ELSA Announces the Latest 128-bit Entertainment Graphics Board: ELSA VICTORY Erazor

ELSA VICTORY Erazor ^TM brings dynamism to the latest 3D games under Windows^® 95

SANTA CLARA, CA - October 20, 1997 - ELSA today announced their brand-new 128-bit entertainment graphics board. A new generation entertainment graphics board, it presents everything the most demanding PC games players could wish for: Direct3D with first-class performance, high quality, impressive acceleration of Windows 95 programs, brilliant playback of MPEG and AVI videos, and useful video input/output from the PC - without the higher cost.

The ELSA VICTORY Erazor hardware provides powerful acceleration of the Direct3D interface, and relies on a 128-bit graphics chip with 4 MB of fast SGRAM, a 100 MHz chip and memory clock, and a RAMDAC rated at 230 MHz. This power-packed bundle of select components displays TrueColor in 1152 x 864 resolution at a 120 Hz refresh rate. The 128-bit graphics engine in the ELSA VICTORY Erazor provides Windows 95 acceleration faster than just about any other graphics board available. Multimedia powered, the VICTORY Erazor enables AVI video and still captures through three high quality video inputs, a video capture for MPEG creation with MainActor, and video conferencing for live video on the desktop with video-in functionality.

The ELSA VICTORY Erazor features the very latest in chip technology. The RIVA 128 graphics chip from the leading global semiconductor SGS-THOMSON and the entertainment specialist NVIDIA features bilinear texture filtering and multi-pass rendering functions. A parallel triangle setup engine, on-chip texture cache, and a new vertex cache considerably reduces the load on the CPU and PCI bus - enabling games in true arcade quality on the PC! A first for graphics boards: the ELSA VICTORY Erazor uses the execute model which makes the PC's system RAM available for storing textures. Even the most up-to-date games featuring scenes with textures of 3 MB or more present absolutely no problem, as the reserves of texture memory are limited only by the PC's RAM.

"The speed of the RIVA 128 graphics chip combined with ELSA's engineering expertise makes VICTORY Erazor the ideal solution for any multimedia user. RIVA 128 is perfectly suited for great multimedia level graphics," said Michael Hara, director of marketing at NVIDIA. "This is reflected in the ELSA VICTORY Erazor, the latest addition to ELSA's extensive line of graphics accelerators."

"We are excited that ELSA has adopted the RIVA 128 to develop VICTORY Erazor," said Tim Chambers, Director of the Graphics Business Unit, SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics. "The VICTORY Erazor will allow end users access to benchmark winning capabilities and video performance in a wide variety of business productivity and entertainment applications."

"ELSA is excited about its new partnership with SGS THOMSON and NVIDIA," says Thomas Neubert, vice president and general manager of ELSA Inc. "The VICTORY Erazor with the RIVA 128 graphics chip is a great addition to the ELSA product line and offers the entertainment user super speed at a great price."

The ELSA VICTORY Erazor features video outputs providing S-video quality for direct connection to domestic video recorders or televisions. Many action games appear more impressive on big TV screens, so just plug the ELSA VICTORY Erazor into any TV featuring a cinch-AV input socket for an enhanced gaming experience. The video input is just great for hassle-free NetMeeting, Internet videoconferencing, live video on your desktop or even recording your own AVI sequences.

Video functions for full-screen, jerk-free playback of AVI and MPEG videos are primed for MPEG 2 and DVD video playback. It also includes the software-updateable VESA 2.0 BIOS.

Technical specifications at a glance:

Bus system:	PCI (AGP pending)
Graphics controller:	RIVA 128 from SGS THOMSON & NVIDIA
Graphics memory:	4 MB SGRAM
Texture memory:	Graphics memory plus system RAM, on-board texture cache
Pixel rate:	230 MHz max.
Connectors:	Video Interface Port (according to CCIR 656 standard)
3D standard:	Microsoft® Direct3D
3D features:	Triangle setup engine, bilinear filtering, multipass rendering, alpha blending, texture color keying, fogging, Gouraud shading, LOD MIP mapping, Z-buffer, and much more...
Video output:	PAL/NTSC, S-VHS (Mini-DIN) and Composite (Cinch) sockets Full alternative to monitor output, even for DOS applications on the TV
Video in:	One S-Video input, two Composite inputs Supports PAL/NTSC/SECAM Includes MainActor to capture video and to create AVI and MPEG files

About NVIDIA:

NVIDIA Corporation designs, develops, markets, and sells highly integrated 3D multimedia accelerator chips for the performance PC market. NVIDIA's mission is to innovate advanced 3D and multimedia technologies to enable mass market computing devices to deliver a breathtaking multimedia experience. NVIDIA is a privately held company with venture financing. Corporate headquarters are in California: NVIDA Corporation, 1226 Tiros Way, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. (408) 617-4000. http://www.nvidia.com.

About SGS THOMSON:

SGS THOMSON Microelectronics is a global independent semiconductor company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: STM) and on the Bourse de Paris. It designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) and discrete devices used in a wide variety of microelectronics applications, including telecommunications systems, computer systems, consumer products and industrial automation and control systems. Further information on SGS-THOMSON can be found at http://www.st.com.

About ELSA:

ELSA Inc. is a subsidiary of ELSA AG, a company based in Aachen, Germany. Founded in 1980, ELSA has built a world-class reputation in high-performance 2D and 3D graphics solutions in addition to a wide ranging ISDN and videoconferencing product family.

ELSA is a trademark of ELSA, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks previously cited are hereby acknowledged and recognized.

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