Table of Contents
Advertisement
5 Video Controllers
Matrox MGA Millennium Video Controller Card
MGA Connectors
The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) defines a standard
video connector, variously known as the VESA feature connector,
auxiliary connector, or pass-through connector. The video controller
supports an output-only VESA feature connector in VGA mode. This
connector is integrated on the PCI card, and is connected directly to the
pixel data bus and the synchronization signals.
There are two connectors on the back panel: the normal DB15 VGA
connector for connecting to HP displays, and a Matrox VESA connector.
Matrox VESA connector
Display connector
If you install a VESA-standard video expansion card that uses the MGA
video adapter, connect the expansion card's cable to the VESA pass-through
connector on the card.
MGA Video Memory
The video memory (also known as window RAM, or WRAM) is a local block
of RAM for holding two major data structures: the double buffer (to hold one
frame steady on the screen whilst the next one is being processed), and the
Z-buffer (for storing depth information for each pixel). It is dual-ported, so
that it can be input and output simultaneously.
The Matrox MGA Millennium video card is supplied with 2 MB of video
memory. This can be upgraded to 4 MB with a D3557A upgrade module, or
to 8 MB with an MGA-MIL/MOD6 upgrade module (ordered from Matrox).
The upgrade socket can alternatively be used for the installation of the
Matrox MGA Media XL upgrade module (also ordered from Matrox) to
support MPEG. The switch settings do not have to be changed.
128
VESA pass-through connector
Graphics processor chips
Bottom half of upgrade socket
Top half of upgrade socket
2 MB memory chips
Configuration switches
Top and bottom halves of the
upgrade socket. (For the
installation of a video memory
upgrade module or the Matrox
MPEG module).
Configuration switches. (Set to
their bottom position for
normal operation).
Advertisement
Table of Contents
