subbie
06-20-2010, 11:44 PM
Src: http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/06/21/pica200_3ds_graphics_core/
The technology behind Nintendo's new 3DS has been somewhat of a mystery even as the press got hands-on time with the system at E3. Today, one piece of the puzzle was cleared up.
Japanese graphics processor developer Digital Media Professional (DMP) announced today that Nintendo has adopted its "PICA200" 3D graphics core for the system.
According to DMP, PICA200 is a 3D graphics core that's designed for mobile phones, amusement machines, game consoles and digital appliances. The chip makes use of DMP's proprietary "Maestro Technology," which implements complex shader functionality in hardware, allowing for high quality graphics at the low power dissipation required of portable devices.
Commenting on the announcement today, DMP CEO Tatsuo Yamamoto said, "Our company has the high goal of realizing such high quality graphic expression as game consoles and glass-free 3D while keeping power dissipation low. We are pleased that our long-developed Maestro Technology has been of assistance."
You can read more about PICA200 at the DMP official site (http://www.dmprof.com/en/en_product_graphicsipcore.html). A PDF file about the product from DMP follows:
http://www.dmprof.com/release/leaflet_PICA200_en.pdf
Interesting thing from the leaflet. It seems to support Vertex Programs (vert shader) but doesn't list any pixel shaders. It seems maybe pixel shader effects (like normal maps, shelf shadowing, etc) are a sort of a custom extension that is built with an external tool. If so this could partly explain why so many tech demos had effects thrown on everything (it probably was simple to do).
-edit-
So this thing is probably mid of a gcn with a few extensions thrown in to do what gcn/wii has problems doing (wii/gcn can do them but they're more complicated to do or more costly).
The technology behind Nintendo's new 3DS has been somewhat of a mystery even as the press got hands-on time with the system at E3. Today, one piece of the puzzle was cleared up.
Japanese graphics processor developer Digital Media Professional (DMP) announced today that Nintendo has adopted its "PICA200" 3D graphics core for the system.
According to DMP, PICA200 is a 3D graphics core that's designed for mobile phones, amusement machines, game consoles and digital appliances. The chip makes use of DMP's proprietary "Maestro Technology," which implements complex shader functionality in hardware, allowing for high quality graphics at the low power dissipation required of portable devices.
Commenting on the announcement today, DMP CEO Tatsuo Yamamoto said, "Our company has the high goal of realizing such high quality graphic expression as game consoles and glass-free 3D while keeping power dissipation low. We are pleased that our long-developed Maestro Technology has been of assistance."
You can read more about PICA200 at the DMP official site (http://www.dmprof.com/en/en_product_graphicsipcore.html). A PDF file about the product from DMP follows:
http://www.dmprof.com/release/leaflet_PICA200_en.pdf
Interesting thing from the leaflet. It seems to support Vertex Programs (vert shader) but doesn't list any pixel shaders. It seems maybe pixel shader effects (like normal maps, shelf shadowing, etc) are a sort of a custom extension that is built with an external tool. If so this could partly explain why so many tech demos had effects thrown on everything (it probably was simple to do).
-edit-
So this thing is probably mid of a gcn with a few extensions thrown in to do what gcn/wii has problems doing (wii/gcn can do them but they're more complicated to do or more costly).