Quantum3D Announces New Sentiris 4110 Graphics/Video PMCs

BOSTON, MA, Embedded Systems Conference–Sep. 20, 2007–Quantum3D®, Inc., a leading provider of Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS), open-architecture, realtime visual computing hardware and software products, today announced the availability of two new models within the Sentiris® 4110 PCI Mezzanine Card (PMC) family. Originally announced in 2001, the Sentiris family provides high-performance 2D/3D graphics video capture and display capabilities for embedded visual computing applications deployed in both extended and extreme environments. Over the past six years of production, the Sentiris installed base has grown to several thousand units and is widely deployed in ground-vehicle, fixed-wing, rotorcraft-airborne, unmanned-vehicle and naval applications, including C2, C4ISR, UV operator control unit, video surveillance, sensor processing and embedded training. The new Sentiris Models CD13 (conduction cooled) and CV10 (convection cooled) are based on an updated implementation that addresses component obsolescence issues, thereby resetting the life cycle clock that enables the new models to provide sustained product availability and support for both current and new Sentiris customers with mission-critical applications.

"As the first high-performance, COTS graphics/video PMC, Sentiris was a watershed product when we first introduced it in 2001—and the product continues to gain new design wins because it remains an industry leader in terms of performance, low power consumption and value,” said Ross Q. Smith, Quantum3D President and Co-Founder. “Because of the continuing demand for Sentiris, we’ve incorporated the most frequently requested features in these refreshed models so that we can provide new levels of long life-cycle support and a more attractive price point for volume applications.”

Open-Architecture Software Support and Key Industry and Mil Standards Compliance
The new Sentiris models employ NVIDIA® Quadro® Mobile GPU technology, which ensures binary software compatibility with currently available models. The new models support Microsoft® Windows®, OpenGL® 1.2 and DirectX® 8.0 on Intel® IA32TM platforms and OpenGL® 1.2 under Linux® and popular Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS), including WindRiver® VxWorks® on both IA32 and PowerPC® platforms.

Compliant with IEEE 1386.1, Mil-Std-810F and Mil-Std-461E, the new Sentiris Models are designed to operate in extended shock, vibration and temperature environments. The conduction-cooled, conformally-coated Model CD13 is also compliant with ANSI/VITA 20 and is designed for deployment in extreme operating environments. The Sentiris family is compatible with VME, VPX, CompactPCI, PC-104+ and other form-factor embedded single-board computers equipped with either 33 MHz or 66 MHz PMC slots (3.3 or 5V).

Ideal for P3I and Technology Insertion
With its high level of standards compliance and support for open-architecture platforms, Sentiris enables advanced visual computing applications to readily migrate from desktop or rackmount environments to Mil-Spec deployed environments without incurring the time or expense associated with application porting—making Sentiris ideal for P3I and technology-insertion applications where preservation of the installed infrastructure is important.

High-Resolution, Dual-Channel Graphics with Simultaneous Analog Video Capture and Display
Designed to provide the most requested formats and features including multiple-display output support, the new Sentiris models support dual, independent analog (RGB—up to 2048 x 1536 resolution) and digital (LVDS—up to 1600 x 1200 resolution) outputs—which enables integrators to reduce hardware footprints and costs while still meeting important performance and functionality requirements. To simplify integration with legacy-vehicle displays and flat panels, Sentiris also supports concurrent analog video output in popular formats including NTSC, PAL, RS-170/A and S-Video. For sensor and video processing, tracking/seeking, surveillance and machine-vision applications, Sentiris supports analog video capture in composite and S-Video formats, which may be mapped to any output—either directly into the frame buffer or via video texturing.

Continued Industry Leadership in Image Quality and Performance
With support for 16- or 32-bit RGBA and Z with both full-scene and advanced primitive anti-aliasing and advanced texture-filtering, Sentiris also provides industry-leading 2D/3D graphics and video-display image quality, which is crucial for precision avionics, target recognition and situational-awareness applications. Sentiris also supports important graphics workstation-level features such as overlay planes and 2-sided lighting, which enables the support of advanced graphics features in deployed environments.

The new models continue the Sentiris heritage of providing industry-leading performance on mission-critical embedded visual computing applications by efficiently harnessing the power of the NVIDIA Quadro Mobile GPU’s advanced memory architecture and acceleration. With its 128-bit memory interface to 64 MB of DDR memory, Sentiris sustains a dedicated graphics memory bandwidth of 7.0 GB/sec that enables Sentiris CV10 to deliver trilinear-filtered, texture-mapped 3D-graphics performance of up to 440 megapixels per second with 3.5 million independent triangles per second and 4.8 million AA lines per second (all performance figures based on Real World Benchmarks 2.3.3) when deployed on SBCs that support 66 MHz PCI-bus PMC interfaces. With these capabilities, Sentiris will often deliver from 2 to 10 times the performance of other graphics PMCs based on other GPUs, particularly on Linux and RTOS applications.

Pricing & Availability
The new Sentiris models are available immediately. The international end-user MSRPs for 10 packs of the Sentiris 4110 PMC Models CV10 and CD13 are $24,000 USD and $38,400 USD, respectively. NAFTA, OEM, reseller and additional volume discounts are available. Consult Quantum3D Sales for more information. The new Sentiris models, along with other Quantum3D Embedded Visual Computing (EVC) and Embedded Training (ET) products and solutions will be demonstrated at the AUSA 2007 National Conference at the Washington, D.C., Convention Center (Quantum3D booth number 1561), October 8 – 10. For an appointment, please e-mail salesinfo@quantum3d.com

About Quantum3D
Quantum3D develops and markets industry-leading, COTS, open-architecture, realtime visual computing software and hardware products and solutions for the Visual and Sensor Simulation and Training (VSST) and Embedded Visual Computing (EVC) markets. Quantum3D’s VSST products include advanced Image Generation (IG) solutions, realtime scene management software and synthetic environment content. Quantum3D’s EVC products include FAA DO-178B Level A certifiable visual computing application development and deployment software and tactical, embedded and industrial visual computing systems and subsystems for C2/C4ISR, machine vision, sensor processing, unmanned vehicle operator control and embedded training applications. Quantum3D is a privately held company headquartered in San Jose, California, with development centers located in Phoenix, AZ, Huntsville, AL, and Orlando, FL with European sales via Quantum3D, Ltd., located in Reading, UK. For more information please visit www.quantum3d.com.