S3 ViRGE
The S3 ViRGE/GX2 chip fully supported the AGP standard. The big trump card is the presence of a TV-out and a standard set of filters that give a high-quality image on a television screen.
Table of maximum supported resolutions
Resolution 2Mb 4Mb
640x480 32bit 32bit
800x600 32bit 32bit
1024x768 16bit 16bit/24bit interlaced
1280x1024 8bit 8bit/16,bn interlaced 1600x1200 8bit
8bit
3D acceleration represented by the following features:
Flat and Gouraud shading
3D texture mapping
Perspective correction
Bi-linear and tri-linear texture filtering
MIP-Mapping
Depth cueing, fogging, alpha blending
Video texture mapping
Z-buffering
It is worth noting that S3 products did not prove themselves in the best way in games under DirectX, and the developed set of software tools for 3D graphics S3D was not widely used. Additional possibilities are opened by the PowerStrip program, which optimizes the operation of the S3 ViRGEGX/2 chip both in 2D/3D graphics and when using a TV monitor. The program theoretically removes some of the problems when working with the AGP bus in Win95/NT 4.X.
Characteristics of S3 ViRGE
Chip | S3 Virge |
Maximum 2D/3D resolution | 1600x1280/1600x1280 |
Memory (installed/maximum) | 2 Mb/4 Mb |
Memory type | EDO |
API support | Direct3D |