ATI Imageon and e740

[Jadam]

[Matt Keys]

Where are you getting your info?

[James S]

It's NOT an ATI Imageon, it's an ATI Imageon 2D. I'm pretty sure it's the same graphics chip that ALL PocketPCs require. This is the component that is used to blit to the screen and clock the refresh of the LCD. I don't think it's a graphics accelerator.

If that is an accelerator then the XScale runs about as fast as a 131MHz MIPS!

The Toshiba e740 is not even listed on Toshiba.com and it is not possible to order one directly from Toshiba. It looks like Toshiba hasn't officially released or support it yet. I'd be wary of this device being a month early and filled with bugs. Plausible deniability? Call Toshiba's Tech Support and ask them about the speed problem with your brand new e740.

[R0B]

[Jadam]

[entropy1980]

[Jadam]

[accolon]

[James S]

[entropy1980]

Moose this may shut you up about it...
http://computers.cnet.com/hardware/0-27 ... 4-20033518 according to cnet its the Imageon100 2D which according to ATI

"overview

IMAGEON 100: Wireless with Imagination

The new generation of handheld devices demand more advanced graphics capabilities. Higher resolution color panels, higher performance embedded processors, increased internal and removable storage capabilities, and the deployment of higher bit-rate wireless technologies such as WLAN, 2.5G, and 3G are all part of the revolution in handheld and mobile communication devices. Until now, no solution has been available which can provide the combination of powerful graphics and advanced power-saving technology needed for this exploding marketplace.

ATI’s IMAGEON 100 is the solution.

The revolutionary IMAGEON 100 is the fastest, most advanced, and most power-efficient media co-processor for handheld electronic devices such as PDAs (Personal Data Assistant) and data-enabled mobile phones. Its unique enhanced 2D graphics and hardware MPEG-4 decoding design offer the highest performance and the crispest images while saving power for longer battery life.
At-a-glance
High performance advanced 2D graphics technology from ATI for wireless handheld and mobile communication devices
First with hardware acceleration of MPEG-4/JPEG decoding, to offload the main CPU and allow it enough overhead to handle other tasks such as audio decoding.
No impact on the already restricted real-estate in a handled device since IMAGEON100 replaces the existing LCD panel timing controller (or TCON)
Leading-edge power management technology that results in a significant reduction of power consumption (and longer battery life)
ATI power management feature called POWERPLAY provides a combination of software and hardware capabilities that optimize power consumption without compromising performance
Use of embedded memory as a frame buffer for standard PDA resolutions and an integrated memory controller for support of external SDRAM for resolutions up to 640 x 480 at a color depth of 16bpp"

found here.... http://www.ati.com/technology/hardware/ ... index.html

so we should be seeing an improvement....
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[entropy1980]

Oh and it is supported and you can call Toshiba and they are selling them direct over the phone as of thursday. Monday is the "official" release date and their site will be updated with specs.

[James S]

It's still ATI Imageon 2D!!! This is what i've been saying...
"replaces the existing LCD panel timing controller (or TCON)"

Oh boy, "First with hardware acceleration of JPEG decoding."

Thank you for finding the article for me that states what I've been saying. This should have no affect on the speed of Quake, except if, like the iPaq H38xx, it has some strange buffering technique that slows it down. This is not some God sent accelerator chip, it's what I've been saying it is all along, the TCON, the LCD's blit/refresh timer. Just like how the e310 has some Magiq or something "2D Accelerator" this is not all that different. It's a name and that is all.
It still hasn't officially been released, you even said that.

I'm looking at Intel's website right now reading all the white docs on the XScale. I know there's something there that has 'benchmarks' of the processors capabilities that show that the Toshiba e740 does not match those specs and is thus plagued by this XScale problem that I've mentioned.

[entropy1980]

But video playback should be superior with this chip and nothing has changed.... you said it wasn't an ATI Imageon 100 and it is so what do you mean this confirms what you have been saying.... oh the LOOX and Ipaq 3900 all are performing as bad on benchmarks so I don't care what the whitepapers are saying there is a problem with software or in all of the chips (the LOOX performanc is about the same as e740 right now and Ipaq 3900 is even worse)

[James S]

What I said was that it was an ATI Imageon 2D, not the one with full 3D flavor.

Is the Loox and the iPaq are all performing as badly, are they all running this ATI Imageon with bad 'drivers' too?

I hope you guys are right about everything, I really want an e740 too. I just want it to run like it should.

[entropy1980]

They are supporting it it friggin released tomorrow officially does that all of the sudden change things? No it doesn't they are supporting all warranty issues and again are aware of the problem and working on a fix. The ATI is different has 384k of VRAM the e310 has 256k MediaQ controller so at the very least we should be seeing some performance in video playback....the ATI also has an MPEG 4 decoder which means DIVX playback numbers even if XScale has a problem should be double the current and they aren't.....they are about the same as current StrongARM.