Not particularly satisfied with their position relative to the high-end accelerator market, ATI has devised a plan for revolutionizing the way we experience gaming. Historically, gaming enthusiasts have demanded either blazing frame rates at the expensive of quality, or high-quality textures and scenery at slightly slower speeds. In order for a graphics technology to be successful, ATI believes it must enhance both speed and visual accuracy, providing for a completely immersive, photo realistic environment. To accomplish this, ATI has formulated a set of quality features as well as a powerful performance engine, which paired together, should be able to bring life-like graphics to a PC near you.

So what makes ATI's next generation technology unique? How will they address both quality and performance simultaneously? When will we start to see the product of ATI's labor? Calm down class, one at a time, please.

According to ATI, There are three barriers that are preventing current game graphics from taking on a more realistic appearance:

1. Character models: Although character models have become increasingly detailed in games such as Quake III (with animated textures), they are still not very realistic due to geometry limitations. In addition, movement is somewhat limited due to skinning techniques making the depiction of fluid motion difficult.

2. Object detail: In most cases, the textures that make up a scene are fairly limited in complexity. Up close, most textures are flat and smooth, making objects with rigidity and varying depth difficult to accurately render by conventional means.

3. Environmental effects: At this point in time, bullet decals on walls are basically the extent of environmental interactivity. ATI hopes to make the surrounding environment come to life with environmental mapping and shadows.

In order to combat these hurdles, ATI has set forth a dual-faceted solution. Lets first take a look at the matter of performance.