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The 'Nightflyers' TV show has some killer user interfaces
The latest adaptation of Nightflyers, a novella and short story collection written by George R. R. Martin in the 1980s, premiered on Syfy last weekend. If you're following the nightly episodes, you'll know how integral the titular spaceship, with its gloomy corridors and breathtaking habitat domes, is to the plot and mood of the show. Syfy and Universal Cable Productions paid Territory Studio, a specialist in on-set motion graphics, to shape the vessel's visual language. (The show will be coming to Netflix at a later date.) The team produced over 1,200 'screens' -- fictional interfaces that actors could see while performing -- across a broad range of sets, including medical labs, cabins and cargo bays.
A closer look at Fujifilm's GFX 50R and GFX 100 medium format cameras
We knew coming into Photokina 2018 that Fujifilm had some big plans for the event, and the company did not disappoint with its announcements. Aside from introducing the Instax Square SQ20, Fujifilm's had two major reveals at the show: the GFX 50R and GFX 100. These are medium format mirrorless cameras, powered by system Fujifilm likes to call Super Full Frame, that come with large sensors and a hefty price tag. The GFX 50R, for starters, is essentially a successor to the GFX 50S from 2017, which was $6,500 when it launched. Inside, it's nearly identical to the 50S, sporting a 51.4-megapixel sensor, 100-12,800 ISO range a 400-shot battery capacity and a weather-sealed body.
Fujifilm shows off an insane 100-megapixel medium format camera
The GFX 50R isn't the only new camera Fujifilm is unveiling at Photokina 2018. As rumored, the company has also introduced the GFX 100, a ridiculous 100-megapixel medium format mirrorless shooter. Fujifilm says that its GFX 100 will be the world's first medium format and mirrorless camera with a 100-megapixel sensor, and it will have in-body image stabilization and 4K video.
VFX company files injunction to block three Disney blockbusters
You probably haven't heard of a special effects company called MOVA, but you've seen its Contour facial-capture technology in films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Beauty and the Beast. It could also have a big impact your entertainment choices. The company behind the tech, Rearden LLC, has filed an injunction against Walt Disney Co. to block those two films, along with Avengers: Age of Ultron, from sales or distribution.
A week with Fujifilm's GFX 50S medium-format mirrorless camera
Fujifilm surprised the camera world last year with the introduction of the GFX 50S, its first medium-format mirrorless. The shooter, which is now available for $6,500 body only, packs a large 51.4-megapixel CMOS sensor (43.8 x 32.9mm) in a DSLR-like frame that only weighs 1.6lbs (740g). If you've ever used a Fuji before, its ergonomics should be familiar, thanks in large part to the company's trademark physical dials and generally premium build. What powers the GFX 50S is the latest X-Processor Pro, the same imaging chip found on Fujifilm's flagship X-Pro2 and X-T2 cameras.
Gigabyte P2542G gaming laptop hands-on (video)
While we managed to get our hands on Gigabyte's latest graphics card-toting Ultrabook back at CeBIT, we've just finished handling the P2542G (its high-end gaming sibling) at the laptop and motherboard maker's UK launch event. Packing a 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080 display, it runs on an Ivy Bridge Core i7-3610QM, with a 2GB NVIDIA GTX 660M card to power PC gaming's latest and greatest. Add in a Blu-ray player and THX-certified dual-woofer sound system and you have the makings of pretty capable beast -- not to mention looking the part with a yellow paint job and dual exhaust vents along the back edge. Read up on our impressions and check out our video hands-on after the break.%Gallery-163222%
NVIDIA's quad-core Kal-El used to demo next-gen mobile graphics, blow minds (video)
You might think yourself too grown-up to be wowed by shiny, glittery things, but we doubt many will be able to watch NVIDIA's new Glow Ball tech demo without a smidgen of childlike glee. Built to run on the company's quad-core Kal-El processor, it shows us the first example of true dynamic lighting on mobile devices and also throws in some impressive physics calculations like fully modeled cloth motion. Instead of the pre-canned, static lights that we see on mobile games today, NVIDIA's new hardware will make it possible to create lighting that moves, fluctuates in intensity, and responds realistically to its environment -- all rendered in real time. The titular glow ball can be skinned with different textures, each one allowing a different amount and hue of illumination to escape to surrounding objects, and is directed around the screen using the accelerometer in your tablet or smartphone. NVIDIA demoed the new goodness on a Honeycomb slate with 1280 x 800 resolution and the frame rates remained smooth throughout. In order to emphasize the generational leap that we can expect with Kal-El, the company switched off two of the four cores momentarily, which plunged performance down to less than 10fps. That means the simulations we're watching require a full quartet of processing cores on top of the 12-core GPU NVIDIA has in Kal-El. Mind-boggling stuff. Glow Ball will be available as a game on Android tablets once this crazy new chip makes its way into retail devices -- which are still expected in the latter half of this year, August if everything goes perfectly to plan. One final note if you're still feeling jaded: NVIDIA promises the production chip will be 25 to 30 percent faster than the one on display today. Full video demo follows after the break.
NVIDIA refreshes notebook graphics with GeForce GTX 560M, attracts ASUS, MSI, Toshiba and Alienware
If you've enjoyed NVIDIA's fine tradition of merely bumping along its GPUs time and again and affixing a new badge, you'll like the GeForce GTX 560M -- it's much like last year's GTX 460M, but with more bang for the buck than ever. ASUS, MSI, Alienware, Toshiba and Clevo have all committed to new notebooks bearing the graphics processor in light of the potent performance NVIDIA claims it will bring: Namely, those same 192 CUDA cores (now clocked at 1550MHz) and up to 3GB of GDDR5 memory (now clocked at 1250MHz, with a 192-bit bus) should enable the latest games to run at playable framerates on a 1080p screen with maximum detail -- save antialiasing. Of course, that assumes you've also got a recent quad-core Sandy Bridge processor and gobs upon gobs of RAM, but NVIDIA also says that with the built-in Optimus switchable graphics, those same potent laptops should be able to manage five hours of battery life while idling. If you're looking for some inexpensive discrete graphics, however, NVIDIA's also got a refresh there, as the new GeForce GT 520MX bumps up all the clock speeds of the GT 520M. When can you expect a mobile GPU to knock the GTX 485M off its silicon throne, though? Glad you asked: a chart shows a "Next-gen GTX" coming late this year. Meanwhile, see what NVIDIA says the GTX 560M's capable of in the gallery below and a video after the break. %Gallery-124725%
Powercolor expected to unveil double-barreled Radeon at Computex
An unnamed, undressed dual-GPU prototype of AMD's latest in southern-island graphics cards surfaced over the weekend. Flaunting twin Bart chips with 1,120 stream processors a pop, this card totals up at 2,240, with each GPU packing its own memory for a total of 2GB of GDDR5. Although PowerColor is staying tight lipped on specs and official name until Computex in June, two DVI ports, double mini DisplayPorts, and one HDMI-out paint obvious similarities to the existing Radeon HD 6870. One last notable difference? The unknown soldier is powered by two eight-pin PCIe connectors, as opposed to the HD 6870's six-pin variant. We're probably looking at the latest in the Radeon HD 6800 series, we'll know for sure in about a month.
NVIDIA losing ground to AMD and Intel in GPU market share
NVIDIA may be kicking all kinds of tail on the mobile front with its ubiquitous Tegra 2 chipset, but back on its home turf of laptop and desktop graphics, things aren't looking so hot. The latest figures from Jon Peddie Research show that the GPU giant has lost 2.5 percentage points of its market share and now accounts for exactly a fifth of graphics chips sold on x86 devices. That's a hefty drop from last year's 28.4 percent slice, and looks to have been driven primarily by sales of cheaper integrated GPUs, such as those found inside Intel's Clarkdale, Arrandale, and most recently, Sandy Bridge processors. AMD's introduction of Fusion APUs that combine general and graphics processing into one has also boosted its fortunes, resulting in 13.3 percent growth in sales relative to the previous quarter and a 15.4 percent increase year-on-year. Of course, the real profits are to be made in the discrete graphics card market, where NVIDIA remains highly competitive, but looking at figures like these shows quite clearly why NVIDIA is working on an ARM CPU for the desktop -- its long-term survival depends on it.
Radeon HD 6790 sneaks in at under $150, leaves reviewers wanting more for the money
As sure as snow in winter or sun in summer, AMD has yet another refresh to its graphics card portfolio this spring. The Radeon HD 6790 is only a couple of misplaced digits away from the far more illustrious HD 6970, but you should be able to tell the two apart by another, altogether more significant spec: the new mid-tier card retails at $149. Predictably, its performance offers no threat to AMD's single-GPU flagship, but the 6790's 840MHz graphics and shader clock speeds plus 1GB of GDDR5 running at an effective 4.2GHz data rate don't seem like anything to sniff at either. Reviewers agreed that it's AMD's slightly delayed answer to NVIDIA's GTX 460, and with the latter card exiting retail availability to make room for the (oddly enough) less powerful GTX 550 Ti, AMD's new solution looks set to be the better choice at the shared $149 price point. Alas, being limited to 800 Stream processors and 16 ROPs does expose the HD 6790 to being cannibalized by AMD's own Radeon HD 6850 (which can be had for sub-$150 if you're tolerant of rebates) and that turns out to be exactly what happens. A solid card, then, but one that would require an even lower price dip to make economic sense. Benchmarks await below. Read - Tech Report Read - AnandTech Read - Tom's Hardware Read - PC Perspective
NVIDIA's dual-GPU GeForce GTX 590 emerges, can't slay the Radeon HD 6990 titan
1,024 total CUDA cores, 94 ROPs, and 3GB of GDDR5 RAM on board. Yup, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 is indeed a pair of GTX 580 chips spliced together, however power constraints have meant that each of those chips is running at a tamer pace that their single-card variant. The core clock speed is down to 607MHz, shaders are only doing 1.2GHz, and the memory clocks in at 3.4GHz. Still, there's a ton of grunt under that oversized shroud and reviewers have put it to the test against AMD's incumbent single-card performance leader, the Radeon HD 6990. Just like the GTX 590, it sports a pair of AMD's finest GPUs and costs a wallet-eviscerating $699. Alas, after much benchmarking, testing, and staring at extremely beautiful graphics, the conclusion was that AMD retains its title. But only just. And, as Tech Report points out, the GTX 590 has a remarkably quiet cooler for a heavy duty pixel pusher of its kind. Dive into the reviews below to learn more, or check the new card out on video after the break. Read - AnandTech Read - HardOCP Read - Tech Report Read - PC Perspective Read - Guru 3D Read - X-bit labs Read - Hot Hardware Read - techPowerUp! Read - TechSpot
AMD Radeon HD 6970M reviewed: major leap from HD 5870M, not quite a GTX 485M
What has 960 shaders, two gigabytes of dedicated GDDR5 memory with throughput of 115.2GBps, and the ability to churn 680 million polygons each and every second? Yes, the Radeon HD 6970M. AMD's fastest mobile chip to date has been doing the review rounds recently and the response has been unsurprisingly positive. Most modern games failed to trip up the 6970M even at 1920 x 1080 resolution, though the usual suspects of Crysis and Metro 2033 did give it a little bit of grief. All in all, the leap from the HD 5870M was significant, although NVIDIA's still relatively new GeForce GTX 485M has managed to hold on to its crown as the most powerful GPU on the mobile front. Benchmarks, architectural details, battery life tests (what battery life?), and value-adding enhancements await at the links below.
AMD Radeon HD 6990 shows up in its metallic flesh, looking larger than life
What does the next great superpower of desktop graphics look like? Well, it shares an unmistakable family resemblance to the current champ, but its dimensions have somehow been made even larger. Yes, we're talking about AMD's Radeon HD 6990 -- a dual-GPU monstrosity that's set to serve as the company's 2011 flagship -- which has just been shown off at an Asia Pacific Fusion Tech Day gathering. Aside from the crazy imagery (one more after the break and a gallery at the source), we've found a promise that this polygon deliverator will be available in late Q1 2011. Which gives us just enough time to rent out a room big enough to house it. Now, when's Crysis 2 coming out? [Thanks, Christopher]
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti: second-generation Fermi for the $250 mainstream
Ah, NVIDIA, how far you've come. This time last year we were all wondering if your first Fermi GPUs would operate successfully without a nuclear reactor in our backyards, yet today you're introducing a successor to one of the best value-for-money GPUs the PC gaming world has seen in ages. Yes, the GTX 560 Ti has mighty big shoes to fill, but it's off to a good start with 384 CUDA cores running at 1645MHz, 1GB of GDDR5 RAM running at an effective rate of 4GHz, and an 822MHz graphics clock -- each one a clear and pronounced upgrade over its GTX 460 predecessor. You'll have to check out the reviews below for a detailed breakdown of what those numbers will mean on a game-by-game basis, but there's another way in which this new card is proving its impact already. ATI AMD has (conveniently) chosen to cut the prices of its Radeon HD 6870 and HD 6950 cards today, while also outing an HD 6950 with just 1GB of onboard memory to serve as a direct competitor to NVIDIA's latest. Competition, ladies and gentlemen, it's an awesome thing. Read - HardOCP Read - Tech Report Read - PC Perspective Read - techPowerUp! Read - AnandTech Read - Bit-tech Read - TechSpot Read - TweakTown Read - Hot Hardware
NVIDIA makes GeForce GT 500M family official, introduces GTX 485M as its fastest mobile GPU
Yes, NVIDIA's naming scheme really is all over the place, but here's what you need to know: as of today, the fastest mobile GPU coming from Jen-Hsun Huang's team will be the GeForce GTX 485. That chip will be equipped with a 256-bit memory interface and GDDR5 RAM and succeed the GTX 480M as the king of the (relatively) mobile castle. Moving up in numbers, but not performance, the new GT 520M, 525M, 540M, 550M, and 555M represent very mild refreshes of their 400M series counterparts. We were initially unimpressed by NVIDIA's decision to keep things stagnant but for some more aggressive clock speeds at the same TDP envelopes, but a recent review of the earlier-launched GT 540M showed appreciable gains from its predecessor, so maybe these graphics gurus actually know what they're doing. We've gathered some imagery of early units sporting NVIDIA's new graphics hardware -- notably paired with Intel's Sandy Bridge CPUs -- in the galleries below, but we'll surely have more for you as we explore the halls of CES. After all, NVIDIA has an awesome 200 design wins combining its tech with Intel's latest, there should be plenty of previously unseen hardware for us to find. In the mean time, skip past the break to see a couple of benchmark runs showing off NVIDIA's new graphics processors. %Gallery-112252%%Gallery-112060%
AMD Radeon HD 6950 can be turned into an HD 6970 using a BIOS hack
Ah, the joy of getting something for nothing -- that's what this time of year is all about, right? The techPowerUp! guys seem to think so, and they've got the perfect gift for all you thrifty PC gaming enthusiasts: a BIOS flash for the Radeon HD 6950 that unlocks the full potential of its hardware (in other words, it turns it into an HD 6970). We already knew the two retail SKUs were built on the same Cayman core, but this hack confirms that all the 6950's performance handicaps have been enacted in software rather than hardware, leaving you all to flip a switch, click a few confirmatory dialogs, and get your game on. You should be aware that the retail 6970 card uses an 8-pin and a 6-pin connector for its auxiliary power whereas the 6950 only has a pair of 6-pin intakes, which might cause trouble under extreme loads, and there's also the fact that you'll most likely be hacking your warranty away together with your GPU's limitations. But hey, you can't make eggnog without cracking a few eggs.
2011 to bring 200 PCs combining GeForce GPUs and Sandy Bridge, first laptops to be quad-core
What's NVIDIA got up its sleeve for CES, you ask? A whole host of Sandy Bridge laptop and desktop machines, by the sound of its latest press release. The green giant of graphics has proudly announced a new record of 200 OEM design wins for Intel's incoming CPUs. The big draw of Sandy Bridge is that it's the first processor to include an integrated GPU embedded directly within its die, which is projected to improve power efficiency and overall performance -- though clearly it hasn't been impressive enough to get PC vendors to abandon discrete graphics chips. If anything, they seem to be going in the other direction and insisting on a discrete GPU as well. In other news, whether with or without NVIDIA's help, the first Sandy Bridge laptops will feature quad-core parts. Such is the word directly from Intel, with one insider adding that the dual-core debutants will get their chance a month after CES, around the middle of February. Skip past the break for NVIDIA's boastful PR or hit the source for more on Intel's plans.
AMD Radeon HD 6970 and HD 6950 launch assault on enthusiast gaming market
It's taken AMD a long time to refresh the top end of its graphics hardware, but today's culmination to that wait has to be described as somewhat bittersweet. Sweet, because we're finally getting a successor to the venerable HD 5870, one that offers improved power management and tessellation performance at a lower $369 price point, but also bitter because in terms of sheer firepower, the Radeon series doesn't seem to have made quite the leap many of us had hoped for. The new top of AMD's single-GPU pile, the HD 6970, offers 1,536 stream processors, an 880MHz core clock speed, and 2GB of GDDR5 RAM running at 5.5GHz for a total of 176GBps of memory bandwidth. Its partner in crime, the HD 6950, is expected to list at $299, for which saving you'll have to sacrifice some clock speed (down to 800MHz) and processing units (1,408 in total). There's a neat little addition to both new boards: a Dual-BIOS switch that will act like Google's hardware jailbreak toggle on the Cr-48, allowing tweakers to unlock the extra (unprotected by warranty!) performance headroom in their cards. Early reviews all seem to agree that both the Radeon HD 6970 and HD 6950 have struck a very fine price-to-performance ratio. The 6970 manages to spar with the much pricier GTX 580, but given that it's priced similarly to NVIDIA's GTX 570, it scores plaudits for being a more than viable alternative. The HD 6950 is seen as the real value item here, however, particularly since it occupies a relatively unique spot in the price range, and most reviewers tipped it as their new bang-for-the-buck leader. Read - HardOCP Read - AnandTech Read - Tech Report Read - Guru3D Read - PC Perspective Read - Hot Hardware Read - techPowerUp! Read - Hexus Read - TechSpot
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 debuts: the 580 goes on a power diet to fit into $349 price bracket
Want to know what the famous act of cutting down a graphics card to match a given price point looks like? Well, here it is, the $349 GTX 580 (aka GeForce GTX 570): it has 480 CUDA cores running at 1464MHz, a 732MHz graphics clock, and 1.25GB of GDDR5 memory hurtling along at an effective rate of 3.8GHz. Each of those specs represents a moderate downgrade from NVIDIA's original 500 series GPU, while the physical construction -- including that vapor chamber cooler -- is almost wholly identical to the 580. Aside from the paintjob, the only difference is that the GTX 570 can live on a pair of 6-pin auxiliary power connectors. The best comparison for the 570, however, turns out to be NVIDIA's former flagship, the GTX 480, as reviewers found the new card's performance to be nearly identical to the old tessellation monster. Verdicts invariably agreed that the 570 is quieter, cooler, and more power-efficient, making it pretty much a no-brainer of a purchase in its price bracket. Of course, every recommendation comes colored with the warning that AMD should finally be unveiling its upper-tier wares next week -- we'd wait the extra few days before parting with our cash. Read - HardOCP Read - Tech Report Read - Hot Hardware Read - AnandTech Read - Bit-tech Read - Hexus Read - Legit Reviews Read - PC Perspective
