Product Overview
The Matrox 979-0101 (full part number: ORI-PCI/RGB) is an industrial-grade PCI-bus frame grabber developed by Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. as part of the renowned Orion product family. Designed for machine vision and image acquisition applications, the Matrox 979-0101 is not a graphics display card but rather a specialized video capture board that digitizes analog RGB, composite, and S-Video signals for real-time processing by a host computer. It occupies a single 32-bit / 33 MHz PCI slot and draws all required power directly from the bus, consuming no more than 5 W with no external power supply or cooling fan required.
The Matrox 979-0101 is capable of acquiring images from up to eight independent analog video sources simultaneously, depending on configuration. It performs 8-bit analog-to-digital conversion per color channel with independent sampling, delivering 24-bit true-color images at resolutions up to 2048 × 2048 pixels. The board is equipped with 8 MB or 16 MB of onboard SDRAM (version-dependent), organized as a double-buffered frame buffer to ensure smooth, jitter-free image capture. A key distinguishing feature of the Matrox 979-0101 is its support for real-time graphics overlay directly onto the live video stream, independent of the host display. This allows inspection software to render measurement marks, pass/fail indicators, or region-of-interest boundaries directly onto the active video. The card is fully supported by the Matrox Imaging Library (MIL), Active MIL, and MIL-Lite software development environments, providing a mature and well-documented API for custom vision application development.
Technical Specifications
| Parameter Name | Parameter Value |
|---|---|
| Product Model | 979-0101 (ORI-PCI/RGB) |
| Manufacturer | Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. |
| Product Type | PCI-Bus Analog Video Frame Grabber (Image Acquisition Card) |
| Series | Matrox Orion |
| Bus Interface | PCI 32-bit / 33 MHz, plug-and-play, 5 V / 3.3 V compatible |
| Video Inputs | RGB analog, Composite CVBS (NTSC/PAL), S-Video, RS-170 / CCIR |
| Input Channels | Up to 8 simultaneous analog video inputs (configuration-dependent) |
| A/D Precision | 8-bit per channel, independently sampled |
| Color Depth | 24-bit true color (8 bit/channel) |
| Frame Buffer | 8 MB / 16 MB onboard SDRAM (version-dependent), double-buffered |
| Maximum Resolution | Up to 2048 × 2048 pixels |
| Acquisition Modes | Real-time continuous, triggered acquisition, external synchronization |
| Trigger Input | TTL hardware trigger; software trigger supported |
| Graphics Overlay | Real-time true-color overlay on live video; separate Y/C or RGB output |
| Display Output | VGA up to 1280 × 1024 (preview only) |
| Digital I/O | 4 input / 4 output TTL-level signals via 40-pin header |
| Power Consumption | ≤ 5 W, PCI bus-powered, no external supply |
| Cooling | Passive, fanless |
| Form Factor | Standard PCI half-length card, full-height bracket |
| Dimensions (L × W) | Approx. 170 × 107 mm |
| Weight | Approx. 0.24 kg |
| Operating Temperature | 0°C to +50°C (industrial chassis) |
| Storage Temperature | -20°C to +70°C |
| Relative Humidity | 5% to 95% RH, non-condensing |
| Development Environment | Matrox Imaging Library (MIL), Active MIL, MIL-Lite, Matrox Inspector |
| OS Support | Windows (32/64-bit), Linux |
| Lifecycle Status | Obsolete (manufacturer discontinued); available as new-surplus / refurbished stock |