A Speedy Tiler: Kyro II on Hercules' 3D Prophet 4500

Think Tank - Who's Behind The Kyro II?

In this section we will be going behind the scenes of the Kyro II chip. The relationships between developers, chip producers and distributors are not exactly common knowledge. Let's start with the designers and the chip manufacturer.

The copyright on the Tile Based Rendering (TBR) technology on the Kyro II belongs to the British company Power VR Technologies , a subsidiary of Imagination Technologies . Imagination is the parent of Videologic . Interestingly enough, the companies all started out as Videologic, which developed the PowerVR technology. Videologic partnered with NEC, and managed to wrest away the Sega Dreamcast contract from 3dfx, a situation for which 3dfx received a decent payoff after litigation. Today, Videologic is only a graphics card manufacturer that equips its cards with PowerVR chips. Imagination now holds the technology licenses for the PowerVR technology and licenses it to companies such as STMicroelectronics, and NEC. For reference, in October 1999, we tested the first generation of PowerVR technology on Videologic's Neon 250 graphics card .

Think Tank - STMicroelectronics

For graphics card manufacturer Videologic, the problem lies with its distribution channels - they are limited. Looking for the Videologic brand on the retail market can be a fruitless task. So, chipmaker STMicro is pursuing another strategy.

Both the Kyro I and the Kyro II are being sold to several manufacturers. The most significant buyer is Guillemot/Hercules, a company with an outstanding distribution structure. If demand soars, Guillemot should have no problem delivering.