RADEON™ 9000 User’s Guide P/N 137-40442-10 Copyright © 2002, ATI Technologies Inc. All rights reserved. ATI and all ATI product and product feature names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ATI Technologies Inc. All other company and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Features, performance and specifications are subject to change without notice. Product may not be exactly as shown in the diagrams.
Disclaimer While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, ATI Technologies Inc.
Table of Contents Disclaimer .............................................................................................. ii Product Notice........................................................................................ ii MACROVISION.................................................................................... ii Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Features At A Glance ............................................................................
Using and Adjusting TV Out................................................................ 28 Using a Monitor vs. Using the TV Display.......................................... 29 Adjusting Monitor Display................................................................... 29 Viewing Text on a TV.......................................................................... 29 Reducing Edge Distortion .................................................................... 30 Changing Display Configurations .........
1 Introduction The RADEON™ 9000 graphics accelerator delivers ground breaking 3D graphics performance. • Designed and built by ATI Technologies Inc. • Powered by the RADEON 9000 Visual Processing Unit (VPU). • Awesome 3D gaming performance. • Support for OpenGL® applications. • Support for Direct3D® applications. • High resolution in 3D up to 2048x1536. • Best performance for today’s and tomorrow’s applications. • Supports TV-Out to connect your PC to your TV or VCR.
2 Features At A Glance The RADEON 9000 provides high performance acceleration for today's demanding 3D graphic applications. Its main features includes: • VIDEO IMMERSION™ which provides industryleading DVD playback and digital TV decode capability. • CHARISMA ENGINE™ II performs complex transformation, clipping, and lighting calculations faster than the CPU or 3D graphics chip. • PIXEL TAPESTRY™ II which can apply 6 textures per pass to a complex 3D gaming scene. • TV output support.
3 ATI’s Catalyst™ Software Suite Multiple Displays and 3D Gaming Experience ATI’s Catalyst Software Suite provides multiple display functionality, and the advanced graphic features, such as TRUFORM, for the ultimate 3D gaming experience. For help on installing the Catalyst Software Suite, refer to the Getting Started Guide. The Catalyst Software Suite installs the ATI display tabs. These tabs are accessed through the Windows® Display Control Panel, through the Advanced...
4 HydraVision™ In addition to the multiple display functionality available with ATI’s Catalyst Software Suite, you can also use HydraVision for advanced multi-display (CRT + TV) management. For more information on HydraVision, please refer to the HydraVision User’s Guide PDF located on your ATI Installation CD.
5 Connecting Your 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-Video out. Turn off computer before connecting monitor. Plug the monitor cable into your card then turn on the PC and monitor.
6 Display Configurations Your RADEON 9000 card provides support for TV Out. The following table lists the different ways you can connect displays to your card.
7 Catalyst™ Software Suite The following section provides an explanation of each ATI tab available after installing the Catalyst Software Suite. i Features presented in the following pages may not be supported in all operating systems and/or may appear differently. ATI Displays Tab Here you enable/disable TV Out. For complete information see How To Enable/Disable The TV Display on page 28.
8 ATI Color Tab The ATI Color tab is used to adjust the color settings. You can change the red, green and blue display colors. Desktop brightness and Game Gamma (brightness in Direct3D® and OpenGL®) can also be changed. ATI Color Tab Desktop Brightness This increases or decreases the brightness of your desktop. The higher the gamma value, the higher the brightness of your display. Color Curve This adjusts the selected color (red, green or blue check button) by moving the color curve with your mouse.
9 Clicking the Game Gamma button accesses the Game Gamma Properties. Game Gamma Properties Red Green Blue sliders These controls allow you to increase or decrease the color brightness of Direct3D® and OpenGL® games played in fullscreen mode. RGB Lock Uncheck this to adjust the RGB sliders individually. Check this to adjust all three sliders at the same time. Defaults button This allows you to reset the Game Gamma settings to default values.
10 ATI Options Tab The ATI Options tab provides detailed driver information and access to the card’s specifications. You can also enable or disable the ATI taskbar icon. ATI Options Tab Version Information Provides the Catalyst version number, 2D version number and the driver build information. Details button Provides access to the Details tab which lists the card’s hardware details and driver information.
11 Reduce DVI frequency on highresolution displays Fixes display corruption or no displayed image at high resolutions on your DVI-I display. This setting has no effect on cards using a DVI-I-to-VGA adapter. ATI Overlay Tab The ATI Overlay tab allows you to configure the brightness, contrast, saturation, hue and gamma properties of your video overlay. Video Overlay Video overlay allows for the viewing of full-motion video on your PC.
12 ATI Overlay Tab 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 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 adjust the pureness or tint of the red, green and blue components of the color. Gamma Use this slider to adjust the overall intensity of the video image.
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 image quality by moving the slider to the right.
14 Main Settings slider This allows you to emphasize what kind of application experience you’d like to have. Moving the slider to the left will maximize application performance, while moving the slider to the right will provide excellent 3D image quality. Moving this slider from one position to the next changes the individual Custom Settings sliders found below.
15 Mipmap Detail Level slider This will allow you to choose the texture quality of the mipmaps the application will use. Mipmaps are a collection of different sized textures of the same image. As the user moves closer to a 3D object the image quality should increase, requiring a higher quality texture of the same image. The base mipmap is the highest quality texture, and all subsequent mipmaps are smaller sized textures of the same image.
16 Direct3D® Compatibility Settings Support Wbuffer This will enable W-Buffer support for 3D games. It is recommended to disable this for games that do not support this feature. 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-Buffer Bit Depth can be 16 bits, 24 bits, or 32 bits. 16 and 24 are selected by default to achieve optimum performance.
17 Alpha dithering method When applications use both dithering and alpha blending, visual artifacts can occur. This option allows you to select how the application should handle both features at the same time. In most cases Error Diffusion will handle this situation quite well, but there are a few cases where selecting Ordered may be necessary. Support DTX texture formats Enabling this allows applications to use this kind of texture format.
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 image quality by moving the slider to the right.
19 Main Settings slider This allows you to emphasize what kind of application experience you’d like to have. Moving the slider to the left will maximize application performance, while moving the slider to the right will provide excellent 3D image quality. Moving this slider from one position to the next changes the individual Custom Settings sliders found below.
20 Mipmap Detail Level slider This will allow you to choose the texture quality of the mipmaps the application will use. Mipmaps are a collection of different sized textures of the same image. As the user moves closer to a 3D object the image quality should increase, requiring a higher quality texture of the same image. The base mipmap is the highest quality texture, and all subsequent mipmaps are smaller sized textures of the same image.
21 OpenGL® Compatibility Settings Force Z-buffer depth This allows you to explicitly set the Z-Buffer 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 how the application should handle both features at the same time.
22
23 SMARTGART™ SMARTGART is a suite of testing and diagnostics tools that perform a variety of bus tests to determine the optimal settings for your ATI graphics accelerator installed in your computer. SMARTGART automatically configures your graphics device to the optimal settings. SMARTGART does not actually disable any AGP functionality in your computer’s hardware.
24 This setting is disabled for many computers because the motherboard is not capable of supporting this feature. 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 previously been set to Off will be turned on, providing the test passes. i Problems can arise if the user enables a secondary graphics accelerator (in a multiple monitor environment) after the operating system has loaded.
25 Using TV Out View your PC’s display on a TV Your RADEON 9000 has TV Out capability. You 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 tips will help you get the most out of your TV Out feature.
26 Connecting to a TV or a VCR To connect your graphics accelerator card to a TV or a VCR, use a S-Video cable. However, most TVs (and VCRs) have a Composite video input, in which case you can use the supplied S-Video-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 modulator (available in most electronics stores). Connecting S-Video Out to a TV or VCR 1 Turn off your PC and your TV (or VCR).
27 S-Video Out S-Video In OR Composite In PC TV or VCR NOTE: Newer TVs may have the Video Input on the front panel S-Video Cable OR S-Video-to-Composite Adapter Starting Windows® with TV Display Enabled The TV screen may become scrambled during the initial Windows® logo display. This is only a temporary effect and your screen will be restored within a few seconds. During start up, your graphics accelerator card will go through a sequence of mode settings, during which your TV display will remain blank.
28 Using SCART Connectors for European TVs Audio In (Right = red) (Left = white) Connect to TV or VCR Audio Cable Connect to PC Audio Out Video Adapter Cable SCART CONNECTOR Composite Video-In (yellow) Connect to PC S-Video Out The SCART connector supports only the Composite video format, which means you will have to use the S-Video-to-Composite Video Adapter Cable. The above illustration shows how to connect your PC to a European TV using the SCART.
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. To correct the monitor’s display, use the monitor’s control buttons to adjust its display size and position. Some single frequency monitors may not work with TV display enabled.
30 To Use Larger Display Fonts 1 Access the Windows® Control Panel. Doubleclick Display. 2 For Windows® XP, click the Appearance tab. For Windows® Me and Windows® 2000, click the Settings tab, the Advanced... button, then the General tab. 3 In the Font Size box, select the size you want your displayed fonts to be. 4 Click Apply. If prompted, click Yes to restart your PC.
31 7 Click OK or Apply to save the changes you have made. You can also reduce edge distortion by increasing the TV’s contrast. To Increase the TV Contrast 1 Access the Windows® Control Panel. Doubleclick Display. 2 Click on the Settings tab and then the Advanced... button. 3 Click on the ATI 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 save the changes you have made.
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). Your TV display will be restored once you exit the game or if you restart your PC.