Timeline of early 3D computer graphics hardware

Lore & Background

The timeline begins in 1963 with Ivan Sutherland's use of the MIT TX-2 computer to showcase primitive wireframe 3D and hidden line capability via Sketchpad III. In 1968, Sutherland's Sword of Damocles augmented reality headset, driven by a DEC PDP-1, became functional at Harvard. Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation, founded in 1968, introduced the LDS-1 in 1969, the first all-digital system to provide matrix multiplication and 3D capability, considered the first commercial graphics processing unit.

Throughout the 1970s, Evans & Sutherland produced successive systems: the LDS-2 in 1971, the CT1 'Watkins box' in 1972 (first real-time Gouraud shading machine), and the CT4 in 1977 (first graphics system capable of real-time texture mapping). In 1979, Vectorbeam released Speed Freak, the first video game with true 3D graphics available to consumers, using custom vector display hardware. The 1980s saw the Geometry Engine, a VLSI vector processor designed by Jim Clark and Marc Hannah at Stanford in 1981, which led to Silicon Graphics's IRIS 1000 terminal in 1983. I, Robot debuted in 1984 as the first video game rendered entirely in real-time shaded 3D polygons, using custom PCBs for geometry processing and rendering.

Reader's Guide

The timeline's significance lies in documenting the evolution from experimental wireframe displays to dedicated hardware capable of real-time shading and texture mapping. The Evans & Sutherland LDS-1 of 1969 is noted as the first commercial graphics processing unit, establishing the concept of a dedicated chip for 3D matrix multiplication. The Geometry Engine of 1981, a VLSI vector processor, directly led to Silicon Graphics workstations that dominated professional 3D graphics in the 1980s. The timeline also captures early consumer 3D gaming: Vectorbeam's Speed Freak (1979) introduced true 3D graphics to arcades, and I, Robot (1984) was the first game rendered entirely in real-time shaded polygons. The list stops with the release of mainstream 3D graphics cards and the Sony PlayStation in 1994, marking the transition from specialized hardware to mass-market GPUs. The article notes that much information is not readily collected, implying many unlisted instances of early 3D hardware.

Did You Know?

• The first all-digital system to provide matrix multiplication and 3D capability was the Evans & Sutherland LDS-1, introduced in 1969.
• The first real-time Gouraud shading machine was the E&S CT1 'Watkins box', delivered to Case Western Reserve University in 1972.
• The first graphics system capable of real-time texture mapping was the E&S CT4, delivered to Lufthansa in 1977.