ATI Technologies Radeon 9800 Series manual

RADEON ™ 9800 SERIES User’ s Guide P/N 137-40462-10 Copyright © 2003, A TI T echnologies Inc. All righ ts reserved. A TI and all A T I product and produ ct feature names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of A TI T echnolog ies Inc. All other comp any and/o r product names are trademar ks and/or registered trademarks of their respecti[...]

i Disclaimer While ev ery precaution ha s been taken in the preparation of this document, A TI T echnologies Inc. as sumes no liab ility 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 products or this documen tation, for an y in te[...]

ii T ab le of Contents Disclaimer ................ ........ ............ ................... ......... ........... .................... ....... i Product Notice ........... .................... ........... .................... .................... ....... i Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Features A[...]

iii View your PC’s display on a TV .......... ........... .................... .................... . 2 8 Connecting to a TV or a VCR ........ ............ ................... .................... ....... 29 Starting Window s® with TV Display En abled ......... ............ ............... 30 To Enable/Disable The TV Display .............. .....[...]

1 Intr oduction The RADEON™ 9800 Series graphics accelerator deli vers ground breaking 3D graphics performance. • Po wered by the RADEON 9800 Series V isual Processing Unit (VPU). • Second generation to Support Microsoft ® DirectX ® 9.0. • 256-bit DDR memory interface. • Support for A GP 8X specif ication. • Second generation 8-pixel [...]

2 Features At A Glance The RADEON 9800 Series includes: • CINEMA TIC RENDERING: W ith its highly programmable shader engines, the RADEON 9800 Series of visual processors are designed to bring the most detailed worlds to life with cinema-quality lighting, te xtures, and effects. • MAXIMUM 3D PERFORMA CE: Eight parallel rendering pi pelines, 256-[...]

3 AT I ’ s CA T AL YST™ Software Suite Multiple Displa ys and 3D Gaming Experience A TI’ s CA T AL YST Software Suite pro vides multiple display functionality , and the adv anced graphic features, such as SMAR TSHADER 2.1, for the ultimate 3D gaming experience. F or help installing the CA T AL YST Software Suite, refer to the Getting Started [...]

4 HydraVision™ In addition to the multiple display functionality a v ailable with A TI’ s CA T AL YST Software Suite, you can also use HydraV ision for adv anced multi-monitor management. For more informatio n 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 o ur Monitor(s) Y our RADEON 9800 Series provides hardwa re support for one D VI-I monitor or two V GA monitors using the supplied D VI-I-to-V GA adapter . A TV can also be used to expand your desktop b y using the S-V ideo out. Plug the monitor cable into y our card ( if you are running multiple monitors, connect [...]

6 Displa y Configurations Y our RADEON 9800 Series graphics accelerator card provides dual display functionality and TV Out. The follo wing table lists the di fferent w ays you can connect displays to your card. Display Configuration Connector(s) Used Comment s One CRT display VGA connector OR DVI- I connector with DVI-I- to-VGA adapter CRT - catho[...]

7 CA T A L YST Software Suite The follo wing section provides an explanation of each A TI tab added to the Display Properties after installing the Catalyst Software Suite. A TI Displa ys T ab The A TI Displays tab provides multiple monitor features. Here you can enable/disable display de vices and swap the assignment of Primary and Secondary displa[...]

8 Enabling/Disab ling Secondar y Displa ys 1 Access the W indo ws ® Contr ol Panel . Double-click Display . 2 Click the Settings tab and then the Advanced... b utton. 3 Click the A TI Displays tab . 4 Click the enable/disable b utton for the display de vice you want to enable/disable. 5 Click OK or A pply to sav e the changes. Enabling Extended De[...]

9 T o enable a Secondary display see Enabling/Disabling Secondary Displays on page 8 . T o enable Extended Desktop Mode see Enabling Extended Desktop Mode on page 8 . 1 Access the W indo ws ® Contr ol Panel . Double-click Display . 2 Click the Settings tab and then the Advanced... b utton. 3 Click the A TI Displays tab . The A TI Displays tab sho [...]

10 2 Click OK or A pply to sav e the changes. Ratiometric Expansion Y our RADEON 9800 Series card of fers ratiometric exp ansion (or digital panel scaling as it is commonly kno wn). This expands a lo w resolution image to fill a higher resolution panel. Ho we v er , ratiometric e xpansion is only a vailable on the Primary display . Therefore, if a [...]

11 AT I C o l o r Ta b 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 increase s or decreases the brightne ss of your desktop. The higher the gamma value, the higher the bright[...]

12 Clicking the Game Gamma b utton accesses the Game Gamma Properties. Game Gamma Pr operties Red Green Blue sliders These controls allow you to increase or decrease the color brightness of Direct 3D and Ope nGL games played in fullscreen mode. RGB Lock Uncheck this to adjust the R GB sliders individually . Check this to adjust all three sliders at[...]

13 A TI Options T ab The A TI Options tab provides detailed dri v er information and access to the card’ s specif ications. Y ou can also enable or disable the A TI taskbar icon. AT I O p t i o n s Ta b V ersion Information Provides the Cat alyst version number , 2D version number and the drive r build information. Det ails button Provides access[...]

14 Clicking the Details b utton provides graphics card, graphics dri ver and system information. Enable A TI taskbar icon application Unchecking this allows you to disab le the A TI taskbar app lications and removes the A TI icon from your system tray . Show A TI icon on t a skbar Unchecking this allows you to remove the A TI icon from your system [...]

15 A TI Overla y T ab The A TI Overlay tab allo ws you to conf igure the brightness, contrast, sat uration, hue and gamma properties of your video ov erlay . Video Overla y V ideo ov erlay allows for the viewing of streaming video on your PC. Ho wev er , there is only one video ov erlay , which is only a v ailable on the Primary display . The video[...]

16 Clone Mode Settings A TI Ov erlay T ab Brightness Use this slider to adjust the brightness of the video image. Contrast Use this slider to adjust the contrast in the video image. Saturation Use this slider to adjust t he vividness of the co lor . Sliding it all the way to the left removes all color and produces a black and white picture. Hue Use[...]

17 Same on all Vi deo content is displayed on your Primary an d Secondary displa y is exactly the same mann er . For example, all displays will show video output in full screen mode. Theater Mode Settings These settings are availa ble when Theater Mode is selected. Same as source video The aspect ratio of the sour ce video is maint ained for full s[...]

18 Direct 3D Contr ol P anel Using this tab, you can f ine-tune the settings for Direct 3D applications. Main and Custom Settings The Main Settings allo ws you to optimize for performance by mo ving the slider to the left, or improv e ov erall image quality by mo ving the slider to the right. Selecting Custom Settings disables the Main Settings sli[...]

19 Main Setti ngs slider This allows you to select the kind of application experience you’d like to have. Moving the slider to the left will maximize a pplication performance, while moving the slider to the right will optimize 3D image quality . Moving this slider from one position to the next changes the individual Cu stom Settings sliders found[...]

20 T exture Preferenc e slider Selecting this decides wh ether your application should use high quality or high performance textures. Moving the slider to the right delivers the highest quality exper ience. Moving the slider to the left emphasizes a high pe rforman ce solution while still providing good visuals. Mipmap Detail Level sl ider This wil[...]

21 Direct 3D Compatibility Settings Support DX T texture format s May eliminate problems with cert ain Direct 3D games that di splay vertical and ho rizontal lines around textur es or display text incor rectly . This setting shou ld only be Enabled if you are experiencing these issu es, as it may cause problems with other games. Alternate p ixel ce[...]

22 OpenGL Contr ol Pa n e l Using this tab, you can f ine-t une the settings for OpenGL applications. Main and Custom Settings In the Main Settings you can maximize ov erall performance by mo ving the slid er to the left, or you can enhance o v erall image quality b y mo ving the slider to the right. Selecting Custom Settings disables the Main Sett[...]

23 Main Setti ngs slider This allows you to select the kind of application experience you’d like to have. Moving the slider to the left will maximize a pplication performance, while moving the slider to the right will optimize 3D image quality . Moving this slider from one position to the next changes the individual Cu stom Settings sliders found[...]

24 Mipmap Detail Level sl ider This will allow you to choose the texture quality of the mipm aps the applicat ion will us e. Mipma ps are a collection of dif ferent sized textures of the same image. As the user moves closer to a 3D object the image quality should incre a se, requiring a higher quality texture of th e same image. The base mipmap is [...]

2 5 OpenGL Compatibility Settings Force Z-bu ffer depth This allows you to explicit ly set the Z-Buff er depth. Most applications will work best when Disabled is selected Support KTX buffer region extension Enabling this featur e allows rapi d updates of those portions of your screen that have cha nged. Note that most applications will not be affec[...]

26 SMAR TGAR T™ SMAR TGAR T is a suite of t esting and diagnostics tools that perform a v ariety of bus tests to determine the optimal settings for your A TI graphics accelerator installed in your computer . SMAR TGAR T automatically configures your graphics de vice to the optimal settings. SMAR TGAR T does not actually disable any A G P function[...]

27 Some motherboard specif ications may claim chipset support for Fa st Writes but may not be compatible with many dif ferent graphics accelerators. This setting is disabled for many computers because the motherboar d is not capable of supporting this featur e . Retest All Click this b utton to retest al l graphic bus capabilities. All tests and di[...]

28 Using TV Out Vie w y our PC’ s displa y on a TV Y our RADEON 9800 Series has TV Out capability . Y ou can attach your graphics 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, watchin g movies, and b r o wsing the In[...]

29 Connecting to a TV or a VCR T o connect your RADEON 9800 Se ries card to a TV or a VCR, use an S-V ideo cable. Ho wev er , most TVs (and VCRs) ha ve a Composite vide o input, in which case you can use the supplied S-V ideo-to-Composite video adapter . If your TV has cable input only , you can connect your graphics card to your TV through your VC[...]

30 Star ting Windows ® with TV Displa y Enabled 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 9800 Series will go through a sequence of mode settings, during which your TV display will remain bla[...]

31 T o Enable/Disable The TV Displa y 1 Access the W indo ws ® Contr ol Panel . Double-click Display . 2 Click the Settings tab and then the Advanced... b utton. 3 Click the A TI Displays tab . Click the TV b utton. 4 Click the enable/disable b utton. 5 Click OK or A pply to sav e the changes. Using and Adjusting TV Out For information about ho w [...]

32 Using a Monitor vs. Using the TV Displa y Using your TV for your PC’ s di splay is ideal for playing games, gi ving presentati ons, watching mo vies, and bro wsing the Internet. Howe ver , the display on your monitor may change or looked squashed. This occurs because the display adjusts to f it the dimensions of your TV . T o correct the monit[...]

33 T o Use Larger Display Fonts 1 Access the W indo ws ® Contr ol Panel . Double-click Display . 2 For W i ndo ws ® XP , click the Ap p e a r a n c e tab . F or W indo ws ® Me, W indo ws ® 2000, click the Settings tab, the Advanced... b utton, then the General tab . 3 In the F ont Size box, select the size you want your displayed fonts to be. 4[...]

34 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 you are running. T o reduce edge distorti on, you can increase the TV display’ s horizontal size. T o Increase the Horizon t al Size 1 Access [...]

35 T o Increase the T V Contrast 1 Access the W indo ws ® Contr ol Panel . Double-click Display . 2 Click on the Settings tab and then the Advanced... b utton. 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 A pply to sa ve the changes you ha v e made. Ch[...]

36 NSTC/P AL Suppor t for RADEON 9800 Series The RADEON 9800 Series can support both NTSC and P AL TV standards. The de f ault setting is NTSC. T o change to P AL requires configuring a switch on the video graphics accelerat or card. F or complete information on changing this switch see the Getting Started Guide that came with your RADEON 9800 Seri[...]