This box shows the currently selected system font size. Click the list box to select from a list of pre-defined system font sizes.


This box shows the currently selected color palette. The color palette is the number of simultaneous colors the MGA display driver can show. Click the list box to select from a list of color palettes.


Click this button to access advanced MGA PowerDesk features. You can set up shortcut keys, control driver performance settings, and see technical information about your Matrox hardware and software.


Click this button to create a custom system font size.


Click this button to delete the current display scheme. If there is no name in the box, this button is unavailable.


Click this button to save the current display settings or, if a name already appears in the box, to rename the current display scheme.


This is the model name of your current Matrox graphics card.


This is the internal product name of the drawing engine chip on your current Matrox graphics card.


This is the amount of graphics memory, in megabytes, installed on your current Matrox graphics card.


This identifies any optional Matrox graphics card add-on modules.


This identifies the memory map location of your Matrox graphics card as assigned by your computer at start-up.


This is the speed, in megahertz, of the RAMDAC (Random Access Memory Digital-to-Analog Converter) on your Matrox graphics card. The faster the RAMDAC on your graphics card, the better its graphics capabilities.


This is the unique serial number identifying your current Matrox graphics card.


This is the version of the VGA BIOS on your Matrox graphics card.


This is the version of the MGA software driver currently in use.


This is the version of the MGA PowerDesk software installed on your system.


When this check box is enabled, MGA PowerDesk prompts you before keeping your applied display settings. If you don't respond to the on-screen prompt within 15 seconds, your display will return to its previous settings. This feature is useful if you choose display settings your monitor doesn't support and you lose the monitor picture as a result.

Clear this check box if you don't want to be prompted.


Click the list box to select from a list of pre-defined display schemes. A display scheme is a saved profile with a specific desktop area, display area, color palette and font size setting.


When this check box is enabled, hardware acceleration is used to cache some bitmapped images in the graphics memory.

If you experience problems with a particular program (for example, some bitmaps are not drawn properly), try clearing this check box.

Note: Even when this check box is enabled, this feature is not active when you're using a multi-display desktop.


When this check box is enabled, the MGA display driver will let your computer's PCI bus handle data retries with your Matrox graphics card. (Data retries occur when the driver sends new information to the Matrox card, but the card is busy.) Performance is slightly better when this check box is enabled.

If other devices in your computer don't work properly after the Matrox card is installed (for example, your sound card's output is distorted, or your fast modem loses excessive amounts of data), try clearing this check box.


Move this slider to increase or decrease your desktop area. Your desktop area is your entire Windows work space. This includes everything you see on-screen (display area) and includes off-screen area when you're using a "virtual desktop". You're using a virtual desktop when your desktop area is larger than your display area.

In multi-display mode, move this slider to cycle through all your possible desktop area configurations.


This is the currently selected resolution of your desktop area. Desktop resolution is measured in horizontal by vertical pixels.


Move this slider to increase or decrease your display area. Your display area is your on-screen work space.


This is the currently selected resolution of your display area. Display resolution is measured in horizontal by vertical pixels.


Use the CenterWINDOW feature to center the currently active program window inside the visible part of your display area (view area). This is useful if you're using a virtual desktop or the PixelTOUCH zoom feature and the currently active program window is not in your view area. You can define a hot key (keyboard shortcut) for this feature by clicking in the box and pressing a key or key combination. The CenterWINDOW feature does not center windows larger than the current view area.

If you're using a multi-display desktop, the window is centered inside its current view area, and if the hot key is used again, the window is centered in the next display area.


Use the PixelTOUCH feature to zoom in on your current mouse cursor position. You can define a hot key (keyboard shortcut) for this feature by clicking in the box and pressing a key or key combination. Once your hot key is applied, you can use it repeatedly to cycle through the different zoom factors (x1, x2, x4, x1, and so on). The x4 zoom factor is unavailable at display area resolutions 800 x 600 and lower.

When you zoom in on your desktop area, parts of it are outside your view area. Move your mouse cursor to the edge of your view area to pan in that direction. If you're using a multi-display desktop, one display at a time is magnified - the one the mouse cursor is in.


Click this box to select a pre-defined scaling percentage of the standard system font size.


Click and drag on this ruler to choose a scaling percentage (from 19% to 1050%) of the standard system font size.


These desktop mode buttons determine the type of desktop area you have. Pause your mouse cursor over a desktop mode button to see a pop-up tooltip identifying it. The desktop mode buttons are:

No Virtual Desktop - Click this button for your desktop area to be the same size as your display area.

Proportional Virtual Desktop - Click this button to have a desktop area proportionally larger than your display area.

Horizontal Virtual Desktop - Click this button to have a desktop width approximately twice your display width.

Vertical Virtual Desktop - Click this button to have a desktop height approximately twice your display height.

Multi-Display Desktop - Click this button to enter multi-display mode. This button is unavailable if you don't have more than one Matrox graphics card of the same model (Millennium only) installed in your computer.


This is your display's current vertical refresh rate. A higher refresh rate results in less noticeable flicker in your display. Your software monitor settings and the display area resolution you're using determine your current refresh rate.


3D acceleration is active when you see this rotating cube.


This is the identification number for your current Matrox graphics card. MGA PowerDesk consecutively numbers each Matrox graphics card in your computer, starting from one (1).


When this check box is enabled, program windows maximize inside the visible part of your display area (view area). The MaxVIEW feature takes effect when you maximize a window (for example, by clicking a window's maximize icon on its title bar).

If you're using a multi-display desktop, and a program window overlaps two or more display areas, the window maximizes over the whole desktop area. Otherwise the window maximizes in the display area it's currently in.


When this check box is enabled, the CenterPOPUP feature is active. The CenterPOPUP feature centers windows inside the visible part of your display area (view area) when you first open them. If the window is bigger than the view area, it's placed in the upper-left corner of the view area. If the window is a dialog box which belongs to a program, the dialog box is centered inside the parent window.

If you're using a multi-display desktop, you can define which display your windows are centered in.


When this check box is enabled, drawing and display buffers are allocated in the graphics memory. A frame of animation from the display buffer can be displayed while the next frame is drawn into the drawing buffer, making computer animation smoother.

Note: Even when this check box is enabled, double-buffering is available only if there is enough graphics memory left and your using a 15-, 16- or 32-bit color palette. Generally, higher resolutions use up more graphics memory.


When this check box is enabled, a portion of the Matrox off-screen graphics memory is used to store the z-value of each pixel. When drawing 3D images on-screen, the z-value, or depth, of each pixel is compared with those of other pixels to determine which pixels are drawn and which are hidden. If this check box is cleared, z-buffering is done in software or not at all.

Note: Even when this check box is enabled, z-buffering is available only if there is enough graphics memory left and you're using a 15-, 16- or 32-bit color palette. Generally, higher resolutions use up more graphics memory.


When this check box is enabled, the driver will not wait for a vertical sync signal before drawing the mouse cursor. (A vertical sync signal is a signal generated by the graphics card to synchronize your monitor's video display.) Performance is slightly better with this check box enabled.

If your mouse cursor or the area around your mouse cursor does not display properly, try clearing this check box.


When this check box is enabled and if you have an Intel Pentium Pro processor in your computer, "write-combining" is used. In write-combining, several writes to computer memory are buffered in the CPU and then combined. This feature can accelerate some graphics memory data transfers.

If you have a Pentium Pro processor in your computer and you're having system errors (for example, your system stops running), try clearing this check box.

Note: This check box has no effect if you do not have a Pentium Pro processor in your computer.


Click this button to have this property sheet show the information on another Matrox graphics card in your computer. Order is based on the ID numbers of each card.


This group box contains information on the current graphics card.