Ray tracing technology was implemented on a game console from the 90s (video)

Observe the effect of applying ray tracing(ray tracing) is possible not only with the help of modern high-performance and expensive video cards. Through the efforts of enthusiast Ben Carter, the technology became available on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), which was released in Japan back in 1990.

Implement new technologies for a thirty-yearset-top box, development engineer Carter was able to use a specially designed SuperRT chip. A similar approach was used back in the last century, when enthusiasts wanted to exceed the system limits of their devices. So a special Star Fox cartridge using a Super FX chip was used to implement 3D effects. SEGA also used optional Sega 32X hardware solutions to improve the performance of the Sega Mega Drive.

Using a dedicated SuperRT chip, Ben CarterI was able to implement real-time ray tracing on a 16-bit SNES console. At the same time, the engineer did not make significant changes to the original console and had only to remove the case to connect the SuperRT cable to the console.

Work on rendering geometry, shadows, reflections andcolors for 50 million objects are maintained in real time and provides a maximum frame rate of 30 FPS. However, in a video posted on Shironeko Labs' Youtube channel, the test video is suggested at 20 FPS at a resolution of 200 × 160.