Rendition, Inc.

Rendition, Inc.
Company type	Private
Industry	Computer hardware
Founded	1990s
Fate	Acquired by Micron Technology
Key people	John Carmack (collaborator)
Products	3D graphics chipsets (Vérité 1000, Vérité 2x00 series)
Parent	Micron Technology

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Rendition, Inc., available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 25 July 2025

Rendition, Inc. was a multimedia enterprise from the 1990s focused on developing 3D graphics chipsets for personal computers. Renowned for its Vérité 1000 and Vérité 2x00 series, Rendition was among the pioneers to work directly with Quake creator John Carmack to produce a hardware-accelerated version of the game (vQuake). Its primary rival in the market was 3Dfx. Rendition also created proprietary rendering APIs, including Speedy3D for DOS and RRedline for Windows.

Vérité V1000

Introduced in 1996, the Vérité V1000 utilized a RISC-based design and was the first PC graphics card to feature a programmable core dedicated to 3D rendering. It surpassed competitors such as Matrox Millennium, ATI Rage, and S3 ViRGE in both performance and capabilities. Only 3DFX’s Voodoo Graphics offered higher speed; however, unlike the Voodoo, the V1000 integrated 2D/VGA functionality, providing a unified solution for both 2D and 3D tasks.

This chipset supported up to 4 MB of EDO DRAM on a 64-bit memory interface, delivering a theoretical bandwidth of 400 MB/s. Beyond gaming applications, it served as an IBM VGA-compatible display controller and accelerated Windows graphical user interfaces. The V1000 gained recognition as the sole accelerator initially compatible with Quake. Its hardware was distributed by partners such as Creative Labs (3D Blaster PCI), Sierra Entertainment (Screamin' 3D), Canopus Corporation (Total 3D), and Intergraph (Reactor/Intense 3D 100). Although software support was limited, notable titles like id Software's vQuake and Eidos's Tomb Raider leveraged its features, including 16-bit color rendering, bilinear filtering, MIP mapping, and edge anti-aliasing to enhance visual quality.

A significant technical aspect was its employment of bus master DMA to optimize PCI data transfers; nevertheless, incomplete PCI implementations on some motherboards caused compatibility issues and performance degradation. To address this, Rendition provided diagnostic tools to verify DMA support and incorporated fallback FIFO modes in select games as workarounds.

The V1000 performed triangle setup operations in hardware, easing CPU workload compared to rivals. Still, its pixel fill rate—approximately 25 million pixels per second—was inferior to that of the Voodoo Graphics, which limited its effectiveness in complex rendering scenarios. Despite this limitation, the integrated 2D/VGA core made it attractive for budget-conscious consumers seeking an all-in-one graphics card.

In terms of 2D performance, the V1000 generally underperformed; MCGA/VGA modes exhibited poor results even on high-performance CPUs. Rendition released "renutil," a DOS utility that redirected MCGA display modes to faster VESA modes; however, it lacked support for Mode X games. Under Windows 95, the card demonstrated average benchmark results but excelled in VESA VBE 2.0 modes comparable to leading competitors like Matrox.

Although engineered to support multiple APIs, the V1000 faced challenges with evolving standards such as Direct3D due to early versions lacking DMA support. Its programmable RISC core allowed some flexibility but was constrained by performance limitations. OpenGL compatibility remained minimal.

Vérité V2x00

Rendition’s second-generation chipset architecture included the Vérité V2100 and V2200 models, which improved upon the V1000 by introducing single-cycle pixel processing that nearly doubled fill rates. Coupled with faster memory modules and increased clock frequencies, these chips modestly outpaced the then-dominant 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics.

The value-oriented V2100 typically operated at clock speeds between 40 and 45 MHz, while the higher-end V2200 ran at 55 to 60 MHz. The V2100 appeared solely on Diamond Multimedia’s Stealth II S220 PCI card equipped with 4 MB of SGRAM; initially priced at $100, its cost quickly dropped to $50 due to weak market reception. A subsequent BIOS update raised its clock speed to match that of the V2200 in an effort to boost sales. The V2200 powered various graphics cards including Hercules Computer Technology’s Thriller 3D in both AGP and PCI configurations with either 4 or 8 MB of SGRAM. It achieved a fill rate of approximately 55 million pixels per second and supported hardware acceleration for 2D graphics, video playback, and DVD decoding targeting Windows 9x and NT 4.0 environments.

In collaboration with Hercules, Rendition developed the "Thriller Conspiracy" project that integrated a Fujitsu FXG-1 "Pinolite" geometry processor alongside the V2200 GPU. This combination resulted in an early full transform and lighting (T&L) capable graphics solution—years ahead of Nvidia’s GeForce 256 or ATI’s Radeon releases. Priced around $149 for a board with 9 MB of memory, it promised consistent performance independent of CPU speed but never reached market due to competition from more powerful accelerators like NVIDIA’s RIVA TNT and 3Dfx’s Voodoo 2.

A distinctive offering within the V2200 lineup was Jazz Multimedia’s Outlaw 3D "Bonny & Clyde," which uniquely featured both AGP and PCI connectors on a single card. Users could switch between interfaces simply by flipping the card and its metal bracket.

Vérité V3300 RRedline (unreleased)

The V3300 represented Rendition's intended third-generation 3D graphics chipset, designed to succeed the V2200 as the flagship model in early 1999. Produced using IBM's 0.35 μm fabrication process, it incorporated a Dual Pixel Engine capable of dual-texturing for bilinear and trilinear filtering, along with per-vertex specular highlights and anti-aliasing features. The chipset boasted a setup engine able to process 3 million triangles per second and a fill rate of 200 million pixels per second. Additionally, it included two independent 250 MHz RAMDAC CRT controllers, hardware acceleration for DVD playback through iDCT and motion compensation, support for 166 MHz SDRAM/SGRAM, a 128-bit bus structure, and compatibility with AGP 2X execute mode. Following multiple delays after Rendition's acquisition by Micron Technology in 1998, this project was ultimately discontinued.

Vérité V4400E (unreleased)

After becoming part of Micron Technology, Rendition planned to capitalize on Micron’s embedded DRAM capabilities with the V4400 chip, which was announced for release in 2000. This design incorporated approximately 125 million transistors primarily dedicated to 12 MB of embedded memory, marking significant complexity for that period. Although the embedded memory approach was later utilized in Micron’s AMD Athlon chipset known as "Mamba," the V4400 graphics processor itself never reached commercial release.

Specifications previewed for the Micron "SuperChip2" motherboard chipset included:

Fabrication on a 180 nm process
DDR SDRAM memory interface
Rendition V4400 graphics core with 4 MB embedded DRAM plus support for system RAM
PCI and USB interfaces
Ultra ATA 66 support
AC'97 audio controller
FireWire interface

Games with Rendition support

Rendition secured a notable presence in the market by actively promoting developer adoption of their complimentary APIs. Initially, they offered Speedy3D for DOS-based titles during 1995-96 before launching the Win32 RRedline API tailored for Windows environments. This proactive approach to providing open development tools paralleled strategies employed by competitors such as 3Dfx and included organizing the "Take it to the RRedline" programming contest to highlight both developer expertise and Rendition’s technological capabilities.

Prominent games featuring native support for Rendition APIs encompassed Descent II, Grand Prix Legends, IndyCar Racing II, the Myth series, Sierra's NASCAR Racing, as well as Quake, Quake II, EF2000 V2.0, and Tomb Raider.

Downfall

During a pivotal period in the evolution of PC 3D graphics engines, Rendition fell behind its rivals. NVIDIA introduced the RIVA 128 in late 1997, whereas Rendition’s V2100, despite having silicon ready by early 1997, faced delays due to a digital cell library defect necessitating a chip redesign.

Rendition depended on digital logic synthesis libraries developed by SiArch (licensed via Synopsys) to simulate chip fabrication and avoid costly hardware errors. However, one critical circuit was synthesized into an incorrect configuration that caused excessive resistance and breached fundamental digital logic design rules. This flaw went undetected during simulation but resulted in sporadic malfunctions on physical silicon.

After extensive investigation employing advanced laboratory methods such as scanning electron microscopy and comprehensive simulations, the underlying problem was uncovered. These setbacks cost Rendition approximately two quarters of development time. Upon release, the V2x00 delivered fully compliant OpenGL and Direct3D drivers but arrived too late to capture meaningful market share.

Following its acquisition by Micron Technology, Rendition’s engineering team was retained to provide embedded graphics solutions for Micron’s motherboard products. Despite initial optimism about integrating Micron’s embedded DRAM technology into high-performance graphics processors, no such products were commercialized.

Micron subsequently repurposed the Rendition brand name for an economical RAM product line within its consumer memory division, Crucial Technology. This series was later rebranded as SpecTek Select and targeted primarily at OEMs and resellers.

V1000 generation

V2x00 generation

3D Labs Permedia 2
3Dfx Voodoo2 and Voodoo Rush
ATI 3D Rage Pro
Matrox Mystique 220; Matrox Millennium II and Matrox m3D
Number Nine Ticket 2 Ride
NVIDIA RIVA 128
PowerVR Series 2 (PCX2)
S3 ViRGE DX/GX/GX2 and Trio3D
SiS 6326

References

External links