Acorn Welcomes New Video Chip Acorn has welcomed the announcement from Advanced RISC Machines Ltd of its VIDC20 video controller which has been designed to meet the needs of a wide range of video systems, from power sensisitive portable computers through to desktop multimedia workstations. This versatile controller can display at up to 16 million colours at VGA, Super VGA or XGA levels of resolution. Its low power architecture will drive the LCD screen of a portable computer directly whilst preserving battery life. It can be used to generate up to 32 bits per pixel at data rates of up to 160MBytes/second. As well as providing a programmable display system, the chip also has sophisticated audio support. The device is fully compatible with the previous VIDC capabilities, providing up to eight channels of stereo sound. For higher quality multi-media applications requiring both sound and vision the design provides a straightforward interface to dedicated sound controllers. Acorn Computers' Technical Director, Malcolm Bird confirmed that Acorn was fully involved in the specification for ARM's new graphics controller with a view to it being used in future products. "The VIDC20 is one in a new series of high performance chips from ARM Ltd that keeps the ARM component set at the forefront of cost effective technology. We are leading the test validation programme for the device and anticipate including it in future generations of computers." he said. Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) Ltd was formed in 1990 as a joint company by Acorn Computers, Apple Computer and VLSI Technology to design and implement high performance, low cost RISC processors for use in computers, embedded control systems, digital processing and portable applications. ARM has licensed its technology to two semiconductor product partners - GEC Plessey Semiconductors and VLSI Technology. Both manufacture and sell ARM products worldwide. Ends ------ _______________________________________________________________________________ aglo...@acorn.co.uk, moderator of comp.sys.acorn.announce. Submissions to announce-requ...@acorn.co.uk, other related mail to announ...@acorn.co.uk.