ATI Technologies 9000 PRO manual

i RADEON ™ 9000 PR O User’ s Guide V ersion 2.0 P/N 137-40356-20 Re v .A Copyright © 2002, A TI T echnologies Inc. All rights reserved. A TI and all A TI product and product feature names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of A TI T echnologies Inc. A ll other company and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of[...]

ii Disclaimer While ev ery precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, A TI T echnologies Inc. assumes no liability with respect to the operation or use of A TI hardware, software or other products and documentation described herein, for any act or omission of A TI concerning such pr oducts or this documentation, for any interrup[...]

iii T ab le of Contents Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Features At A Glance ................ .................................................................. 2 Radeon™ 9000 PRO ........................ ...................................................... 2 ATI’s Catalyst Software Suite ....[...]

iv Adjusting Monitor Display ... ................................................................ 29 Viewing Text on a TV .......... ................................................................ 29 Reducing Edge Distortion .... ................................................................ 30 Changing Display Configuratio ns ..................[...]

1 Intr oduction The RADEON™ 9000 PR O graphic accelerators deli vers ground breaking 3D graphics performance. • Designed and b uilt by A TI T echnologies In c. • Po wered b y the RADEON™ 9000 PR O Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). • A wesome 3D gaming performance. • Support for OpenGL ® applications. • Support for Direct 3D ® applicat[...]

2 Features At A Glance Radeon™ 9000 PRO The RADEON™ 9000 PR O provides high performance acceleration for today's demanding 3D graphic applications. Its main features are: • VIDEO IMMERSION™ II which pro vides industry-leading D VD playback and digital TV decode capability • CHARISMA ENGINE™ II which is the main GPU, providing the n[...]

3 A TI’ s Catalyst Software Suite Multiple Displays and 3D Gaming Experience A TI’ s Catalyst™ Software Suite pro vides multiple display functionality , and the adv anced graphic features, such as SMAR TSHADER™, for the ultimate 3D gaming experience. F or help on installing the Catalyst™ Software Suite, refer to the Getting Started Guide [...]

4 can also use HydraV ision™ for advanced multi- monitor management. For more information on HydraV ision™, please refer to the HydraV ision™ User’ s Guide PDF located on your A TI Installation CD.[...]

5 Multiple Displa ys Connecting Y our Monitor(s) The RADEON™ 9000 PR O provides hardw are support for one VGA monitor and one flat panel monitor , or two V GA monitors using a D VI-I-to- VGA adapter*. It also pro vides TV Output via an S-V ideo out or a Composite out connector . Plug the monitor cable into y our card ( if you are running multiple[...]

6 Displa y Configurations The follo wing table lists the different ways you can connect displays to your card. Display Configuration Connector(s) Used Comments One CR T displa y V GA connector OR DV I - I connector with D VI-I-to- V GA adapter * CR T - cathode ray tube analog displa y One DFP displa y D VI-I connector DFP - digital flat panel displ[...]

7 Catal yst™ Software Suite The follo wing section provides an explanation of each A TI tab av ailable after installing the Catalyst™ Software Suite. A TI Displays T ab The A TI Displays tab provides the multi monitor features. Here you can enable/disable display de vices and swap the assignment of Primary and Secondary displays.. F eatures pre[...]

8 Enabling/Disabl ing Secondar y Displa ys 1 Access the W indo ws ® Control Panel . Double- click Display . 2 Click on the Settings tab and then the Advanced... but to n. 3 Click on the A TI Displays tab . 4 Click the enable/disable bu tton for the display de vice you want to enable/disable. 5 Click OK or App l y to sav e the changes. Enabling Ext[...]

9 T o enable Extended Desktop Mode, refer to the section Enabling Extended Desktop Mode . 1 Access the W indo ws ® Control Panel . Double- click Display . 2 Click on the Settings tab and then the Advanced... but to n. 3 Click on the A TI Displays tab . Windows ® XP , Windows ® Me, Windows ® 98 SE The A TI Displays tab shows you the display(s) t[...]

10 Virtually Repositioning Y our Displays 1 On the Settings tab, click and drag the appropriate monitor icon to the desired position. For e xample, the secondary display can be dragged to the left of the primary display , allo wing it to be virtually on the left, as shown belo w . 2 Click OK or App l y to sav e the changes. Ratiometric Expansion Y [...]

11 A TI Color T ab The A TI Color tab is used to adjust the color settings. Y ou can change the red, green and blue display colors. Desktop brightness and Game Gamma (brightness) can also be changed. A TI Color T ab Desktop Brightness This increases or decreases the brightness of your desktop . The higher the gamma value, the higher the brightness [...]

12 Clicking the Game Gamma button accesses the Game Gamma Properties. Game Gamma Properties Red Green Blue sliders These controls allow y ou to increase or decrease the color brightness of Direct 3D and OpenGL games pla yed in fullscreen mode. (NO TE: Game Gamma is NO T suppor ted in Windows NT4.0) RGB Lock Uncheck this to adjust the RGB sliders in[...]

13 AT I O p t i o n s T a b The A TI Options tab provides detailed dri ver information and access to the card’ s specifications. Y ou can also enable or disable the A TI taskbar icon. A TI Options T ab V ersion Inf ormation Provides the Catalyst version n umber , 2D version number and the driver b uild information. Details button Provides access [...]

14 Clicking the Details b utton provides access to the Details tab . A TI Overlay T ab The A TI Overlay tab allo ws you to configure the brightness, contrast, saturation, hue and gamma properties of your video ov erlay . Video Overlay V ideo ov erlay allows for the vie wing of full-motion video on your PC. Ho wev er , there is only one video Show A[...]

15 ov erlay , which is only av ailable on the Primary display . The video overlay controls are automatically acti vated during playback of an y video file type that supports ov erlay adjustments. A TI Overlay T a b Brightness Use this slider to adjust the brightness of the video image. Contrast Use this slider to adjust t he contrast in the video i[...]

16 Direct 3D ® Contr ol P anel Using this tab, gamers can tweak the settings of their Direct 3D ® games. Main and Custom Settings In the Main Settings you can maximize ov erall performance by mo ving the slider to the left, or you can enhance ov erall image quality by mo ving the slider to the right.[...]

17 Main Settings slider This allows y ou to emphasiz e what kind of application e xper ience y ou’ d like to hav e. Moving the slider to the left will maximize application perf or mance , while moving the slider to the right will provide e xcellent 3D image quality . Moving this slider from one position to the ne xt changes the individual Cust om[...]

18 T exture Preference slider Selecting this decides whet her your application should use high quality or high pe rf or mance te xtures. Moving the slider to the right delivers the highest quality e xper ience . Moving the slider to the left emphasizes a high perf or mance solution while still providing good visuals. Mipmap Detail Level slider This[...]

19 Direct 3D ® Compatibility Settings Support W- buf fer This will enable W -Buff er suppor t for 3D games . It is recommended to disable this f or games that do not suppor t this f eature. Certain applications require the increased precision of W -Buffering and will e xhibit ar tif acts unless the W -Buffer is enab led. Support 32-bit Z-buff er d[...]

20 Alpha dithering method When applications use both dithering and alpha blending, visual artifacts can occur . This option allows you to select ho w the appl ication should handle both f eatures at the same time. In most cases Error Diffusion will handle this situation quite well, but there are a f ew cases where selecting Ordered ma y be necessar[...]

21 OpenGL ® Contr ol P anel Using this tab, gamers can tweak the settings of their OpenGL ® games. Main and Custom Settings In the Main Settings you can maximize ov erall performance by mo ving the slider to the left, or you can enhance ov erall image quality by mo ving the slider to the right.[...]

22 Main Settings slider This allows y ou to emphasiz e what kind of application e xper ience y ou’ d like to hav e. Moving the slider to the left will maximize application perf or mance , while moving the slider to the right will provide e xcellent 3D image quality . Moving this slider from one position to the ne xt changes the individual Cust om[...]

23 T exture Preference slider Selecting this decides whet her your application should use high quality or high pe rf or mance te xtures. Moving the slider to the right delivers the highest quality e xper ience . Moving the slider to the left emphasizes a high perf or mance solution while still providing good visuals. Mipmap Detail Level slider This[...]

24 OpenGL ® Compatibility Settings Force Z-b uffer depth This allows y ou to explicitly set the Z-Buff er depth. Most applications will work best when Disabled is selected Alpha dithering method When applications use both dithering and alpha blending, visual artifacts can occur . This option allows you to select ho w the appl ication should handle[...]

25 Using TV Out View y our PC’ s display on a TV Y our RADEON™ 9000 PR O has TV Out capability . Y ou can attach your card to a TV and monitor at the same time. Or you can connect it to your VCR and record your monitor’ s display . TV display is ideal for playing games, gi ving presentations, watching mo vies, and browsing the Internet. The f[...]

26 card will support either an S-video connector or a Composite connector . If your TV has cable input only , you can connect your card to your TV through your VCR or an RF modulator (a vailable in most electronics stores). The RADEON™ 9000 PR O with the Composite out connector DOES NO T support connection to TVs with S-V ideo In. Connecting Y ou[...]

27 Starting Windows ® with TV Display Enab led The TV screen may become scrambled during the initial W indo ws ® logo display . This is only a temporary ef fect and your screen will be restored within a fe w seconds. During start up, your RADEON™ 9000 PR O will go through a sequence of mode settings, during which your TV display will remain bla[...]

28 How T o Enable/Disable The TV Displa y 1 Access the W indo ws ® Control Panel . Double- click Display . 2 Click on the Settings tab and then the Advanced... but to n. 3 Click on the A TI Displays tab . Click on the TV button. 4 Click the enable/disable bu tton. 5 Click OK or App l y to sav e the changes. Using and Adjusting TV Out For informati[...]

29 monitor’ s display , use the monitor’ s control b uttons to adjust its display size and position. Some single frequency monitors may not w ork with TV display enabled. If you experience problems when TV display is enabled, disable TV display to restore your monitor’ s display . Adjusting Monitor Display The size of the display on your moni[...]

30 3 In the Fo nt Si z e box, select the size you want your displayed fonts to be. 4 Click Ap pl y . If prompted, click Ye s to restart your PC. Reducing Edge Distor tion When using a TV for your PC’ s display , you may see some edge distortion on the left and right side of your TV screen. This ef fect depends on your TV and the PC application yo[...]

31 2 Click on the Settings tab and then the Advanced... but to n. 3 Click on the A TI Displays tab . 4 Click on the TV b utton. 5 Drag the Contrast slider to the right to increase the contrast. 6 Click OK or App l y to sav e the changes you hav e made. Changing Displa y Configurations If you mov e your PC to a place where you are using TV display o[...]