|
Matrox
In The New Millennium
|
| |
|
|
Over
the past few months Matrox has introduced new products which have
been scoring very well as top performers in 2D, 3D and Multimedia.
Based on their new G400 chipset, these products were a bit of a
pleasant surprise, in terms of their raw power and image quality, to
the hard-core gaming community. We decided to have a quick chat with
Kamran Ahmed - Product Marketing Manager at Matrox, about their
robust technology and what the future holds.
|
| |
|
|
Dave:
We'd like to understand the product life, that Matrox views is left
in the current technology, namely the G400 series. We've heard about
the Marvel G400-TV, your multi-featured graphics/video editing
board, are there any follow on products coming based on the same
architecture?
Kamran:
With the incredible support that features such as Environment-Mapped
Bump Mapping and DualHead Display have received from game
developers, we anticipate the G400 series will be the flagship for
the graphics industry well into the millennium. DualHead display
also adds extra appeal for the business user who wants the
convenience of multiple display. And the video editing features of
the Marvel G400-TV provide added functionality for the home and
business user who wants more from the graphics card they buy for
family entertainment. All these features appeal to multiple markets
and are still unique to G400 based products making them
future-proof.
Of course we plan to build on this success - just as the G400 chip
technology was based on the G200 chip, we'll continue to expand upon
our knowledge and experience to make improvements and offer new
products which better serve the consumer.
Dave:
We were very pleased with the performance and image quality of the
G400MAX when we reviewed it here at HotHardware. How has the product
been doing for Matrox in the retail and OEM sector? Are there any
new OEM deals on the horizon?
Kamran:
The Matrox G400 series has been received extremely well by consumers
and also in the OEM sector. Our online store has had unsurpassed
success with both of these products. Since it's announcement, the
Matrox Millennium G400 has received incredible OEM and SI support.
Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Siemens and IBM have all selected Matrox
Millennium G400 Series graphics cards to power their next generation
high-performance systems and more will follow as OEMs are authorized
to make announcements based on next generation processors and
chipsets.
Dave:
What is your target market for the G400 series? The entire Value to
Performance spectrum or just high end?
Kamran:
The great thing about the G400 chips series is that it amalgamates a
set of features that allow it to cater to multiple markets. Taking
DualHead as an example, it is a blessing for the corporate user as
it increases productivity while providing an inexpensive means to
recycle older/smaller monitors. For the gamer, DualHead
(multi-monitor) gaming is going to revolutionize the gaming
experience and you'll see a ton of games supporting it in the
upcoming months. For the home user, DualHead DVD-Max and enhanced
TV-out quality offer a new dimension to home entertainment on the
PC. For the Video enthusiast, having the ability to view a full
screen real-time preview of their project is a feature that was
previously only available in expensive high end editing solutions.
For the desktop publisher and photoshop user, the DualHead zoom and
multi-monitor features are the best thing that happened to their
computer since high res support... I think you get my point. The
feature set of the G400 give it a competitive advantage in most (if
not all) desktop level market segments.
Dave:
One area that the G400 took a little abuse on in the early days was
OpenGL performance. With the recent release of the "TurboGL"
driver set, we have seen a huge increase in performance under this
environment. Are there any further enhancements due for the OpenGL
driver? Is the Matrox software team actively working on wringing out
a few more frames per second under OpenGL titles?
Kamran:
We're always working on further enhancement to our drivers,
including our full OpenGL ICD. The TurboGL driver along with the
OpenGL ICD provides solid and performant OpenGL support to the game
enthusiast and the professional OpenGL application user.
Dave:
OK, on to the real meat here? :-) What is next for Matrox? There
must be a "G500" in the wings. Can you comment on that?
Kamran:
Like any successful company, we're always working on new products -
it's the only way to stay competitive. You can be certain that
Matrox's multiple design teams are already working actively on new
products and you'll always see us make a competitive offering to the
market
Dave:
Obviously Matrox is a little "tight-lipped" about their
next generation technology. We weren't able to squeeze any more out
of them! I guess we'll just have to wait a while longer and see. I'm
willing to bet the G500, or whatever it will be called, will be a
force to be reckoned with.
Thanks for your time Kamran! You are a great sport! We wish you and
your team the best of luck on whatever is next! Go M-A-T-R-O-X!!
-Dave Altavilla
www.HotHardware.com |
|
