Matrox: Our Story

Lorne’s entrepreneurial spirit was evident from the start. The first phone number associated with the company was actually a second line installed at the Trottier family home; Lorne’s mother acted as receptionist, relaying orders back to her son as he worked at his primary job.

Matrox’s first venture was a specialized video-display device called Video RAM, which interfaced with a computer to display computer-generated alphanumeric data. Matrox found success organically, reaching out to the publication Electronics for a free feature in their new products section, which spurred initial orders. Matrox initially raised $20K to develop this device. They were profitable almost immediately; however, Lorne had no interest in creating a company to sell it for a quick profit, and wanted to push Matrox further. Success followed quickly in the form of the MTX-1632, an evolution of the Video RAM, which remained in production for more than 15 years. These first products would establish the foundation of many future Matrox products.

Lorne visited his first computer tradeshow in Atlantic City in July 1976, a mere two months after Matrox’s founding. There, Lorne collected datasheets from a number of small start-ups in the embryonic personal computer industry, including one curiously named after a fruit. Lorne still has an original copy of the datasheet from the Apple I in his personal archives.

From its earliest days, Matrox focused on specialized professional markets. In the early 1990s, the company split into three distinct divisions: Matrox Graphics, Matrox Video, and Matrox Imaging. Matrox Graphics took on the role of delivering graphics solutions, Matrox Video focused on markets for the broadcast industry and digital video editing solutions, while Matrox Imaging focused on component-level solutions for machine vision applications. The unified thread underpinning the Matrox model remained the original notion of interfacing between microprocessors and video.

From the start, Lorne knew he wanted to build a company in the ethos of the Hewlett Packard model, with a relaxed, informal atmosphere that placed employees at the center of the operation. An admirer of Bill Hewlett and David Packard—the founders of HP and considered the progenitors of Silicon Valley—since university, Lorne sought to emulate their management style, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and progressive treatment of employees. From the start, Lorne knew he wanted to have profit sharing for employees, as well as a daycare and recreational facilities onsite, to support the Matrox staff. From an initial two founders, the Matrox enterprise soon expanded to a workforce of several dozen, growing steadily to count close to 1,500 employees at its largest iteration.

Over the years, Matrox continued to evolve its technological offerings to establish itself as a major player in fields like medical imaging, machine vision for factory automation, media and broadcast, AV infrastructure, and digital signage. The company has kept pace with the revolutionary changes in the industries it services, and the technologies it offers. Broadcast and AV industries have seen seismic shifts from analog to digital, from HD to UHD to HDR. The broadcast industry is moving from hard-wired, fixed-function equipment to software-based programmable multifunctional network-based devices with cloud-computing capabilities. AV infrastructure is also shifting to software products and network-based video transport. In the field of imaging, vision systems have evolved into powerful software- and PC-based systems that are compact and easier to use, as well as edge devices such as smart cameras. Other new technologies, including 3D imaging and deep learning, are dramatically increasing the capabilities of machine vision and helping drive Industry 4.0, with its emphasis on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, and real-time data.