Regardless of of the fact that ATI, graphics business unit of Advanced Micro Devices, has not introduced its own set of devices to support stereoscopic 3D technology, which is making inroads into the market, the graphics chips developer believes that the modern stereo-3D (S3D) is actually here to stay.

“I feel graphics technology is now powerful enough to drive an incredible S3D experience. The big question is whether it will have mass market appeal while glasses remain a requirement.  Will people balk at the $100 + price of active shutter glasses? I believe S3D is here to stay, and will grow in the coming years,” said Neal Robison, the director of ISV relationship management at AMD in an interview with X-bit labs.

Nvidia Corp., the arch rival of ATI, introduced its 3D Vision technology (which enables stereo-3D on select PCs) long ago, but without much success though. AMD’s graphics division seems to preserve an “open” way with Blu-ray Association (BDA), which is more than conservative .

“We have dveloped the quad-buffer capability required to support stereoscopic 3D games, so 3rd party middleware vendors can output stereo L/R images at 120 Hz (60 Hz per eye). At GDC this past March we announced our Open Stereo 3D Initiative and our intent to work with ecosystem partners, encourage cooperation and standards development with industry-wide participation to ultimately provide customers with more choice in interoperable hardware and software.

The whole interview with Neal Robison, Richard Huddy and David Hoff of AMD is set to be published at X-bit labs in the coming days.

Tags: ATI, AMD, Radeon