Workstation graphics capabilities for the 1990's and beyond

We present in this paper a look at the future graphics capabilities of the workstation. We begin by examining the cycles of special hardware development that have occurred for graphics systems in general. We show how the current evolution of the graphics workstation is a direct response to applications user desires for higher performance, graphics systems. The software and hardware levels that perform the input and output graphics operations for the workstation are described with an eye towards categorizing future graphics capabilities. The implementation of those levels in the Silicon Graphics, Inc. IRIS is cited as an example of the leading edge for graphics workstation is presented as a continuation of the historical response to applications user desires for ever higher performance, interactive systems. Categories and Subject Descriptors: I.3.1 (Hardware Architecture): architectures, parallel processing. VLSI implementations; I.3.2 (Graphics Systems): multiprocessing systems; I.3.3 (Picture/Image Generation): surface visualization: I.3.6 (Methodology and Techniques): contouring, interactive systems, parallel processing; I.3.7 (Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism): line drawings, line generation algorithms, real-tlime graphics, surface plotting, surface visualization, surface; I.3.m (Miscellaneous): VSLI; Additional keywords and phrases: contour sufrace display generation; Real-time display generation; Graphics workstationssupported by in part by the Foundation Research Program of the Naval Postgraduate Schoolhttp://archive.org/details/workstationgraph00zydafunds provided by the Chief of Naval Researc