DOS Days

Matrox MGA Impression Plus 220

The MGA Impression Plus 220 was released in 1994. It was the first Matrox card that came with basic 3D features built into its hardware chipset.

Released 1994
Bus ISA 16-bit or PCI
Chipset MGA-II (Athena)
Standards Hercules, CGA, EGA, VGA
Memory 2 MB VRAM (upgradable to 4 MB)
Ports 15-pin DSUB (video out)
26-pin VGA Feature connector
RAMDAC Texas Instruments PTVP3020 (220 MHz)
Part # -
FCC ID -
Price At launch: $898, Feb 1995: $449 (2 MB Plus PCI) or $499 (2 MB Plus ISA)
See Also MGA Impression, MGA Impression Pro

The Matrox MGA Impression Plus 220 was the first Matrox card that came with basic 3D features built into its hardware chipset, including Gouraud shading. It was the also the first graphics card on the market to support real-time 3D acceleration, able to play back full-screen video for Windows clips at 30 frames per second.

The 2 MB card could output at resolutions up to 1600 x 1200 at 85 Hz refresh rate. With the 4 MB memory upgrade, it offered 1280 x 1024 in 16.7 million colours at flicker-free refresh rates.

Impression Plus 220 got a faster 220 MHz RAMDAC over the Impression and Impression Plus' 175 MHz.

An optional upgrade for the Impression Plus was the $99 VideoLogic PowerPlay 64, which was a video accelerator chip that provided smooth, TV-quality video playback at up to 1600 x 1200 pixels.

There was also an Impression Lite (codename Helena) which came with 2 MB VRAM which was not upgradable. In February 1995, this retailed for $369 for the PCI version and $399 for the VESA Local Bus version.

Its core clock ran at 33 MHz.

 

Board Revisions

I have no board revision information for the MGA Impression Plus 220.

 

Competition

 

 

In the Media

 

"Twelve months ago, only Matrox offered a 64-bit graphics accelerator; this year, 64-bit boards are the only way to go. At the top of the 64-bit heap are Matrox's MGA Impression Plus, Number Nine's GXe64 Pro, ATI's Graphics Pro Turbo, and Diamond's Stealth 64 and Viper SE. They're all turning up as standard options in top-tier systems from Dell, Compaq and others. But 64-bit accelerators will go the way of the dodo: The first 128-bit video card was just hatched by Number Nine, opening a whole new realm of speed. This year's hottest innovation was Matrox's MGA Impression Plus card with 3-D acceleration. It renders realistic graphics--illustrations, animations and games--so fast that it puts workstations to shame, yet you can pick one up for a mere $350."
PC Magazine, Vol.7 Iss.12 (Dec 1994)

 

Setting it Up

I have no information on configuring the MGA Impression Plus 220 card.


Downloads

Operation Manual
(missing)

Get in touch if you can provide this missing item!

Original Utility Disk
(missing)

Get in touch if you can provide this missing item!

Video BIOS ROM
(missing)

Get in touch if you can provide this missing item!

 

More Pictures