MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- SGI (NYSE: SGI), a world leader in high-performance computing, complex data management and visualization products, solutions and services for technical and creative users, today announced innovative new display technologies that extend the current capabilities of the Silicon Graphics® Octane2(TM) visual workstation far beyond any other desktop system. The introduction of the Dual Head option and PowerDuo capability for Octane2 provides a new level of graphics power and display versatility to this high-performance IRIX® OS-based system, already recognized as the most advanced visualization available on the desktop today. With the new Dual Head option, customers can drive two high-performance, texture-intensive graphics heads from the same Octane2 system; drive up to four monitors from a single system with the addition of the Dual Channel Display option; or enjoy the cost benefits of two users sharing the same richly configured system with the new PowerDuo option. The latest enhancements to Octane2 are tailored to customers who seek to maximize the use of their system for visualizing images and large 3D datasets more efficiently and with greater productivity. The new capabilities can also be leveraged by customers who seek cost-effective access to higher-performance computing resources via innovative system sharing and off-peak-hour processing. ``This announcement exemplifies how SGI drives innovative solutions, advanced capabilities and price/performance value for the high-end application requirements of our leading-edge customers in the energy, manufacturing, government/defense, media and sciences industries,'' said Susan Tellep, director of product marketing at SGI. ``In particular, SGI customers in the oil and gas field are excited about the Dual Head option, and there is strong demand for the cost-effective PowerDuo configuration in the energy, manufacturing and defense markets. Customers in all industries can benefit from Octane2 as a cost-effective system for driving multiple monitors and large displays. We're delighted that as SGI leads the way in innovation, our customers implement our solutions with even greater innovation in their own workflows.'' Dual Head Doubles the Graphics Visualization Capabilities The Octane2 Dual Head option doubles the pixel real estate available to creative and technical professionals who are visualizing and interpreting large amounts of data as they explore the best oil drilling opportunities, diagnose complex medical problems, break new ground in research, design cars in record times, or create spectacular movie effects. Octane2 with the new Dual Head option is supported with two high-performance SGI(TM) VPro(TM) graphics options (either two V10 or two V12 graphics boards). With the new Dual Head option, the two graphics heads in a single Octane2 system drive two independent images over two displays. This feature also provides dual-screen stereo display, support for high-bandwidth application performance and asymmetric display application support. With the V12 graphics option, Octane2 delivers abundant texture memory of 104MB on each display to provide the advanced visualization particularly sought by the energy and sciences industries. Octane2, with the new innovative display options, provides customers with the flexibility and performance they need for advanced data modeling and analysis applications. One display can continuously display complex visual information such as seismic data, while the other display can be reserved for the user interactions required to analyze and update the visual data. Dual Head Combined with Dual Channel Display Drives Up to Four Displays An Octane2 V12 system with the Dual Head option can also be combined with the Dual Channel Display option to drive three or four displays for more screen real estate for visualization and workflow management. With the Dual Head option, customers get an additional graphics head or pipe; with the Dual Channel Display option, a single graphics pipe is delivered to two displays. This combination of the Dual Head and Dual Channel Display capabilities also supports a single image on a matrix display of monitors or a large screen display with the support of the SGI(TM) OpenGL Multipipe(TM) SDK software API. These products provide flexibility for Octane2 customers to drive a number of display combinations with the same configuration. For example, an Octane2 V12 workstation with the Dual Head option equipped with the Dual Channel Display option on each head can drive four mono-display monitors with two separate images or a single combined display. The same system can be set to power stereo on a single display in combination with two mono-displays. PowerDuo Provides Economical Access to a High-Performance System The introduction of the Octane2 PowerDuo configuration, the only UNIX® desktop system that supports two simultaneous users on a dual-processor workstation with separate displays, keyboards and mice, significantly lowers customers' hardware and administrative costs per seat. PowerDuo leverages the robust architecture of Octane2 in combination with the advanced capabilities of the IRIX operating system to offer economies of a shared high-performance system that can do double-duty after hours as a fully-dedicated processing resource. The high-bandwidth and symmetric multiprocessing capabilities of Octane2 allow two users to work simultaneously at full speed without interruption. Users also have the benefit of utilizing the full power of the high-performance system for large rendering operations or large assembly review. What Customers Are Saying ``Octane2 offers striking visualization on a cost-effective platform for our new visualization software, Amira VR. With the use of the SGI OpenGL Multipipe SDK and the Dual Channel Display option, customers can use Octane2 to drive a matrix of displays for large-scale visualization of 3D data,'' says Steve Lutz, vice president sales and marketing at TGS. ``Octane2 with V12 graphics should be an ideal desktop workstation for exploration and development applications in the oil and gas industry where a premium is placed on a large amount of display space and high interactivity,'' said Dr. Geoffrey A. Dorn, executive director, BP Center for Visualization at the University of Colorado. ``For the end user, the Dual Head Octane2 V12 provides up to four times the graphical ''real estate`` provided by a single screen high-resolution desktop system. In preparation for the 2001 SEG meeting, we were able to transfer two applications to this workstation with essentially no modification of the code.'' Further information is available at www.sgi.com