[comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc] High-end Graphics Cards for PC

jxr@thumper.bellcore.com (Jonathan Rosenberg) (04/25/91)

In support of a project we are beginning, we are in the market for
some high-end graphics and imaging support for a PC (-compatible,
actually a Compaq 486).

I would appreciate recommendations from people about hardware support
for the following requirements.  It is not essential that all of these
capabilities be satisfied by one product (fat chance, anyway) -- we'll
buy as many boards as we need.  By the way, price is (almost) no
object for this exercise.

Here's our requirements:

	- support for screen size of about 1,000 x 1,000 pixels
	- at least 8-bit color (24 bit desirable)
	- excellent font support (we don't need lots of fonts, but we
	  need a catalog of several good-looking fonts; arbitrarily
	  scalable fonts desirable)
	- ability to store several different screens on board (known
	  as "multiple planes", I believe)
	- fast, high-level geometric graphics operations
	- JPEG image compression/decompression support (images up to
	  about 512 x 512; must be able to decompress such an image in
	  under 1 second [is this possible?])
	- MPEG full-motion video support (yeah, I know this ain't
	  available yet, but we're going to need it eventually)
	- Desirable: special effects (wipes, disintegrating images,
	  fade ins, etc.)

I appreciate any suggestion you have, even if your recommendations
only cover part of the requirements.

By the way, we are familiar with the Matrox line of boards.

Also, please e-mail to me (jxr@thumper.bellcore.com) as I don't
normally read any of these newsgroups.

Thanks.

Jonathan Rosenberg
Manager, Information Networks Research
Bellcore