Unsolved Problems and Opportunities for High-quality, High-performance 3D Graphics on a PC Platform

Abstract

In the late 1990 s, graphics hardware is experiencing a dramatic board-to-chip integration reminiscent to the minicomputer-to-microprocessor revolution of the 1980 s. Today, mass-market PCs are beginning to match the 3D polygon and pixel rendering of a 1992 Silicon Graphics Reality EngineTM system. The extreme pace of technology evolution in the PC market is such that within 1 or 2 years the performance of a mainstream PC will be very close to the highest performance 3D workstations. At that time, the quality and performance demands will dictate serious changes in PC architecture as well as changes in rendering pipeline and algorithms. This paper will discuss several potential areas of change.