Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/30784
I Workstations•Graphics ■ ■ ■ ■ n the world of workstations, the story has been: More is good, too much is not enough, think big, buy more, and try to get a good deal. Let’s face it, though, that story is changing for many users. In a sur- vey of the changes in workstation technology over the past year, it’s striking to see that so much of the change is not necessarily com- ing from traditional workstation technology. Workstations are systems—built from com- ponents that are tested and designed to work well with one another. Th ey’re built to be de- pendable, effi cient, and powerful. Increasingly though, it’s not the computers themselves that improve the capabilities of people working in professional graphics. It’s improvements to the display, the software, the network connection, and the input de- vices that may make the most noticeable dif- ferences. But even more fundamental, we’re not working in the same ways that we used to work. Power Wall at Your Desk Th e computer, with its CPUs, GPUs, memory, and compute pipelines, might be what’s making your software run, but your display is what you’re staring at, and if it’s not good, your work isn’t good—or, at least, it’s not enjoyable. You can’t even talk about computer revo- lutions without considering the changes that have come to displays, including high reso- lutions, wide-gamut displays, and three in stereo (S3D). Not only are we getting bet- ter-looking pixels, we’re getting lots more of them. Th e arrival of DisplayPort connectors provides more power to displays in a smaller space. Coupled with PCI 2.0—a wider pe- ripheral connection that can push out more pixels and smarter support from the operat- ing systems—graphics cards can easily run in multi-monitor setups. AMD’s Eyefi nity tech- nology supports six monitors. Nvidia’s Quadro NVS line supports as many as four dis- plays per board, or S3D. Resolutions have been steadily creeping up, and now the accepted minimum (at least from Jon Peddie Research’s point of view) is 1280x1024, while the more typical size is 1680x1050 or 1920x1200. Graphics boards from AMD and Nvidia support resolutions up to 2560x1600 at 60 hz, and multi-monitor resolutions are at 5760x2160. Siemens’ Healthcare division has developed visualization tools for digital data that lets medical personnel review scans in 3D at their desks using Nvidia 3D Vision Quadro-based systems. Th ese same advances also are being used to enable stereovision. Nvidia, which prefers to get into new markets early using proprietary technology, has had stereo graphic products in the market for a couple of years now. Nvidia’s system includes a graphics board and active glasses for use with stereo-capable monitors, such as Samsung’s SyncMaster 2233RZ or Acer’s GD235HZ 120 hz LCD monitors. Nvidia has fi ne-tuned the drivers and worked with the monitor manufacturers to deliver a seamless system. As expected, the off ering has done well with gamers, but the movie industry also has taken advantage of the Nvidia systems to put stereo graphics capabilities on the desktops for everyone in the editing pipeline. And this has resulted in much better use and under- standing of 3D techniques by fi lmmaking professionals. AMD is introducing stereographic tech- nology through its graphics boards, and, the company says, its approach will be more open because the fi rm is working with third- party companies active in the industry. Cur- rently, DDD is selling software to so-called “AMD stereo 3D certifi ed” active shutter glasses and boards that support stereo graph- ics, including the Radeon HD 5000 Series, as of this writing. Th e company says its 3D stereo capabilities will work with all 120 hz and higher monitors. Th e idea is that you need monitors that refresh twice as fast—at least 120 hz to accommodate the dual im- ages required by S3D. Stereographic displays are now no longer a specialty item, and we expect to see many more professionals using them to get an idea of relationships. Th ere has never been much argument over the value of 3D in fi elds such as design and manufacture, oil and gas explo- ration, molecular science, and so forth. Th e problem has been that it has been expensive and unwieldy. Now, 3D practically comes with the system. Rendering requires a fi nely tuned worksta- tion to achieve results such as this, done using Bunkspeed with iRay. More, Better-looking Pixels Workstation graphics also has been infl u- enced from another direction, and that’s color. HP pushed monitor development to make high-defi nition, wide-gamut monitors aff ordable, and now that HP has broken the barrier, there is plenty of competition in the market from the likes of Dell, NEC, LaCie, Philips, and View Sonic, to name the usual suspects. Today, professional graphics boards support 10-bit color (also expressed as 30-bit color—10 bits per RGB color channel). And if you pair a high-def, wide-gamut monitor with a 10-bit graphics board, you’re looking at more than a billion colors. Wide gamut means just what it says, a wider gamut of colors can be displayed. Old- er LCDs display colors that fall within the April 2011 31 Image courtesy Siemens.