Thanks to our summer intern, Errol Pierre-Louis, for this report!

Like Cisco and Sascha, Joel and I checked out the ATI event in Manhattan today and saw a couple cool new applications for the company's graphics chipset.

Windows Vista was running on a 3-monitor display from one CPU, using an integrated graphics card.  This lets you split pictures, spread sheets, Word documents, or any other window between multiple screens. TV tuners equipped with ATI chips can pick up over-the-air HD signals, which can be used in USDTV's set-up boxes which you can also use to watch HD programs on your PC or laptop.

ATI also showcased its Radeon X1900 XT graphic card's physics processing ability (the card's shown at left; click to enlarge).  My knowledge of physics begins and ends with the few textbook pages I flipped through on my way to the final exam, but gamers should be very interested in this new physics technology; it could bring gaming to the next level of realism, in what ATI calls "boundless gaming".  Scenes with 20,000 to 30,000 distinct objects can be simulated and rendered at real-time frame rates, making for a much more immersive experience.

Here are more pix from the event.