ELSA Showcases GeForce power of GLADIAC graphics boards at ECTS

ELSA Showcases the Networked Home and the
GeForce power of

GLADIAC graphics boards at ECTS 2-4 September 2001 Stand No: 1310 Main Hall

Excel

London Docklands



* ELSA to unveil wireless web access pad

* Bluetooth devices for Internet access and in-car

applications

* New professional graphics boards for games

developers

* 3D Monitor introduces a new dimension in display







THEALE, 23 August 2001- Networking and graphics board vendor

ELSA is using this year's ECTS to showcase its vision of the digital

networked home while also demonstrating the power of the company's graphics

boards for PC gamers and a range of professional boards for specialist games

developers.



ECTS will also be the first UK outing for ELSA's new

Bluetooth wireless products including a hands-free in-car solution for

mobile phones. Marketing manager Peter Griffin commented, "This is our
first

time at ECTS and it reflects the major confidence we have in the ELSA brand.

Exhibiting will demonstrate our strong position in the graphics market as

well as our new concept for the next generation of home networking."



The networked digital home



In July ELSA announced a major strategic push for a share of

the growing digital home networking market with broadband Internet, home

ethernet and home WiFi wireless LAN products. ELSA home networking products

come under a new brand, ELSA Vianect and the first products on show at ECTS

will be IEEE 802.11b wireless LAN access point and WLAN interfaces for USB

and PC card (PCMCIA.)



ELSA is using ECTS to announce its wireless Logboard, a

touch-screen webpad for the home, based on the IEEE802.11B wireless

standard, this will connect with an analogue modem, ISDN adapter or

broadband internet access devices like DSL or cable modems. In the New Year

ELSA plans to move from home digital networking to address the home

entertainment market with a range of multi-media offerings.



ELSA GB product manager, Peter Huddleston explains, "With

the arrival of the multi-PC household and the wider availability of

broadband internet services, ELSA is striving to be at the forefront of the

market, offering a wide range of solutions and applications to meet the

market's needs. Wireless technology gives home PC users the flexibility to

connect up all their devices, share resources such as internet connections

and peripherals with minimum disruption and installation costs."



Bluetooth wireless Internet



ELSA's first home and office Bluetooth devices will be on

show with a wireless ISDN terminal adapter and a USB to Bluetooth adapter.

With the ELSA Vianect Blue ISDN, ELSA enables wireless Internet access over

ISDN for Bluetooth equipped PCs, notebooks, PDAs and mobile phones. No

fiddly cables to find (or lose) and, with WEP 128 encryption, a high level

of secure communications up to 100m outdoors or typically 30m in a building.



For devices that are not Bluetooth enabled, ELSA offers the

simplicity of a USB adapter that plugs into the computer's USB port, opening

up the world of wireless in seconds. USB means one adapter can be shared

among several devices without having to reboot each time.



Bluetooth on the move



In collaboration with Peiker, the acoustics specialists,

ELSA has developed an in-car hands free, wireless, Bluetooth interface for

mobile phones. Vianect Blue Handsfree can be easily installed in any vehicle

and enables the user to make hands-free calls with only minimal additional

equipment. The phone communicates with the hands-free kit and can be

situated anywhere in the car, even in the boot. Calls are established via

voice dialling and relayed via the car hi-fi, as with bespoke hard-wired

in-car hands-free systems.





GLADIAC graphics boards with GeForce3 Power



The dream of most hard-core gamers, the ELSA GLADIAC 920

graphics board which uses the NVIDIA GeForce3 graphics processor unit (GPU)

create new levels of realism for gamers and designers alike.



In addition to offering gamers faster performance, the ELSA

GLADIAC 920's new nFinite FX(tm) engine in GeForce3 enables pixel-precise

programming of 3D particle light effects such as smoke, fog and explosions.

Using texture bump mapping the high-end graphics card creates ultra

realistic material textures and convincing moving water effects. Thanks to

the inclusion of a special GeForce3-optimised version of the Giants computer

game customers can fully appreciate this revolutionary technology.



The new build of the ELSA GLADIAC 920 board offers gamers

the ultimate overclocking experience. "With no additional cooling, we have

managed to clock the board up to 250Mhz on the core processor and 560Mhz on

the memory, delivering a massive 650 additional points on 3D Mark 2001. No

tricks, no fans, no extra heat sinks. This is straight out of the box,"
said

ELSA product manager Adam Foat.



The new build ELSA GLADIAC also sports a new sleek, black

PCB and an improved heat sink, but otherwise has the same powerful

configuration as the original, based on the NVIDIA GeForce 3 graphics

processor unit (GPU).





Just for the professionals



As well as providing boards for gamers ELSA has a reputation

for excellence in the games developer market for high-performance

professional graphics boards. At ECTS ELSA will be adding to this reputation

with the new ELSA GLoria DCC board, aimed directly at the animation market

and optimised for 3D Studio Max, the leading DCC software package.



The ELSA GLoria DCC is customised for digital content

creation professionals who need optimum performance for generating designs

for character animation, visual effects and games development. It is the

only hardware platform with an optimised application driver for 3D Studio

Max with the new Vertex and Pixel shader technology from graphics chip maker

NVIDIA. The ELSA MAXtreme driver delivers both performance and stability for

the DCC user.



The nFinite engine of the NVIDIA Quadro DCC GPU (graphics

processor unit) enables the integration of new features of 3D Studio Max for

use in DCC applications as well as offering a significant performance boost.



ELSA's product manager for graphics Adam Foat commented,

"This is a specialist tool for people at the cutting edge of digital

animation. Designers can now program an almost limitless number of effects

and review the results straight away."



Other professional graphics boards on show at ECTS include

the products in the Synergy range. The ELSA Synergy 2000 offers unbeatable

price-performance ratio and is based on the "Quadro2 EX" chip. It
provides

high quality 3D graphics performance and stability for high-end CAD,

visualisation, animation and design along with state-of-the-art 2D

acceleration for image editing and standard applications.



The ELSA Synergy 2000 is attractive as an entry-level

graphics board for all professional graphics workstations where a superior

price-performance ratio, as well as first-class workstation performance and

reliability are required.



The ELSA Synergy III delivers exceptional 2D performance

with professional 3D production horsepower combined with the productivity

benefits of dual screen support.

The ELSA Synergy III, gives you a fast 32MB frame buffer for

high resolution, vivid colours and texture processing along application

optimisation, drivers and utilities.

Dual monitor support means that developers can have their

content editing window open on one screen, their colour palette, time line

or email client on another.





3D Monitors without 3D Glasses



Having recently hit the UK market with its flat panel colour

TFT screens ELSA goes a stage further with a new monitor which actually

shows images in 3D with no need for special glasses. The ELSA ECOMO 4D is

an 18" digital colour flat panel TFT monitor that offers a three
dimensional

display on screen by presenting different images to the left and right eye.

A viewing prism directs the images to the appropriate eye and an intelligent

eye tracking systems continuously synchronises the prisms with the position

of the viewer's eyes. This produces a realistic and ergonomic 3D display,

which can be useful in 3D automotive design and medical applications.



ELSA contact details for ECTS



If you would like to arrange a meeting with ELSA Sales

please call 0870 990 4240

For all press enquiries please call 01625 511 966 (The Edge

Partnership)



Background

ELSA is one of the leading providers of Internet access and

computer graphics solutions for the PC. Its product range includes modems,

ISDN adapters, ISDN and DSL routers, videoconferencing systems, graphics

boards and monitors. ELSA was founded in 1980 and today has around 700

employees. In addition to its headquarters in Aachen, Germany, it also

maintains subsidiaries in San José (USA), Taipei (Taiwan) and Tokyo (Japan)

as well as in London (UK), Paris (France), Milan (Italy), Madrid (Spain),

Stockholm (Sweden) and Eke (Belgium). Since June 1998, ELSA AG shares are

traded on the "Neuer Markt" trading segment (WKN 507 360) of the
Frankfurt

stock exchange in Germany.



ELSA G.B. Ltd., 1210 Parkview, Arlington Business Park,

Theale, Berkshire RG7 4TY

Tel: 0118 965 7755 Fax: 0118 965 7756

Freephone sales no.: 08000 56 34 45

Web site: www.elsa.co.uk