Parallax Graphics

Parallax Graphics, Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Computer graphics hardware and software
Founded	1982 (1982)
Founder	Martin "Marty" Picco and others
Defunct	November 30, 1998 (1998-11-30)
Fate	Ceased operations; acquired by Dynatech Corporation
Headquarters	Sunnyvale, California , United States
Products	Rampage Graphics Terminal, 600 Series, 1000 Series, 1200 Series, 1280 Series, Viper VMEbus display adapter, VideoStream, PowerVideo, MultiVideo, XVideo
Number of employees	40 (1987)
Parent	Dynatech Corporation

Parallax Graphics, Inc. was a U.S.-based company specializing in the design and production of advanced computer graphics card hardware and associated software solutions. Established in 1982 under the name Parallax Systems by two alumni of Cornell University, including co-founder Martin "Marty" Picco, the enterprise initially created products derived from their electrical engineering academic research. Rapid growth saw the business move from a garage startup to a dedicated office space in Sunnyvale, California by mid-1983, accompanied by the appointment of a CEO to oversee its commercial activities.

History

The company’s inaugural product series was the Rampage Graphics Terminal, which launched with the 600 Series at the 1983 National Computer Graphics Association Conference. This Rampage system was a color graphics controller incorporating a custom bit-slicing drawing processor capable of rendering 12 million pixels per second and supporting an instruction set of 85 primitives for sophisticated graphic manipulations. Initially designed for Digital Equipment Corporation’s Q-Bus architecture, it earned recognition for its exceptional processing speed. In 1984, Parallax expanded its lineup with the 1000 Series compatible with both Multibus and Q-Bus platforms, enhancing drawing throughput to 88 million operations per second.

Beginning in 1986, with the introduction of the 1200 Series, Parallax transitioned to utilizing VLSI CMOS gate array technology and discontinued the Rampage brand. The subsequent 1280 Series supported Q-Bus and IBM PC-compatible systems, delivering display resolutions up to 1280 × 1024 pixels along with real-time NTSC video output at frame rates reaching 60 per second.

In February 1984, Parallax Systems rebranded itself as Parallax Graphics and secured $1.75 million in venture funding from Hambrecht & Quist and Bay Partners. By May 1989, Dynatech Corporation acquired Parallax Graphics as an autonomous subsidiary; Dynatech had previously purchased Cromemco in the prior year. That July, Parallax licensed its Viper VMEbus display adapter technology to Sony Microsystems for integration into Sony NEWS Unix workstations.

Entering the early 1990s, Parallax redirected its efforts towards emerging sectors such as video on demand (VOD), teleconferencing, telemedicine, and video editing platforms. Its VideoStream technology evolved into PowerVideo and MultiVideo boards aimed at these markets. The XVideo product line, featuring a 24-bit color framebuffer, achieved widespread adoption within medical imaging, scientific research, financial real-time stock monitoring, and government applications. PowerVideo (utilizing JPEG compression) and MultiVideo (offering uncompressed EISA board solutions) became favored choices for teleconferencing and VOD implementations. Originally developed for Sun Microsystems’ SPARCstation environment, these products were adapted for HP 9000 systems by late 1993. Their Motif-based design facilitated cross-platform compatibility. A strategic partnership with IBM enabled development targeting the PowerPC architecture under the AIM alliance, allowing XVideo support on IBM PC Power Series workstations running AIX and subsequently Solaris operating systems.

Dynatech Corporation ceased Parallax Graphics operations on November 30, 1998. Product support services continued until December 31, 1999. Following this closure, Dynatech rebranded as Acterna Corporation before ultimately filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by 2003.

Legacy

In 1987, among the 40 staff members at Parallax Graphics was Mike Judge, who went on to become a prominent figure in the entertainment industry, known for creating shows such as Beavis and Butt-Head and King of the Hill. Initially employed as a test engineer, Judge found the work environment difficult and departed after just three months. He acknowledged that his time at Parallax indirectly shaped his HBO series Silicon Valley and directly inspired the movie Office Space, both of which draw from his experiences with technology startups and their corporate cultures.