[gentoo-amd64] Re: OT - graphic card for dual-monitor high-resolution graphic station

[Duncan]

Piotr Pruszczak <p.pruszczak@××××××××.pl> posted
447D62B7.9000800@××××××××.pl, excerpted below, on  Wed, 31 May 2006
11:32:39 +0200:

> On the other hand, I think - all community waits for open-source graphic
> card with dual DVI output && drivers in kernel ;)) - as many people
> start to look at Linux-based workstations for professional use..
>
> Anybody knows WHEN it could be available? I heard the project was in
> development, estimated price was about 200Euros..

AFAIK (as of early March this year), it's still a couple years out in ASIC
(traditional production level chip) form, but an initial PCI/FPGA (hardware
developer project board) version is targeted at late this year.  They
announced the initial schematic, soliciting comments from the community,
on February 28.  The idea is to produce the FPGA version first and use it
to work out the bugs and actually more importantly, to get some income and
demonstrate the viability of the project to potential investors, as
fabbing the ASIC version will cost some big money. It'll be the only FPGA
board of its kind, bigger and more complex than many, and with video
output hardware that few have. As such, it's a commercial project in its
own right, in a lower volume more expensive per unit market, with
apparently no direct competition, perfect for a first product to
demonstrate commercial viability to the various investors, as well as
provide some income.

March 7, 2006, LWN coverage of the initial proposed FPGA schematics post:
http://lwn.net/Articles/174615/

Earlier LWN/KernelTrap coverage of the early Oct. 2005 status report:
http://lwn.net/Articles/154423/

Obviously, I'm rooting for the project too, hoping to buy an ASIC based
card when the time comes.  Unfortunately, I'd not know what to do with the
FPGA card if I had it.



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Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman

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