Today, all PC computers and modern gaming consoles pack 3D graphics chips. 3D graphics are now being introduced in mobile phones. But why are graphics so important?
Everybody loves a good story. Since prehistoric times, mankind has had but one method of transmitting and preserving a story: visual display. From rock paintings to writing, movies, television, and video games, graphics representations have largely formed our culture.
Vision is the most dominant sense. For human beings, 'seeing is believing'. The desire for experiences through stories and a hunger for knowledge is best satisfied through visual input. 3D graphics are currently the best method of imitating the real world, and graphics in general are most often the best way to visualize complex information.
3D graphics is about seeing ideas come alive.
Graphics in practice
In practical terms, the computer games industry brought 3D graphics to living rooms. The sole reason was that better graphics meant better tools for storytelling.
Another practical example is a functional user interface. PCs became popular only after the text-based user interface had been replaced with a graphical one. A modern passenger car may contain 1,000 different things the driver can do. Even in a SUV, there is not enough space on the dashboard for 1,000 chrome switches. The need for better user interfaces brought LCD monitors and graphics onto dashboards.
The technical merits of 3D for mobile phones are entertainment and user interfaces. Most people could not care less about the 2,000 features of a phone; they just want to use the phone in a natural manner. Better graphical interfaces are the key.
Complex 3D Technology
The technology behind 3D graphics is rather complex. Simply put, it can be divided into two categories: hardware (which contains all the circuitry) and software (which tells the circuits what to do). The software part can be further divided into two layers: device-specific parts (which are contained in a device) and applications (the bits of software that can be installed afterwards).
Hybrid Graphics is heavily involved in the category of device-specific graphics software; in other words, telling computers how to draw pictures. Hybrid's technology works equally well in mobile phones, car displays and handheld GPS navigators. Hybrid has ten years of expertise in graphics technology, which comes in rather handy.
Telling computers how to draw
The interfaces for the graphics functions are standardized. This serves two purposes. First, the standardization has created accurate definitions of 3D so that various companies such as device manufacturers, operators and technology vendors know what is being discussed. Second, it provides common interfaces for device manufacturers and application developers.
Hybrid Graphics is active in all relevant standardization groups. Hybrid is a board member of the Khronos Group (www.khronos.org), which defines the native low-level interfaces. On the Java side, JCP (jcp.org) creates different interface standards for Java-equipped phones.
Players in the market
Consumer device manufacturers have little expertise in 3D graphics, and need to buy the expertise from specialist companies. On the PC side, Intel, ATI and NVIDIA control nearly all of the hardware market. Several smaller companies such as Imagination Technologies and Bitboys have managed to secure a foothold in the embedded graphics market.
Software platform vendors such as Ericsson, TTPCom, and Philips Software include new graphics components in their offerings. Several mobile game engine vendors have turned into publishers for mobile games and entertainment. For mobile phones, the content market is about to take off.
About Hybrid Graphics
Hybrid Graphics of Helsinki, Finland is the market leading embedded 3D graphics software provider. It has over 10 years of experience in developing graphics technology solutions for consumer devices, releasing the first official OpenGL ES API software implementation in 2003. It actively participates in several Java JSR standard groups and other relevant graphics standards for embedded devices.
Hybrid’s clients are leading device and hardware manufacturers, who currently command over half of the total mobile phone market. The clients include Nokia, Ericsson, Philips, Symbian, Esmertec, Bitboys, MTekvision and Fathammer. For more information see www.hybrid.fi
