Asus M8 - Manual (Page 48)

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4. Using
32-bit CardBus & Zoomed Video Port
The CardBus allows PC Cards and their hosts to use 32-bit bus mastering and operate at speeds of up to
33MHz, transferring data in burst modes comparable with PCI’s 132MB/sec. By comparison, the stan-
dard 16-bit PC Card bus can handle only 20MB/sec. Since the Notebook PC is equipped with CardBus’
broader, faster data pathway, it can handle bandwidth-hungry operations, such as 100Mbps Fast Ether-
net, Fast SCSI peripherals, and ISDN-based video conference that are cutting-edge even for desktop
systems. The CardBus peripherals support plug and play.
The CardBus socket is backward-compatible with 16-bit PC Cards serving at 5 volts operation while
CardBus operates at 3.3 volts to reduce power consumption.
As part of the Notebook PC’s advanced architecture, the Zoomed Video specification provides for full
frame-rate video display channel for applications like MPEG decoders for movies and games, TV tun-
ers, live video input, video capturing, and video conferencing. The Zoomed Video (ZV) Port allows
video data on a PC Card to be transferred directly into the VGA frame buffer, bypassing the CPU and
PCI system bus. It can promise a high quality real-time full-motion video playback without holding
back the CPU and system bus performance.
PCMCIA Eject Button PCMCIA Socket
PC Cards
The Notebook PC has one PC Card socket designed to interface with a Type I or Type II card. It allows
you to expand and customize your computer to meet a wide range of application needs. The PC Card
standard accommodates a number of function, communication, and data storage expansion options such
as Memory/Flash Cards, FAX/Modems, Networking Adapters, and MPEG I/II decoder cards. The Note-
book PC supports PCMCIA 2.1, 32bit CardBus, and Zoomed Video (ZV).
TIP: A PCMCIA MPEG I/II decoder card is recommended for slower Notebook PCs that experi-
ence frame skips during DVD playback. It is also great for the power user who wishes to work
while watching a DVD movie.