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ATi's
All-In-Wonder 9600 Pro Unveiled
Just When You Thought It Couldn't Get Any Better
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By:
Jeff Bouton
August 5th, 2003
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It's hard to believe that ATi
pioneered the TV/Video card with their All-In-Wonder product
line and years later we find little competition in sight
aside from nVidia's Personal Cinema line. Perhaps the
lack of real competition is due to ATi virtually mastering
the TV/Video card concept by offering high end video
solutions with equally high end graphic capabilities.
Over the years, ATi has continued to increase the value of
the All-In-Wonder line by including a Remote Wonder with
each model since the All-In-Wonder 7500 was introduced.
Another strength is ATi's Multimedia Center software.
Multimedia Center 8.6 is a fully functional software
package, eliminating the need for third party software to
access all of the cards features. It's details like
this that give ATi the edge to stay on top and keep any
competitors at bay. But don't think for a second that
ATi would get complacent and ride the wave of success for as
long as they could. Even though they run the TV/Video
card market virtually unabated, they still go at the
business as if there was a aggressive competitor nipping at
their heels.
Today we will
take a look at the latest release from ATi, the
All-In-Wonder 9600 Pro. You may think that this is a
simple mid-range All-In-Wonder that fits nicely between the
All-In-Wonder 9800 Pro and the All-In-Wonder 9000 Pro, but
you would be wrong. ATi took their latest model to the
mat and added new features not seen on any other
All-In-Wonder, making it the most desirable All-In-Wonder to
date for casual gamers. While ATi is not quite ready
to release the All-In-Wonder 9600 Pro to the reviewing
public, we were provided with a fair share of information to
whet your appetite. In the next few pages we'll
highlight some of the features of the All-In-Wonder 9600
Pro, Multimedia Center 8.6 and the new Remote Wonder II.
When the review sample arrives, we'll update this piece with
a closer look at the complete package, the card and the much
anticipated benchmarks.
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Features
of the All-In-Wonder RADEON 9600 Pro |
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Is That Dual Monitor We See? |
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Click to Enlarge
NOTE:
These specifications were copied from a standard Radeon
9600 Pro video card with the All-In-Wonder's features
added at the end. ATi has not released any
detailed specifications of the card, leaving us to use
these as a "projection" of what's to come. When
the review sample arrives we will update any information
needed to accurately reflect the features of the
All-In-Wonder 9600 Pro.
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GRAPHICS TECHNOLOGY
MEMORY CONFIGURATION
3D
GRAPHICS FEATURES
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Four parallel rendering pipelines
process up to 1.6 billion pixels per second
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High precision 10-bit per channel
frame buffer support
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128-bit DDR memory interface
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AGP 8X support
SMARTSHADER 2.1
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Full support for Microsoft®
DirectX® 9.0 programmable pixel and vertex
shaders in hardware
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2.0 Pixel Shaders support up to
16 textures per rendering pass
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2.0 Vertex Shaders support vertex
programs up to 1024 instructions with flow
control
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New 128-bit per pixel floating
point color formats
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Multiple Render Target (MRT)
support
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Shadow volume rendering
acceleration
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Complete feature set also
supported in OpenGL via extensions
SMOOTHVISION 2.1
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State-of-the-art full-scene
anti-aliasing
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New technology processes up to
15.6 billion anti-aliased samples per second for
unprecedented performance
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Supports 2x, 4x, and 6x modes
with programmable sample patterns
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Advanced anisotropic filtering
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Supports up to 16 bilinear
samples (in performance mode) or trilinear
samples (in quality mode) per pixel
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2x/4x/6x full scene anti-aliasing
modes
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Adaptive algorithm with
programmable sample patterns
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2x/4x/8x/16x anisotropic
filtering modes
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Adaptive algorithm with bilinear
(performance) and trilinear (quality) options
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Bandwidth-saving algorithm
enables this feature with minimal performance
cost
HYPERZ III+
DISPLAY SUPPORT
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15-pin VGA connector for analog
CRT /
DVI-I connector for digital CRT
or flat panel
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S-video or composite connector
for TV/VCR
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Independent resolutions and
refresh rates for any two connected displays
GENERAL FEATURES
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Comprehensive 2x, 4x, and 8x AGP
support
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DDR memory interface supports
64/128/256MB configurations
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Fully compliant with PC 2002
requirements
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Optimized for Pentium® 4 SSE2 and
AMD Athlon" 3Dnow! processor instructions
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Supports optional THEATER" 200
companion chip for NTSC/PAL/SECAM video capture
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Highly optimized 128-bit 2D
engine with support for new Windows® XP GDI
extensions
VIDEO FEATURES
VIDEOSHADER
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Seamless integration of
programmable pixel shaders with video data
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High quality, hardware
accelerated de-blocking of internet streaming
video
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Noise removal filter for captured
video
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Integrated MPEG-2 decode
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Hardware accelerated iDCT, motion
compensation, and color space conversion
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Top quality DVD and all-format
DTV/HDTV decode with low CPU overhead
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Back-end scaler delivers top
quality playback
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Upscaling and downscaling with
4-tap horizontal and vertical filtering
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Filtered display of images up to
1920 pixels wide
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Unique per-pixel adaptive
de-interlacing feature combines the best
elements of the bob and add-field (weave)
techniques
FULLSTREAM
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Noise removal filtering for
captured video
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MPEG-2 decoding with motion
compensation, iDCT and color space conversion
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All-format DTV/HDTV decoding
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YPrPb component output
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Adaptive de-interlacing and frame
rate conversion
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Dual integrated display
controllers
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Dual integrated 10-bit per
channel 400MHz DACs
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Integrated 165 MHz TMDS
transmitter (DVI and HDCP compliant)
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Integrated TV Output support up
to 1024x768 resolution
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Optimized for Pentium® 4 SSE2 and
AMD Athlon" 3Dnow!
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PC 2002 compliant
DISPLAY FEATURES
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Dual integrated display
controllers
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Drive two displays simultaneously
with independent resolutions and refresh rates
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HYDRAVISION" software provides
complete control over multi-display
configurations with a user-friendly interface
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Dual integrated 10-bit per
channel palette DACs operating at up to 400MHz
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Integrated 165MHz TMDS
transmitter supports resolutions up to QXGA
(2048x1536) and complies with DVI and HDCP
specifications
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Integrated TV-Out support up to
1024x768 resolution
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YPrPb output for direct drive of
HDTV monitors
HOME ENTERTAINMENT
FEATURES
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Stereo TV tuner
with 125 channels
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TV-ON-DEMAND"
records programs on your hard drive, pauses live
TV and resumes broadcasts on your schedule
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FM-ON-DEMAND"
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Gemstar GUIDE
Plus+" provides interactive programming guides
to select, schedule and record favorite shows
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MULTIMEDIA
CENTER" 8.6, industry leading suite of
integrated multimedia applications
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ATIs new
EAZYLOOK" remote control user interface
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REMOTE WONDER
II - Radio frequency wireless remote adds the
flexibility of a hand held, 30 foot user
interface
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Video capture
and editing including DVD and VideoCD Authoring
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THRUVIEW"
creates live, translucent TV, video and DVD
windows for easy desktop access
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MulTView"
enables dual TV tuner capabilities including
Picture-in-Picture and independent channel
surfing*
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THEATER" 200
video decoder and stereo audio processor with S/PDIF
output
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Component Video
output via a YPrPb adapter (Adapter Included)
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One of the most
significant upgrade to the All-In-Wonder 9600 Pro, compared
to all previous models, is the ability to support Dual
Monitor outputs. Previously, there simply was not
enough real estate on the PCB to include a TV Tuner and two
monitor connectors. So the next thing ATi did was
redesign the interface on the card and rely on a customized
wiring harness for accessing the video connections. As
the images show, the video connectors are all routed through
a single connection on the card using a pigtail, helping to
maximize the space used on the PCB itself. We were
equally pleased to see a flexible solution which should
reduce any stress on the card, unlike the DVI to VGA
adapters we've seen in the past that extended the video
connector and added stress to the card when a monitor was
connected.
Click
to Enlarge
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The Remote Wonder II |
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The Best Gets Better |
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Ever since its
introduction, the Remote Wonder has been a
terrific compliment to any All-In-Wonder TV/Video Combo.
The Remote Wonder expands the features of the All-In-Wonder
while eliminating line-of-sight issues by utilizing radio
frequency instead of Infrared. New with the
All-In-Wonder 9600 Pro is the next generation to the Remote
Wonder, aptly named Remote Wonder II. The
second edition is tightly integrated with the EAZYLOOK
software to make full use of each of the All-In-Wonders
functions. Like its predecessor, the unit offers 6
programmable buttons for custom use and includes an
additional 4 auxiliary buttons for future usage.
One of the more
noticeable changes compared to the first version of the
Remote Wonder is a redesigned mouse controller that should
offer a smoother experience and better control vs. the
original. Several months ago we had a private meeting
with ATi and had the opportunity to see the Remote Wonder II
first hand and it was real nice. The disk is a raised
pad with a recess at the top for a more natural, ergonomic
feel. Unlike the previous model, the newly redesigned
Remote Wonder II should be more intuitive and integrate more
naturally when combined with EAZYLOOK. We look forward
to getting our hands on the new Remote Wonder II again to
see how well integrates with EAZYLOOK.
Next we'll
highlight some of the Multimedia Center 8.6 and EAZYLOOK
features and capabilities.
Multimedia Center 8.6 & EAZYLOOK
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