Matrox Graphics, a company that is mainly oriented on niche graphics solutions for professional usage, unveiled Tuesday its Epica solution package, which enables multi-monitor capability on thin clients, a feature, which was never be available earlier.

“With the Epica series, Matrox continues to set the standard for providing multi-display graphics solutions by offering feature-sets never available before in thin-computing architectures. The Matrox Epica hardware and software is a total solution featuring advanced tools that will not only allow for greater screen real-estate but will also increase productivity and streamline work processes,” said Al Vandenbussche, vice president sales & marketing, Matrox Graphics Inc.

Thin clients usually do not have their own operating systems and can use programs that are run on high-performance servers located maybe hundreds of kilometers away. Thin clients can use multiple servers at once to run several different apps, or access different types of data, which means, that it is virtually impossible to create multi-monitor environment using thin client.

But Matrox Epica solves the issues with multi-monitors and thin clients by installing additional software into servers and one of three Epica-series tiny graphics card, which can support two or four displays. Multi-monitor awareness by Matrox PowerDesk Epica enables large resolution windows from the server to behave in an independent manner even though the remote session natively provides a stretched (expanded) desktop. 

Included with the purchase of every Matrox Epica graphics card (as a complimentary download), Matrox PowerDesk Epica software also allows professionals in thin-computing environments to take advantage of numerous multi-display controls including: how dialog and message boxes are positioned, how windows are maximized, and an assortment of other features that increase the user’s efficiency.  This special software utility, which is designed to be installed on the server, functions exclusively with the Epica series of graphics cards and is compatible with leading remote connection technologies: Microsoft RDP, Linux rdesktop and Citrix ICA for Windows.

The Matrox Epica series consists of the Epica TC2-Lite, Epica TC2 and Epica TC4 graphics cards, are specifically designed to meet the requirements of thin-client devices with low-profile, fanless and low-power consuming specifications.  The Epica TC2-Lite is a dual monitor graphics card with digital resolutions of up to 2560x1024, while the Epica TC2, also a dual monitor graphics card, offers digital resolutions of up to 3840x1200. The Epica TC4 is a quad-monitor graphics card with digital resolutions of up to 6400x1200.

Matrox does not disclose pricing of the Epica products and advices potential customers to contact its sales department.