Diamond Multimedia 9000 manual

RADEON ™ 9000 User ’ s Guide P/N 137-40442-1 0 Copyright © 2002, A TI T echnologies Inc. All rights reserved. A TI and all A TI product and product feature na mes are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of A TI T echnologies Inc. Al l other company and/or product names are trademarks and/or regist ered trademarks of their respective owners[...]

ii Disclaimer While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, A TI T echnologies Inc. assumes no li ability with respect to the operation or use of A TI hardware, software or other products and do cumentation described herein, for any act or omission of A TI concerning such produc ts or this documentation, for any interru[...]

iii T able of Content s Disclaimer ............ ........... .............. ........... ............ .............. ........... ......... ii Product Notice ....................... ........... .............. ........... .............. ............ ... ii MACROVISION ....... ............... ........... ........... .............. ........... ..........[...]

iv Using and Adjusting TV Out ......... ........... ............... ........... .............. .... 28 Using a Monitor vs. Using the TV Display .... .............. ........... ............. 29 Adjusting Monitor Display .................. ........... .............. ........... ............. 29 Viewing Text on a TV ........ ........... ..............[...]

1 Introduction The RADEON™ 9000 graphics accelerator delivers ground breaking 3D graphics performance. • Designed and built by A TI T echnologies I n c. • Powered by the RADEON 9000 V isual Processing Unit (VPU). • A wesome 3D gaming performance. • S upport for OpenGL ® applications. • S upport for Direct3D ® applications. • H igh r[...]

2 Features At A Glance The RADEON 9000 provides high performance acceleration for today' s demanding 3D graphic applications. Its main features includes: • V IDEO IMMERSION™ wh ich provides industry- leading DVD playback a nd digital TV decode capability . • C HARISMA ENGINE™ II performs complex transformation, clipping, and lighting c[...]

3 A TI’ s Cat alyst ™ Sof tware Suite Multiple Displays and 3D Gaming Experience A TI’ s Catalyst Software Suite provides multiple display functionality , and the advanced graphic features, such as TRUFOR M, for the ultimate 3D gaming experience. For help on installing the Catalyst Software Suite, refer to the Getting S tarted Guide . The Cat[...]

4 HydraVision™ In addition to the multiple display functionality available with A TI’ s Cataly st Software Suite, you can also use HydraV ision for advanced multi-display (CR T + TV) 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 Connecting Y our Monitor The RADEON 9000 provides hardware support for one VGA monitor . A TV can also be used to expand your desktop by using the S-V ideo out. T urn of f computer before connecting monitor . Plug the monitor cable into your card then turn on the PC and monitor . S-VIDEO OUT VGA CONNECT OR FROM MONITOR ST ANDARD VGA S-VID OUT CRT[...]

6 Display Configurations Y our RADEON 9000 card provides support for TV Out. The following table lists the different ways you can connect displays to your card. Display Configuration Connector(s) Used Comment s One CRT display VGA connector CRT - cathode ray tu be analog disp lay One TV S-Video Out The S-Video Uut can also support a composite conne[...]

7 C a ta l y s t ™ S o ft w a r e S u i t e The following section provides an explanation of each A TI tab available after insta lling the Catalyst Software Suite. A TI Displays T ab Here you enable/disable TV Out. For complete information see How T o Enable/Disable The TV Display on page 28 . Ratiometric Exp ansion Y our graphics accelerator car[...]

8 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 in Direct3D ® and OpenGL ® ) can also be changed. A TI Color T ab Desktop Brightness This increases or decreases the brightness of your desktop. The higher the gamm a valu[...]

9 Clicking the Game Gamma button accesses the Game Gamma Properties. Game Gamma Prop erties Red Green Blue sliders These controls allow you to incre ase or decrease the color brightness of Direct3D ® a nd Open GL ® games played in fullscreen mode. RGB Lock Uncheck this to adjust the RGB sliders individuall y . Check this to adjust all three slide[...]

10 AT I O p t i o n s Ta b The A TI Options tab provides detailed driver information and access to the card’ s specifications. Y ou can also enable or di sable the A TI taskbar icon. AT I O p t i o n s Ta b V e rsion Information Provides the Catalyst version number, 2D version number and the driver build informa tion. Deta ils button Provides acc[...]

11 A TI Overlay T ab The A TI Overlay tab allows you to configure the brightness, contrast, saturation, hue and gamma properties of your video overlay . Video Overlay V ideo overlay allows for the viewing of full-motion video on your PC. The video overlay controls are automatically activated duri ng playback of any video file type that supports ove[...]

12 A TI Ov erlay T ab Brightness Use this slider to adju st the brightness of the video image. Contrast Use this slider to adjust th e contrast in the video image. Saturation Use this slider to adjust the vividness of the color . Sliding it all the way to the left removes all color and produces a black and white picture. Hue Use this slider to adju[...]

13 Direct3D ® Control Panel Using this control panel, you can optimize the display settings for your Direct3D ® games. Main and Custom Settings In the Main Settings you can maximize overall performance by moving the slider to the left, or you can enhance overall im age quality by moving the slider to the right.[...]

14 Main Settin gs slider This allows you to emphasi ze what ki nd of application experience you’d like to have. Moving the slider to the left will maximize application performance, wh ile moving the slider to the right will provide excellent 3D image quality . Moving this slid er from one position to the next changes the indivi dual Custom Settin[...]

15 Mipmap De t ail Level slid er This will allow you to choose the textu re quality of the mipmaps the application wi ll use. Mipmaps are a collection of di fferent sized te xtures of the same image. As the user moves closer to a 3D object the image quality should increase, requiring a hig her quality texture of the same image. The base mipmap is t[...]

16 Direct 3D ® Comp atibility Settings Support W - buffer This will enable W-Buffer support for 3D games. It is recommended to disable this for games that do not support this featu re. Certain applications require the increased precision of W-Buffering and will exhibit artifacts unless the W-Buffer is enabled. Support 32-bit Z-buffer depth Z-Buffe[...]

17 Alpha dithering method When applications use both dithering a nd alpha blending, visual artifacts can occur . This option allow s you to select how the application sho uld handle both features at the same time. In most cases Error Diffusion will handle this situatio n quite well, but there are a few cases where selecting Ord ered may be necessar[...]

18 OpenGL ® Control Panel Using this control panel, you can optimize the display settings for your OpenGL ® games. Main and Custom Settings In the Main Settings you can maximize overall performance by moving the slider to the left, or you can enhance overall im age quality by moving the slider to the right.[...]

19 Main Settin gs slider This allows you to emphasi ze what ki nd of application experience you’d like to have. Moving the slider to the left will maximize application performance, wh ile moving the slider to the right will provide excellent 3D image quality . Moving this slid er from one position to the next changes the indivi dual Custom Settin[...]

20 Mipmap De t ail Level slid er This will allow you to choose the textu re quality of the mipmaps the application wi ll use. Mipmaps are a collection of di fferent sized te xtures of the same image. As the user moves closer to a 3D object the image quality should increase, requiring a hig her quality texture of the same image. The base mipmap is t[...]

21 Open GL ® Comp atibility Settings Force Z-buffe r depth This allows you to explicitly set th e Z-Buffer depth. Most applications will work best when Disabled is selected. Alpha dithering method When applications use both dithering a nd alpha blending, visual artifacts can occur . This option allow s you to select how the application sho uld han[...]

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23 SMARTGART™ SMAR TGAR T is a suite of testing and diagnostics tools that perform a variety 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 device to the optimal settings. SMAR TGAR T does not actually disable any AGP functionality i[...]

24 This setting is disabled for many computers because the motherboar d is not c apable of supporting this featur e. Retest All Click this button to retest all graphic bus capabilities. All tests and diagnostics are initiated immediately following a system restart. Any settings that have pr eviously been set to Of f will be turned on, pr oviding th[...]

25 Using TV Out View your PC’ s display on a TV Y our RADEON 9000 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, giving presentations, watching movies, and browsing the Internet. The following t[...]

26 Connecting to a TV or a VCR T o connect your graphics a ccelerator card to a TV or a VCR, use a S-V ideo cable. However , most TVs (and VCRs) have a Composite video input, in which case you can use the suppl ied S-V ideo-to-Composite video adapter . If your TV has cable input only , you can connect your card to your TV through your VCR or an RF [...]

27 St arting Windows ® with TV Display Enabled The TV screen may become scrambled during the initial W indows ® logo display . This is only a temporary effect and your sc reen will be restored within a few seconds. During start up, your graphi cs accelerator card will go through a sequence of mode settings, during which your TV display will remai[...]

28 Using SCART Connector s for European TVs The SCAR T connector suppor ts only the Composite video format, which means you will have to use the S-V ideo-to-Composite V ideo Adapter Cable. The above illustration shows how to connect your PC to a European TV using the SCAR T . If your European TV does support S-V ideo input, you should use an S-V id[...]

29 Using a Monitor vs. Using the TV Display Using your TV for your PC’ s display is ideal for playing games, giving presentations, watching movies, and browsing the Internet. However , 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 ’ s[...]

30 T o Use Larger Display Fonts 1 Access the W indows ® Contr ol Panel . Double- click Display . 2 For W indows ® XP , click the Appearance tab. For W indows ® Me and W indows ® 2000, click the Settings tab, the Advanced... button, then the General tab. 3 In the Font Size box, select th e size you want your displayed fonts to be. 4 Click Apply [...]

31 7 Click OK or Apply to save the changes you have made. Y ou can also reduce edge distortion by increasing the TV’ s contrast. T o Increase the TV Co ntrast 1 Access the W indows ® 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 [...]

32 Using Games and Applications Some older games and applications may program your graphics accelerator card directly , to run under a specific display mode. This may cause your TV display to turn off automatically or become scrambled (the PC monitor will not be affected). Y our TV display will be restored once you exit the game or if you restart y[...]