S3 Trio on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The S3 Trio range were popular
The various Trio chips were used on many motherboards. Because of the popularity of the series and the resulting compatibility advantages, they are used in various PC emulation and virtualization packages such as
Virtual PC 4.0 Test Results, S3 Trio emulated graphics chipsetS3 Graphics - Download Drivers - Legacy Software ArchiveVogons Vintage Driver Library
{{S3 Graphics Chips Graphics cards
The S3 Trio range were popular video card
A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics accelerator, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or colloquially GPU) is a computer expansion card that generates a feed of graphics output to a displa ...
s for personal computers and were S3's first fully integrated graphics accelerators. As the name implies, three previously separate components were now included in the same ASIC
An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC ) is an integrated circuit (IC) chip customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use, such as a chip designed to run in a digital voice recorder or a high-efficien ...
: the graphics core, RAMDAC
A Brooktree RAMDAC
A RAMDAC (random-access memory digital-to-analog converter) is a combination of three fast digital-to-analog converters (DACs) with a small static random-access memory (SRAM) used in computer graphics display controllers or ...
and clock generator
A clock generator is an electronic oscillator that produces a clock signal for use in synchronizing a circuit's operation. The output clock signal can range from a simple symmetrical square wave to more complex arrangements. The basic parts tha ...
. The increased integration allowed a graphics card to be simpler than before and thus cheaper to produce.
Variants
The Trio64 and 64V+, first appeared in 1995, are essentially fully integrated solutions based upon the earlier Vision 864 and 868 accelerator chipsets. Like the 868, the 64V+ has a video acceleration engine that can perform YUV toRGB
The RGB color model is an additive color model in which the red, green, and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three ...
color space
A color space is a specific organization of colors. In combination with color profiling supported by various physical devices, it supports reproducible representations of colorwhether such representation entails an analog or a digital represe ...
conversion and horizontal linear filtered scaling
Scaling may refer to:
Science and technology
Mathematics and physics
* Scaling (geometry), a linear transformation that enlarges or diminishes objects
* Scale invariance, a feature of objects or laws that do not change if scales of length, energ ...
. Unlike the Vision964/968, the Trio chips do not support VRAM
Video random-access memory (VRAM) is dedicated computer memory used to store the pixels and other graphics data as a framebuffer to be rendered on a computer monitor. It often uses a different technology than other computer memory, in order to ...
, and are limited to FPM DRAM and EDO DRAM only. The 2D graphics hardware was later used in the ViRGE.
The Trio32 is a low-cost version of the Trio64 with a narrower 32-bit DRAM interface (vs. 64-bit).
The Trio64V2 improved on the 64V+ by including vertical bilinear filtering
In mathematics, bilinear interpolation is a method for interpolating functions of two variables (e.g., ''x'' and ''y'') using repeated linear interpolation. It is usually applied to functions sampled on a 2D rectilinear grid, though it can be ge ...
. The 2D graphics core was later used in the ViRGE/DX and ViRGE/GX. Like the corresponding ViRGE chips, the 64V2 also came in /DX and /GX variants, with the latter supporting more modern SDRAM
Synchronous dynamic random-access memory (synchronous dynamic RAM or SDRAM) is any DRAM where the operation of its external pin interface is coordinated by an externally supplied clock signal.
DRAM integrated circuits (ICs) produced from the ...
or SGRAM
Synchronous dynamic random-access memory (synchronous dynamic RAM or SDRAM) is any DRAM where the operation of its external pin interface is coordinated by an externally supplied clock signal.
DRAM integrated circuits (ICs) produced from the ea ...
. The final version, called the Trio3D, was effectively the 128-bit successor to the ViRGE/GX2.
The various Trio chips were used on many motherboards. Because of the popularity of the series and the resulting compatibility advantages, they are used in various PC emulation and virtualization packages such as DOSBox
DOSBox is a free and open-source MS-DOS emulator. It supports running programs primarily video games that are otherwise inaccessible since hardware for running a compatible disk operating system (DOS) is obsolete and generally unavailab ...
, Microsoft Virtual PC, PCem and 86Box.
Specifications
* Motherboard interface: VLB, PCI, AGP (Trio3D only) * Video Connector: 15-pinVGA connector
The Video Graphics Array (VGA) connector is a standard connector used for computer video output. Originating with the 1987 IBM PS/2 and its VGA graphics system, the 15-pin connector went on to become ubiquitous on PCs, as well as many monitors ...
* VRAM: 1 to 2 megabyte of FPM/EDO DRAM (for the 2D cards)
External links
Virtual PC 4.0 Test Results, S3 Trio emulated graphics chipset
{{S3 Graphics Chips Graphics cards