View source for Tseng Labs

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2007}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Tseng Laboratories, Inc.
| logo = File:Tseng Labs logo.svg
| industry = [[Electronics]]
| hq_location_city = [[Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania|Newtown, Pennsylvania]]
| hq_location_country = United States
| founder = Jack Hsiao Nan Tseng
| founded = {{start date and age|1983}}
| defunct = {{end date|1998}}
| fate = Merged with Cell Pathways
| website = {{web archive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980703214757/http://www.tseng.com/|title=tseng.com}}
}}
{{multiple image|perrow=2|header=Sampling of Tseng Labs PC expansion cards|
|image1=ET1000-A.JPG|caption1=ET1000 DFI MG-150 ISA
|image2=ET4000AX.JPG|caption2=[[Tseng Labs ET4000|ET4000AX]] ISA
|image3=ET6000.JPG|caption3=ET6000 PCI
|image4=ET6100.JPG|caption4=ET6100 PCI
}}
'''Tseng Laboratories, Inc.''' (also known as '''Tseng Labs''' or '''TLI''') was a maker of [[graphics chip]]s and controllers for [[IBM PC compatibles]], based in [[Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania|Newtown, Pennsylvania]], and founded by Jack Hsiao Nan Tseng.

==History==
===1983–1995===
Founded in 1983, Tseng Labs' first product was designed to allow IBM PCs to run the [[CP/M]] Operating System. When an [[OEM]] deal for that product was cancelled, TLI introduced a combination multifunction and graphics, called '''Ultrapak''', which upgraded [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]] and [[IBM Personal Computer XT|XT]]-compatible computers with some features of an IBM AT.<ref>CNN Money 1989 *[https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1989/06/05/72064/index.htm Companies to watch - Tseng Labs]</ref> Ultrapak also foreshadowed Tseng Labs penchant for enhancing graphics - by providing [[IBM Monochrome Display Adapter]] (MDA) and [[Hercules Graphics Card]] (HGC) compatibility along with their own special 132 column text modes. These extended text modes created a successful niche for TLI - the cards were popularly used by corporations for PCs that also emulated [[mainframe computer|mainframe]] terminals that displayed 132 columns. The '''UltraPAK Short''' (a graphics-only version of UltraPAK) was the base design for the [[DFI]] '''MG-150''', which was reported to be the best selling MDA/HGC compatible card of all time.

Future Tseng products continued to push beyond mere IBM compatibility. '''ColorPAK''' - the company's [[Color Graphics Adapter|CGA]]-compatible product - offered 'high resolution' 400 line graphics in 1985. The '''EVA''' and '''EVA/480''' products of 1986 were the first recorded instances of a graphics chip company extending the IBM [[processor register|register]] set. EVA products enabled 130 more lines of graphics (640x480) than IBM [[Enhanced Graphics Adapter|EGA]], as well as advanced features like [[hardware accelerated]] windowing, panning, and zooming.

Tseng migrated from a retail/commercial board supplier to OEM sales of their chips. Ultimately, Tseng Labs VGA controllers were found in PCs from major system and board companies including [[Compaq]], [[Dell]], [[IBM]], [[NEC]], [[STB Systems]], [[Diamond Multimedia]] and several major Taiwanese add-in brands.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}

Tseng's best-known products were the Tseng Labs ET3000, [[Tseng Labs ET4000]] and Tseng Labs ET6000 [[Video Graphics Array|VGA]]-compatible graphics chips, which were highly popular between 1990 and 1995 (the era of [[Microsoft Windows|Windows 3.x]]). The company's ET4000 family was noteworthy for unusually fast host-interface ([[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]]) throughput, despite a conventional [[Dynamic random-access memory|DRAM]] [[framebuffer]].<ref>Business wire October 1996 *[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_/ai_18754932 Tseng Labs ET6000 fastest graphics chip ever tested]</ref>

TLI was responsible for many breakthroughs in graphics common in today’s mainstream including extended register sets, packed pixel [[8-bit color|8]], [[High color|15, 16]], and [[Color_depth#True_color_(24-bit)|24-bit color]] modes, the first [[local bus]] graphics designs, the first integrated local bus controller, and Image Memory Access (IMA)- a high-speed [[asynchronous I/O|asynchronous input]] for video or graphics into the display buffer.

Using IMA bus, Tseng created the category of mainstream motion video accelerator with a series of video image processing circuits, branded VIPeR. VIPeR chips provided relatively high quality live and computer generated video. The chips were used in on high-end video solutions from companies like [[Matrox]] and Jazz Multimedia. Competitors integrated less elegant [[algorithm]]s inside their mainstream graphics controllers - a trend Tseng followed with its latter generation of chips.

===1995–1998===
Tseng was a victim of the graphics card [[shakeout]] of the mid-1990s, losing market share to [[S3 Graphics]] and [[ATI Technologies]].
Tseng was especially late to integrate a [[RAMDAC]] into its product-line, not succeeding until the ET6000. In the later years of the ET4000's lifetime, the lack of an integrated RAMDAC severely hurt Tseng's competitiveness.

Struggling to source adequate supplies of memory for their updated cards, and lacking the funds to complete development of a modern integrated 3D engine (the ET6300), the board decided to abandon plans to ship a next generation part, and chose instead to preserve the cash pile, and seek a [[buyout]] instead.

This strategy eventually resulted in the company’s engineers and graphics expertise being purchased by ATI (now a part of [[AMD]]) in December 1997.<ref>CNet News 16 December 1997 *[http://news.cnet.com/ATI-Technologies-buys-Tseng-Labs/2100-1001_3-206420.html ATI Technologies buys Tseng Labs]</ref> Tseng's management chose to use the proceeds of the sale, along with the existing cash reserves, to invest in a start-up, and merged the company with [[pharmaceutical]] company Cell Pathways in 1998.<ref>The Philadelphia Business Journal *[http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/1998/06/22/daily10.html Cell Pathways and Tseng Labs to unite]</ref> The latter was acquired by [[OSI Pharmaceuticals]] in 2003.<ref>MarketWatch *[https://www.marketwatch.com/story/cell-pathways-shares-soar-on-merger-with-osi Cell Pathways, OSI announce merger]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|1}}

== External links ==
* {{web archive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19971007111521/http://www.tseng.com/|title=Official website}}

[[Category:American companies established in 1983]]
[[Category:American companies disestablished in 1998]]
[[Category:Computer companies established in 1983]]
[[Category:Computer companies disestablished in 1998]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Defunct semiconductor companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Graphics hardware companies]]