“3dfx this week unveiled the latest new technology to be added
to its upcoming Voodoo 3D graphics chip, codenamed Napalm. In a
move set to tackle rival graphics specialist S3 head on, 3dfx
announced its own texture compression technology, FXT1.
“And in a bid to grab mindshare from S3’s S3TC, the company said
it will release the spec. and code the powers FXT1 under an open
source licence.”
“FXT1 can squeeze textures down by a ratio as high as 8:1,
3dfx claimed. The scheme uses multiple compression algorithms,
mixing and matching the best techniques not only for given textures
but for given elements within the overall texture.“