S3 Inc. of Santa Clara and Faroudja Laboratories of Sunnyvale announced an agreement Wednesday that gives S3 the exclusive right to design and make PC chips that use Faroudja's distortion-correction technology. Together, S3 and Faroudja have set out to tackle a problem that has only recently bothered PC makers. The problem occurs because TVs and computers employ two different technologies for making pictures. In essence, TVs split pictures into odd and even lines before painting them on the screen. The process is similar to cutting a deck of cards before shuffling them together.
Computers use a newer technology called progressive scanning.
It puts pictures on the screen one line at time, top to bottom, like lowering a set of blinds. When video makers convert interlaced images to show on progressive scan monitors, blurry motion and color loss often results. Ed Buckingham, a graphics analyst for IDC in Mountain View, said such distortions are important to PC makers, who see future sales dependant on making the PC more of an entertainment device. That means displaying movies or live video on computer screens. S3 Chief Executive Gary Johnson said the first prototype chips should be out late this year.