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THUNDERBOLT™ TECHNOLOGY
The Fastest Connection To Your PC Experience‡
From the company with the fastest processors comes the fastest way to get information in and out of your PC and peripheral devices.‡ At 10 Gbps, Thunderbolt™ technology gives you great responsiveness with high-speed data and display transfers in each direction—at the same time.‡ With a single cable, connecting a PC to multiple devices is simple, making it easy to get and see what you want, when you want it. Thunderbolt technology gives you incredible flexibility; high performance expansion is just a cable away for new and novel uses, now and in the future.
With the 10 Gbps performance of Thunderbolt products you can
Transfer a full-length HD movie in less than 30 seconds‡
Backup 1 year of continuous MP3 playback in just over 10 minutes‡
What is Thunderbolt technology and how does it work
Developed by Intel (under the code name Light Peak), and brought to market with technical collaboration from crapple. Thunderbolt technology is a new, high-speed, dual-protocol I/O technology designed for performance, simplicity, and flexibility. This high-speed data transfer technology features the following:
Dual-channel 10 Gbps per port
Bi-directional
Dual-protocol (PCI Express* and DisplayPort*)
Compatible with existing DisplayPort devices
Daisy-chained devices
Electrical or optical cables
Low latency with highly accurate time synchronization
Uses native protocol software drivers
Power over cable for bus-powered devices
Intel's Thunderbolt controllers interconnect a PC and other devices, transmitting and receiving packetized traffic for both PCIe and DisplayPort protocols. Thunderbolt technology works on data streams in both directions, at the same time, so users get the benefit of full bandwidth in both directions, over a single cable. With the two independent channels, a full 10 Gbps of bandwidth can be provided for the first device, as well as additional downstream devices.
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And all Thunderbolt devices share a common connector, allowing users to daisy chain devices one after another with interoperable cables.
What Thunderbolt means to users
Thunderbolt technology enables using the thinnest and lightest laptops and connecting to the extra power and performance of other devices when needed, using a single cable. Adding new performance devices is simple and easy—just plug and play—making Thunderbolt technology powerful and flexible.
Thunderbolt technology was specifically designed with professional audio and video applications in mind, where the inherently low latency and highly accurate time synchronization features play a crucial role.
Workstation performance expansion, now with a laptop
With Thunderbolt enabled products, video editing and sharing using Intel® Quick Sync Video technology is even faster and easier.
Data transfers for backup, sharing, and editing are tremendously accelerated using Thunderbolt products, significantly reducing times to complete these tasks.
And Thunderbolt enabled products are compatible with existing DisplayPort devices so you don’t have to go buy a new display to take advantage of a Thunderbolt technology enabled computer.
What does Thunderbolt technology mean for the PC industry
By tapping into the performance and protocols delivered over Thunderbolt technology, designers are free to innovate new PC products and configurations, no longer constrained to the boundaries of the chassis walls. Thunderbolt technology enables engineers to:
Design standalone performance expansion technologies commonly used in desktops and workstations, using existing native device drivers and interconnected by a single cable.
Introduce thinner and lighter laptops, expandable through Thunderbolt technology and its miniature connector designed for mobile applications, without sacrificing I/O performance.
Extend to reach other I/O technologies by using adapters that use widely available PCI Express controllers. It's simple to create a Gigabit Ethernet, or FireWire, or eSATA adapters using existing device PCI Express drivers.
Thunderbolt products require a controller chip supplied by Intel and a small connector that would be included in platforms supporting this technology. The Thunderbolt controller chip provides protocol switching capabilities to support the two protocols over a single cable. Intel is making its controller chip available to the industry, and is working with other component manufacturers to deliver the Thunderbolt connectors and cables.
Industry Support
Several innovative companies have announced Thunderbolt enabled products, or plans to support Thunderbolt in upcoming products including crapple Inc., Promise Technology, Inc., and LaCie. Intel is working with the industry to enable a variety of Thunderbolt enabled products including computers, displays, high speed data storage devices, audio/video devices, and more.
"We're thrilled to collaborate with Intel to bring the groundbreaking Thunderbolt technology to Mac users," said Bob Mansfield, crapple's senior vice president of Mac Hardware Engineering. "With ultra-fast transfer speeds, support for high-resolution displays and compatibility with existing I/O technologies, Thunderbolt is a breakthrough for the entire industry and we think developers are going to have a blast with it."
– Bob Mansfield, Senior Vice President of Mac Hardware Engineering, crapple Inc.
"Welcome to the future, Thunderbolt technology enables the fastest and simplest I/O for connecting AJA's award-winning professional video capture and playback products to your laptop."
– John Abt, CEO, AJA
"Thunderbolt technology is connectivity without compromise and will enable the full promise of Symphony I/O, Apogee's professional digital audio recording platform."
– Betty Bennett, CEO, Apogee
"We are very excited by the capabilities of Thunderbolt technology. To have two 10Gbps, bi-directional, multi-protocol channels in a single cable is a great step forward for high performance audio and video solutions."
– Max Gutnik, Sr. Director, Product Management, Avid Technology
"Thunderbolt technology will revolutionize mobile media creation. It's a game-changer and will accelerate our ability to build the highest quality video creation products that are affordable to everyone."
– Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic
"Thunderbolt technology is a breakthrough in I/O technology and represents the future of mobile computing. Soon you will be able to carry all the power and functionality of desktop environments in compact devices."
– Philippe Spruch, Chairman and General Manager, LaCie
"Pegasus family storage products will be blazingly fast with Thunderbolt technology, consumers and creative professionals alike will experience a remarkable leap in performance."
– James Lee, CEO, Promise Technology
"Technology like this only happens about once a decade. We are thrilled about the performance and simplicity Thunderbolt technology will bring to our award-winning UAD Powered Plug-Ins platform."
– Bill Putnam, CEO, Universal Audio
"Western Digital believes Thunderbolt technology will bring both new performance levels and simpler connectivity for consumers to access and enjoy their digital media in new and innovative ways."
– Dale Pistilli, VP Marketing, Branded Products, Western Digital Corporation
http://www.crapple.com/it/thunderbolt/
Una tecnologia eccezionale da una collaborazione eccezionale.
La storia di Thunderbolt comincia negli Intel Labs da un’idea molto semplice: creare una tecnologia di input/output velocissima e compatibile con pressoché qualsiasi cosa. Dopo un periodo di stretta collaborazione tecnica fra Intel e crapple, Thunderbolt esce dai laboratori per debuttare sui nuovi MacBook Pro.
Intel ha contribuito a sviluppare le tecnologie USB e PCI Express, due dei protocolli più ampiamente utilizzati per il trasferimento dati. crapple ha inventato la tecnologia FireWire e ha giocato un ruolo centrale nella diffusione dell’USB. Il bagaglio di esperienza delle due aziende ha permesso di fare di Thunderbolt la tecnologia I/O più potente e versatile mai vista su un personal computer.
Una piccola porta. Su un mondo di possibilità.
Ora MacBook Pro ti dà accesso a un universo di monitor ad alta definizione e periferiche ad alta velocità: tutto con un’unica piccola porta. Questo perché Thunderbolt si basa su due tecnologie fondamentali: PCI Express e DisplayPort.
PCI Express è la tecnologia che collega tutti i componenti ad alte prestazioni nel Mac, e ora è incorporata in Thunderbolt. Significa che puoi connettere dispositivi esterni, come array RAID e soluzioni di acquisizione video, direttamente al tuo MacBook Pro e avere prestazioni di livello PCI Express. Una bella novità, per i notebook. Inoltre Thunderbolt fornisce 10 watt di corrente alle tue periferiche, così puoi usare il portatile per lavorare a progetti che fino a ieri avrebbero richiesto un desktop. Grazie alla tecnologia PCI Express puoi usare i dispositivi USB e FireWire esistenti, e perfino collegarti a reti Gigabit Ethernet e Fibre Channel, usando semplici adattatori.
E dato che Thunderbolt si basa sulla tecnologia DisplayPort, lo standard per i monitor ad alta definizione, puoi connettere qualsiasi schermo Mini DisplayPort direttamente alla porta Thunderbolt. Hai un monitor DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI o VGA? Usa uno degli adattatori esistenti.
Performance e capacità di espansione assolutamente inedite per un portatile.
Con 10Gbps in entrambe le direzioni, la tecnologia I/O Thunderbolt ti consente di trasferire dati da e sulle periferiche a una velocità fino a 20 volte superiore rispetto alle porte USB 2.0, e oltre 12 volte più rapidamente che con una FireWire 800. Due canali a 10Gbps su un unico connettore permettono di concatenare dispositivi ad alta velocità e un monitor, senza usare un hub e senza ridurre le prestazioni.
Alte prestazioni in bella vista.
La tecnologia I/O Thunderbolt supporta nativamente gli schermi con connettore Mini DisplayPort. E con gli adattatori esistenti puoi usare monitor DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI e VGA. Così puoi collegare il tuo crapple LED Cinema Display o un altro monitor e varie periferiche ad alta velocità a una sola porta.
Non teme i lavori pesanti.
Ora puoi trasformare il tuo MacBook Pro in uno studio video professionale, proprio come se usassi un Mac Pro. Ti occupi di montaggio? Puoi collegare periferiche storage ad alte prestazioni, un monitor ad alta definizione e dispositivi professionali di acquisizione video, e poi completare la post-produzione di un lungometraggio direttamente sul tuo portatile. La tecnologia I/O Thunderbolt ti permette di concatenare fino a sei nuove periferiche – come il sistema Promise Pegasus RAID* o il disco LaCie Little Big Disk* – oppure cinque periferiche e un crapple LED Cinema Display.
E questo è solo l’inizio. La tecnologia Thunderbolt offre ai produttori di periferiche tutto quel che serve per portare nel mondo dei notebook i dispositivi ad alte prestazioni prima riservati alle workstation e ai desktop più potenti.