Spea Software


Spea Software AG was a German computer hardware and software company based in Starnberg, Bavaria. Founded in 1985, the company produced graphics cards for the IBM PC and compatibles. In 1995, Spea Software was acquired by Diamond Multimedia.

History

Spea Software AG was founded in Starnberg, Bavaria, in 1985 by Ulrich Seng. The company's name is an acronym standing for Systeme für Professionelle Elektronik und Automation. The company chiefly produced graphics cards for the IBM PC and compatibles, at first producing ISA cards before branching out to VESA Local Bus and PCI cards in the 1990s.
In 1992, the company went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Some time in the late 1980s or early 1990s, the company established an American subsidiary by the name of Computer Visualization Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Fremont, California. In May 1993, Spea through CVTI acquired Video Seven, a major American graphics cards manufacturer based in Silicon Valley, from LSI Logic. This gave rise to the product line Spea/V7. Simultaneously with the acquisition of Video Seven, Seng stepped down as chairman of Spea.
After encountering difficulty marketing graphics cards under the Spea/V7 brand name, Spea had the Video Seven division shuttered in 1993. Spea themselves continued to sell multimedia peripherals such as sound and graphics cards with the Video Seven trademark into 1995. Sales at the company peaked at 174 million in 1994. In November 1995, Spea itself was acquired by Diamond Multimedia of the United States.

Products

Although the company is considered a German graphics card pioneer, the company did not develop graphics chips itself. Instead, it used chipsets from various manufacturers for its graphics and multimedia cards. The drivers were developed by Spea itself.
NameBusChipsetChipset manufacturer
Fire GLPCIGLINT GX300, S3 Vision9683Dlabs, S3
ShowTime PlusPCI, VLBET4000/W32Tseng Labs
V7-MercuryISA, VLB, PCIS3 928S3
V7-Mercury LitePCIS3 928S3
V7-Mercury ProISA, VLBS3 928S3
V7-Mercury P-64PCI, VLBS3 Vision964S3
V7-Mercury P-64 VPCI, VLBS3 Vision968S3
V7-MirageISA, VLBS3 801/805S3
V7-Mirage P-32PCI, VLBS3 Trio32S3
V7-Mirage P-64PCI, VLBS3 864S3
V7-Mirage P-64 PCI, VLBS3 Trio64S3
V7-Mirage P-64 VPCI, VLBS3 868S3
V7-Mirage VideoPCIS3 Trio64V+S3
V7-Mirage Video TVPCIS3 Trio64V+S3
V7-VEGAISA, VLBCL-GD542xCirrus Logic
V7-VEGA ProPCI, VLBTGUI9440Trident
V7-VEGA PlusPCI, VLBALG2301, ALG2228Avance Logic
V7-VEGA VideoPCI, VLBALG2302Avance Logic
V7-StormPCI, VLBPower 9100Weitek
V7-Storm ProPCI, VLBPower 9100Weitek