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Maybe it was the voodoo 2, but I seem to recall that 3dfx cards could render into a chroma-keyed window, not just full screens. In any case the main problem wit
by shereadsthenews 8y ago
Maybe it was the voodoo 2, but I seem to recall that 3dfx cards could render into a chroma-keyed window, not just full screens. In any case the main problem with them was they made your 2D desktop look like junk for the 99% of the time you were not playing Quake, due to the extra analog-digital-analog conversion.
- corysama 8y agoOne of the best features of the Voodoos was that they were a cheap, early-adopter way to get dual monitor debugging. Full-screen debugger on one monitor. Full-screen game in a breakpoint on the other.
- newnewpdro 8y agoVoodoo 1 and 2 were simple analog VGA pass-thru, they'd take over the VGA output when in use. I don't think the VGA input was even wired to anything other than the pass-thru switch, you may be thinking of something else. There was no such conversion.
- rasz 8y agoAfair it was the terrible Voodoo Rush that could render into a window. There was no analog-digital-analog conversion, it was straight analog pass-thru, either using a mechanical Relays or special video switching muxes. Slight signal degradation was due to additional cables and connectors.
- tannhaeuser 8y agoThe pass-through from your regular VGA was just connected to a relay that was switched to the Voodoo's video DAC when in use, and pass-through otherwise. Switching back and forth would create the typical breaker sound. There was no digitizing, chromakeying, or genlock going on. Still, signal quality could be worse b/c analog.
- shdon 8y agoThis was done my some MPEG decoder cards, like the Sigma Designs RealMagic. The Voodoo didn't process the input VGA signal itself in any way. Image quality suffered slightly simply because the signal had to travel further and through a few more components, but there was no significant degradation of the kind you describe.