Introducing the Matrox Marvel G450 eTV
New all-in-one graphics card adds timeshifting and Web video to its video capture and editing, TV tuning, 2D/3D, DVD, and DualHead™ mix

Montreal, Canada, September 19, 2000* - Matrox Graphics Inc. today introduced the Matrox Marvel G450 eTV, the most comprehensive all-in-one graphics card for consumers in the home entertainment and SOHO PC markets.

The Marvel G450 eTV gives consumers the power to do it all, from watching timeshifted TV on the PC to creating their own videos for the Web. Equipped with 32 MB of Double Data Rate (DDR)** memory and a 360 MHz primary RAMDAC, this feature-packed AGP 2X/4X card powers stereo TV tuning, MPEG-2 video capture and editing, TV on the PC, PC out to TV, DVD playback, 2D applications, 3D gaming, dual displays, and more.

"We are excited to see an all-in-one video card that harnesses the high-performance power of the AMD Athlon™ processor while also providing value-conscious AMD Duron™ users access to a wide variety of features," said Ned Finkle, Director, Infrastructure Enablement Group for AMD. "Matrox's Marvel G450 eTV has all the necessary tools for bringing high quality video and enhanced TV tuning to all AMD equipped PCs."

"With PC/TV convergence, broadband, and powerful processors steadily pervading today's households, we're seeing heightened demand for a new kind of Marvel card," said Dan Wood, vice president of technical marketing, Matrox Graphics Inc. "People want more control over the way they watch TV. They want the ability to create personalized video content for the Web. And, they want a strong all-around accelerator for their entertainment and SOHO applications."

The Marvel G450 eTV is perfectly timed to respond to market demand, bringing features like timeshifting to the PC at a fraction of the price of a set-top box. The Marvel G450 eTV goes beyond all other cards in its category by offering consumers new and exhilarating ways to watch TV on the PC as well as enhanced all-in-one functionality using DualHead Display.

Matrox's DualHead technology allows Marvel G450 eTV users to pair their computer with a TV for simultaneous independent output to two display screens. Because the monitor's refresh rate can be set independently of the TV, the monitor is always flicker-free for the highest quality viewing.

TV like never before
As a personal video recorder (PVR), the Marvel G450 eTV frees PC users from the constraints of network television scheduling. Thanks to this all-in-one card's timeshifting feature, consumers no longer need to miss favorite programs or live news reports when interrupted by phone calls or unexpected business demands. Activating the Marvel G450 eTV's timeshifting feature is as easy as pressing a button to pause a live broadcast for later viewing. What's more, the Marvel G450 eTV captures and compresses timeshifted video in MPEG-2 format to minimize the amount of storage space occupied on the hard disk, while maintaining high quality video.

Setting itself apart from other cards in its category, the Marvel G450 eTV is the first graphics card and the only device currently on the market to offer timeshifting with picture-in-picture. Coupled with timeshifting and picture-in-picture, the Marvel G450 eTV's DualHead Display gives people added control over their TV viewing experience.

Plus, this do-it-all card comes complete with a sleek, new easy-to-use Matrox PC-VCR 2.0 software remote that features multi-channel preview, keyword search with the ability to generate transcripts, a timer for transforming the PC into a personal video recorder, video file preview, and a customizable look with five new skins.

Create your own Web video
The Marvel G450 eTV allows budding videographers to capture video from a VCR, TV, or video camera in MPEG-2 format. The bundled Ulead® VideoStudio™ 4.0 software allows people to edit captured footage, and add titles, music, credits, and special effects to create professional-looking montages and original home movies. They can even use the bundled software to save their movies in a variety of Web-friendly formats, including Advanced Streaming Format (ASF), Quick Time, and Real Video.

Additionally, people can use the Marvel G450 eTV to save their video projects onto video tape or CD for later viewing, archiving, or to give to family and friends.

Use it for entertainment
Designed to deliver the best PC-out-to-TV functionality on the market, the Marvel G450 eTV supports pristine quality DVD playback full-screen on TV in DualHead DVDMax mode. In addition to putting DualHead to work for head- to-head gaming, this card raises the stakes with Environment-Mapped Bump Mapping, accelerating real-time special effects and stunning visual detail in more than 55 currently and soon to be available specially-enhanced 3D games.

Software bundle***
The Marvel G450 eTV's software package includes Ulead VideoStudio 4.0, Matrox PC-VCR 2.0, Ligos® GoMotion®, the Matrox Software DVD Player, Ulead Photo Explorer 6.0, and teletext browser. In addition, the Marvel G450 eTV supports Microsoft® NetMeeting® video conferencing software, Microsoft WebTV®, and Microsoft Movie Maker software included in Windows Millennium Edition.

Availability
The Marvel G450 eTV will be available late Q1, 2001.

Operating systems and system requirements
The Marvel G450 eTV supports Microsoft Windows 98, Windows 2000, or Windows Millennium Edition. Minimum system requirements for 2D/3D and TV tuning are a 300 MHz system, 64 MB of system memory, and 500 MB of free hard disk space. A 400 MHz system, as well as the above requirements, are needed for DVD playback. To enable timeshifting and for video capture, you must have a 600 MHz system, 128 MB of system memory, and 2 GB of free hard disk space.

About the Matrox G450 chip
The 0.18-micron Matrox G450 2D, 3D, and DVD graphics chip leverages a die shrink of Matrox G400 chip technology to become the most highly integrated discrete graphics chip on the market. In addition to the components and capabilities that made the Matrox G400 such a successful productivity and entertainment accelerator, the new Matrox G450 integrates a Transmission-Minimized Differential Signaling (TMDS) digital flat panel transmitter, TV output encoder, second RAMDAC, and 64-bit DDR memory interface. The chip also hosts two CRTCs, which form the support base for Matrox's DualHead feature. DualHead allows a single chip to simultaneously support independent output to two physically separate displays, including a VGA monitor, analog or DVI-based digital flat panel, or TV. Fully OpenGL and DirectX compliant, the Matrox G450 supports hardware-accelerated Environment-Mapped Bump Mapping for real-time special effects and stunning visual detail in 3D games. Furthering image quality, Matrox's Vibrant Color Quality2 (VCQ2) rendering architecture preserves trademark true-to-life color quality for cutting-edge, 32-bit color in single- and multi-textured software applications.

About Matrox
Matrox Graphics Inc. is the only graphics chip designer and graphics card manufacturer who draws on 24 years of industry experience to provide customers with state-of-the-art 2D, 3D, and digital video acceleration, vibrant image quality, and real-world functionality. A quality and innovation leader, Matrox has been recognized with an unprecedented 900 international awards for the Millennium, Marvel, Productiva, and Mystique product lines. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Matrox is a privately held company with international offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Hong Kong. Information about Matrox products, drivers, technical support, and more can be found at www.matrox.com/mga.

Matrox Graphics Inc. and Matrox are registered trademarks or trademarks of Matrox Graphics Inc. and/or Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. Other company, product and service names and/or logos indicated above may be trademarks or service marks of such other companies.

*  Updated March 5, 2001
** Retail version only. OEM and SI versions may differ in features and specifications.
*** The Marvel G450 eTV supports the Windows® Media™ Encoder; however, it will no longer be included in the Marvel G450 eTV software bundle, as it is available as a free download from the Microsoft Web site.