ATI Technologies RADEON 9500 SERIES manual

RADEON ™ 9 5 00 SERIES User’ s Guide P / N 137 - 40 4 1 0 -20 Copyright © 2002, 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 echnologi es Inc. All other comp any and/o r product names are tradem arks and/or registered trademarks of thei[...]

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 documen tation, for an y int[...]

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

iv Using a Monitor vs. Using the TV Display ............. ........... ........... ....... 29 Reducing Edge Distortion .......... ........... .................... ........... ........... ......... . 31 Changing Display Configurations ....... .................... ................... ......... . 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, like glass, metal, wood, and produce 3D depth b y rendering the object’ s shado w s. • SMOO THVISION™ II which pro vides users with v arious degrees of jagged edge remo v al from 3D images, all[...]

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 exp erience. For help installing the CA T AL Y ST 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 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-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, con[...]

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. Displa y 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 [...]

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 9 5 00 Series card o f 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 ver , ratiometric expansion 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 increa ses or de creases the brightness o f y our desktop . The higher th e gamma v alue, the higher the b[...]

12 Clicking the Game Gamma b utton accesses the Game Gamma Properties. Game Gamma Proper ties Red Green Blue sliders These controls allo w yo u to increase or decrease the color brightness of Direct 3D and OpenGL games pla y ed in fu llscreen mode . RGB Lock Unchec k this to adjust the RGB slider s individually . Check this to adjust all three slid[...]

13 A TI Options T ab The A TI Options tab provides detailed dri ver information and access to the card’ s specif ications. Y ou can also enable or disable the A TI taskbar icon. A TI Options T ab V ersion Information Prov ides the Catalyst v ersion number , 2D v ersion number an d the dr iv er build inf or mation. Details bu tton Provides access [...]

14 Clicking the Details b utton pro vides graphics card, graphics dri ver and system information. 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 . Enable A TI taskbar icon application Unchec king this allows y ou to disable th e A TI taskbar ap[...]

15 Video Overla y V ideo ov erlay allows 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 a v 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 contr ast in the video image . Saturation Use this slider to adjust t he vividness of th e color . Sliding it all the wa y to the left remov es all color and produces a b lack and white pict ure . Hue Use this slider[...]

16 Direct 3D Contr ol P anel Using this tab, gamers can f i 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 Sett[...]

17 Main Setti ngs slider This allo ws y ou to emphasiz e what kind of application e xp eri ence you’ d lik e to hav e. Mo ving the slider to the left will max imize application performan ce, while moving the slider to the r ight will provide e xcellent 3D image quality . Moving this slider from one posit ion to the ne xt changes the individual Cu[...]

18 SMOOTH VISION II Anisotr opic Filtering P er f ormance bu t to n Select P erformance f or th e best poss ible 3D gaming p erf o r manc e at a slig ht reduc tion in 3D image quality . The maximum screen resolu tion possible will automatically be indicated. Anisotr opic Filtering Quality button Select Quality for the best possible 3D image quality[...]

19 Compatibility Settings bu t to n This button allows y ou to access advanced settings that can solv e compatibility issues f or a f ew specific Direct 3D applications. Defaults This button allows y ou to reset the Direct3 D settings to def ault v alues.[...]

20 Direct 3D Compatibility Settings Support DTX te xture f ormats Enab ling this allows applicatio ns to use this kin d of te xture f or mat. There are a f e w applications that can only suppor t a limited number of te xture f or mats. By selecting Disabled , the dr iv er will not suppor t DTX te xture f or mats , thus reducing t he number of textu[...]

21 OpenGL Contr ol Pa n e l Using this tab, gamers can f i 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 o v erall image quality b y mo ving the slider to the right. Selecting Custom Settings disables the Main Set[...]

22 Main Setti ngs slider This allo ws y ou to emphasiz e what kind of application e xp eri ence you’ d lik e to hav e. Mo ving the slider to the left will max imize application performan ce, while moving the slider to the r ight will provide e xcellent 3D image quality . Moving this slider from one posit ion to the ne xt changes the individual Cu[...]

23 T e xture 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 qu ality e xperience. Mo ving the slider to the left empha siz es a high perf or mance solution while still providing good visuals. Mipmap Detail Level slider [...]

24 OpenGL Compatibility Settings Force Z-b uffer depth This allows y ou to explicit ly set the Z-Buff er depth. Most applications will work best when Disab led is selected Support KTX b uffer region ext en s io n Enabling this f e ature allows rapid up dates of those por tions of y our screen that ha ve changed. Not e that most applications will no[...]

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 a nd 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 browsin[...]

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 ef fect 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 b[...]

28 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 [...]

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 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[...]

30 T o Use Larger Displa y 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 . 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[...]

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 Siz e 1 Access t[...]

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... 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. Cha[...]