HDR, GITG
PH!: Speaking of HDR: the 64-bit mode with AA seems to be very demanding on memory bandwidth. What will (could) be the most common HDR+AA mode used in games? In which cases is it recommended to use the Int10 HDR?
ED: There are many, many HDR formats. These include 10b, FP16, RGBe, etc… Probably over 2 dozen formats. All of these formats have advantages and disadvantages. FP16 (common 64b format) is great for dynamic range, but loses out as it doesn't have much more precision and usually comes at a hefty performance loss. 10b gives the equivalent precision, but at 2x the speed. ISVs will have to pick and choose the right format for the job. I think that 10/10/10 , FP16, RGBE will be popular formats. There might be others. ISVs will have to balance out performance vs. surface format required, regardless of AA mode selected. And they will have to use HDR when it makes sense to maximize the quality of the rendering. I could imagine cases where some passes on a scene are HDR, while others are not, to maximize performance.
Hirdetés
But in general, when using HDR surfaces, you do want AA, as the contrast is even higher now which means that silhouettes have even more aliasing artifacts. Our X1k is the only HW that can support that today.
PH!: The Parthenon and Toy Shop demos showed lots of interesting effects which would be great to see in games. Are there going to be any GITG (or other) titles using POM, water droplet simulation or the Progressive Buffer geometry?
ED: Yes, there will be. As well, we work with ISVs to let them know of all the things we have discovered doing these demos, so that they can use them in their own applications. There already has been at least 1 or 2 ATI developer days, where we presented to ISVs all of our techniques for these demos. You'll hopefully see this in games soon!
PH!: Lots of our readers think TWIMTB program is something like NVIDIA “buying” the preference of game developers. How does the GITG program work? Who can participate, and what kind of support do they get? Do they get any financial help?
ED: Well, I must admit to not being an expert on all the “goings on” with respect to ATI's developer programs. I poked at one of the leads to get their view on this question:
Tony: “The GITG sub site is not to be viewed as "buying" the preference of game developers. The purpose of the site from a marketing perspective is to have a central place for developers, gamers, and tech enthusiasts to go to get the latest information on games where ATI has a technical and marketing relationship. It also offers viewers the opportunity to view the latest ISV promotions with other partners (e.g. we had a bundle running with Alienware not too long ago), and also to promote and allow requests for support for LAN events. When someone wants ATI to support an event with a LAN kit the requests come in through this site.”
PH!: Thanks a lot guys and good luck for all future projects!
Rudolf Mezes
