From: delahunt@adobe.com (Jim DeLaHunt)
Subject: Re: New Adobe SW RIP
Summary: CPSI and PixelBurst press releases
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 17:03:22 GMT

In article <0105002B.eagin8@digtype.airage.com> jeff@digtype.airage.com 
writes:
>I heard that Adobe has a new software-based PS RIP in the works...
>that runs on (among others) Sun machines, along with a blindingly-fast
>add-on chip to do haltoning and other functions....
>Is there any other info out on this new platform yet?

CPSI (Configurable PostScript Interpreter) is a PostScript interpreter which
runs on several standard workstations.  It is licensed to OEMs, who write
custom front-end code to receive PostScript language jobs and feed them
to the interpreter, and back-end code to send output from the interpreter to
their imagesetter, plotter, or other output device.  CPSI is a PostScript
Level 2 interpreter, and supports PixelBurst and the Type 1 Chip.

PixelBurst is an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) which 
speeds up graphic operations like drawing half-tones and line graphics.
It is of greatest benefit when used with high-resolution devices like 
imagesetters.

Before any of the net.readership gets its hopes up, both of these products
cost money!  They are licensed to OEMs and QA'd by Adobe in the usual way.
The OEMs turn them into products and sell them.  CPSI and PixelBurst
aren't sold to individual users.

For anyone who is _really_ interested, read on; I've attached a couple of
press releases below.

Hit 'n' now if you don't want to read Adobe P.R. propoganda!

	--Jim DeLaHunt, Developer Support, Adobe Systems Incorporated	
delahunt@adobe.com	...!{apple,decwrl}!adobe!delahunt      +1-415-962-3790

================================================================
CPSI PRESS RELEASE 
================================================================

For more information
Please contact
Judy Tarabini
Adobe Systems Incorporated
(415) 962-2100
					
									

Adobe Systems Announces CPSI Level 2

Workstation-based PostScript Interpreter Offers Product Development Advantages
to OEMs, Improved Performance and Functionality to Users

Mountain View, Calif., (September 22, 1992) (NASDAQ:ADBE) -- Adobe Systems
Incorporated today announced the PostScript(TM) Level 2 implementation of its
Configurable PostScript Interpreter (CPSI). CPSI is a PostScript interpreter
that OEMs can incorporate into industry-standard workstations that drive 
raster marking engines such as imagesetters. CPSI Level 2 offers professional
users performance enhancements as well as new features, while offering OEMs 
shorter development times and greater flexibility in developing new products.

CPSI enables industry-standard computers to rasterize PostScript language 
files for transmission directly to an output device, a process typically 
handled by a dedicated raster image processor (RIP) embedded in the output 
device. CPSI-based output devices are attractive to OEM customers selling 
products into markets where high performance, high quality, and flexibility 
are critical factors. Users in these markets will benefit from CPSI's 
capability to run on standard, upgradable workstations and its capability 
to drive the specific device that provides the output each kind of user 
requires.  

"Offering PostScript software on standard workstation platforms, in 
addition to [dedicated controllers offers]
professional publishers for improved performance and quality," said Charles
Geschke, Adobe's president and chief operating officer. "CPSI also benefits
OEMs by shortening development times and reducing costs, which enables them to
build custom products for specific markets and invest more resources in
developing superior marking engines."

As a complete and fully functional RIP, CPSI can be configured to drive a wide
range of devices compatible with the host computer. Those devices include
imagesetters, color proofers and printers, high-speed printers, large-format
imagesetters, electrostatic plotters, and platemakers and digital presses. 

Adobe OEMs can incorporate CPSI into the following platforms:
*	Apple(R) Macintosh(R)
*  	SPARCstation(TM)
*  	386/486 PCs running Windows(TM) environment software
*	Platforms based on MIPS processors including the DECstation(TM) from 
	Digital Equipment Corporation and workstations from Silicon Graphics,
	Inc.
*  	Workstations from IBM

In addition to running on a wide range of computing platforms, CPSI offers
users the benefits of PostScript Level 2 software, including:

*	Adobe Accurate Screens(TM) software to produce color-separated 
	halftones;
*	Device-independent color for consistent color results across a range 
	of color output devices;
*	RIP-based separations for improved performance;
*	Image compression for faster file transfers and reduced storage 
	requirements;
*	Forms and form caching, patterns and pattern caching for faster
	performance;
*	Composite font capability, to work with very large character sets 
	such as the Japanese language, and scientific and technical 
	applications.

In addition to performance improvements offered by PostScript Level 2, OEMs 
may use the Adobe PixelBurst(TM) coprocessor and Type 1 coprocessor with 
their CPSI products. By incorporating the Adobe PixelBurst coprocessor, CPSI 
workstations become capable of driving imagesetters and high-throughput 
printers at their rated engine speeds on a broad variety of PostScript 
language jobs.  

Adobe Systems Incorporated, founded in 1982, is headquartered in Mountain 
View, California. Adobe develops, markets and supports computer software 
products and technologies that enable users to create, display, print and 
communicate electronic documents. The company licenses its technology to 
major computer and publishing suppliers, and markets a line of type and 
application software products. Revenue for 1991 exceeded $229 million.
__________

Adobe, Adobe Accurate Screens, Adobe PixelBurst and PostScript are trademarks
of Adobe Systems Incorporated, which may be registered in certain
jurisdictions. Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer,
Inc. SPARCstation is a trademark of SPARC International, Inc. licensed
exclusively to Sun Microsystems, Inc. and is based upon an architecture
developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. DECstation is a trademark of Digital
Equipment Corporation. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

================================================================
PIXELBURST PRESS RELEASE
================================================================

	For more information
	Please contact:
	Judy Tarabini
	Adobe Systems 
	Incorporated
	(415) 962-2100




Adobe PixelBurst Coprocessor

Revolutionizes Image-Rendering Speed for PostScript Output Devices

Mountain View, Calif., (September 22, 1992) (NASDAQ:ADBE)-- Adobe Systems
Incorporated today announced the Adobe PixelBurst(TM) coprocessor, a complete
display-list processor on silicon that accelerates rendering of high-resolu-
tion screened images up to 10 times faster than software-based rendering. 
Text and line-art rendering are accelerated by as much as twice the speed of
software-based rendering. The Adobe PixelBurst coprocessor is Adobe's newest
application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that operates exclusively in
Adobe's PostScript(TM) language environment.

The Adobe PixelBurst coprocessor enables OEMs to produce high-resolution
imagesetters and high-throughput printers that run at their rated engine 
speeds on a broader variety of PostScript language jobs.

"The Adobe PixelBurst coprocessor meets the performance and high-quality 
needs of users in the demanding imagesetter and high-throughput printer 
markets," said Charles Geschke, Adobe's president and chief operating 
officer. "It now takes less time to produce higher-quality results without 
the premiums previously associated with higher-quality output." 

As the rated engine speeds of high-volume printers and imagesetters have
increased, it has become increasingly difficult to render images fast 
enough to keep the engine running at top speed; and, as marking engine 
resolution continues to increase, it is becoming essential to take advantage
of cost-efficient, hardware-based image rendering techniques that give users
the performance they increasingly require. 
The Adobe PixelBurst coprocessor is the solution that enables OEMs to build
imagesetters that run at marking engine speed, even when large screened 
images are required, and to build printers with throughput ratings of up to 
100 pages per minute for everyday jobs with text, vector graphics and images. 

Features

The Adobe PixelBurst coprocessor:
*	Performs fills of all shapes at rates up to 700 million pixels per 
	second at [...?]
*	Renders screened images at rates up to 75 million pixels per second 
	at 25 MHz
*	Implements optional "error diffusion" that eliminates the distracting
	banding	pattern found in continuous-tone blends
*	Is a single-chip VLSI implementation, using advanced 1-micron CMOS 
	process
*	Is integrated with Adobe's PostScript Level 2 software

Availability

 The Adobe PixelBurst coprocessor is available to OEMs for both embedded
controller and workstation-based Configurable PostScript Interpreter (CPSI)
implementations. CPSI is a PostScript interpreter that resides in a 
workstation and performs the PostScript language rasterization function 
typically done in raster image processors (RIPs) embedded in an output 
device. Adobe provides its CPSI on industry-standard computing platforms, 
including SPARCstation(TM), Macintosh(R) and PC platforms.

For CPSI implementations, RasterOps Corporation is providing Adobe PixelBurst
coprocessor-based add-in accelerator boards to Adobe OEMs. Through a joint
agreement, RasterOps will make these accelerator boards available for the 
three most popular computing platforms: SPARCstation, Macintosh and PC. 
Macintosh and PC accelerator boards also incorporate Adobe's Type 1 
coprocessor, an ASIC that accelerates the rendering of Type 1 outline fonts 
into character bitmaps. RasterOps provides complete support, including 
manufacturing, warranty and repair services.

For an embedded implementation, Adobe will provide its OEM customers with a
reference design of an embedded controller and the accelerator board that
utilizes the Adobe PixelBurst coprocessor.

Adobe Systems Incorporated, founded in 1982, is headquartered in Mountain 
View, California. Adobe develops, markets and supports computer software 
products and technologies that enable users to create, display, print and 
communicate electronic documents. The company licenses its technology to 
major computer and publishing suppliers, and markets a line of type and 
applications software products. Revenue for 1991 exceeded $229 million.
__________
 
Adobe,  Adobe Accurate Screens, Adobe PixelBurst and and PostScript are
trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated, which may be registered in certain
jurisdictions. Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
SPARCstation is a trademark of SPARC International, Inc. licensed exclusively
to Sun Microsystems, Inc. and is based upon an architecture developed by Sun
Microsystems, Inc.

================================================================
END OF ADOBE PROPOGANDA
================================================================