InfiniteReality

InfiniteReality refers to a 3D graphics hardware architecture and a family of graphics systems that implemented the aforementioned hardware architecture that was developed and manufactured by Silicon Graphics from 1996 to 2005. The InfiniteReality was positioned as Silicon Graphics' high-end visualization hardware for their MIPS/IRIX platform and was used exclusively in their Onyx family of visualization systems, which are sometimes referred to as "graphics supercomputers" or "visualization supercomputers". The InfiniteReality was marketed to and used by large organizations such as companies and universities that are involved in computer simulation, digital content creation, engineering and research.

The InfiniteReality was introduced in early 1996 and was used in the Silicon Graphics Onyx. It succeeded the RealityEngine, although the RealityEngine coexisted with the InfiniteReality for some time for the Onyx as an entry-level option for deskside "workstation" configurations.

The InfiniteReality architecture was a third-generation design and is categorized as a sort-middle architecture. It was designed to render complex scenes in high-quality at 60 frames per second, roughly two to four times the performance of the RealityEngine it replaces. It was designed explicitly for use in conjunction with the OpenGL graphics library and implements most of the OpenGL pipeline in hardware.

The implementation is partitioned into Geometry (also known as the Geometry Engine), Raster Memory (also known as the Raster Manager) and Display Generator boards, with each board corresponding to each stage of the three major stages in the architecture's pipeline. The board set partitioning scheme is the same as the RealityEngine, as a result of Silicon Graphics wanting the RealityEngine to be easily upgradable to the InfiniteReality. Each pipeline consists of one Geometry Engine board, one, two or four Raster Manager boards and one Display Generator board.

...
Wikipedia