128-bit DualBus Architecture

The unique 128-bit DualBus employs two independent 64-bit buses that operate in parallel inside the graphics engine to effectively double the raw performance of almost every operation. Additionally, the 128-bit DualBus architecture uses Dual Command Pipelining which permits read and write phases of two consecutive commands to be overlapped and executed simultaneously.

• Delivers uncompromisingly fast 2D performance even at the most demanding resolutions and color depths.
• The 64-bit granularity of the 128-bit DualBus means for frequent copying of small bitmaps and fonts, performance is much higher than with a traditional 128-bit architecture.

Greatly enhances the performance of all graphical applications including general windows.

Vibrant Color Quality Rendering

Vibrant Color Quality Rendering (VCQ) uses 32-bpp color accuracy throughout the rendering pipeline. VCQ is capable of rendering displayed images in 32-bpp color from source texture maps of up to 32-bpp color. Additionally, the VCQ architecture provides high quality analog color output.

• Provides high quality analog color output to avoid "washed out" images.
• Delivers sharp contrast and highly saturated colors for maximum photo-realism.

Delivers unmatched image quality in all graphical applications especially 3D Games, Image Editing, Desktop Publishing, CAD and animation.

Symmetric Rendering Architecture

Within the Symmetric Rendering Architecture (SRA), the MGA-G200 treats AGP memory exactly as if it were local video memory. It is able to draw to, render to and read from AGP memory using the high bandwidth of the AGP 2X bus. The MGA-G200 also leverages the SRA to implement a hierarchical texturing system (HTS) for 3D rendering. With HTS, the MGA-G200 offers the storage of surfaces - either textures, bitmaps or video streams - across three levels depending on the frequency of use or the size of the texture in most cases. The first level is the large on-chip cache, the second level is the up to 16MB of local video memory and the third level is the AGP memory.

• The SRA is used as a key component of 3D, 2D and video operations to achieve the highest level of performance possible in all application areas.
• The SRA allows the MGA-G200 to provide the highest image quality without compromising performance. Applications that use features such as high-resolution triple buffering, extra bitmaps and texture storage especially benefit from SRA.

Delivers the highest level of performance in all 3D, 2D and video applications that would, without the benefit of the SRA, use system memory for temporary storage instead of using it as an extension to local memory. Examples of such applications are 3D games, 3D design, video capture and video decompression.

Per Pixel Trilinear Filtering

Trilinear filtering is an advanced texture filtering algorithm which provides image quality much higher than bilinear filtering and must be calculated on a per pixel basis. The trilinear filtering algorithm checks texel scale factors* on a per pixel basis and uses the scale factor to index into two adjacent MIP maps. It then takes four texels from each MIP, bilinearly filtering each set of four pixels and then averages the results based on scale factor.  

(*The texel scale factor is the ratio between the size of the rendered texture versus the size of the source texture.)

• Greatly enhances image quality by providing all of the benefits of bilinear filtering. Additionally, it eliminates pixel sparkling and texture shimmering artifacts.

Provides the best image quality in 3D games for truly immersive game-play.

High Fidelity Rendering

The highest resolution source texture maps available are always used for rendering unless the application specifically provides lower resolution MIP maps to be used in conjunction with high resolution textures. The fast 3D engine of the MGA-G200 enables top levels of performance without needing to downscale textures.

• Allows high quality rendering without compromising performance.
• Prevents blurry images.
• Avoids texture errors in games that use "quilted texture maps" ex. (Tomb Raider2).

Maintains the highest image quality in applications. Fully in synch with the main benefit of AGP which is to provide the highest level of texture detail at the highest performance.

Full Scene Anti-Aliasing

Full scene anti-aliasing is a technique where all low resolution aliasing artifacts are removed from the image. This is done in a sort independent manner, meaning that it is application independent.

• Removes "jaggies" from rendered scenes.

Images in CAD, animation and 3D gaming will appear smooth and realistic.