Originally it was one or more branches used as an instrument for corporal punishment, or as a riding crop.It is presently best known as the ceremonial staff of the Anglican...
(no suffix), VX, DX, GX, GX2, VX, Trio3D - S3's first Windows 3D-accelerators. Notoriously poor 3D. Sold well to OEMsOriginal Equipment ManufacturerAn original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...
mainly because of low price and excellent 2D-performance. - SavageS3 SavageSavage was a product-line of PC graphics chipsets designed by S3.-Savage 3D:At the 1998 E3 Expo S3 introduced the first Savage product, Savage3D. Compared to its ViRGE-derived predecessor , Savage3D was a technological leap forward...
3D (1998), 4 (1999), 2000 (2000)- S3's first recognizably modern 3D hardware implementation. Poor yields meant actual clock speeds were 30% below expectations, and buggy drivers caused further problems. S3 Texture CompressionS3 Texture CompressionS3 Texture Compression is a group of related lossy texture compression algorithms originally developed by Iourcha et al. of S3 Graphics, Ltd. for use in their Savage 3D computer graphics accelerator...
went on to become an industry standard, and the Savage3D's DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
acceleration was market leading at introduction. Savage2000 was announced as the first chip with integrated Transformation and Lighting (S3TL) co-processor. - Aurora64V+, S3 ViRGE/MX, SuperSavage, SavageXP - Mobile chipsets
- ProSavage, Twister, UniChrome, Chrome 9 - Integrated implementations of Savage chipset for VIAVIA TechnologiesVIA Technologies is a Taiwanese manufacturer of integrated circuits, mainly motherboard chipsets, CPUs, and memory, and is part of the Formosa Plastics Group. It is the world's largest independent manufacturer of motherboard chipsets...
motherboards - GammaChrome, DeltaChrome, Chrome 20 series, Chrome 440 series, Chrome 500 seriesChrome 500 seriesS3 Graphics Chrome 500 series is the successor of S3 Graphics Chrome S20 series, and is produced in parallel to the S3 Graphics Chrome 400.- Availability :...
- Discrete cards post acquisition by VIA. - S3 GenDAC, SDAC - VGA RAMDAC with high/true-color bypass (SDAC had integrated PLLsPhase-locked loopA phase-locked loop or phase lock loop is a control system that generates an output signal whose phase is related to the phase of an input "reference" signal. It is an electronic circuit consisting of a variable frequency oscillator and a phase detector...
, dot-clocks, and hardware Windows cursor)
Media chipsets
- Sonic/AD sound chipset - A programmable, sigma-delta audio DACDigital-to-analog converterIn electronics, a digital-to-analog converter is a device that converts a digital code to an analog signal . An analog-to-digital converter performs the reverse operation...
, featuring an integrated PLL, stereo 16-bit analogue output - SonicVibes - PCI Audio Accelerator
- Scenic/MX2 - MPEG Decoder
Market Trends
From formation in 1989 it took S3 two years to develop the world's first single-chip Graphical User InterfaceGraphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
(GUI) accelerator. Integrated functionality enabled attractive pricing, and solid features for competitive prices remained a hallmark of S3's strategy.
S3's most notable product range is the S3 TRIO 2D chipset. It remains one of the best selling graphics chipsets of all time. Updated in a number of timely revisions, each time S3 managed to keep the series one step ahead of the competition.
However, TRIO was a 2D range, and by the mid 1990s consumers and OEMs started to demand 3D functionality from graphics cards. Internally, S3 failed to recognise this transition quickly enough, and had to rush out the S3 ViRGE
Virge
A virge, from the Latin virga, is a type of rod, made of wood.Originally it was one or more branches used as an instrument for corporal punishment, or as a riding crop.It is presently best known as the ceremonial staff of the Anglican...
range of 3D cards. While cheap, and popular with some OEMs for this reason, performance and drivers were poor. Some enthusiasts even nicknamed them graphics decelerators.
The integrated modern style 3D feature produced by S3, was the Savage
S3 Savage
Savage was a product-line of PC graphics chipsets designed by S3.-Savage 3D:At the 1998 E3 Expo S3 introduced the first Savage product, Savage3D. Compared to its ViRGE-derived predecessor , Savage3D was a technological leap forward...
series of graphics cards. Notably these pioneered S3TC under the proprietary METAL API
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
, subsequently adopted by Microsoft under royalty, as an industry standard for texture
Texture mapping
Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture , or color to a computer-generated graphic or 3D model. Its application to 3D graphics was pioneered by Dr Edwin Catmull in his Ph.D. thesis of 1974.-Texture mapping:...
compression in DirectX
DirectX
Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay,...
.
Savage also introduced an industry-leading motion compensation
Motion compensation
Motion compensation is an algorithmic technique employed in the encoding of video data for video compression, for example in the generation of MPEG-2 files. Motion compensation describes a picture in terms of the transformation of a reference picture to the current picture. The reference picture...
engine, a quality video scaler, as well as hardware alpha-blended sub-picture blending, a first. However, the 3D performance of the Savage cards was never quite enough to take significant market share. Poor yields meant actual clock speeds were 30% lower than had been projected during development, and the transform and lighting engine implementation was flawed.
It became apparent the excellence of S3's integrated 2D technology, was no longer enough to ensure the overall success of the chipset. While S3 could have continued development of the Savage cards, and most likely resolved the outstanding issues, instead in 2001 the S3 management decided to sell off the core business to VIA for $323 million.
Subsequently, Savage derived chips turned up in numerous VIA motherboard chipsets as an integrated north bridge solution, such as Twister and UniChrome. More recent discrete derivations have carried the brand names DeltaChrome and GammaChrome. In this manner, S3 derived chips have held onto about a 10% share of the overall PC graphics market.
SONICblue
SONICblue was an American consumer electronics company resulting from the 1999 merger between computer peripheral maker Diamond MultimediaDiamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia is a company that specializes in many forms of multimedia technology. They have produced graphics cards, motherboards, modems, sound cards and MP3 players, however the company began with the production of the TrackStar, a PC add-on card which emulated Apple II computers...
and graphics chipset maker S3 Incorporated.
In November 2000, the combined company changed its name to SONICblue and changed its focus from graphics chipsets and computer peripherals to consumer electronics, such as the Rio
Rio (digital audio players)
Rio was the brand name of a line of digital audio players, best known for producing the "Diamond Rio" model that was the impetus for a lawsuit in 1998 by the Recording Industry Association of America...
line of MP3 players. In January 2001, the graphics chipset business was sold to a joint venture between SONICblue and VIA
VIA Technologies
VIA Technologies is a Taiwanese manufacturer of integrated circuits, mainly motherboard chipsets, CPUs, and memory, and is part of the Formosa Plastics Group. It is the world's largest independent manufacturer of motherboard chipsets...
called S3 Graphics. Later that same year, the company bought ReplayTV
ReplayTV
ReplayTV is a brand of digital video recorder , a term synonymous with personal video recorder . It is a consumer video device which allows users to capture television programming to internal hard disk storage for later viewing...
, a maker of PVR systems, and Sensory Science Corporation, a company selling dual-deck DVD/VCR systems under the GoVideo brand name.
On March 21, 2003, SONICblue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and sold off its main product lines.
On April 16, 2003, D&M Holdings
D&M Holdings
D&M Holdings is a Japanese corporation that owns several audio and video brands. It was formed in 2002 from the merger of Denon and Marantz. It has acquired several other companies since that time. In 2008 it was acquired by K. K. BCJ-2, a Tokyo corporation owned by investment funds advised...
, the parent company of Denon
Denon
is a Japanese electronics company that was involved in the early stages of development of digital audio technology, while specializing in the manufacture of high-fidelity professional and consumer audio equipment. For many decades, Denon was a brand name of Nippon-Columbia, including the Nippon...
Ltd. and Marantz
Marantz
Marantz is a company that develops and sells upper-mid range to high-end audio products.The first Marantz audio product was designed and built by Saul B. Marantz in his home in Kew Gardens, New York...
Japan Inc. purchased virtually all operating assets from SONICblue and now produces ReplayTV and Rio units under a new subsidiary, Digital Networks North America (DNNA), Inc. The last piece of the company was effectively sold in late 2003, when Best Data acquired the Diamond's Supra modem business along with rights to the Diamond Multimedia name for use in a new video card division.
In August 2005, that company said it would discontinue making MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
players, after it had licensed its digital audio software technology to chipmaker SigmaTel
SigmaTel
SigmaTel is an electronics company located in Austin, TX, which designs mixed audio signal processors, and controller chips for multifunction peripherals. SigmaTel was Austin's largest IPO as of 2003 when it became publicly traded on NASDAQ...
the month before.
External links
- S3.com products cached from 1997
- VIA Graphics
- Firingsquad: S3: From Virge to Savage 2000
- Xbitlabs: The Return of S3: DeltaChrome Graphics Card Review
- Techreport: A look at S3's DeltaChrome
- The Inquirer: S3's DirectX 10 Roadmap
- http://www.dailytech.com/VIA+WTI+Sell+Stakes+in+S3+Graphics+to+HTC/article22078.htm