PowerVR, a division of Imagination Technologies, to announces that it will support Crytek's Polybump technology with the PowerVR MBX embedded core

Polybump Reduces Polygon Numbers in Real-Time 3D Graphics Enabling Increased Graphic Performance in Embedded Applications

2 April 2003 - London, UK: PowerVR - a division of Imagination Technologies - is pleased to announce that it will support Crytek's Polybump technology with the PowerVR MBX embedded core.

The combination of PowerVR MBX and Polybump can enable the high-end techniques found in the latest games titles, like real per-pixel lighting, even on embedded and mobile devices. Support for Polybump is featured in the PowerVR MBX SDK (Software Development Kit) available to PowerVR MBX licensees and third-party software developers.

PowerVR MBX is a unique graphics technology that enables modern 3D and video content on embedded platforms including amusement, car navigation / entertainment and mobile devices. PowerVR's unique tile based graphics cores offer scalability and performance with unparalleled memory efficiency and image quality. These cores, together with the PowerVR range of complementary IP cores for digital video and display management, provide a rich set of building blocks for emerging markets. PowerVR MBX technology is currently licensed to leading semiconductor manufacturers including Hitachi and Intel, and is also available for licensing from ARM for integration with ARM processor cores.

Polybump is a new technology developed by Crytek to enhance 3D-rendering quality without increasing the overhead in real-time rendering. Polybump offers huge benefits for real-time 3D games. It allows users to create and render an extremely low poly model using an ultra high poly model while displaying virtually no visible difference between the two. Polybump reduces polygon numbers in real-time 3D graphics and increases image quality by combining Polybump and self-shadowing technology.

Says John Metcalfe, VP Business Development, PowerVR: "PowerVR MBX and Polybump both apply advanced thinking about graphic rendering to enable the maximum graphics performance from any given system. PowerVR MBX's impressive capabilities are further enhanced by Polybump, enabling embedded devices, like mobile phones, to provide performance far above user expectations. Polybump, utilising PowerVR's DOT3 hardware bump mapping, enables high-end techniques like per-pixel lighting. This feature is available on all of our embedded cores - from MBX Lite to Pro."

Says Faruk Yerli, Chief Marketing Officer, Crytek: "PowerVR MBX already minimises power-consumption and memory requirements in an embedded system while providing a powerful feature set. Combined with our Polybump technology it offers the most efficient solution for high-performance mobile and embedded graphics. Polybump enables developers to mimic high-polygon models using only a small number of polygons and with the hardware capabilities of PowerVR MBX this will enable astonishing content, even on mobile devices."

See: www.polybump.com and www.powervr.com for more information on these technologies.

About Crytek
Crytek® is an interactive entertainment and real-time 3D-Technology development company located in Coburg, Germany. Crytek is dedicated to creating exceptionally high quality video games for the major platforms PC, PS2, XBOX and GC with their cutting edge 3D-Game-Technologies CryENGINE™ and Polybump™, which are available for licensing now. Crytek's upcoming title Far Cry published by Ubi Soft is expected to be a huge release! www.crytek.com.