NeXTdimension

The NeXTdimension (ND) is an accelerated 32-bit color board manufactured and sold by NeXT from 1991[1] that gave the NeXTcube color capabilities with PostScript planned. The NeXTBus (NuBus-like) card was a full size card for the NeXTcube, filling one of four slots, another one being filled with the main board itself. The NeXTdimension featured S-Video input and output, RGB output, an Intel i860 64-bit RISC processor at 33 MHz for Postscript acceleration, 8 MB main memory (expandable to 64 MB via eight 72-pin SIMM slots) and 4 MB VRAM for a resolution of 1120x832 at 24-bit color plus 8-bit alpha channel.[2] An onboard C-Cube CL550 chip for MJPEG video compression featured in the announced specification,[3]: 168  but this was omitted from the delivered product.[4]: 169  An estimated three-month delay in delivering the CL550 caused NeXT to redesign the product to accept a daughterboard providing image compression functionality.[5] A handful of engineering prototypes for the MJPEG daughterboard exist.

A stripped down Mach kernel was used as the operating system for the card. Due to the supporting processor, 32-bit color on the NeXTdimension was faster than 2-bit greyscale Display PostScript on the NeXTcube. Display PostScript never actually ran on the board so the Intel i860 never did much more than move blocks of color data around. The Motorola 68040 did the crunching and the board, while fast for its time, never lived up to the hype. Since the main board always included the greyscale video logic, each NeXTdimension allowed the simultaneous use of an additional monitor. List price for a NeXTdimension sold as an add-on to the NeXTcube was US$3,995 (equivalent to $8,940 in 2023), and US$2,995 (equivalent to $6,700 in 2023) for the MegaPixel Color Display.[6]

NeXTdimension
Outputs Inputs
13W3 Composite (2x)
S-Video S-Video
RGB using EGA 9-pin D-shell

See also

References

  1. ^ Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful ..., By Owen W. Linzmayer, Page 215, ...1990 August: NeXTdimension introduced...1991 April: NeXTdimension ships minus compression chip...
  2. ^ Scott, Greg (12 November 1990). "New Machines from NeXT". U-M Computing News. Vol. 5, no. 19. p. 9. Retrieved 24 March 2024. The NeXTdimension board provides 32-bit color, and includes an Intel i860 graphics accelerator chip. A custom chip from C-Cube Microsystems supports real-time image compression and decompression.
  3. ^ Baran, Nick; Linderholm, Owen (November 1990). "Fast New Systems from NeXT". Byte. pp. 165–168. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  4. ^ Kim, Yongmin (December 1991). "Chips Deliver Multimedia". Byte. pp. 163–164, 166, 169, 171, 173. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Minigrams". Unigram/X. 22 April 1991. p. 6. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  6. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.