<s>
The	O
G400	O
is	O
a	O
video	O
card	O
made	O
by	O
Matrox	B-Application
,	O
released	O
in	O
September	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
graphics	B-Architecture
processor	I-Architecture
contains	O
a	O
2D	O
GUI	B-Application
,	O
video	O
,	O
and	O
Direct3D	B-Application
6.0	O
3D	B-Architecture
accelerator	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Codenamed	O
"	O
Toucan	O
"	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
more	O
powerful	O
and	O
refined	O
version	O
of	O
its	O
predecessor	O
,	O
the	O
G200	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Matrox	B-General_Concept
G200	I-General_Concept
graphics	B-Architecture
processor	I-Architecture
had	O
been	O
a	O
successful	O
product	O
,	O
competing	O
with	O
the	O
various	O
2D	O
&	O
3D	O
combination	O
cards	O
available	O
in	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Matrox	B-Application
took	O
the	O
technology	O
developed	O
from	O
the	O
G200	B-General_Concept
project	O
,	O
refined	O
it	O
,	O
and	O
essentially	O
doubled	O
it	O
up	O
to	O
form	O
the	O
G400	O
processor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Internally	O
the	O
G400	O
is	O
a	O
256-bit	O
processor	O
,	O
using	O
what	O
Matrox	B-Application
calls	O
a	O
"	O
DualBus	O
"	O
architecture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
an	O
evolution	O
of	O
G200	B-General_Concept
's	O
"	O
DualBus	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
had	O
been	O
128-bit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Matrox	B-Application
"	O
DualBus	O
"	O
chip	O
consists	O
of	O
twin	O
unidirectional	O
buses	O
internally	O
,	O
each	O
moving	O
data	O
into	O
or	O
out	O
of	O
the	O
chip	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
G400	O
's	O
3D	O
engine	O
consists	O
of	O
2	O
parallel	B-General_Concept
pixel	O
pipelines	O
with	O
1	O
texture	O
unit	O
each	O
,	O
providing	O
single-pass	O
dual-texturing	O
capability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
purely	O
a	O
Direct3D	B-Application
6.0	O
accelerator	O
and	O
,	O
as	O
such	O
,	O
lacks	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
later	O
hardware	B-Algorithm
transform	I-Algorithm
and	I-Algorithm
lighting	I-Algorithm
acceleration	O
of	O
Direct3D	B-Application
7.0	O
cards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Matrox	B-Application
released	O
both	O
16	O
MiB	O
and	O
32	O
MiB	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
G400	O
boards	O
,	O
and	O
used	O
both	O
types	O
of	O
RAM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
G400MAX	O
had	O
the	O
highest	O
memory	O
bandwidth	O
of	O
any	O
card	O
before	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
DDR-equipped	O
version	O
of	O
NVIDIA	O
GeForce	B-Device
256	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
feature	O
is	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
DualHead	O
"	O
and	O
was	O
a	O
decisive	O
edge	O
for	O
Matrox	B-Application
over	O
the	O
card	O
's	O
competitors	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Matrox	B-Application
's	O
award-winning	O
Powerdesk	O
display	O
drivers	O
and	O
control	O
panel	O
integrated	O
Dualhead	O
in	O
a	O
very	O
flexible	O
and	O
functional	O
way	O
that	O
become	O
world-renowned	O
for	O
its	O
effectiveness	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
G400	O
does	O
have	O
partial	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
DVD	O
video	O
decoding	O
process	O
but	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
perform	O
inverse	B-General_Concept
discrete	I-General_Concept
cosine	I-General_Concept
transform	I-General_Concept
IDCT	B-General_Concept
or	O
motion	B-Algorithm
compensation	I-Algorithm
in	O
hardware	O
(	O
the	O
two	O
most	O
demanding	O
steps	O
of	O
the	O
process	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EMBM	O
was	O
actually	O
created	O
by	O
BitBoys	O
Oy	O
and	O
licensed	O
to	O
Matrox	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
EMBM	O
was	O
not	O
supported	O
by	O
several	O
competitors	O
such	O
as	O
NVIDIA	O
's	O
GeForce	B-Device
256	I-Device
through	O
GeForce	O
2	O
,	O
which	O
only	O
supported	O
the	O
simpler	O
Dot-3	O
BM	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
ATI	B-Device
Radeon	I-Device
7200	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Only	O
a	O
few	O
games	O
supported	O
the	O
feature	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Dungeon	B-Application
Keeper	I-Application
2	I-Application
and	O
Millennium	B-Application
Soldier	I-Application
:	I-Application
Expendable	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
EMBM	O
requires	O
either	O
specialized	O
hardware	O
within	O
the	O
chip	O
for	O
its	O
calculations	O
or	O
a	O
more	O
flexible	O
and	O
programmable	O
graphics	O
pipeline	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
later	O
DirectX	O
8.0	O
accelerators	O
like	O
the	O
GeForce	O
3	O
and	O
Radeon	B-Device
8500	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
G400	O
's	O
rendering	O
pipelined	O
uses	O
what	O
Matrox	B-Application
called	O
"	O
Vibrant	O
Color	O
Quality	O
2	O
"	O
(	O
VCQ2	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
functionality	O
in	O
which	O
all	O
internal	O
3D	O
calculations	O
are	O
done	O
with	O
32-bit	O
precision	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Matrox	B-Application
was	O
known	O
for	O
their	O
quality	O
analog	O
display	O
output	O
on	O
prior	O
cards	O
and	O
the	O
G400	O
is	O
no	O
exception	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Where	O
many	O
cards	O
were	O
crippled	O
by	O
blurry	O
output	O
,	O
especially	O
as	O
the	O
resolution	B-General_Concept
and	O
refresh	O
rate	O
increased	O
,	O
the	O
Matrox	B-Application
cards	O
delivered	O
very	O
sharp	O
and	O
clear	O
images	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
G400	O
is	O
the	O
first	O
Matrox	B-Application
board	O
compatible	O
with	O
AGP	B-Architecture
4X	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
attributed	O
both	O
to	O
its	O
architecture	O
and	O
to	O
the	O
poor	O
drivers	O
it	O
relied	O
on	O
for	O
much	O
of	O
its	O
life	O
(	O
especially	O
OpenGL	B-Application
ICD	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unfortunately	O
Matrox	B-Application
never	O
described	O
the	O
functionality	O
of	O
this	O
component	O
in-depth	O
so	O
little	O
is	O
known	O
about	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
its	O
Direct3D	B-Application
performance	O
was	O
admirable	O
,	O
its	O
OpenGL	B-Application
installable	O
client	O
driver	O
(	O
ICD	O
)	O
component	O
was	O
very	O
poor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
situation	O
was	O
eerily	O
similar	O
to	O
what	O
had	O
happened	O
with	O
the	O
older	O
G200	B-General_Concept
,	O
with	O
its	O
near-total	O
lack	O
of	O
credible	O
OpenGL	B-Application
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Matrox	B-Application
made	O
it	O
very	O
clear	O
that	O
they	O
were	O
committed	O
to	O
supporting	O
OpenGL	B-Application
,	O
however	O
,	O
and	O
development	O
rapidly	O
progressed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
G400	O
initially	O
launched	O
with	O
an	O
OpenGL	B-Application
to	O
Direct3D	B-Application
wrapper	O
driver	O
,	O
like	O
G200	B-General_Concept
,	O
that	O
translated	O
an	O
application	O
's	O
OpenGL	B-Application
calls	O
into	O
Direct3D	B-Application
(	O
a	O
slow	O
and	O
buggy	O
solution	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
a	O
native	O
OpenGL	B-Application
driver	O
called	O
"	O
TurboGL	O
"	O
was	O
released	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
only	O
designed	O
to	O
support	O
several	O
popular	O
games	O
of	O
the	O
time	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Quake3	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
driver	O
was	O
a	O
precursor	O
to	O
a	O
fully	O
functional	O
OpenGL	B-Application
ICD	O
driver	O
,	O
a	O
quick	O
development	O
to	O
improve	O
performance	O
as	O
fast	O
as	O
possible	O
by	O
offering	O
an	O
interim	O
solution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
TurboGL	O
did	O
n't	O
support	O
all	O
OpenGL	B-Application
applications	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
essentially	O
a	O
"	O
Mini	O
ICD	O
"	O
much	O
like	O
3DFX	O
had	O
used	O
with	O
their	O
Voodoo	O
boards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TurboGL	O
included	O
support	O
for	O
then-new	O
SIMD	B-Device
technologies	O
from	O
AMD	O
and	O
Intel	O
,	O
including	O
SSE1	B-General_Concept
and	O
3DNow	B-General_Concept
!	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
mid-2000	O
the	O
G400	O
received	O
a	O
fully	O
compliant	O
OpenGL	B-Application
ICD	O
which	O
offered	O
capable	O
performance	O
in	O
most	O
OpenGL-supporting	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
with	O
initial	O
driver	O
difficulties	O
,	O
Matrox	B-Device
G400	I-Device
was	O
very	O
competitive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2D	O
and	O
Direct3D	B-Application
performance	O
were	O
more	O
than	O
competitive	O
with	O
the	O
NVIDIA	O
RIVA	B-Device
TNT2	I-Device
,	O
3dfx	O
Voodoo3	B-Device
,	O
and	O
ATI	B-Device
Rage	I-Device
128	I-Device
Pro	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
fact	O
,	O
prior	O
to	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
NVIDIA	O
GeForce	B-Device
256	I-Device
that	O
supported	O
Direct3D	B-Application
7.0	O
transform	B-Algorithm
and	I-Algorithm
lighting	I-Algorithm
acceleration	O
,	O
the	O
Millennium	O
G400	O
MAX	O
was	O
a	O
respectable	O
Direct3D	B-Application
card	O
,	O
competitive	O
with	O
Voodoo3	B-Device
3500	O
and	O
TNT2	B-Device
Ultra	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
3dfx	O
had	O
an	O
edge	O
in	O
some	O
games	O
with	O
its	O
low-overhead	O
Glide	B-Operating_System
API	I-Operating_System
and	O
NVIDIA	O
was	O
,	O
for	O
a	O
long	O
time	O
,	O
king	O
of	O
OpenGL	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Matrox	B-Application
stopped	O
support	O
for	O
Marvel	O
G400-TV	O
early	O
because	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
way	O
to	O
make	O
it	O
fully	O
functional	O
in	O
Windows	B-Application
2000	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
problem	O
was	O
with	O
the	O
Zoran	O
chip	O
used	O
for	O
hardware	O
MJPEG	B-Application
video	O
compression	O
on	O
the	O
Marvel	O
G400	O
card	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Matrox	B-Application
tried	O
to	O
make	O
stable	O
drivers	O
for	O
several	O
months	O
but	O
with	O
no	O
luck	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Matrox	B-Application
user	O
going	O
by	O
name	O
Adis	O
hacked	O
original	O
drivers	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
card	O
work	O
under	O
Windows	B-Application
2000	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
driver	O
was	O
later	O
updated	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
and	O
then	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
Server	I-Application
2003	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Video	O
capturing	O
was	O
possible	O
but	O
drivers	O
are	O
still	O
based	O
on	O
VfW	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hardware	O
MJPEG	B-Application
capturing	O
can	O
be	O
unstable	O
but	O
software	O
compression	O
,	O
using	O
a	O
good	O
video	O
codec	O
,	O
gives	O
much	O
better	O
results	O
anyway	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
no	O
WDM	B-Application
drivers	O
available	O
for	O
this	O
card	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Fall	O
of	O
2000	O
,	O
Matrox	B-Application
introduced	O
the	O
G450	O
chip	O
(	O
codenamed	O
Condor	O
)	O
as	O
a	O
successor	O
to	O
the	O
G400	O
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
the	O
G250	B-General_Concept
was	O
to	O
the	O
G200	B-General_Concept
,	O
G450	O
was	O
primarily	O
a	O
die	O
shrink	O
of	O
the	O
G400	O
core	O
from	O
the	O
250nm	O
semiconductor	O
fabrication	O
process	O
to	O
180nm	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
shrinking	O
the	O
core	O
,	O
costs	O
are	O
reduced	O
because	O
more	O
chips	O
are	O
made	O
per	O
wafer	O
at	O
the	O
factory	O
,	O
and	O
Matrox	B-Application
can	O
take	O
the	O
time	O
to	O
fix	O
earlier	O
mistakes	O
in	O
the	O
core	O
,	O
and	O
trim	O
or	O
add	O
new	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Matrox	B-Application
clocked	O
the	O
G450	O
core	O
at	O
125MHz	O
,	O
just	O
like	O
the	O
plain	O
G400	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Perhaps	O
the	O
biggest	O
addition	O
to	O
G450	O
was	O
that	O
Matrox	B-Application
moved	O
the	O
previously	O
external	O
second	O
RAMDAC	B-Device
,	O
for	O
the	O
second	O
monitor	O
connector	O
(	O
DualHead	O
)	O
,	O
into	O
the	O
G450	O
chip	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RAMDAC	B-Device
speeds	O
were	O
still	O
different	O
though	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
primary	O
running	O
at	O
an	O
excellent	O
360MHz	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
secondary	O
running	O
at	O
only	O
230MHz	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
meant	O
that	O
the	O
primary	O
monitor	O
could	O
run	O
much	O
higher	O
resolutions	B-General_Concept
and	O
refresh	O
rates	O
than	O
the	O
secondary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
G450	O
also	O
had	O
native	O
support	O
for	O
TMDS	B-Protocol
signaling	O
,	O
and	O
thus	O
DVI	B-Protocol
,	O
but	O
this	O
was	O
not	O
a	O
standard	O
issue	O
connector	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Boards	O
shipped	O
with	O
dual	O
analog	O
VGA	B-Protocol
connectors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
64-bit	O
bus	O
reduces	O
the	O
board	O
's	O
complexity	O
(	O
and	O
cost	O
)	O
because	O
fewer	O
traces	O
have	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
,	O
and	O
potentially	O
the	O
pin-count	O
of	O
the	O
graphics	B-Architecture
processor	I-Architecture
can	O
be	O
significantly	O
reduced	O
if	O
the	O
chip	O
is	O
designed	O
only	O
for	O
a	O
64-bit	O
bus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
G450	O
again	O
had	O
support	O
for	O
AGP	B-Architecture
4X	O
,	O
like	O
some	O
later-produced	O
G400	O
boards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Marvel	O
G450	O
eTV	O
not	O
only	O
had	O
a	O
TV	O
tuner	O
,	O
but	O
also	O
was	O
a	O
launchpad	O
for	O
Matrox	B-Application
's	O
new	O
eDualHead	O
dual	O
display	O
enhancement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
added	O
some	O
new	O
features	O
to	O
DualHead	O
that	O
worked	O
with	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
to	O
make	O
pages	O
show	O
up	O
on	O
both	O
screens	O
at	O
once	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MGA-G550	O
processor	O
added	O
a	O
second	O
pixel	O
pipeline	O
,	O
hardware	B-Algorithm
transform	I-Algorithm
and	I-Algorithm
lighting	I-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
the	O
HeadCasting	O
Engine	O
,	O
a	O
hardware	O
implementation	O
of	O
a	O
vertex	O
shader	O
for	O
accelerated	O
matrix	O
palette	O
skinning	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Matrox	B-Application
only	O
supports	O
HeadCasting	O
feature	O
through	O
the	O
bundled	O
Matrox	B-Application
Digimask	O
software	O
,	O
which	O
have	O
never	O
become	O
popular	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
2005-7-13	O
,	O
Matrox	B-Application
Graphics	I-Application
Inc	O
.	O
announced	O
the	O
availability	O
of	O
Millennium	O
G550	O
PCIe	O
,	O
the	O
world	O
's	O
first	O
PCI	O
Express	O
x1	O
graphics	O
card	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Findings	O
within	O
a	O
release	O
of	O
Matrox	B-Application
graphics	I-Application
drivers	O
(	O
MGA64.sys	O
v4.77.027	O
)	O
mentioned	O
a	O
never-released	O
Matrox	B-Application
Millennium	O
G800	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
also	O
equipped	O
with	O
a	O
hardware	B-Algorithm
transform	I-Algorithm
and	I-Algorithm
lighting	I-Algorithm
unit	O
capable	O
of	O
processing	O
20	O
–	O
30	O
million	O
triangles	O
per	O
second	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
specifications	O
are	O
somewhat	O
reminiscent	O
of	O
Matrox	B-Device
Parhelia	I-Device
,	O
in	O
that	O
Parhelia	O
is	O
a	O
4	O
pipeline	O
DirectX	O
8	O
GPU	B-Architecture
with	O
4	O
texture	O
units	O
per	O
pipeline	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BoardName	O
CoreType	O
Process	O
Core(MHz )	O
Memory(MHz )	O
PipeConfig	O
T&L	B-Algorithm
MemoryInterface	O
Notes	O
Millennium	O
G400	O
Toucan	O
250	O
nm	O
125	O
166	O
2x1	O
N	O
128-bit	O
32	O
MiB	O
SGRAM	O
or	O
16	O
MiB	O
SGRAM/SDRAM	O
Millennium	O
G400	O
MAX	O
Toucan	O
250	O
nm	O
150	O
200	O
2x1	O
N	O
128-bit	O
32	O
MiB	O
SGRAM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Highest	O
memory	O
bandwidth	O
until	O
GeForce	B-Device
256	I-Device
DDR	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Integrated	O
2nd	O
RAMDAC	B-Device
into	O
core	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TMDS/DVI	O
option	O
.	O
</s>
