HI CORPORATION (Headquarters: Meguro-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Kazuo
Kawabata hereinafter "HI")(JASDAQ:3846)
announced today that they have developed an OpenGL ES 1.1(*1)
software implementation "MascotCapsule
Renderion(*2)".
The widely used industry standard OpenGL ES is normally not available in
budget home electronics and cellular phones as they are not equipped
with a graphics accelerator (hereinafter GPU*3). With the OpenGL
ES compliant 3D graphics software implementation, graphics are not
processed by the GPU, but by the main CPU as a software-implemented
alternative processor using the processing capacity that has
increased significantly in recent years. With this implementation
manufacturers will be able to support the industry standard OpenGL ES
without GPU.
This time HI has developed a high-speed processing software
implementation tuned for running on ARM core, which is now a "de
facto" standard for the embedded microcomputer
market. In this way, HI not only developed a software implementation with the industry standard for graphics application API JSR184(*4)
but also with the industry standard for native graphics API OpenGL ES.
The implementation is scheduled to hit the market in the end of May
2008. It will be offered as a stand-alone to customers that wish to
support OpenGL ES at low cost, or depending on the needs, as a solution
by combining with the 3D graphics rendering engine MascotCapsule, with
top market share, to improve graphics capability and convenience, and
allow the use of a variety of readily available software assets.
With regard to this development, "HI was one
of the first companies to innovate mobile 3D solutions and we are
delighted to see this respected industry player leverage Khronos
specifications in their product roadmap. Driving pervasive 3D adoption
in the mobile industry will require a wide variety of price and
performance solutions, and Mascot Capsule Renderion will help satisfy
the strong demand for OpenGL ES in the market place," says Neil Trevett, President of the Khronos Group.
HI is planning to optimize its software implementation for Renesas
Technology´s CPU cores, and will greatly
promote this product in low-end embedded devices as well as help
manufacturers support industry standards at low cost.
*1 OpenGL ES
OpenGL is a registered trademark and the OpenGL ES logo is a trademark
of Silicon Graphics Inc. used by permission by Khronos. OpenGL ES 1.1 is
a subset of OpenGL 1.5, and is a royalty-free 2D/3D graphics API for
embedded devices created by removing OpenGL desktop functionality not
needed for embedded and mobile devices. Controlled by the Khronos Group
industry consortium, it is intended for use in cellular phones, car
navigation systems, etc. For more information, visit the Khronos Group
website at http://www.khronos.org/opengles/.
*2 "Renderion" is
not a official product name, but a development code name.
*3 GPU
Abbreviation of Graphics Processing Unit.
*4 Supported by MascotCapsule V4.
* MascotCapsule is a registered trademark of HI CORPORATION in Japan.
* The names of other products and companies mentioned herein may be
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
[About HI CORPORATION]
For more information, please visit our web site (http://www.hicorp.co.jp/english/index.html).
