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=== 1990s === [[File:Dstealth32.jpg|thumb|[[Tseng Labs]] [[Tseng Labs ET4000|ET4000/W32p]] ]] In 1991, [[S3 Graphics]] introduced the ''[[S3 Graphics|S3 86C911]]'', which its designers named after the [[Porsche 911]] as an implication of the performance increase it promised. The 86C911 spawned a host of imitators: by 1995, all major PC graphics chip makers had added 2D acceleration support to their chips. By this time, fixed-function ''Windows accelerators'' had surpassed expensive general-purpose graphics coprocessors in Windows performance, and these coprocessors faded away from the PC market. Throughout the 1990s, 2D GUI acceleration continued to evolve. As manufacturing capabilities improved, so did the level of integration of graphics chips. Additional [[application programming interface]]s (APIs) arrived for a variety of tasks, such as Microsoft's [[WinG]] graphics library for [[Windows 3.1x|Windows 3.x]], and their later [[DirectDraw]] interface for [[hardware acceleration]] of 2D games within [[Windows 95]] and later. By the early 1990s, [[arcade game]] manufacturers were increasingly using custom GPU processors dedicated to producing real-time [[3D]] polygon graphics. The most powerful custom GPU processors of the 1990s were used for arcade machines such as the [[Namco System 21]] (1988), [[Sega Model 1]] (1992), [[Namco System 22]] (1993), [[Sega Model 2]] (1993), [[Sega Model 3]] (1996), [[Namco System 23]] (1997), and [[Sega NAOMI|Sega Naomi]] (1998). By the mid-1990s, [[CPU]]-assisted real-time 3D graphics were becoming increasingly common in [[console]] and [[personal computer|computer]] games, which led to an increasing public demand for [[3D acceleration|hardware-accelerated 3D graphics]]. Early examples of mass-marketed home 3D graphics hardware can be found in [[Fifth-Generation Consoles|fifth generation video game consoles]] such as the [[Sega Saturn]], [[PlayStation|Sony PlayStation]] and [[Nintendo 64]]. In the [[PC]] world, the first 3D graphics card for a home computer was [[NEC]]'s PC-FXGA, released for their PC-98 platform in 1995, which could produce 3D graphics surpassing the [[PlayStation]] console and rivaling the [[Nintendo 64]] in terms of polygon rendering performance. The first 3D graphics cards for IBM-compatible PC's soon followed in early 1996: Creative Labs' 3D Blaster, NVIDIA's NV1, and particularly NEC's PowerVR. While the 3D Blaster and NV1 (with the first game to support them being PlayStation port Toshinden) were unable to rival the PlayStation, the PowerVR surpassed the PlayStation and even approached arcade quality graphics, with a near arcade quality PowerVR demo of Namco's Rave Racer (though this PC port was later cancelled). Similarly, the NV1 card received PC ports of Sega titles Virtua Fighter Remix and Virtua Cop (which surpassed the Saturn versions, but couldn't rival the arcade originals). In late 1996, 3dfx launched the Voodoo line, which rivalled the PowerVR in quality and would soon become the most popular PC graphics cards of the late 1990s. Other notable failed first tries for low-cost 3D graphics chips included the [[S3 Graphics|S3]] ''[[ViRGE]]'', [[ATI Technologies|ATI]] ''Rage'', and [[Matrox]] ''Mystique''. These chips were essentially previous-generation 2D accelerators with 3D features bolted on. Many were even [[Pin-compatibility|pin-compatible]] with the earlier-generation chips for ease of implementation and minimal cost. Initially, performance 3D graphics were possible only with discrete boards dedicated to accelerating 3D functions (and lacking 2D GUI acceleration entirely), such as the [[3dfx]] ''Voodoo''. However, as manufacturing technology continued to progress, video, 2D GUI acceleration and 3D functionality were all integrated into one chip. [[NEC]]'s ''PowerVR'' and [[Rendition (company)|Rendition's]] ''Verite'' chipsets were the first to do this well enough to be worthy of note. [[OpenGL]] appeared in the early '90s as a professional graphics API, but originally suffered from performance issues which allowed the [[Glide API]] to step in and become a dominant force on the PC in the late '90s.<ref name="3dfxGlideAPIAdvantages">[[3dfx Interactive#Glide API|3dfx Glide API]]</ref> However, these issues were quickly overcome and the Glide API fell by the wayside. Software implementations of OpenGL were common during this time, although the influence of OpenGL eventually led to widespread hardware support. Over time, a parity emerged between features offered in hardware and those offered in OpenGL. [[DirectX]] became popular among [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] game developers during the late 90s. Unlike OpenGL, Microsoft insisted on providing strict one-to-one support of hardware. The approach made DirectX less popular as a standalone graphics API initially, since many GPUs provided their own specific features, which existing OpenGL applications were already able to benefit from, leaving DirectX often one generation behind. (See: [[Comparison of OpenGL and Direct3D]]). Over time, Microsoft began to work more closely with hardware developers, and started to target the releases of DirectX to coincide with those of the supporting graphics hardware. [[Direct3D]] 5.0 was the first version of the burgeoning API to gain widespread adoption in the gaming market, and it competed directly with many more-hardware-specific, often proprietary graphics libraries, while OpenGL maintained a strong following. Direct3D 7.0 introduced support for hardware-accelerated [[transform and lighting]] (T&L) for Direct3D, while OpenGL had this capability already exposed from its inception. 3D accelerator cards moved beyond being just simple [[Rasterisation|rasterizers]] to add another significant hardware stage to the 3D rendering pipeline. The first hardware to feature what later became known as T&L was [[Namco]]'s Magic Edge Hornet Simulator [[arcade game]] system in 1993. [http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=832] [[Fujitsu]]'s FXG-1 "Pinolite" geometry processor (based on the Fujitsu TGPx4 chipset used in the [[Sega Model 2|Sega Model 2C]] arcade system in 1996) was later released in 1997 and pioneered consumer hardware support for T&L, making arcade-quality 3D graphics possible on a PC. [[Rendition (company)|Rendition]] soon utilized the Fujitsu FXG-1 for their Hercules Thriller Conspiracy, which was to be the first consumer GPU graphics card featuring T&L, but its release was eventually cancelled. [http://pr.fujitsu.com/jp/news/1997/Jul/2e.html] [http://www.techspot.com/article/653-history-of-the-gpu-part-2/] Later, the [[Nvidia]] ''[[GeForce 256]]'' (also known as NV10) popularized hardware-accelerated T&L for the consumer-level card, though professional 3D cards already had this capability. Hardware transform and lighting, both already existing features of OpenGL, came to consumer-level hardware in the late '90s and set the precedent for later [[pixel shader]] and [[vertex shader]] units which were far more flexible and programmable.
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