【文章标题】：Matrox: Graphics for Professionals
【文章标题】：Matrox：专业图形技术
【文章正文】：
Lorne Trottier was born on the 15th of June in 1948 in Montréal.
洛恩·特罗蒂尔于1948年6月15日出生于蒙特利尔。
Trottier describes himself as a space and science geek, and he’s had a lifelong interest and passion in both space and electronics.
特罗蒂尔自称是太空与科学极客，对太空和电子技术怀有终生的兴趣与热忱。
In particular, Alan Shepard’s suborbital flight on the 5th of May in 1961 and Apollo 11 in July of 1969 made a lasting impact on him.
尤其是1961年5月5日艾伦·谢泼德的亚轨道飞行和1969年7月的阿波罗11号任务给他留下了深远影响。
He attended Baron Byng High School and McGill University. He attained his master’s in engineering in 1973.
他曾就读于拜伦·宾高中和麦吉尔大学，并于1973年获得工程学硕士学位。
Realizing that there was a market to be had in interfacing CPUs and video output, Lorne had an idea for a company.
意识到CPU与视频输出接口存在市场潜力后，洛恩萌生了创业想法。
He and his friend, Branko Matić, started working on some ideas in their spare time.
他与好友布兰科·马蒂奇利用业余时间开始构思方案。
Trottier had a second telephone line installed at his family home, his mother served as the receptionist, and he kept a day job.
特罗蒂尔在家中安装了第二条电话线，由母亲担任接线员，自己则保留着白天的工作。
It was in 1976 that Trottier and Matić founded Matrox (Ma from Matić and Tro from Trottier) in Dorval, Quebec, and they launched their first product the same year.
1976年，特罗蒂尔与马蒂奇在魁北克多尔瓦市创立了Matrox（名称取自两人姓氏），同年便推出了首款产品。
As with many other technology companies at this time, success was built and failure found via the press, and more specifically, via magazines catering to specific interests.
与当时许多科技公司一样，成败关键取决于媒体曝光——尤其是垂直领域杂志的报道。
For Matrox, the publication was Electronics.
对Matrox而言，这个平台是《电子技术》杂志。
They secured free placement in the new products section, and they managed to get $20,000 worth of orders for their Video RAM (MTX-1632).
他们争取到新产品栏目的免费版面，并成功获得价值2万美元的视频内存（MTX-1632）订单。
This made the company immediately profitable, and they were able to make more products in rapid succession.
公司因此迅速实现盈利，得以接连推出更多产品。
Trottier and Matić undoubtedly read about the launch of the Altair 8800, but despite appearances, their first products weren’t intended for the S-100 bus machines despite being used with them.
虽然特罗蒂尔和马蒂奇必然知晓Altair 8800的发布，但他们的首款产品MTX-1632（提供512字节650ns视频内存，支持32x16 ASCII显示输出，售价198美元）表面兼容S-100总线设备，实际并非为其设计。
This was the MTX-1632 which provided 512 bytes of 650ns video memory while generating 32x16 ASCII display output. It was priced at 1166 in 2026 dollars).
（注：此处为重复描述，保留原文结构）
Just shortly after the release of the 1632 came the MTX-2562.
MTX-1632发布不久，MTX-2562随即面世。
This provided 256 by 256 dot raster resolution and was built of at least two separate units: central timing unit (CTU), image memory (IM).
该产品提供256x256点阵分辨率，由中央时序单元(CTU)和图像内存(IM)至少两个独立模块构成。
As noted, this wasn’t initially intended for the home microcomputer market, and it wasn’t plug compatible with any home system.
值得注意的是，它最初并非面向家用微机市场，也不兼容任何家用系统。
Yet, around August of 1976, this was the best display adapter setup per dollar and interfacing with a bidirectional microcomputer bus wasn’t particularly difficult.
但在1976年8月前后，这是每美元能买到的最佳显示适配方案，且与双向微机总线的对接并不复杂。
At this time, for around $100, one could have purchased a 96 by 64, byte parallel, display adapter kit that required programmed I/O for each point.
当时花费约100美元可购买96x64字节并行显示适配套件（需逐点编程I/O控制）。
Moving up the scale, you had the Matrox MTX-2562 at 3710 in 2026 dollars) interfaced with DMA providing multiple video modes and 256 by 256.
更高端的Matrox MTX-2562售价630美元（2026年约3710美元），支持DMA接口、多种视频模式和256x256分辨率。
For around $14,000, one could purchase the DEC GT-40 which offered hardware vector graphics and character generation, DMA, a built in display, a resolution of 1024 by 768, and a whole PDP-11/05 to drive the thing.
若预算达1.4万美元，则可选购DEC GT-40——配备硬件矢量图形/字符生成器、DMA、内置显示器、1024x768分辨率，甚至包含整套PDP-11/05驱动系统。
For the financially successful or radically enthusiastic hobbyist, the Matrox was an obvious choice.
对财力雄厚或极度狂热的爱好者而言，Matrox无疑是明智之选。
Nothing else in the market offered a “high resolution” display with DMA for under $1000.
当时市场上再无其他产品能以低于1000美元的价格提供支持DMA的”高分辨率”显示方案。
With two products (technically three, as there had been a less refined version of the MTX-1632 with no product designation, it was just “Video RAM”) on the market, Trottier made his way to the Personal Computing Consumer Trade Fair (better known as the Personal Computer Festival or PC ‘76) held at the Shelburne Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey on the 28th and 29th of August in 1976.
手握两款（实为三款，包括未命名的MTX-1632初版”Video RAM”）产品的特罗蒂尔，参加了1976年8月28-29日在新泽西州大西洋城谢尔本酒店举办的个人计算消费者贸易展（更广为人知的名称是PC’76大会）。
This was an extremely important event for the industry with around five thousand people attending.
这场约有5000人参与的盛会对行业影响深远。
Companies like Apple, Byte, Cromemco, SWTPC, DEC, Processor Technology (Sol computer series) among others were present, and rather importantly, it was Apple’s first major public debut with Jobs and Dan Kottke manning the booth (Woz mostly hung out at the Hotel working on AppleSoft BASIC) and showing off the Apple I in a fully enclosed wooden case with integrated keyboard.
苹果、Byte、Cromemco等公司悉数到场——尤为重要的是，这是苹果首次重大公开亮相：乔布斯与丹·科特克值守展台（沃兹主要在酒店开发AppleSoft BASIC），展出了带集成键盘的全封闭木质机箱Apple I。
At this time, however, the hot product was the Altair 8800, and next hottest products were S-100 bus cards and Altair clones.
但当时最热门的产品仍是Altair 8800，其次则是S-100总线卡和Altair克隆机。
Trottier collected every computer data sheet and other documentation he could get his hands on.
特罗蒂尔收集了所有能获取的计算机资料文档。
Having had this experience with PC ‘76, surrounded by S-100 technology, it is no surprise that Matrox’s next product would be an S-100 bus card.
经历PC’76大会的熏陶，身处S-100技术浪潮中，Matrox下一款产品转向S-100总线卡便不足为奇。
The manuals make reference to 1977, but my suspicion is that the product was completed in 1977, and it was almost certainly released early in 1978.
手册标注1977年，但我推测产品于1977年完成，实际发布于1978年初。
From the manual’s introduction:
手册引言如是说：
The Matrox ALT-2562 is a fully tested, assembled, and burned-in interface card which provides capability for a complete graphic system at a fraction of the cost of any other commercial graphic system.
Matrox ALT-2562是经过全面测试、组装及老化的接口卡，能以远低于商用图形系统的成本提供完整图形功能。
The card contains all interface electronics, a TV sync generator, and its own 65,536 x 1 bit refresh memory.
该卡集成全部接口电路、电视同步信号发生器及65536x1位自刷新内存。
It plugs directly into one slot of any S-100 bus compatible computer.
可直接插入任何S-100总线兼容计算机的插槽。
The built in refresh memory allows much greater flexibility and speed since no CPU time is required to refresh the screen.
内置刷新内存无需占用CPU时间，大幅提升系统灵活性与运行速度。
The output is a composite video signal which can be connected to any TV monitor or th
输出为复合视频信号，可连接任何电视显示器或…（原文截断）