Graphics grows up: programmable hardware advances are fueling a new generation of 3D accelerators.(Graphics Cards)(and related article)

At first glance, it might seem as if the high-end 3D graphics accelerator market hasn't changed much in the past year. The big three manufacturers--ATI, Nvidia, and 3Dlabs--are still the big three. Programmable hardware continues to be the hot topic that it was last year, and the year before. The DirectX graphics API, which arrived on the scene awhile back, is still with us, but so is OpenGL, which some people thought might be eclipsed by DirectX.

Strangely enough, the most exciting development of late may be that the big news of 2001--programmable hardware--is still big news. Instead of being pushed aside or superseded by some other technology, programmable ...