ATI Technologies 9500 SERIES manual

RADEON ™ 9 5 00 SERIES User’ s Guide P / N 137 - 40 4 1 0 -20 Copyright © 2 002, A TI T echnologies In c. All rights re served. A TI and all A TI product and product feature names are trademarks and/or registered trademar ks of A TI T echnologies Inc. All other compan y and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their [...]

ii Disc laimer While ev ery precaution ha s been taken in the preparation of this document, A TI T echnologies Inc. as sumes no liabili ty 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 documentation, for any inter[...]

iii T ab le of Contents Disclaimer ............. .................... .................... ...................... .................... ...... ii Product Notice .............. .................... ....................... ................... ............ ii Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Features At [...]

iv Using a Monitor vs. Using the TV Display .......... ...................... .......... 29 Reducing Edge Distortion .......... ...................... ....................... .................. 31 Changing Display Confi gurations ....... ................. ................... ............. 32 Using Games and Applications ............................[...]

1 Intr oduction The RADEON™ 9 5 00 Series graphic accelerators deli vers ground breaking 3D graphics performance. • P o w ered b y the RADEON 9 5 00 Series V i sual Processing Unit (VPU). • First 8-pixel pipeline architecture. • First to support DirectX 9.0. • 256-bit DDR memory interface. • Support for A GP 8X specif ication. • First[...]

2 Features At A Glance The RADEON 9 5 00 Series includes: • SMAR TSHADER™ II which can realistically create the visual properties of any material, lik e glass, metal, wood, and produce 3D depth b y rendering the object’ s shado ws. • SMOO THVISION™ II which pro vides users with v arious degrees of jagged edge remov al from 3D images, allo[...]

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 II, for the ultimate 3D gaming experience. F or help installing the CA T AL YST Software Suite, refer to the Getting Started G[...]

4 HydraVision™ In addition to the multiple display functionality av 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 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) Y our RADEON 95 00 Series pr o vides hard w a re support for one D VI-I monitor or two V GA monitors using the supplied D VI-I-to-VGA 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, conne[...]

6 Displa y Configurations Y our RADEON 9 5 00 Series graphics accelerator card provides dual display functionality and TV Out. The follo wing table lists the di fferent ways you can connect displays to your card. Display Configuration Connector(s) Used Comments One CRT displa y V GA connector OR DV I - I connector with D VI-I- to-V GA adapter CRT -[...]

7 CA T AL 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 pro vides 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 button for the display de vice you want to enable/disable. 5 Click OK or A pply to sav e the changes. Enabling Extended Des[...]

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 9 5 00 Series card o f fers ratiometric expansion (or digital panel scaling as it is commonly kno wn). This expands a lo w resolution image to fill a higher resolution panel. Ho wev er , ratiometric expansion is only a vailable on the Primary display . Therefore, if a [...]

11 AT I C o l o r T a 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 brightness of y our desktop . The higher the ga mma value , the higher the br[...]

12 Clicking the Game Gamma b utton 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 O penGL games pla yed in fullscreen mode . RGB Lock Unchec k this to adjust the RGB sliders individually . Check this to adjust all three sliders [...]

13 A T I Options T ab The A TI Options tab pro vides detailed driv er 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 Information Provides the Cat alyst version n umber , 2D version number and the driver build inf or mation. Details button Provides access to t[...]

14 Clicking the Details button pro vides graphics card, graphics dri ver and system information. A TI Overla y T ab The A TI Ov erlay tab allows you to conf igure the brightness, contrast, sat uration, hue and gamma properties of your video ov erlay . Enable A TI taskbar icon application Uncheckin g this allows you to disab le the A TI taskbar app [...]

15 Video Overla y V ideo overlay allo ws for th e vie wing of full-motion video on your PC. Ho wev er , there is only one video ov erlay , which is only av ailable on the Primary display . The video ov erlay controls are automatically acti vated during playback of any video f ile type that supports ov erlay adjustments.[...]

16 A TI Overlay T a b Brightness Use this slider to adjust the brightness of the video image. Contrast Use this slider to adjust the contra st in the video image. Saturation Use this slider to adjust t he vividness of the color . Sliding it all the wa y to the left remov es all color and produces a b lack and white pictur e. Hue Use this slider to [...]

16 Direct 3D Contr ol P anel Using this tab, gamers can fi ne-tune the settings of their Direct 3D games. Main and Custom Settings The Main Settings allo ws you can maximize ov erall performance by mo ving the slider to the left, or maximize ov erall image quality by mo ving the slider to the right. Selecting Custom Settings disables the Main Setti[...]

17 Main Settin gs slider This allows y ou to emphasize what kin d of application experie nce you’ d like to ha ve. Moving the slider to the left will maximize application performance, while moving the slid er to the r ight will provide e xcellent 3D image quality . Moving this slider from one position t o the next chan ges the individual Custom S[...]

18 SMOOTH VISION II Anisotro pic Filtering P erformance but t o n Select P erformance f or the best possible 3D gaming per f or ma nce at a slig ht reduction in 3D image quality . The maximum screen resolutio n possible will automatically be indicated. Anisotro pic Filtering Quality button Select Quality for the best possible 3D image quality at a [...]

19 Compatibility Settings but t o n This button allows y ou to access ad vanced settings that can solve compatibility issues f or a f ew specific Direct 3D applications. Defaults This button allows y ou to rese t the Direct3D settings to def ault v alues.[...]

20 Direct 3D Compatibility Settings Support DTX te xture formats Enabling this allo ws applicatio ns to use this kind of te xture f or mat. There are a f ew app lications that can only support a limited number of texture f or mats. By selecting Disabled , the driver will not suppor t DTX te xture f or mats, thus reducin g the number of texture form[...]

21 OpenGL Contr ol Pa n e l Using this tab, gamers can fi ne-tune the settings of their OpenGL games. 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 ov erall image quality by mo ving the slider to the right. Selecting Custom Settings disables the Main Settin[...]

22 Main Settin gs slider This allows y ou to emphasize what kin d of application experie nce you’ d like to ha ve. Moving the slider to the left will maximize application performance, while moving the slid er to the r ight will provide e xcellent 3D image quality . Moving this slider from one position t o the next chan ges the individual Custom S[...]

23 T exture Preference slider Selecting this decides wh ether your application should use high quality or high perf or mance te xtures. Mo ving the slider to the right deliv ers the highest quality e x perience. Mo ving the slider to the left emphasi zes a high perf ormance solution while still providing good visuals. Mipmap De tail Level slider Th[...]

24 OpenGL Compatibility Settings Force Z-b uffer depth This allows you to e xplicit ly set t he Z-Buff er depth. Most applications will work best when Disab led is selected Support KTX buffer region ext en si on Enabling this f eat ure allows rapid updat es of those por tions of y our screen that ha ve changed. Note that most applications will not [...]

25 Using TV Out V iew your PC’ s display on a T V Y our RADEON 9 5 00 Se r i e s has TV Out c a pabil i t y . Y ou can attach your graphics card to a TV and monitor at the same time. Or you can conne ct it to your VCR and record your monitor ’ s display . TV display is ideal for playing games, giving presentations, watching movies, and browsing[...]

26 Connecting to a TV or a VCR T o connect your RADEON 9 5 00 S e 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[...]

27 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 effect and your screen will be restored within a fe w seconds. During start up, your RADEON 9 5 00 Series will go through a sequence of mode settings, during which your TV display will remain bl[...]

28 T o Enable/Disab le The TV Display 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 button. 4 Click the enable/disable button. 5 Click OK or A pply to sav e the changes. Using and Adjusting TV Out For information about ho w to[...]

29 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 movies, and bro wsing the Internet. Howe ver , the display on your monitor may change or looked squashed. This occurs because the display adjusts to fit the dimensions of your TV . T o correct the monitor[...]

30 T o Use Larger Display Fonts 1 Access the W indo ws ® Contr ol Panel . Double-click Display . 2 For W indows ® XP , click the Ap pe ar a nc e tab . For 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 Click[...]

31 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 Horizontal Size 1 Access th[...]

32 T o Increase the TV Contrast 1 Access the W indo ws ® Contr ol Panel . Double-click Display . 2 Click on the Settings tab and then the Advanced... button. 3 Click on the A TI Displays tab . 4 Click on the TV button. 5 Drag the Contrast slider to the right to increase the contrast. 6 Click OK or Apply to sa ve the changes you ha ve made. Changin[...]