Of Matrox's many historical achievements in imaging, the most notable includes the industry's first PC-AT frame grabber, and two other revolutionary products, MVP-AT and Image Series. Built in 1986, MVP-AT was an industry breakthrough in its day, combining color/monochrome acquisition, real-time processing, and true-color display; all on a two-board set for the PC-AT. Image Series, a multi-board set launched in 1989, delivered completely flexible and programmable acquisition, as well as high-resolution, true-color graphics and real-time image processing. Both MVP-AT and Image Series solved imaging applications using only a few boards, whereas competing solutions used as many as twenty boards or were based on proprietary solutions, costing many times more. These products are still widely used around the world, a testament to their advanced designs. More recently, Matrox pioneered real-time image capture directly to PC memory with its Matrox Meteor and Pulsar PCI frame grabbers. These products, launched in 1994 and 1995 respectively, were designed to exploit enabling technologies like the PCI bus, as well as powerful host processors and 32-bit operating systems. Once again, Matrox delivered the most cost-effective imaging solutions to developers of imaging systems, this time, with direct transfer hardware and 32-bit software tools.

The company is still driven by its two founders, whose philosophy continues to emphasize research and development. Typically, the Matrox Imaging Products Group reinvests over 15% of its revenues on R & D. In total, 300 highly-qualified engineers work together in project teams at Matrox headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and at an R & D facility in Boca Raton, Florida, USA. The synergy between Matrox's four divisions: Imaging, Graphics, Video, and newly-formed Networking; enhances the company's ability to serve all four markets. For example, Matrox's leading position in the PC world means that the Imaging Group is privy to advanced information regarding new standards and designs, and is able to use this as a "head start" to implement new technology into its imaging products before the competition can. All Matrox divisions build solutions based on a combination of custom-designed ASICs and off-the-shelf components that provide the best price/performance for their respective markets.

1996 will also mark yet another Matrox innovation that will have an impact on developing machine vision, image analysis, and medical imaging systems. The Imaging Group's high-end PCI product, to be launched later this year, will integrate image acquisition, processing, and display, all on a single board. According to Spiro Plagakis, VP of Sales & Marketing, "After twenty years in the board business, we're able to deliver technology that will yet again surpass the rice/performance levels of all other solutions. This new product will continue Matrox's leadership role in the imaging sector, and even expand the use of the standard PC platform for image processing in all areas of science and industry."

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