ORCHID SHIPS COMPANY’S FIRST 3D GRAPHICS AND VIDEO ACCELERATOR, INCLUDES EXCITING 3D SOFTWARE TITLES


FREMONT, Calif., July 15, 1996 -- Orchid Technology today shipped its latest product in the graphics accelerator market, the Fahrenheit Video 3DTM. This product provides PC users with integrated 2D and 3D acceleration for multimedia and entertainment applications as well as Internet VRML browsing, at an affordable price. Based on the S3® ViRGETM 64-bit graphics and video accelerator chip, Fahrenheit Video 3D supports Microsoft’s® recently released Direct 3DTM technology. The product is currently available in a 2MB EDO DRAM configuration for the PCI-bus.

"We are excited to deliver a comprehensive graphics solution to the PC market with Fahrenheit Video 3D," said Vernon Weiss, director of marketing for Orchid Technology. "This product provides three dimensional acceleration as well as superior 2D graphics and multimedia performance. Consumers will enjoy new levels of 3D realism, and support of Direct3D ensures compatibility with future 3D software titles."

The suggested retail price of Fahrenheit Video 3D when configured with 2MB of memory is $239 with an estimated retail price of $199. Fahrenheit Video 3D is immediately available worldwide and in the U.S. from distributors such as Ingram Micro, Tech Data, SED, Asian Sources Inc. and key retailers nationwide.

Fahrenheit Video 3D features advanced 64-bit multimedia acceleration based on the advanced S3 ViRGE single chip solution and high-performance, single-cycle Silicon Magic RAM memory technology. Graphics support of Fahrenheit Video 3D includes screen resolutions up to 1600 x 1200, true color depths and high refresh rates up to 160 Hz. Due to Fahrenheit Video 3D’s improved graphics speed, higher supported resolutions and color depths, users experience increased performance and visual quality of business software and entertainment applications. Tested against industry-standard benchmarks, the Fahrenheit Video 3D scored 27.1 in Winbench 96, 70.8 in Winstone 96 and 81.9 in Winstone 32*.

Fahrenheit Video 3D supports both Windows® 95 DirectDraw and Direct3D, and provides driver support for Windows 3.1x, Windows 95, Windows NT, OS/2 Warp, and AutoCAD. Additional support includes VESA Video BIOS extensions, Display Power Management Support (DPMS) and Display Data Channel (DDC) 2B-revision 2.

Fahrenheit Video 3D brings new levels of visual realism and greater user interaction to 3D software use. Three dimensional graphics deliver visual realism with enriched details and provide realistic surroundings compared to flat 2D displays. To effectively produce 3D environments, Fahrenheit Video 3D uses a number of advanced techniques designed to enhance the quality and performance of 3D rendering. These advanced features include:

"Fahrenheit Video 3D produces more realistic levels of graphics with greater detail and more realistic textures through advanced 3D acceleration and Direct 3D support," added Weiss. "While this product has immediate appeal for game users, PC users can experience the same level of 3D realism in other PC venues including Internet, entertainment and multimedia applications."

Optimized for 3D hardware performance, Fahrenheit Video 3D is bundled with exciting software titles:

Actua SoccerTM from Gremlin Interactive®
It’s the International Soccer Semifinals and the right to play in the championship is on the line. As team Captain, it's up to you to field your best team and compete for the coveted Cup. Replay moments of glory from infinite virtual camera angles.

HavocTM from Reality Bytes®
Conquer the ultimate challenge - the Tyrakian Overlord - if you can survive long enough to face him. Experience fast paced, futuristic action as you battle your friends in a multiplayer environment over a network or modem.

Terminal VelocityTM from Terminal Reality®
High speed, aerial combat over 400,000 square miles of terrain. Seek and destroy strategic targets as you make your way to the planet’s core to confront a huge mechanical beast ready to blast you away with heat seeking rockets.

Fahrenheit Video 3D features superior multimedia performance for multimedia and entertainment applications. The product delivers digital video acceleration and SuperZoom video scaling for full screen, full motion playback at resolutions up to 1024 x 768 without sacrificing quality or frame rate performance. Also included is Xing Technology’s XingMPEG Player software that provides software based MPEG-1 video playback. Fahrenheit Video 3D supports hardware MPEG-1 and TV tuner capabilities.

Orchid Technology, a leader in multimedia solutions for the personal computer market, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Micronics Computers, Inc. Orchid develops, designs manufactures and markets a wide range of industry leading multimedia technology including audio, graphics and 3D accelerators. Orchid’s 24-hour Bulletin Board Service number is (510) 683-0327. Orchid sales can be reached at (800) 7-ORCHID.

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Copyright© 1996 Micronics Computers, Inc.

Orchid and Fahrenheit Video 3D are trademarks of Orchid Technology. All other trademarks are the property of their respective manufacturers.

* Benchmark scores based on in-house testing useing Ziff-Davis benchmark Operation's Winstone 32, Winstone 96 and Winbench 96 on a Micronics Pentium 166 system with 16MB Fast Page Mode RAM, 512Kb cache and 1GB hard drive under Windows 95 at 800x600x16.7m@60Hz.