Here is the status on third party 24-bit frame buffers for the Ultra[TM] 5 --

1. Techsource DOES have a working 24-bit graphics solution!!! 
   We successfully Darwin-tested a version of their
   Raptor GFX card which now comes in two flavors -- 4MB good for
   24-bit up to 1152 x 900 and the 8 MB which is good for 24 bit
   all the way to 1920 x 1080. Price is now $795 for 4MB, $1295
   for 8 MB; in conversations with Tech Source today, I believe
   they will lower their prices further. 

   Please note that this solution may require during initial booting
   plugging the monitor into the 8-bit frame buffer on the Motherboard.
   (we know this works; but Tech Source tells us they are supporting
   Open Firmware to make it possible to make the GFX Raptor a console
   boot device.
   
2. Quantum 3D's 24-bit graphics card does not work in Ultra 5
   today. It does work in Ultra 30 and Ultra 450 and Enterprise Servers.
   
   Quantum 3D(formerly Southland Media) needs to change its 
   hardware to fix this problem. They are working on it. 
   We will test their new hardware and announce
   the results as soon as we have this. This should happen in 
   the next 30-60 days.

3. Another effort to get a Solaris[TM] driver working for the low cost
   Matrox Millenium product is under way at SME. However, there
   will  be no official support for this driver from Matrox, and there
   is no SMCC product team lined up to support it. The Matrox Millenium
   cards are in the $200 range.

   We will test this card with the SME driver as soon as 
   SME has it working. This should happen in the next 3-6 weeks.


NONE of the traditional low cost high volume PC Graphics card 
vendors want to extend support for their PC Graphics to Sun 
workstations without an OEM deal -- the volume is too low to 
cover  hiring, training, and supporting Solaris long term for
tiny incremental volume. As Darwin volume grows however, this
may change.

Market Development Engineering will continue to provide support
to third parties willing to take on support for PCI/Solaris drivers.
We expect that the best of these will become Sun Ready, making it
easier for Sun customers to purchase these non-competitive third 
party solutions through Sun Express.      

from an email to the multimedia.amb@sun.com alias.
Author: Charles Andres