"near-desktop" experiences, the company says.

(Click here for a larger view of HP's gt7220)

HP's new WES 2009-based thin clients are among the first devices to offer the company's new RDP Enhancements and RGS software add-ons, touted as enhancing multimedia performance on thin client devices. For further background, see later in this story.

HP gt7720

The new gt7720, pictured at the top of our story, is essentially a WES-based version of the previously released "performance series" gt7725, which was originally announced in October 2008 with WES but now runs HP's own ThinPro GT operating system. The gt7220 doesn't have the gt7225's dual DVI-I outputs, which support up to four monitors, but does include both DVI-I and DVI-D outputs. It allows use of dual displays, each with resolution as high as 2560 x 1600 pixels.

Like the gt7725, the gt7720 has a 2.3GHz dual-core AMD Turion processor, and uses AMD's 780G chipset, which incorporates ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics and is DirectX 10-compatible. The gt7220 comes with either 2GB or 4GB of RAM, and 2GB of flash storage, says HP.

The gt7720's rear panel includes four USB ports, a gigabit Ethernet port, a serial port, and two PS/2 ports. Around front, there are microphone and headphone jacks, and two additional USB ports. The gt7720 has a further two USB ports in an internal "secure compartment," HP adds. Cited software support includes Citrix ICA (independent computing architecture), RDP (remote desktop protocol) and the TeemTalk terminal emulator.

Features and specifications listed by HP for its gt7720 thin client include:

• Processor -- AMD Turion clocked at 2.3GHz
  
• Memory -- 2GB or 4GB of RAM and 2GB of flash storage
  
• Display -- Supports two 2560 x 1600 pixel DVI-interfaced displays
  
• Networking -- Gigabit Ethernet port with RJ45 connector
  
• Other I/O:
  • 2 x DVI (DVI-I and DVI-D)
    
  • 8 x USB 2.0 (four rear, two front, two internal)
    
  • 2 x PS/2
    
  • 3.5mm jacks for microphone in and headphone output
• Expansion -- Optional PCI Express expansion module
  
• Power -- Requires 110-240VAC input; 55 Watt typical consumption
  
• Dimensions -- 10.0 x 8.47 x 1.8 inches (254 x 215 x 45mm)
  
• Weight -- 3.5 pounds (1.6kg)

HP t5730w

HP's t5730w

The gt7720 is joined in HP's thin client line by the t5730w (right), which uses a 1GHz AMD Sempron 2100+ processor. HP touts the device's high-end graphics, provided by an ATI Radeon X1250 chipset. The chipset and thin client support resolutions up to 2048 x 1536.

With both VGA and DVI-D ports, the t5730w supports dual monitors. Other multimedia capabilities are the device's internal amplified speaker, plus 3.5mm jacks for microphone input and headphone output.

The t5730w includes 2GB of RAM and either 1GB or 2GB of flash storage. Again, it also offers a whopping total of eight USB ports, two in front, four in the rear, and two in a "secure USB compartment." HP sells an optional expansion module that includes parallel and serial ports, plus a slot that accepts a PCI or PCIe expansion card.

Specifications provided by HP for the t5730w include:

• Processor -- AMD Sempron 2100+ clocked at 1GHz
  
• Memory -- 1GB of RAM and 2GB of flash storage
  
• Display -- ATI Radeon X1250, supporting dual monitors and resolution up to 2048 x 1536 pixels
  
• Networking -- 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet, optional modem
  
• Wireless -- 802.11b/g wireless networking (optional)
  
• Other I/O:
  • 8 USB ports (2 front, 4 rear, and two in secure compartment)
    
  • PS/2 mouse connector
    
  • microphone input and headphone/speaker output
    
  • PCI or PCIe expansion slot (on optional module)
    
  • 1 x serial (on optional module)
    
  • 1 x parallel (on optional module)
• Dimensions -- 10.0 x 8.47 x 1.8 inches (254.5 x 215.14 x 45.7mm)
• Weight -- 3.5 pounds with stand

HP t5630w

HP's t5630w

HP's new t5630w is very similar to a predecessor model, the t5630, which ran Windows XP Embedded. Now equipped with WES 2009, the device uses an identical hardware platform, featuring a 1.0GHz Via Eden CPU. This processor has a 5W TDP (thermal design power), and it's likely paired here with Via's CX700M integrated northbridge/southbridge, though HP did not specify.

The t5630w has 1GB of RAM and 1GB of flash storage, with 64MB of system memory reserved for video usage. The device measures 8.65 x 8.5 x 2.05 inches, and sports both VGA and DVI-D video outputs. Also included are six USB ports -- two on the front, two on the rear, and two in a "secure compartment." Connectivity is via a gigabit Ethernet interface, with RJ45 connector, says HP.

The t5630w include two PS/2 ports, for legacy keyboards and mice, plus serial and parallel ports. It has microphone inputs and headphone outputs on its front panel, too.

Features and specifications listed by HP for the t5630w include:

• Processor -- 1.0GHz Via Eden
  
• Memory -- 1GB of RAM and 1GB of flash storage
  
• Networking -- 10/100/100 Ethernet with R45 port
  
• Other I/O:
  • 6 x USB 2.0 (2 front, 2 rear, 2 in "secure compartment")
    
  • 1 x serial
    
  • 1 x parallel
    
  • 2 x PS/2
    
  • DVI
    
  • VGA
    
  • Audio mic in/headphone out
• Dimensions -- 8.65 x 8.5 x 2.05 inches
  
• Weight -- 3.4 pounds
  
• Power supply -- 50W, 100-240VAC input

HP RDP Enhancements

HP says its available RDP Enhancements add-on provide users with "real-time, network-based multimedia content, with full stereo audio." Recommended uses include interactive training, demos, and live webcasts.

Multimedia is the Achilles' heel of traditional thin client computing, in which applications are run on a centralized server, then delivered to clients via "screen scraping." Microsoft's RDP (remote desktop protocol) and Citrix's ICA (independent computing architecture) have no problem serving up typical office applications, thanks to the bandwidth provided by a modern LAN. However, these protocols weren't designed for multimedia or applications that seek to access client hardware directly. In addition, even the most powerful server can be brought to its knees when it is forced to decode multimedia files for dozens of simultaneous users.

As background, Microsoft also made a variety of improvements to RDP in version 6.1, which was introduced with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, and is now shipping with Windows Embedded Standard 2009. The revisions in RDP 6.1 added functionality such as 32-bit color, monitor spanning, enhanced security, and better redirection of printers and plug and play devices, according to Microsoft -- but no significant speed boost was claimed.

HP RGS

Implicitly acknowledging that some users will need even faster performance, HP also offers its "RGS" (remote graphics software), which is said to support even "the richest multimedia and workstation-class applications." Still a screen-scraping technology, RGS is said to offer advanced image compression and low-latency, high-quality audio, running "at least twice as fast as previous implementations."

To gain speed, RGS requires clients to have at least 512MB of RAM, and to have processors faster than 1.5GHz with SSE2 multimedia instruction extensions. The architecture "automatically supports and accelerates all current and future multimedia formats and applications, including Flash and QuickTime, and now has even broader USB device support, including audio and webcam devices, to enable voice-over IP (VoIP) and desktop video conferencing," HP says.

Cited uses for RGS include 2-D design, 3-D solid modeling, rendering, simulation, full-motion video, heavy Flash animation and intense Web 2.0 pages. The software allows a thin client user to connect to multiple hosts, copying and pasting information between then, the company says.

RGS, touted as having security advantages because it does not require multiple protocols, is apparently fundamentally different from other recently introduced multimedia acceleration techniques for thin clients, Igel's DSV (digital services virtualization) and Wyse's TCX (thin client interface) Multimedia sofware. DSV, for example, is said to monitor thin client sessions, watching for any attempts to launch Flash, Windows Media, or other multimedia software. Such application calls are "trapped," and relevant services are then forced to run locally on the thin client, rather than being streamed via RDP, says Igel. For more details on DSV and TCX, see our earlier coverage, here.

Further information

HP says the gt7220, t5630w, and t5730w will be available in May, with prices starting at $799, $499, and $550, respectively. More information may be found on the company's website, here.

For further information on HP's RGS, see the company's website, here. Additional coverage also appeared in a story on our sister site eWEEK.com, here.

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