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ATI Technologies X1550 User's Manual

1. Video Presets mua u 7 Dm Catalyst Control Center Avivo Video Standard Settings To quickly adjust your video settings choose one of the video presets or use the Video Wizard to configure your display devices Start the Video Wizard 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click Standard Settings 3 Click the Wizard button Select a Video Preset 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click Standard Settings n ATI Technologies 80 Standard Settings 3 Select a preset from the Video Presets menu Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Adjustments Use Avivo Video Adjustments to manually set Gamma Bri
2. Advanced Installation PCle There are two types of installation If your graphics card does not require a separate connection to the computer s power supply follow the Basic Install instructions If your graphics card require a separate connection to the computer s power supply follow the Advanced Install instructions for either AGP or PCIe as appropriate Graphics cards that require connection to the computer s power supply will have a power cable connected to them O Consult your system builder or OEM to ensure that your system has an adequate power supply A PCI Express compatible system has a specialized 12V graphics card power connector A 450 watt or greater power supply is recommended Consult your computer system manual to ensure the power supply is designed to accommodate a high end graphics card with a peak dissipation above 75 watts ATI Technologies 12 Advanced Installation PCle Graphics Card Installation 1 Graphics Card 2 Power Supply 3 6 pin Power Cable Connector 4 6 pin Power Connection 5 Power connector to Graphics Card 6 Power connector to Power Supply Installing the Radeon graphics card 1 Turn off the computer monitor and other peripheral devices 2 Unplug the computer s power cord and disconnect all cables from the back of your computer WARNING Wait approximately 20 seconds after unplugging the power cord before disconnecting a peripheral o
3. EDTV Acronym for Enhanced Definition Television which produces better television image quality than Standard Definition Television SDTV Applicable to the NTSC broadcast format EDTV displays are capable of depicting the standard 480 horizontal scan lines in a non interlaced format Instead it paints all of the scan lines in one pass which is called progressive scanning a process which also removes the jaggies inherent in the interlaced television signals Flat Shading A lighting technique that shades each polygon of a 3D object based on where the source of the light is and the angle of the polygon in relation to it It enables relatively fast rendering of 3D objects although it can make those objects appear faceted as each visible polygon is set to a particular color value and consequently does not produce as realistic an effect as obtained when using Gouraud shading Fog Term used to describe the blending of an object using a fixed color as objects are made to appear more distant from the viewer Frame Buffer The portion of the memory buffer on the graphics card used to store the image being displayed All rendering processes have been accomplished by this stage and this buffer contains only a one to one relationship of the data to be relayed to the display ATI Technologies Frames Per Second In terms of 3D graphics refers to the rate at which the graphic processor can render new screens per seco
4. it is possible to drive four separate sets of monitors and still have one of those displays as a dedicated CrossFire display If the motherboard contains an integrated video connection and SurroundView is enabled more displays can be added Additional troubleshooting tips are covered in the Reference chapter ATI Technologies Troubleshooting 103 CHAPTER 8 Reference This chapter provides information on troubleshooting where to get additional accessories how to register your product plus warranty and compliance information Troubleshooting The following troubleshooting tips may help if you experience problems ATI s documentation contains helpful installation configuration tips and other valuable feature information Please contact your dealer for more advanced troubleshooting information General Troubleshooting Problem Possible Solution Computer Does e Verify that the installation instructions were properly Not Boot Up followed Properly Check that the card is properly installed in your system and connected to your monitor If you have problems during start up restart your computer in Safe Mode While starting Windows XP press and hold F8 until you see the Windows Advanced Options Menu Use the arrow keys to select Safe Mode and press Enter Check the system configuration utility of your operating system for the interrupt assignments Contact ATI s Customer Care or your local te
5. 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults ATI Technologies Adaptive Anti aliasing 63 Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Adaptive Anti aliasing Adaptive anti aliasing is a technique that applies a combination of multi sampling MSAA and super sampling SSAA on 3D objects to improve edge smoothness and fine detail This feature renders 3D objects containing transparencies more realistic providing exceptional levels of image quality while maintaining performance Set the level of adaptive anti aliasing 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click Adaptive Anti Aliasing 3 Adjust the Adaptive Anti Aliasing control slider to the desired setting Anisotropic Filtering Anisotropic filtering is a technique that preserves detail on surfaces that have three di
6. 1 Open Hotkeys Manager 2 Select an option from the List Hotkeys for drop down menu e Optionally select an aspect from the According to list Click a hot key to edit Click Edit button Choose a modifier Enter any letter of the alphabet N Oa GQ KR Click the OK button to save your changes ATI Technologies Profiles Manager 33 Note A hot key character is restricted to letters of the alphabet Create a list of active hot keys 1 Open Hotkeys Manager 2 Select an option from the List Hotkeys for drop down menu e Optionally select an aspect from the According to list 3 Select the hot key actions you want active Note A hot key action must have a hot key assigned to it before the hot key can be made active See a list of active hot keys only 1 Open Hotkeys Manager 2 Click List active Hotkeys only 3 Select an option from the List Hotkeys for drop down menu e Optionally select an aspect from the According to list Sort hot keys Hot keys can be sorted by their state actions or key combination 1 Open Hotkeys Manager e Click Active button to sort by state e Click Hotkeys Actions button to sort by action e Click Hotkeys button to sort by key combination 2 Clicking the respective button toggles ascending descending sort order Apply a hot key e Press and hold down the modifier s keys then press the assigned keyboard key For example press and hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys then press the C k
7. Advanced Installation AGP There are two types of installation If your graphics card does not require a separate connection to the computer s power supply follow the Basic Install instructions If your graphics card require a separate connection to the computer s power supply follow the Advanced Install instructions for either AGP or PCIe as appropriate Graphics cards that require connection to the computers power supply will have a power cable connected in the upper right corner of the card O Consult your system builder or OEM to ensure that your system has an adequate power supply Generally ATI recommends a 300 watt power supply or greater to ensure normal system operation where a number of other internal devices are installed Graphic Card Installation 1 Graphics Card 2 Power Supply 3 Hard Drive ATI Technologies 10 Advanced Installation AGP 4 Power Cable Connector 5 4 Pin Power Connection 6 Power Extension Cable Power Connector to Graphics Card 7 Power Extension Cable Power Connector to Hard Drive 8 Power Extension Cable Power Connector to Power Supply 9 Hard Drive 10 Power Connector to Hard Drive Installing the graphics card 1 Turn off the computer monitor and other peripheral devices 2 Unplug the computer s power cord and disconnect all cables from the back of your computer O WARNING Wait approximately 20 seconds after unplugging the power
8. 106 warranty 103 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment WEEE Compliance 109 Windows 21 23 24 105 122 Windows Advanced Options Menu 103 Windows Control Panel 115 Windows System Information 40 Windows System Tray 37 Windows XP 4 21 103 Wizard 38 78 79 X XGA 124 Y Y C 126 Y C video 126 YCbCr 130 YPbPr 105 116 129 YPbPr connector 95 Z Z buffer 72 120 130 z buffer 115
9. All Settings iF ei YPU Recover Settings 7 Enable VPU Recover wj Prepare an error report if YPU Recover is activated for submission to ATI Technologies Pr caralysT Catalyst Control Center VPU Recover Enable VPU Recover 1 From the Tree View pane click VPU Recover 2 Click Enable VPU Recover Prepare an error report You can chose to send an error report to ATI if VPU Recover is activated This report assists ATI in determining the cause of the problem This information is then used to develop more stable graphic drivers 1 From the Tree View pane click VPU Recover 2 Click Prepare an error report if VPU Recover is activated for submission to ATI Technologies 3 Click Send Error Report button in the error report email ATI Technologies 90 VPU Recover An email is created containing the error report for submission to ATI Technologies Note No personal information is included in the error report Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Discard your
10. I to VGA Adapter optional not included 3 DVI I Connection To connect a digital display Note If you use multiple monitors the Radeon X1550 Series card must be the primary graphics card Normally the system BIOS determines which graphics card will be the primary To connect your monitors 1 Power off your computer and monitors 2 Plug the monitor cables into their appropriate connectors ATI Technologies Display Configurations 17 3 Power on your monitors first and then restart your computer so that Windows can detect the new hardware settings 4 When the New Hardware Found Wizard appears at the appropriate prompt insert the ATI Installation CD to load the drivers for your Radeon X1550 Series card To set up a multi monitor display 1 From the Start button click Control Panel then Display Click the Settings tab to access the basic multi monitor configuration settings Note ATI provides Catalyst Control Center software that provides many additional configuration features It can be accessed by clicking the Advanced button from the Display Properties gt Settings tab Select the Monitor icon identified by the number 2 3 Click Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor Set the Screen Resolution and Color Quality as appropriate for the second monitor Click Apply or OK to apply these new values e Refer to your Windows online help and documentation for further information on using the Settings tab
11. L 3Graphics Software Graphics Hardware Graphics Adapter 1 R482 7109 SyncMaster 2 Displays Manager LI Display Options Graphics Software Wi Digital Panel Properties aS D el Color Driver Packaging Version 8 18 050802n 002628E ATI a Aviv Vid CATALYST Version 02 2 B Aa Provider ATI Technologies Inc VPU Recover 2D Driver Version 6 14 10 6573 2D Driver File Path System CurrentControlS et Control Vided Direct3D Version 6 14 10 0343 OpenGL Version 6 14 10 5382 CATALYST Control Center Version 1 2 2040 38687 AIWA IYO WDM Driver Version 6 14 10 6238 AlWAVIVO WDM SP Driver Version 6 14 10 6238 ial Gya Informacion a Ba kana Catalyst Control Center Information Center Graphics Software Sample To access the Information Center Expand Information Center in the treeview of Advanced View and select either Graphic Software or Graphic Hardware A ATI Technologies 40 Displays Manager To access system information e Click the System Information button to open the Windows System Information Displays Manager The Displays Manager aspect is the central location for configuring your display devices and arranging your desktop Use the Displays Manager aspect to quickly change your display setup arrange your desktop in a multi monitor environment and enable TV Out Those new to the Catalyst Control Center may use the Basic Vie
12. View pane expand Digital Panel Properties 2 Click HDTV Support 3 Click Add 1080i standard format to the Displays Manager O WARNING This option is only intended for displays that report incomplete or incorrect EDID information Adding this setting could damage your digital flat panel display USE WITH CAUTION Add 1080p mode to the Displays Manager Force button If the Predefined and Custom HDTV Formats list box is empty you can add a format 1 From the Tree View pane expand Digital Panel Properties 2 Click HDTV Support 3 Click Add 1080p standard format to the Displays Manager O WARNING This option is only intended for displays that report incomplete or incorrect EDID information Adding this setting could damage your digital flat panel display USE WITH CAUTION ATI Technologies HDTV Support 57 Add an HDTV format The Predefined and Custom HDTV Formats list box should list any standard and optimized HDTV formats supported by the digital panel s EDID If the list is empty then no HDTV formats are natively supported 1 From the Tree View pane expand Digital Panel Properties 2 Click HDTV Support 3 Select either 720p or 1080i in HDTV modes supported by this display 4 Click Apply formats 5 Click Add e A group of four arrow buttons and a large rectangle is overlaid on the screen Use these arrows to increase or decrease the width and height of the rectangle until the blue background is just visible e C
13. an aspect not just the feature in the current view HDTV Support Use HDTV Support when your CRT or DFP display device supports one or more HDTV modes that are not initially listed in the Displays Manager due to an incomplete EDID Extended Display Identification Data Selecting one or both of the HDTV modes adds them to the Force button located in the Displays Manager when the associated display is selected If you have both CRT and DFP display devices and want both to support HDTV you select both the Add 720p and Add 1080i check boxes in the corresponding HDTV Support pages The following formats and refresh rates are fully supported supported e NTSC e PAL e SECAM O WARNING Forcing a display mode that exceeds its EDID limits may result in permanent damage to your display Add 720p mode to the Displays Manager Force button If the Predefined and Custom HDTV Formats list box is empty you can add a format 1 From the Tree View pane expand Digital Panel Properties 2 Click HDTV Support 3 Click Add 720p standard format to the Displays Manager ATI Technologies 56 HDTV Support O WARNING This option is only intended for displays that report incomplete or incorrect EDID information Adding this setting could damage your digital flat panel display USE WITH CAUTION Add 1080i mode to the Displays Manager Force button If the Predefined and Custom HDTV Formats list box is empty you can add a format 1 From the Tree
14. and positioning controls of your monitor to position the picture on the screen Set the monitor s RGB inputs and sync switches if this option is available to 75 Ohms with the sync set to external Digital Flat Panel DFP monitor users refer to your monitor s documentation for the appropriate cable and connector to plug into the DVI I connector on the graphics card Operating System Warns that Video Card Isn t Properly Configured Check the driver installation and make sure that all software is correctly loaded corresponding to your operating system and applications e Re install the ATI drivers for your Radeon X1550 Series card ATI Technologies Product Registration 105 HDTV HDTV Adapter Troubleshooting Problem The colors on my TV display are incorrect Possible Solution Ensure that the connections between the Component Video Adapter and your HDTV are correct Y Green Pb Blue Pr Red There is no display on my TV Your TV will not display anything until Windows starts this may take several minutes Set your TV to YPbPr input Ensure that the HDTV Component Video Adapter is properly connected then restart your computer DVDs will not play in 720p or 1080i modes Copy protected DVDs restrict playback to 480i and 480p modes can t see the entire display If your component input device supports it try 720p mode The display appears tilted Consult your H
15. card and the Slave graphics card and combines the results according to the selected operating mode It then sends the final frames out to the display device It is capable of advanced blending operations without burdening either of the GPUs Control Point A control point is a user created point on the color curve Users can change the color of the screen by moving the control points with a mouse CRT Acronym for cathode ray tube which is the main component of computer monitors and TVs Color CRTs use three separate electron beams fired ATI Technologies 117 through a shadow mask and onto the back of the glass screen The electron beams activate separate red green and blue values in various strengths in order to produce a colored image Dashboard The dashboard is the part of the Catalyst Control Center used to display a graphical representation of the features available in installed ATI hardware and software The dashboard can be used to access all of the aspects sets of related graphical features available on a graphics card The dashboard is only available in Advanced view and Custom view which is aimed at more experienced users Direct 3D Part of Microsoft s DirectX API designed for rendering 3D graphics on Windows systems It provides software developers with low level access to functions on graphics cards providing the type of performance necessary for intensive 3D applications such as games Dir
16. grounding plug a plug having a third grounding pin This plug will only fit into a grounding type power outlet This is a safety feature If you are unable to insert the plug into the outlet contact your electrician to replace the obsolete outlet Do not defeat the safety purpose of the grounding type plug e Secure Attachment All card securement pins shall be completely tightened as to provide continuous bonding between the option card and the PC chassis e Lightning For added protection for this product during a lightning storm or when it is left unattended and unused for long periods of time unplug it from the wall outlet and disconnect the antenna or cable system This will prevent damage to the product due to lightning and power line surges Power Lines An outside antenna system should not be located in the vicinity of overhead power lines or other light or power circuits or where it can fall into such power lines or circuits Antenna Installation When installing an outside antenna system extreme care should be taken to keep from touching such power lines or circuits as contact with them may be fatal Note This graphics card is for use only with compatible UL Listed personal computers that have Installation Instructions detailing user installation of card cage accessories ATI Technologies ATI Technologies Vv Table of Contents Introduction a 1 Radeon X1550 Series Features 1 System Requi
17. interlacing temporal filtering and video gamma enhancement to produce high quality video along with an integrated digital TV decode capability It also supports component output support for EDTV displays at 480i interlaced scanning 480p progressive scanning and for HDTV displays at 720p and 10801 VideoShader HD A feature that integrates pixel shading technology with video filtering and processing functions It accelerates noise removal de blocking adaptive de interlacing frame rate conversion color space conversion and more It also enables better MPEG 2 decoding with motion compensation VPU Recover A feature designed to significantly reduce the number of system crashes caused by problems occurring with the graphics hardware If the display driver detects that the graphics processor has hung VPU Recover will attempt to reset the graphics processor eliminating the need for a system reboot and allowing users to continue using the computer without interrupting or losing their work YPbPr A type of analog composite video signal that splits and compresses the standard Red Green Blue RGB colors of a television signal into separate luminance and color values The Y stands for the luminance channel ATI Technologies 130 while Pb and Pr represent the blue and red channels respectively both of which have the luminance value subtracted from them It is an equivalent color space to the chrominance ba
18. is cleared The slider control will become available 4 Click the Control slider and move the selector to your preferred setting To increase processing performance move the slider to the left To increase image quality move the slider to the right Set Temporal anti aliasing using SmoothVision HD Increases image quality without impacting performance by taking fewer image samples but at a faster rate 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click Anti Aliasing 3 Uncheck Let the application decide 4 Check Temporal anti aliasing ATI Technologies 62 Set the Anti Aliasing preference manually Set the Transparent Anti Aliasing 1 Expand 3D in Advanced View 2 Click Transparent Anti Aliasing 3 Ensure the application override is enabled To do so make sure the Let the Application Decide check box is not selected 4 Click and drag the slider to the desired setting Note The slider control becomes unavailable when Let the Application Decide is enabled Preview your changes The preview image automatically displays your adjustments Optionally double click 3D Preview for a full screen view of the adjustments you have made To exit full screen Preview press the Esc key The Preview can be disabled by clicking the X button in the Preview pane It can also be paused by clicking the button in the Preview pane Clicking the pause button again causes the preview to resume Apply your settings
19. monitor to the graphics card is required to ensure compliance with FCC regulations Changes or modifications to this unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user s authority to operate this equipment Industry Canada Compliance Statement ICES 003 This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES 003 Cet appareil num rique de la Classe B est conforme a la norme NMB 003 du Canada For further compliance information ATI Research Inc 62 Forest Street Marlborough MA 01752 USA 508 303 3900 CE Compliance Information EMC Directive 89 336 EEC and amendments 91 263 EEC 92 31 EEC and 93 68 EEC Class B Digital Device EN 55022 2003 CISPR 22 Class B Limits and Methods of Measurement of Radio Interference Characteristics Information Technology Equipment EN 55024 1998 CISPR 24 1997 A1 2001 A2 2003 Immunity of Information Technology Equipment ITE including EN 61000 4 2 EN 61000 4 3 EN 61000 4 4 EN 61000 4 5 EN 61000 4 6 Informations de conformit de la CE Directive EMC 89 336 CEE et amendements 92 31 CEE et 93 68 CEE pour dispositif num rique de Classe B EN 55022 2003 CISPR 22 1997 Classe B Limites et m thodes de mesure des caract ristiques d interf rences radiophoniques Mat riel des technologies de l information EN 55024 1998 CISPR 24 1997 A1 2001 A2 2003 Norme sur I immunite de mat riel des technologies de l information et comprenant EN 61000 4 2 EN 61
20. select in Standard Mode if you want the video content to be displayed on the primary display only e Optionally select in Theater Mode full screen if you want the video content to be displayed on both displays The Secondary display displays the same content as the primary Set video aspect ratio 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click All Settings 3 Scroll to Theater Mode Settings 4 Select Match the source video to maintain the aspect ratio of original video e Optionally select Scale to full screen to have the source video fill the display area Select a deinterlacing mode 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click All Settings 3 Scroll to Deinterlacing 4 Select a deinterlacing mode for the drop down menu Enable Windows Media Settings 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click All Settings 3 Scroll to Windows Media Settings 4 Click Windows Media Video Acceleration Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center ATI Technologies 88 VPU Recover Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignor
21. settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Set the Transparent Anti Aliasing 1 Expand 3D in Advanced View 2 Click Transparent Anti Aliasing 3 Ensure the application override is enabled To do so make sure the Let the Application Decide check box is not selected 4 Click and drag the slider to the desired setting Note The slider control becomes unavailable when Let the Application Decide is enabled Set Catalyst A l settings 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D ATI Technologies VPU Recover 91 Click Catalyst A I 3 Ifnecessary clear the check mark from Disable Catalyst A I Click and drag to slider to the desired setting Note Change to Catalyst A I settings is not shown in the 3D Preview Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discar
22. systems when compared to High Definition Television HDTV systems SDTV systems use the same 4 3 aspect ratio and 480 scan lines to produce a picture as regular analog television sets but digital decoding enhanced of the signal displaying a sharper and crisper picture SDTV broadcasts are either interlaced 4801 or use progressive scan 480p the latter method providing the best overall image quality SECAM An analog color video signal that originated in France and is used in many other countries including but not limited to much of Eastern Europe parts of the Middle East and Asia Like the PAL video standard SECAM also draws a total of 625 vertical interlaced frames of video at a refresh rate of 25Hz but uses a fundamentally different way of encoding its colors The name is an acronym for S quential Couleur avec M moire which is French for sequential color with memory Shadow Mask In CRT monitors the shadow mask is a metal plate full of tiny holes that is attached to the inside of the glass screen It focuses the beams from the electron guns at the back of the CRT The distance between these holes is called the dot pitch SmartShader HD SmartShader HD contains advanced vertex and pixel shading capabilities A shader is a small program that runs on the GPU and describes how an image should be rendered Vertex shaders manipulate the individual polygons that make up 3D objects and pixel shaders operate on t
23. that the picture is made up of tiny dots If the photo was enlarged it would start to look blocky and less distinct This is also a problem for computer generated images especially for surface details Bit Depth Refers to the number of data bits required to store color information about a pixel Larger bit depth means a greater range of color information is capable of being encoded into each pixel For example 1 binary bit of memory can only encode to either 0 or 1 So a graphical bit depth of 1 means that the display can only show two colors the black and white of a monochrome display Four bit color depth is capable of displaying 16 colors because there are only 16 different combinations of 4 bits 0000 0001 0010 to 1111 Sixteen bit color is capable of reproducing 65 536 colors 24 bit color can display up to 16 777 216 individual colors and 30 bit color can display up to one billion individual colors Bitmap A bitmap is a graphic or character representation composed of individual pixels arranged horizontally in rows A monochrome bitmap uses one bit per pixel bpp Color bitmaps may use up to 32bpp depending on the color depth selected ATI Technologies Brightness The amount of white or black that is applied to all colors onscreen By making the screen brighter you are adding more white to it This should not be confused with luminosity which measures the actual light
24. the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK ATI Technologies Anti aliasing 61 Anti aliasing Anti aliasing is a technique used to smooth out the jagged edges of three dimensional curved objects or objects with diagonal edges Anti aliasing can be set to favor either an increase in system processing performance or improved image quality Setting for performance is best used when the 3D image is animated and smoothness of motion is the most important consideration Setting for quality is best used when having highly detailed and realistic 3D objects is the primary concern e Ifyou are unsure of how to configure anti aliasing use the Let the Application Decide option Your display will automatically adjust to the application s requirements Set the Anti Aliasing preference manually Set the Anti Aliasing preference manually 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click Anti aliasing 3 Ensure the application override is disabled To do so make sure the Let the Application Decide check box
25. the left to increase processing performance or to the right to increase image quality Set the Mipmap detail level 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click All Settings 3 Scroll to Mipmap Detail Level 4 Click the Control slider and move the selector to the left to increase processing performance or to the right to increase image quality Set Wait for vertical refresh setting From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click All Settings 3 Scroll to Wait for vertical refresh 4 Click the Control slider and move the selector to the left to increase processing performance or to the right to increase image quality Select a SmartShader effect 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click All Settings 3 Scroll to SmartShader Effects 4 Select an effect from the drop down menu Note Effects in the list not supported by Direct 3D are appended with OpenGL only Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center ATI Technologies API Specific 71 Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current
26. two video fields of interlaced video Select one of five options for deinterlacing video for better viewing n ATI Technologies 84 Standard Settings e Auto Detect lets the multimedia driver to select the best deinterlacing scheme for different video sources and sizes Bob deinterlacing when selected removes every other line of the video image and is recommended for motion video e Adaptive deinterlacing when selected reacts to the amount of motion in the video and apply a media filter on a motion block and apply weave on the remaining blocks e Motion Adaptive deinterlacing when selected applies the advanced motion detection to deinterlace the video e Weave does not apply any deinterlacing Select a deinterlacing mode 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click Deinterlacing 3 Select a deinterlacing mode for the drop down menu Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was open
27. view Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK API Specific Use the API Specific dialog to select settings that are exclusively for the Direct 3D and OpenGL Application Programmable Interfaces API These settings are provided for resolving certain incompatibilities within 3D applications that use one of these APIs Use this dialog when you are know which type of API Direct 3D or OpenGL your 3D application uses and you want to select a particular API specific feature If you are not sure which API your 3D application uses consult the documentation of your 3D application Set Enable geometry instancing Geometry Instancing allows the GPU to create multiple objects from a single geometric model rather than passing an entire new model for each item on the screen This increases the rendering speed of images such as leaves or grass 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click API Specific 3 Select Enable geometry instancing to place a check mark in the check box A ATI Technologies 72 API Specific Set Support DXT texture formats for Direct 3D This option enables support for DirectX compressed texture formats DXT requires half the amount of memory to draw the same amount of textures This f
28. what level of detail is needed Mipmap detail level can be set to favor either an increase in system processing performance or improved image quality Setting for performance is best used when the 3D image is animated and smoothness of motion is the most important consideration Setting for quality is best used when high surface detail is required especially if the animated object rotates or moves into the background Adjust the Mipmap detail level Set the Mipmap detail level 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click Mipmap Detail Level 3 Click the Control slider and move the selector to the left to increase processing performance or to the right to increase image quality Preview your changes The preview image automatically displays your adjustments Optionally double click 3D Preview for a full screen view of the adjustments you have made To exit full screen Preview press the Esc key The Preview can be disabled by clicking the X button in the Preview pane It can also be paused by clicking the button in the Preview pane Clicking the pause button again causes the preview to resume Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center ATI Technologies 68 All Settings Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the setting
29. 000 4 3 EN 61000 4 4 EN 61000 4 5 EN 61000 4 6 Electrical Safety 73 23 EEC The Low Voltage Directive IEC 60950 1 2001 IEC 60950 1999 3rd Edition Safety of Information Technology Equipment BS EN60950 1 2002 BS EN60950 2000 3rd Edition UL 60950 1 2003 UL 60950 2000 3rd Edition CANICSA C22 2 No 60950 1 2002 CAN CSA C22 2 No 60950 00 3rd Edition 2000 To meet UL safety requirements the computer s maximum room temperature should not exceed 40 C ATI Technologies Compliance Information 109 C US LISTED 1 T E ACCESSORY 2N37 E154871 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment WEEE Directive Compliance This product was manufactured by ATI Technologies Inc ATI Technologies 110 Compliance Information ATI Technologies CHAPTER 9 Glossary 2D Acronym for two dimensional a term applied to computer graphics that are flat Typical desktop applications such as word processors spreadsheet programs or other programs that manipulate print or simple graphics such as pictures or line art are generally considered to be operating within a 2D environment even when they include simple three dimensional elements such as buttons Pulldown Pulldown is a telecine technique used to transfer motion picture film shot at one frame rate to a video format at a different frame rate Typical NTSC video contains more frames per second than motion picture film for even division between frames so
30. 2 3 Click Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor 4 Set the Screen Resolution and Color Quality as appropriate for the second monitor Click Apply or OK to apply these new values Refer to your Windows online help and documentation for further information on using the Settings tab Note When you use multiple monitors with your Radeon X1550 Series card one monitor will always be Primary Any additional monitors will be designated as Secondary Note You can also enable multiple monitors using ATI s Catalyst Control Center Reinstalling Drivers You can install new drivers or reinstall existing drivers if there was a Windows conflict Reinstall the drivers at any time using the ATISETUP utility located on the ATI Installation CD ROM The ATISETUP utility will start automatically if you insert the ATI Installation CD ROM into your optical drive after the operating system has started To manually reinstall drivers p ATI Technologies 24 Installing the Catalyst Software Suite If your CD ROM auto run is not enabled and the ATISETUP utility does not start automatically follow these steps 1 Inthe Windows task bar click Start 2 From the Start menu select Run 3 Browse to SETUP EXE on the root directory of the ATI Installation CD ROM 4 Click OK Installing the Catalyst Software Suite ATI s Catalyst Software Suite provides software required to enjoy all the features of your ATI graphic
31. 3 High Dynamic Range HDR Rendering e 64 bit floating point HDR supported throughout the pipeline e Includes support for blending and multi sample anti aliasing e High precision 10 10 10 2 integer format support e Includes support for blending and multi sample anti aliasing e 2x 4x 6x Anti Aliasing modes e Sparse multi sample algorithm with gamma correction programmable sample patterns and centroid sampling e New Adaptive Anti Aliasing modes Temporal Anti Aliasing mode Lossless Color Compression up to 6 1 at all resolutions including widescreen HDTV resolutions e 2x 4x 8x 16x Anisotropic Filtering modes e Up to 128 tap texture filtering e Adaptive algorithm with performance and quality options Note Not all features apply to all Radeon X1550 Series graphics cards CrossFire Ready Your Radeon X1550 Series is CrossFire Ready and can be used in conjunction with a graphics cards of the same brand family to complete a CrossFire capable system CrossFire provides the best performance flexibility and game compatibility using multiple graphics processors in a single system For more information see ati com crossfire ATI Technologies 4 System Requirements System Requirements Hardware Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 512MB of system memory 1GB or more for best performance Optical drive for installation software CD ROM or DVD ROM drive Specialized PCI Express 350 watt
32. 77 International and or local toll charges to Canada will apply ATI Customer Care will work to resolve your issue and help you to get your ATI product up and running If your issue is not resolved our technicians will determine whether the difficulty you are experiencing is the result of the ATI product whether your product contains a defect and whether your product is under warranty ATI Technologies Additional Accessories 107 ATI Customer Care is unable to assist with refunds returns or exchange specific inquiries If resolving the problem being experienced is critical to your decision to keep the product it is your responsibility to ensure that you know and are within the period of time your reseller will allow for refunds returns or exchange e ATI is not responsible for any expense incurred accessing Customer Care It is expected that customers will review the expense associated with the available support options and will choose the method that best meets their needs and budget e ATI Customer Care reserves the right to limit support options for products that are not registered or are at End of Life Additional Accessories Additional and replacement cables installation CD ROMs manuals and other accessories for ATI products can be purchased from the online ATI store at ati com online accessories Compliance Information This section details the compliance information for this product FCC Complianc
33. 99 ReleTENGE waaa RN KA Ako dae ee ees 103 Troubleshooting 103 Product Registration 105 Customer Care 105 Additional Accessories 107 Compliance Information 107 Cl lo PAT PEE 111 ATI Technologies ATI Technologies Radeon X1550 Series Features 1 CHAPTER 1 Introduction Congratulations on the purchase of your ATI Radeon X1550 Series graphics card We hope that you will enjoy countless hours of trouble free computing Radeon X1550 Series Features Graphic Features e Native PCI Express X16 bus support Four parallel rendering pipelines 32 MB 64MB 128MB 256MB 512MB GDDR3 on board memory Full support for Microsoft DirectX Shader Model 3 x High performance Ultra Threaded shader engine e Two vertex shader processors e Four pixel shader processors e 128 bit 4 channel memory interface supporting DDR DDR2 GDDR3 memory devices Native PCI Express x16 bus interface SmoothVision e Full scene anti aliasing method that smooths uneven edges and improves blurred images e 2x 4x 6x Anti aliasing modes with a loss less compression up to a ratio of 6 1 at all resolutions e 2x 4x 8x 16x Anisotropic Filtering modes with up to 128 tap texture filtering HyperZ Ensures optimal hardware performance by discarding irrelevant object data that is not visible to the user e Conserves video memory bandwidth ATI Technologi 2 Radeon X1550 Series Features a e Loss less Z buffer compr
34. ATi Radeon X1550 Series User s Guide P N 137 71102 10 ATI Technologies Copyright 2006 ATI Technologies Inc All rights reserved ATI the ATI logo and 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 diagrams Reproduction of this manual or parts thereof in any form without the express written permission of ATI Technologies Inc is strictly prohibited Disclaimer While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document ATI Technologies Inc assumes no liability with respect to the operation or use of ATI hardware software or other products and documentation described herein for any act or omission of ATI concerning such products or this documentation for any interruption of service loss or interruption of business loss of anticipatory profits or for punitive incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing performance or use of the ATI hardware software or other products and documentation provided herein ATI Technologies Inc reserves the right to make changes without further notice to a product or system described herein to improve reliability function or design With respect to ATI p
35. DTV user s manual My CRT display is green Your system is in component output mode Restart your computer with the CRT monitor connected Product Registration To activate Customer Care you must register your product with ATI at ati com online registration Customer Care For detailed instructions on how to use your ATI product refer to the Online User s Guide included on your ATI installation CD ROM 106 Customer Care ATI Technologies If you require further assistance with your product the following Customer Care options are available Service Availability Language Access Online 24 7 English ati com French or or alae ATI TECHNOLOGIES INC cae Attention Customer Care a German 3 Mail 1 Commerce Valley Drive East Markham Ontario Canada L3T 7X6 Telephone 9 00AM English 1 877 284 1566 toll free US amp 7 00PM EST Canada Monday to or Friday 1 905 882 2626 International and or local toll charges to Canada will apply Telephone 10 30 to English 00800 6677 1111 toll free Europe 00 00 GMT and Other or Regions 10 30 to German 1 905 882 5549 International 19 00 GMT French and or local toll charges to Canada will apply 12 00 to Spanish 20 30 GMT Portuguese Telephone 7 00AM to Spanish 0800 333 5277 Argentina Latin 3 30 PM EST Portuguese America 0800 891 9068 Brazil South America 001800 514 3276 Mexico 7 00AM to English other 7 00PM EST 1 905 882 32
36. E Edit an existing Hotkey 32 Electromagnetic Interference EMI 127 Enable High Quality AF 64 Enable Hotkeys feature 32 Enable VPU Recover 89 Enhanced Definition Television EDTV 118 129 error report 89 Euroconnector 124 Extended Desktop 48 Extended Display Identification Data EDID 50 51 55 56 57 ATI Technologies ATI Technologies Extended Mode 42 43 44 82 86 external connectors 4 F FCC Compliance 107 Flat Shading 118 Fog 118 Force 24 bit Z buffer depth 72 Force button 45 Force changes to a specific display setting 45 Force TV Detection 46 Force TV detection 48 Frame Buffer 118 frame rate 72 111 Frames per second fps 119 FullScreen 3D 77 G games TV display 95 Gamma 80 85 gamma 73 74 75 77 78 80 113 119 geometry instancing 71 Gouraud Shading 118 119 GPU 116 Graphical Processor Unit GPU 71 122 125 graphics chipset 39 Graphics Software 39 H Half Life 2 65 Hardware installing 7 HDTV 95 97 HDTV Adapter Troubleshooting 105 HDTV Component Video Adapter 96 HDTV Support 55 Help 23 27 31 38 106 Hide Splash Screen 36 Hide Toolbar Text 36 High Definition Multimedia Interface HDMI 119 High Definition Television 95 High Definition Television HDTV 43 44 49 51 55 56 57 105 119 120 125 129 High Bandwidth Digital Copy Protection HDCP 119 Hotkeys 30 Hotkeys Manager 32 33 136 Hue 54 78 80 81 86 113 120 124 HydraVision 22 24 120 HyperZ HD 120 l Image Scalin
37. Green Blue RGB 104 116 120 124 127 129 Refresh Rate 22 23 41 44 47 50 72 104 123 Refresh Rate Override 46 refresh rate override 47 registration 4 Remote Wonder 24 Remove an HDTV Format 57 Rendering 123 rendering modes 88 101 Resolution 4 23 41 48 50 53 95 104 124 resolution modes 48 Restore factory defaults 37 RGB 116 Rotate the desktop 45 rotation 45 128 S Safe Mode 103 138 safety instructions iii Same on all displays 86 Saturation 54 80 81 86 113 120 124 Save your Profile 35 Scale to full screen 83 87 scaling 128 SCART 124 Scissor Mode 101 124 126 Search for Help 38 SECAM 125 secondary display device 41 Select a deinterlacing mode 84 87 Select a Language 37 Select a skin 37 Separate Video 126 serial number 4 Set a higher quality Anisotropic Filtering 64 Set color correction for 74 75 Set the Anisotropic Filtering preference manually 63 Set the Anisotropic Filtering to automated preference 64 69 Set the Anti Aliasing preference manually 61 73 Set the Anti Aliasing to automated preference 61 shader 125 shader effects 125 Shadow mask 125 Slave graphics card 116 SmartShader 70 SmartShader HD 125 SmoothVision HD 125 Software installing 21 Sort Hotkeys 33 Specular highlight 126 Splash Screen 36 Splinter Cell 65 Standard Definition Television SDTV 118 125 Standard Mode 82 86 87 Standard Settings 58 Standard settings 59 Stretch Main Horizontally 43 Stretch Main Vert
38. Note When you use multiple monitors with your card one monitor will always be Primary Any additional monitors will be designated as Secondary Display Configurations Your Radeon X1550 Series graphics card provides dual display functionality The following table lists the different ways you can connect displays to your card Display Connector s Comments Configuration Used Single CRT VGAconnectorOR CRT cathode ray tube analog display DVI I connector display with DVI I to VGA adapter Single DFP DVI I connector DFP digital flat panel display display Display Configuration 18 Display Configurations Connector s Used ATI Technologies Comments Single TV S Video Out The S Video out can also support a composite connection via the S Video to Composite adapter Single HDTV S Video Out to HDTV High Definition Television display HDTV YPrPb cable CRT display VGA connector UNSUPPORTED CONFIGURATION TV S Video Out if the CRT display is attached to the DVI I connector via the DVI I to VGA adapter CRT display VGA connector HDTV S Video Out to HDTV YPrPb cable DFP display DVI I connector TV S Video out DFP display DVI I connector HDTV S Video Out to HDTV YPrPb cable CRT display VGA connector DFP display DVI I connector CRT display VGA connector The DVI I connector can support a CRT display DVI I connector CRT display using the DVI I to
39. Select a profile from Create or Edit a Profile drop down menu 3 Click the Activation tab 4 Seta profile to activate manually e Click Manually by then select your preferred method for activating a profile For example a shortcut on your desktop ATI Technologies Preferences 35 Ifyou choose Hotkeys assignment select a Hot key modifier and a keyboard key Activate an application file or shortcut when a profile is started 1 Open the Profiles Manager 2 Click the Applications tab 3 Click opens the following application file or shortcut 4 Click the browse button and browse to the file you want associated with your profile 5 Click on the file name then click Open to select the file Save a profile 1 Open the Profiles Manager 2 Enter a name for the profile in the Enter or select a profile name box 3 Select options for the profile Click Save 5 Click the Activate amp Close button to apply the saved profile and close the Profiles Manager e Optionally click the Activate button to apply the saved profile but leave the Profiles Manager open e Optionally click the Close button to close the Profiles Manager without applying the saved Profile Delete a profile 1 Open the Profile Manager 2 Select a profile from the Create or Edit a Profile drop down menu 3 Click Delete 4 Click OK to confirm Preferences Use the Preferences page to restore factory defaults change skins or enable disable t
40. Technologies Color 73 3 Select Force 24 bit Z buffer depth to place a check mark in the check box Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Color Use the Color page to adjust the color properties of your Desktop and Full screen 3D applications and games Use the Color Correction Images to preview the changes before applying them The Color curve is a graphical representation of all the values of gamma brightness or contrast The color curve line will reflect any changes made to these elements ATI Technologies 74 Color Desktop ATI CATALYST Control Center Ba Jl Jl ili ili Graphics Settings ic po Information Center NY 070 or 2 Displays Manager a Display Options Graphics A
41. VGA with DVI I to VGA adapter adapter CRT display VGA connector The TV display will clone the image DFP display DVI I connector of one of the other two displays TV S Video Out CRT display VGA connector DFP display DVI I connector HDTV S Video Out to HDTV YPrPb cable CRT display VGA connector UNSUPPORTED CONFIGURATION CRT display DVI I connector TV with DVI I to VGA adapter S Video Out ATI Technologies Display Configuration CRT display CRT display HDTV Display Configurations 19 Connector s Comments Used VGA connector UNSUPPORTED CONFIGURATION DVI I connector with DVI I to VGA adapter S Video Out to HDTV YPrPb cable ATI Technologies 20 Display Configurations ATI Technologies Installing Drivers and Software in Windows 21 CHAPTER 4 Installing Software and Drivers This chapter will guide you through the installation of the drivers and software associated with your Radeon X1550 Series graphics card Installing Drivers and Software in Windows You will need to install the Radeon X1550 Series drivers and software in the following cases e After you have installed the card in your system e After you have reinstalled or upgraded your operating system This procedure applies to Windows XP Software Installation Prerequisites To install or remove the drivers you must have administrator rights or be logged on as a user wi
42. View pane expand Video n ATI Technologies 86 Standard Settings 2 Click All Settings 3 Scroll to Video Adjustments 4 Adjust the Contrast control slider to the desired position Adjust Saturation Saturation is the measure of amount of color in an image From the Tree View pane expand Video N Click All Settings 3 Scroll to Video Adjustments 4 Adjust the Saturation control slider to the desired position Adjust Hue Hue defines the tint of the red green and blue components of an image From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click All Settings 3 Scroll to Video Adjustments 4 Adjust the Hue control slider to the desired position Select an Overlay Display when in Clone Mode 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click All Settings 3 Scroll to Overlay Display Mode 4 Under Clone mode shows overlay select in Theater Mode full screen if you want the video content to be displayed on both displays The Secondary display displays the same content as the primary e Optionally select in Standard Mode if you want the video content to be displayed on the primary display only e Optionally Same on all displays if you want the contents displayed the same on all display devices Select an Overlay Display when in Extended Mode 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click All Settings ATI Technologies Standard Settings 87 3 Scroll to Overlay Display Mode Under Extended desktop shows overlay
43. a pak the Catalyst Al Advance Click on 3D in the navigation uee to review or change either of these 3D settings CrossFire Maya add re po a kk you vil need to restore settings aocing a proe wil ako Use sos Fee meee information press FY To access and enable CrossFire in Catalyst Control Center do the following In Advanced View click CrossFire and check the Enable CrossFire box When CrossFire is successfully enabled all display devices except the one used by CrossFire will be disabled Multiple monitors displays that are disabled when CrossFire is enabled reappear after CrossFire is disabled 5 How are the graphics cards connected on a CrossFire system The two cards are connection through the motherboard which is used to convey information from one graphics card to the other graphics card and transmit the combined signal to a display device No bridging cable is required 6 Which games applications work with CrossFire CrossFire works with all 3D games and applications If Catalyst A is enabled in the Catalyst Control Center software the optimal rendering mode available for the application is automatically selected 7 Isa driver profile required to make CrossFire work No CrossFire is enabled by default for all 3D games and applications 8 What happens if you pair a 16 pipeline CrossFire Edition graphics card with a Cros
44. al image and can be only a single color The size of the pixel depends on how the display resolution has been set The smallest size a pixel can be is determined by the display s dot pitch which is measured in millimeters mm Refresh Rate Also referred to as vertical refresh rate This is the rate at which a monitor or television can redraw the screen from top to bottom NTSC television systems have a refresh rate of approximately 60 Hz whereas computer displays typically have refresh rates of 75 Hz or more At refresh rates of 70 Hz and lower screen flicker is often noticeable Rendering Rendering refers to the final drawing stages where the 2D image that appears on a display is derived from its 3D descriptions What appears on ATI Technologies 124 the display may look three dimensional but it is really just a 2D grid of pixels designed to appear that way Resolution The resolution of any display is the number of pixels that can be depicted on screen as specified by the number of horizontal rows against the number of vertical columns The default VGA resolution of many video cards is capable of displaying 640 rows of pixels by 480 columns The typical resolution of current displays is set to higher values such as 1024x768 XGA 1280x1024 SXGA or 1600x1200 UXGA Saturation Refers to the intensity of a specific hue color A highly saturated hue is vivid and intense whereas a less saturated hue appears mo
45. aliasing patterns within each frame The first three features are performance features settings automatically selected by ATI s Catalyst Control Center Super Anti aliasing is a display quality mode selectable using Catalyst Control Center On what basis are different rendering modes chosen When Catalyst A I is enabled in Catalyst Control Center it determines the optimal rendering mode to use based on the application or game being used The default rendering mode is dependant on both the hardware configuration and the application being run typically it will be either Scissor or SuperTiling mode If Catalyst A I is not enabled any Direct 3D applications that are running on a system based on graphics cards with 16 pipeline graphics processors will use SuperTiling Mode ATI Technologies 12 What type of performance improvement is expected Performance enhancements experienced on a CrossFire system depend on the application or game being used Performance improvements can be increased up to 100 and the latest graphics intensive programs will generally see over 80 performance improvement at high resolutions and image quality modes 13 How many independent displays can be connected to a CrossFire system While CrossFire is designed for optimal use on a single display it is possible to drive multiple monitors using a CrossFire system when CrossFire is not enabled On a standard CrossFire system
46. and desktop management software will automatically be installed along with the ATI driver Not all software components are installed using the Express installation Custom installation allows you to select individual software components for installation 7 When the Setup Complete message appears select Yes I want to restart my computer now and click Finish 8 After the system reboots the Found New Hardware message displays Digital Signature Not Found Click Yes or Continue to complete the driver installation Monitor Configuration Once the drivers and software have been installed you can configure your monitor Warning Choosing a refresh rate unsupported by your monitor may damage your monitor Consult your monitor s documentation if necessary ATI Technologies To set up a multi monitor display 23 To configure your primary display 1 Navigate to the Control Panel and choose Display or right click on the desktop and choose Properties 2 Choose the Settings tab and select the screen resolution and color depth that best suit your requirements and your monitor s performance 3 Click Advanced and select the Monitor tab Choose a refresh rate from the drop down list Click OK to return to the desktop To set up a multi monitor display 1 From the Start menu click Control Panel then Display Click the Settings tab to access the basic multi monitor configuration settings Select the Monitor icon identified by the number
47. anges and exit the Catalyst Control Center Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Digital Panel Properties Use the Digital Panel Properties aspect to configure the DVI settings and Image Scaling to improve image quality without impacting performance Use HDTV Support to add EDID information containing information about the capabilities of the display about your connected HDTV display to the Force button in Displays Manager Catalyst Control Center loads aspects dynamically based on what device is attached to the graphics card If you have standard display device such as a CRT monitor or flat panel display Monitor Properties will appear instead of Digital Panel Properties The latter is designed for use with such devices as HDTV displays A ATI Technologies 52 Monitor Properties an ad Giang View a Frotles felerences ep Graphics Settings Wand _ Digital Panel Pro
48. chnical support 104 Troubleshooting ATI Technologies General Troubleshooting Problem No Display Possible Solution Check that the card is seated properly in its expansion slot Ensure that the monitor cable is securely fastened to the card Make sure that the monitor and computer are plugged in and receiving power If necessary disable any built in graphics capabilities on your mother board For more information consult your computer s manual or manufacturer Note some manufacturers do not allow the built in graphics to be disabled or to become the secondary display Make sure that you selected the appropriate monitor when you installed your enhanced driver Screen Defects Appear Check if your monitor supports the resolution horizontal kHz and vertical Hz refresh rates as required by the graphics card e Check your current resolution refresh rate and color depth settings in the Settings and Monitor tabs in your Display Properties dialog Warning Ensure that both video card and monitor support resolution and refresh rates you select Incompatible resolution refresh rate selection may result in monitor damage Refer to your monitor s documentation for recommended resolutions and refresh rates Off Center Screen Image Odd Colors or No Picture Try adjusting the brightness sharpness contrast and color balance controls of your monitor Try adjusting the centering
49. color setting from the Color Quality drop down menu Change display refresh rate 1 From the Tree View pane click Displays Manager 2 Choose a refresh rate from the Refresh Rate drop down menu ATI Technologies Displays Manager Advanced View 45 Note See your monitor manual for supported refresh rates Setting a refresh rate higher than recommended by the monitor manufacturer could damage the monitor Rotate the desktop 1 From the Tree View pane click Displays Manager 2 Right click the desktop monitor icon to be rotated 3 Select a rotation option from the pop up menu e Optionally select a rotation angle from the Rotation drop down menu Detect a newly connected display device Detect a display device such as a Digital Flat Panel or TV without having to restart your computer 1 From the Tree View pane click Displays Manager 2 Click Detect Displays button Force changes to a specific display setting You can force the Catalyst Control Center to override the display settings required or not allowed by a specific application 1 From the Tree View pane click Displays Manager 2 Click the Force button 3 Use the mouse to cursor over to the display feature to force 4 Highlight and then click the required setting Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Discard your setti
50. connected to your computer You can set the Catalyst Control Center to automatically detect all connected display devices when it is opened or you can manually detect connected devices when they are required 1 From the Tree View pane click Display Options 2 Click either Detect whenever Catalyst Control Center is opened or Use manual detection only I must click Detect Displays button Note The Detect Displays button is located on the Displays Manager page Force TV detection Use Force TV detection if your TV is not automatically detected by the Catalyst Control Center and does not appear in the Displays Manager page This may be the case if your TV has non standard inputs Note If Force TV detection is required to detect your TV some features that rely on automatic detection such as extended desktop will not be supported 1 From the Tree View pane click Display Options 2 Click Force TV detection enables this feature Note This option is not available if the installed graphics card does not support TV Out Set resolution modes for devices with limited resolution capabilities 1 From the Tree View pane click Display Options 2 Select one of the following from the For displays of limited resolution capabilities drop down menu e List only those modes supported by all displays e Only allow panning on limited resolution displays e List all possible modes including panning modes ATI Technologies M
51. cord before disconnecting a peripheral or removing a component from the motherboard to avoid possible damage to the motherboard 3 Remove the computer cover If necessary consult your computer s manual for help in removing the cover WARNING Remember to discharge your body s static electricity by touching the power supply or the metal surface of the computer chassis 4 Unscrew or unfasten and remove any existing graphics card from your computer Note If your computer has an on board graphics capability you may need to disable it on the motherboard For more information see your computer documentation 5 Locate the appropriate slot and if necessary remove the metal back plate cover ATI Technologies Advanced Installation PCle 11 6 Align your ATI graphics card with the slot and press it in firmly until the card is fully seated 7 Remove the power cable from the hard drive power connector 8 Connect the power extension cable to the 4 pin power connection on the graphics card 9 Connect the power extension cable to the power supply 10 Comnect the power extension cable to the hard drive 11 Screw in or fasten the graphics card securely Make sure the cables are not interfering with anything inside the computer for example a cooling fan and replace the computer cover 12 Reconnect any cables you have disconnected and plug in the computer s power cord 13 Turn on the monitor and then your computer
52. d setting To increase processing performance move the slider to the left To increase image quality move the slider to the right Set the Transparent Anti Aliasing 1 Expand 3D in Advanced View 2 Click All Settings 3 Ensure the application override is enabled To do so make sure the Let the Application Decide check box is selected 4 Click Transparent Anti Aliasing Note The slider control becomes unavailable Set the Anisotropic Filtering preference manually Set the Anisotropic Filtering preference manually 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click All Settings 3 Ensure the application override is disabled To do so make sure the Let the Application Decide check box is cleared The slider control will become available 4 Click the Control slider and move the selector to your preferred setting e To increase processing performance move the slider to the left e To increase image quality move the slider to the right Set the Anisotropic Filtering to automated preference 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click All Settings 3 Ensure the application override is enabled To do so make sure the Let the Application Decide check box is selected Note The slider control becomes unavailable A ATI Technologies 70 All Settings Set the Catalyst A I setting From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click All Settings 3 Scroll to Catalyst A I 4 Click the Control slider and move the selector to
53. d applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view ATI Technologies 92 VPU Recover ATI Technologies Using TV Out 93 CHAPTER 6 Using TV Display and Capture Features This chapter describes how to use the TV display and video capture features of your Radeon X1550 Series card Using TV Out Your Radeon X1550 Series has TV Out capability Viewing Your PC s Display on a TV You can attach your Radeon X1550 Series to a TV and a monitor at the same time Note A TV can only be connected to one DVI connector O IMPORTANT INFORMATION for European Customers Some PC monitors in Europe cannot be used simultaneously with TV display When you enable TV display in Europe the refresh rate for the monitor and TV is set to 50 Hz Some monitors may not support this refresh rate and could be damaged e Please check the documentation supplied with your monitor to see if your monitor supports a refresh rate of 50 Hz e If your monitor does not support 50 Hz or if you are not sure turn off your monitor before turning on your PC when using your TV as a display TV display is ideal for giving presentations and watching movies or playing games on a screen larger than a typical monitor The following tips will help you get the most out of your TV Out feature Connecting to a TV To connect your Radeon X1550 Series card to a TV use an S Video cable To connect S Video Out 1 Power of
54. dapter 1 R482 7109 SyncMaster kd Digital Panel Properties a D Standard Settings Color correction curve Anti Aliasing Reactivate RT T COO controls Anisotropic Filtering Set color correction for CATALYST All Desktop F Mipmap Detail Lew SMARTSHADER All Channels kd All Settings API Specific Gamma Reset z E ao BEE 3 0 amp vy Click to change image VPU Recover B Brightness 10 a mp HO gt Contrast we 0 om9 aa 200 100 H E Pa carawwsTt kaman asang baong Huana Catalyst Control Center Color Color Desktop Adjust the overall richness of color by using the Gamma control To adjust the overall brightness use the Brightness control and the overall contrast use the Contrast control Display Color page to configure Desktop 1 From the Tree View pane click Color 2 Select Desktop from the Set color correction for drop down menu Set Gamma Brightness and Contrast simultaneously 1 From the Tree View pane click Color 2 Select Desktop in Set color correction for 3 Select All Channels ATI Technologies 70 0 ay DICISI 10 ow Ae 4 Click and drag either the Gamma Brightness or Contrast to adjust all these settings simultaneously Revert to last known All Channel settings 1 From the Tree View pane click Color 2 Select Desktop in Set color correction for 3 Select All Channels R
55. der Extended desktop shows overlay select in Standard Mode if you want the video content to be displayed on the primary display only ATI Technologies Standard Settings 83 e Optionally select in Theater Mode full screen if you want the video content to be displayed on both displays The Secondary display displays the same content as the primary Set video aspect ratio 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click Theater Mode 3 Select Match the source video to maintain the aspect ratio of original video e Optionally select Scale to full screen to have the source video fill the display area Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Deinterlacing Deinterlacing creates a sharp image from the
56. display of multiple windows and applications across two or more adjacent monitors It also includes a range of productivity features designed to effectively manage applications in this environment HyperZ HD HyperZ HD includes a number of different technologies aimed at optimizing memory bandwidth efficiency particularly with respect to Z buffer operations The Z Buffer sometimes also called the Depth Buffer stores information used to determine the placement of objects in a 3D environment with respect to the viewpoint of the observer Reading and updating this buffer typically consumes more memory than any other part of the 3D rendering process making it a major performance bottleneck HyperZ HD technology reduces the memory bandwidth consumed by the Z Buffer thereby increasing performance while also making the 3D environment more realistic ATI Technologies Keyframe Interpolation This feature is also known as morphing In an animation a start and end point are picked as the key frames In a 3D rendering the start point could have a character with a neutral expression and the end point could have that same character smiling Additional frames are interpolated inserted between the two keyframes in order that morphs transforms the image so that there is a smooth transition between the key frames KTX Buffer Region Extension This OpenGL programming term refers to a feature that rapidly updates portions
57. e Application Decide check box is selected Note The slider control becomes unavailable Set higher quality Anisotropic Filtering 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click Anisotropic Filtering 3 Select Enable High Quality AF Note Enabling this feature may impact performance Note This feature is not supported by all ATI graphics cards Preview your changes The preview image automatically displays your adjustments Optionally double click 3D Preview for a full screen view of the adjustments you have made To exit full screen Preview press the Esc key The Preview can be disabled by clicking the X button in the Preview pane It can also be paused by clicking the button in the Preview pane Clicking the pause button again causes the preview to resume Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center ATI Technologies Catalyst A I 65 Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defa
58. e Information This Radeon product complies with FCC Rules part 15 Operation is subject to the following two conditions This device may not cause harmful interference This device must accept any interference received including interference that may cause undesired operation This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with manufacturer s instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Re orient or relocate the receiving antenna Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver ATI Technologies 108 Compliance Information Connect the equipment to an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for help The use of shielded cables for connection of the
59. e any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view VPU Recover VPU Recover enables the ATI display driver to detect when the graphics processor stops responding to display driver instructions When this happens the display driver attempts to reset the graphics hardware In most cases VPU Recover will be able to reset the graphics processor without requiring a system restart Should the computer be unable to recover from a crash VPU Recover will switch the computer to software rendering mode allowing you to save any work in progress before restarting the computer ATI Technologies VPU Recover 89 ATi CATALYS ntrol Center i ijt l JU jl i Graphics Settings Wskone KE VPU Recover E Information Center 2 Displays Manager A Display Options Graphics Adapter 1 R482 7109 SyncMaster m W Digital Panel Properties 2 Color Avivo Video Standard Settings YPU Recover allows the ATI display driver to reset the graphics processor Adjustments in the event that it stops responding to commands from the display driver Theater Mode Using VPU Recover the display driver will in most cases be able to reset Deinterlacing the graphics processor without requiring a system restart
60. e at a refresh rate of 60 Hz ic 3D instead of the desktop refresh rate To resolve this select the desired Color tefresh rate override m Avivo Video Disabled 7 gt VPU Recover Select how CATALYST Control Center will detect display devices Detect whenever CATALYST Control Center is opened Use manual detection only I must click the Detect Displays button Display Management Options 7 If my TY is not detected W Force TV detection For displays of limited resolution capabilities Only allow panning on limited resolution displays kd Ni CaTaLysT bi Catalyst Control Center Display Options Select a refresh rate override Some applications may have a default refresh rate lower than the optimal setting for your monitor 3D Refresh Rate Override enables you to set the refresh rate for full screen applications or games utilizing Microsoft DirectX or OpenGL You can either set an explicit refresh rate or make the refresh rate the same as the desktop or disable this feature allowing the application to set the refresh rate 1 From the Tree View pane click Display Options 2 Select the desired refresh rate from the 3D Refresh Rate Override drop down menu n ATI Technologies 48 Display Options Determine how display devices are detected Use this feature to determine how the Catalyst Control Center detects display devices
61. e empty box to the right of the Main box 3 Click Stretch horizontally onto display device If the secondary display is enabled 1 Right click the display device icon in Desktop 2 when in Extended mode or Lower in Stretch Vertical mode or Clone in Clone Mode 2 Click Stretch horizontally onto display device in the pop up menu 3 Click Yes to the Displays Manager Notification dialog n 4 ATI Technologies 44 Displays Manager Advanced View Note Display device can be CRT DFP TV or HDTV depending on the device connection Swap displays in Extended Mode Use Swap displays to switch your desktops when using multiple monitors From the Tree View pane click Displays Manager 2 Right click any Desktop icon 3 Select Swap displays 4 Click either Maintain per display mode settings or Swap displays order only Note Swap displays order only swaps displays while maintaining the existing display settings Maintain per display mode settings swaps displays and display settings Swap displays in all other modes Use Swap display mappings to switch your desktops when using multiple monitors 1 From the Tree View pane click Displays Manager 2 Right click any Desktop icon 3 Select Swap display mapping Change desktop size 1 From the Tree View pane click Displays Manager 2 Select a size from the Desktop Area drop down menu Change Color quality 1 From the Tree View pane click Displays Manager 2 Select the desired
62. e the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Avivo Video for Radeon X1000 Series Use the Avivo Video aspect to apply standard video settings with a Wizard or selecting a video preset Use Adjustments to configure gamma brightness and hue Use Theater Mode to set aspect ratio and overlay display mode Preview your changes before applying them ATI Technologies Standard Settings 79 ATi CATALYST Control Center Sa a aa ili ili ili ili Graphics Settings amp Welcome E Information Center Sta n d a rd Setti n g S 2 Displays Manager EA Display Options Graphics Adapter 1 R482 7109 SyncMaster B Digital Panel Properties a o a olor Avivo Video gt ard Settings Adjustments Theater Mode Deinterlacing All Settings VPU Recover Yideo Standard Settings 7 To quickly adjust your video setting choose one of the video presets or you can run the Video Wizard
63. eactivate your color settings Your desktop may retain the color settings when exiting an application or game Should this be the case the gamma brightness and contrast sliders are disabled The Reactivate ATI color controls button resets the sliders to their previous settings 1 From the Tree View pane click Color 2 Click Reactivate ATI color controls button Set Color Gamma 1 From the Tree View pane click Color 2 Click and drag the Control slider to your preferred setting e To increase the Gamma move the slider to the right To decrease the Gamma move the slider to the left e Optionally click the up and down arrow buttons of the adjustment box Click the Reset button to restore the previous settings Note The preview image automatically displays the adjustments you have made Set Color Brightness 1 From the Tree View pane click Color 2 Click and drag the Control slider to your preferred setting To increase the Brightness move the slider to the right To decrease the Brightness move the slider to the left e Optionally click the up and down arrow buttons in the adjustment box Click the Reset button to restore the previous settings ATI Technologies 76 Color Desktop Note The preview image automatically displays the adjustment you have made Set Color Contrast 1 From the Tree View pane click Color 2 Click and drag the Control slider to your preferred setting e To increase the Contras
64. ectX A Microsoft technology DirectX is an API that provides programmers with direct access to low level hardware functions for games and other high performance 3D applications Dithering A computer graphics technique that takes advantage of the human eye s tendency to mix two colors that are adjacent to each other to produce smooth boundary transitions Dithering adds intermediate color values between two or more boundaries producing smoother more natural look to 2D images or 3D objects Dot pitch Dot pitch specifies the sharpness of a monitor s display It is measured in millimeters mm and is the distance between the individual phosphor sub pixels in a CRT display or cells of the same color within an LCD display The smaller the number the sharper the image The most common dot pitches for monitors range from 24 mm to 31 mm Also if a monitor with a 24 mm dot pitch is set to its highest possible resolution the pixel size will ATI Technologies 118 equal the dot pitch If the monitor is set to lower resolutions the pixels will be comprised of multiple dots DVI Acronym for Digital Video Interface a standard video connection used on many current computer displays There are three types of DVI connections DVI A analog DVI D digital and DVI I integrated capable of either analog or digital It supports high bandwidth video signals over 160 Hz so it is most often used for high resolution displays
65. ed or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view ATI Technologies Standard Settings 85 All Settings The All Settings page combines all of the principal Video features onto a single page without any preview window allowing quick access and adjustment This page is useful when it is not necessary to preview the adjusted settings because the effect is already known or understood Let the application control video adjustments Enable this feature the to let the application determine the Video Adjustments settings 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click All Settings 3 Scroll to Video Adjustments 4 Click to place a checkmark next to Let the application control the video adjustments to enable it Adjust Gamma Gamma controls the overall intensity of a video image 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click All Settings 3 Scroll to Video Adjustments 4 Adjust the Gamma control slider to the desired position Adjust Brightness Brightness is the overall intensity or luminosity of an image 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click All Settings 3 Scroll to Video Adjustments 4 Adjust the Brightness control slider to the desired position Adjust Contrast Contrast is the difference between the brightest and darkest parts of an image 1 From the Tree
66. en you first installed Catalyst Control Center the setup wizard provided you with the option of placing a shortcut on the desktop e Double click the Catalyst Control Center desktop shortcut Launching Catalyst Control Center Using Hot Keys e You can press the predefined combination of keys CtrI Alt C to launch Catalyst Control Center or you can define your own hot key sequence by using the Catalyst Control Center s Hotkey Manager ATI Technologies Launching Catalyst Control Center 29 mx da 7 carrera r Graphics Settings Welcome Welcome Information Center Graphics Adapter 1 492 7109 SyncMaster ka Displays Manager Product Features 7 ED Avivo Video x Check for driver updates Contact CUSTOMER CARE Customer reviews Send ATI your feedback Visit ati com CATALYST CONTROL CENTER Pa catalyst kana Catalyst Control Center Standard View ATI Technologies 30 Catalyst Control Center Dashboard ATi CATALYST Control Center E E 7 i Jl i ili i Graphics Settings ng Ea Welcome E Information Center 2 Displays Manager a Display Options Graphics Adapter 1 R482 7109 SyncMaster m W Digital Panel Properties a 3D Product Features 7 Color E Avivo Video Cp VPU Recover Check for driver updates Contact CUSTOMER CARE Customer reviews Send ATI your
67. ent Interconnect which is the specification for a type of computer bus used for attaching computer peripherals to a computer s motherboard PCI encompasses both integrated motherboard components such as built in graphical processors and peripherals that fit into an expansion card slot such as a separate graphics ATI Technologies 123 card PCI replaced the older ISA and VESA bus standards and was itself superseded by the AGP standard for the main graphics card bus PCI Express PCle The successor standard to the PCI and AGP bus standards with a significantly faster serial communications system further opening up bandwidth for more communications between such peripherals as graphics cards and the computer s CPU PCIe cards can come in several physical configurations the fastest currently being X16 which is typically used for graphic cards and X1 typically used for other peripherals such as separate multimedia cards Pipeline In relation to computer graphic processors refers to the number of separate arithmetic units available for rendering the output on a display In general more pipelines available on a graphical processor means there are more 3D rendering capabilities available increasing overall 3D performance Pixel All computer images are made up of tiny dots Each individual dot is called a pixel a word created from the term picture element A pixel is the smallest indivisible unit of a digit
68. enter to fine tune your graphics settings enable or disable connected display devices and change the orientation of your desktop Many of the features show you a preview of the changes before they are applied The Catalyst Control Center offers you two views of the software e Standard View is a simplified view that includes wizards to get the inexperienced user up and running e Advance View allows the advanced user to access and configure the complete feature set of the software The Catalyst Control Center can be customized for easy access to the features you use most Use the Catalyst Control Center to access a comprehensive online help system or connect to the ATI Web site Launching Catalyst Control Center Catalyst Control Center can be launched from one of the following access points Windows Start Menu e Windows System Tray e Desktop Shortcuts e Predefined Hotkeys Launching Catalyst Control Center Using the Start Menu From the Windows task bar click Start e Click to All Programs gt ATI Catalyst Control Center gt ATI Catalyst Control Center ATI Technologies 28 Launching Catalyst Control Center Other Quick Launch Access Points Launching Catalyst Control Center Using the System Tray 1 Right click the ATI icon in the Windows System Tray 2 Select Catalyst Control Center from the popup menu Launching Catalyst Control Center Using the Desktop Shortcut Wh
69. er features relating directly to the display of color Similarly the 3D aspect provides a set of related controls dealing with such features as anti aliasing anisotropic filtering mipmap details levels and more Aspect Ratio The proportions of a display are expressed as a ratio of its width and height Common ratios include 4 3 for TVs and CRTs 5 4 for LCDs and 16 9 for widescreen displays Avivo Color Avivo Color is an advanced feature within Catalyst Control Center providing the user with precise control over how color is displayed on a monitor Avivo Color provides tools to adjust the Hue and Saturation values on a per monitor basis making it possible to optimize the use of a ATI Technologies 114 single display within its existing ambient lighting environment or to better color match two or more adjacent monitors Back Buffer A type of offscreen memory used to provide smooth video and 2D graphics acceleration This technique uses two frame buffers so the process is often referred to as double buffering While the contents of one buffer are displayed a second buffer called the back buffer holds the frame being worked on In this way users will only see complete smooth frames displayed onscreen Bilinear Filtering This filtering method reduces the blockiness caused when zooming into a 3D surface that is at a right angle to the viewer A newspaper photo examined closely enough will show
70. es 122 flicker free The acronym refers to the National Television Systems Committee which devised this color video standard in 1953 Offscreen Memory An area of memory used to preload images so that they can be quickly drawn to the screen Offscreen memory refers to all of the remaining video memory not taken up by the front buffer which holds the contents of the display screen currently visible OpenGL Short for Open Graphics Library this is an industry standard for cross platform 3D graphics development It consists of a large number of functions that can be called upon in various programs such as games CAD and virtual reality systems to produce complex 3D objects from simpler more primitive building blocks Implementations currently exist under Windows Mac OS X and various forms of Unix including Linux ATI Overdrive ATI Overdrive maximizes the performance of the GPU by dynamically altering its speed to an optimal level depending on usage An on chip thermal sensor constantly monitors the temperature of the GPU allowing for maximum clock speed to be maintained while avoiding overheating PAL An acronym for Phase Alternating Line the name for a video broadcast standard used in much of Europe except France most of Asia the Middle East Africa and Australia It draws a total of 625 vertical interlaced frames of video at a refresh rate of 25 Hz PCI Acronym for Peripheral Compon
71. ession Z Cache optimized for real time shadow rendering VideoShader e Seamlessly integrates pixel shaders with video in real time All format DTV HDTV decoding e Adaptive Per Pixel De interlacing and Frame Rate Conversion 512 bit Ring Bus Memory Controller e Programmable intelligent arbitration logic e New fully associative texture color and Z stencil cache designs e Hierarchal Z buffer with Early Z test e Lossless Z Compression up to 48 1 e Fast Z Buffer Clear e Z Cache optimized for real time shadow rendering e Optimized for performance at high display resolutions including widescreen HDTV resolutions Ultra Threaded Shader Engine e Support for Microsoft DirectX 9 0 Shader Model 3 0 programmable vertex and pixel shaders in hardware Full speed 128 bit floating point processing e Up to 512 simultaneous pixel threads e Dedicated branch execution units for high performance dynamic branching and flow control e Dedicated texture address units for improved efficiency e High resolution texture support up to 4k x 4k e Up to 1 536 instructions per rendering pass e 3Dc texture compression e High quality 4 1 compression for normal maps and luminance maps e Works with any single channel or two channel data format e Multiple Render Target MRT support e Render to vertex buffer support e Complete feature set also supported in OpenGL 2 0 ATI Technologies Radeon X1550 Series Features
72. est on smoothing the edges of solid polygons but cannot effectively smooth edges within polygons which are partially transparent Super sampling is able to more accurately calculate color values adjacent to transparent pixel shader values within polygons with partially transparent textures but is not applied universally since it is more processor intensive Adaptive anti aliasing works by using super sampled anti aliasing on transparent textures and multi sampled anti aliasing on all other textures This delivers exceptional levels of image quality while maintaining performance AGP The Accelerated Graphics Port AGP is a slot on the computer motherboard designed specifically for 3D graphics cards AGP runs 3D images much more smoothly and quickly than was previously possible with PCI video cards AGP runs at several times the bus speed of PCI and employs sideband addressing so multiple data transfers between the graphics processor and the computer can take place concurrently AGP is currently being phased out in favor of PCI Express PC IeTM Alpha Blending Alpha blending is used in 3D graphics to create transparent or opaque effects for surfaces such as glass and water Alpha is a transparency value so the lower the value the more transparent the image looks It is also used in animations to produce such things as fading effects where one image gradually fades into another Alternate Frame Rendering A graphical load balancing
73. ew pane expand Digital Panel Properties 2 Click Avivo Color 3 Adjust the Hue control slider to the desired position Set Saturation Saturation refers to the intensity of a color in an image 1 From the Tree View pane expand Digital Panel Properties 2 Click Avivo Color 3 Click and drag the Saturation control slider to the desired position Set Color Temperature Color temperature is a measure that compares a color to the light radiated from an equivalent incandescent black body at a given temperature in degrees Kelvin 1 From the Tree View pane expand Digital Panel Properties 2 Click Avivo Color 3 Adjust the Temperature control slider to the desired position Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults ATI Technologies HDTV Support 55 Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of
74. ey Profiles Manager Use profiles to create customized environments for your desktop video and 3D applications Define and save into a profile your own personal video settings that can be quickly activated manually through a hot key or by file association ATI Technologies 34 Profiles Manager Note A profile applies to a specific graphics card If there is more than one graphics card installed in your computer you need to select the appropriate card before creating loading or activating a profile Note Profiles Manager is only available in Advanced View Display Profiles Manager 1 Click Profiles in the Dashboard 2 Select Profiles Manager Create a profile A profile can be created from any aspect of Catalyst Control Center 1 Make customized changes by adjusting the various sliders and buttons for the aspects to be included in your profile Open the Profiles Manager Enter a name for your Profile in Create or Edit Profile Enter a description of the profile aA KR O N Select the composition activation and applications options that you wish to apply to the profile 6 Click Save Set the composition of the profile 1 Open the Profiles Manager 2 Click the Composition tab all Catalyst Control Center settings applies the available settings for all graphics adapters the following settings applies only the settings selected in the treeview Activate a profile Open the Profiles Manager 2
75. f your computer and your TV p ATI Technologies 94 Using TV Out 2 Determine if your TV supports either a S Video or Composite video connection 3 Looking at the back of your PC locate your S Video Out Using an S Video cable attach one end of the cable to your graphics card and the other to your TV Refer to the illustration 4 Power on your TV first then your computer Connecting Your S Video Out to a TV or VCR 1 S Video Connection on graphics card 2 TV 3 S Video Cable 4 Computer Using a Monitor vs Using TV Display Using your TV for your computer s display can be useful however the display on your monitor may change or looked squashed This distortion ATI Technologies Connecting to HDTV 95 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 If you experience problems when TV display is enabled disable TV display to restore your monitor s display Viewing Text on a TV A TV is designed primarily to show moving images The large dot pitch of a TV will yield poor quality static images The small text sizes commonly used for PC desktops can appear blurred or unclear on a TV You can compensate for this degradation by using larger fonts Using a TV as the Only Display If you plan to move you
76. feedback Visit ati com CATALYST CONTROL CENTER Por Catalyst Control Center Advanced View Catalyst Control Center Dashboard The Catalyst Control Center Dashboard is a graphical representation of the display features of the installed ATI hardware and software Use the Dashboard to fine tune your graphic settings enable or disable connected display devices and change the orientation of your desktop Many features present you with a preview of your changes before they are applied The Dashboard is only available in Advanced View and Custom View if selected Use the Dashboard to access a comprehensive online help system create a hot key or customize the way you view the Catalyst Control Center The Dashboard includes e Views Hot keys ATI Technologies Catalyst Control Center Views 31 Profiles e Preferences Help Catalyst Control Center Views The Catalyst Control Center Dashboard supports three types of views e Basic e Advanced e Custom Basic View Basic View is the default view when Catalyst Control Center is launched for the very first time It includes a wizard that guides you through the process of configuring your display devices Basic View is recommended for novice users Advanced View Advanced View provides access to all the features offered by the Catalyst Control Center Advanced View is recommended for exper
77. g 52 Industry Canada Compliance 108 Information Center 39 installation tips 103 Installing drivers 21 interlaced 83 K Keyframe interpolation 121 KTX Buffer Region Extension 121 L Let the application control the video adjustments 80 85 Let the Application Decide 61 63 Lighting 111 112 114 Linux 122 list of active Hotkeys 33 luminance 126 129 M Mac OS X 122 Master graphics card 116 126 Match the source video 83 87 memory size 39 Microsoft DirectX 47 72 117 mipmap 113 Mipmap Detail Level 58 Mipmap detail level 67 68 70 Mipmapping 63 67 121 Monitor Attributes 50 motherboard 112 MPEG 2 129 multimedia 84 multi monitor 40 120 Multi Sample Anti Aliasing MSAA 63 112 N NTSC 111 118 121 123 O Offscreen Memory 122 OpenGL 39 46 47 70 71 121 122 Overlay Display 78 82 86 Overlay Display Mode 86 ATI Technologies ATI Technologies P PAL 122 125 PCI 122 123 PCI Express 4 99 PCI Express PCle 112 123 Pentium 4 P ritel 124 Pipeline 100 101 123 Pixel 72 101 123 pixel shaders 125 pixel by pixel 128 Pixel shading 125 power supply 4 Predefined and Custom HDTV Formats 55 56 Preferences 31 35 Preview your changes 60 62 64 66 67 Prince of Persia 65 Product Registration 105 Profiles 31 profiles 33 Profiles Manager 33 Pulldown 111 R Race Driver 65 RCA connection 116 Reactivate ATI color controls 75 Reactivate your color settings 75 Red
78. g preference 68 API Specific 71 appearance of the Catalyst Control Center 37 Application Programmable Interface API 59 71 Apply a Hotkey 33 Aspect 113 Aspect Ratio 57 78 83 87 113 ATI Overdrive 122 ATISETUP utility 22 23 24 Avivo Color 113 Avivo Color 54 B Back Buffer 114 back buffer 115 Basic 31 Basic View 31 Bilinear Filtering 114 BIOS 39 Bit depth 114 Bitmap 114 Brightness 81 85 brightness 73 74 75 77 78 80 104 113 115 119 120 Buffer 72 115 118 bus type 39 C Catalyst 24 Catalyst A I 68 Catalyst A I 70 Catalyst A I 58 65 90 100 101 Catalyst A I settings 65 90 Catalyst Control Center 23 24 27 30 31 99 100 101 115 Cathode Ray Tube CRT 43 44 51 55 128 Change Catalyst Control Center language 37 chrominance 126 130 Clone Mode 42 43 82 86 CMOS 99 Color 23 54 73 74 75 76 77 81 86 104 113 Color Full screen 3D 77 Color Brightness 75 Color component 115 Color Contrast 76 77 Color correction 115 Color Depth 115 Color Gamma 75 77 ATI Technologies ATI Technologies Color quality 44 Compliance Information 107 compliance information 103 Composite Engine 116 Composite Video 116 126 129 Compositing Engine 101 126 composition of the profile 34 configuration multiple monitors 23 primary monitor 23 configuration tips 103 Connecting Devices 14 Contrast 74 81 contrast 73 74 75 76 77 80 85 104 113 Control Pa
79. ghtness Contrast Saturation and Hue Let the application control the video adjustments 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click Adjustments 3 Click Let the application control the video adjustments Set Gamma Gamma controls the overall intensity of a video image 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click Adjustments ATI Technologies Standard Settings 81 3 Click and drag the Gamma control slider to the desired position Set Contrast Contrast is the difference between the brightest and darkest parts of an image 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click Adjustments 3 Click and drag the Contrast control slider to the desired position Set Brightness Brightness is the overall intensity or luminosity of an image 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click Adjustments 3 Click and drag the Brightness control slider to the desired position Set Saturation Saturation is the measure of amount of color in an image 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click Adjustments 3 Click and drag the Saturation control slider to the desired position Set Hue Hue defines the tint of the red green and blue components of an image 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click Adjustments 3 Click and drag the Hue control slider to the desired position Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save yo
80. graphics card to produce 3D images featuring smoother contours lines and shading effects SuperTiling A graphical load balancing scheme where two graphics cards are used to render alternate small 32x32 pixel squares in a fine grained checkerboard pattern This configuration increases image rendering quality as each card processes half of the complex 3D objects in the pixel squares SuperTiling is better optimized for most applications than Scissor Mode where two graphics cards are used to render the top and bottom halves of the screen since the checkerboard pattern better ensures a more even distribution of what needs to be rendered This type of graphical operation is only available in Radeon CrossFire graphics cards running Microsoft Direct 3D games or applications S Video Short for Separate Video S Video is a type of analog video interface that produces a higher quality signal compared to composite video The signal is split into two separate channels luminance Y and chrominance C Sometimes referred to as Y C video or Y C the connectors typically ATI Technologies 127 contain 4 pins within a single connection housing and are commonly found on consumer DVD players VCRs game consoles and related devices Texel Short for texture element the 3D equivalent of a pixel describing the base unit of the surface of a 3D object such as a sphere for a 2D object such as a circle the ba
81. gs Welcome T x ieee C Monitor Properties 2 Displays Manager a Display Options Graphics Adapter 1 ATI RADEON 9600 Series NEC LCD1860NX kd E Monitor Properties 0 Adjustments HDTV Support Display Data Channel DDC Supported E Digital Panel Properties amp s 3D Display Name NEC LCD1860NX Color Maximum reported resolution 1920x1080 4 9 Video SMARTGART Maximum reported refresh rate 85 Hz H VPU Recover Monitor Attributes Use Extended Display Identification Data EDID or driver defaults Maximum resolution Maximum refresh rate a i Catalyst Control Center Monitor Properties Sample Monitor Attributes Monitor Attributes provides information about the attached monitor You can also enable Extended Display Identification Data Extended Display Identification Data EDID uses the information provided by the attached monitor to determine the limits for the resolution and refresh rate Enable Extended Display Identification Data EDID 1 From the Tree View pane expand Monitor Properties 2 Click Attributes 3 Select Use Extended Display Identification Data EDID or driver defaults to place a check mark in the check box ATI Technologies Monitor Properties 51 Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your ch
82. he System Tray icon ATI Technologies 36 Preferences The Catalyst Control Center Preferences page contains the following options Hide Tooltips e Always on Top Enable System Tray menu e Restore factory defaults e Hide Toolbar Text e Select a Language e Select a Skin Keep Catalyst Control Center Always on Top of all open applications on the desktop 1 Click Preferences button in the Advanced View of the Dashboard 2 Click Always on Top Note When a check mark appears next to Always on Top the Catalyst Control Center will always appear on top of all opened applications Hide or show Tooltips 1 Click the Preferences button in the Advanced View of the Dashboard 2 Click Hide Tooltips in the drop down menu Note When a check mark appears next to Hide Tooltips all Tooltips are disabled Show or hide text that appears on the toolbar buttons 1 Click Preferences button in the Advanced View of the Dashboard 2 Click Hide Toolbar Text in the drop down menu Note When a check mark appears next to Hide Toolbar Text the toolbar buttons have button icons only Hide the Catalyst Control Center Splash Screen 1 Click the Preferences button in the Advanced View of the Dashboard 2 Click Hide Splash Screen ATI Technologies Preferences 37 Note When a check mark appears next to Hide Splash Screen the Catalyst Control Center splash screen will not appear during start up Show or hide the Catalyst Co
83. he individual pixels that fill in these polygons to create a visible image SmartShader HD is designed to alleviate the resource constraints of earlier shader hardware paving the way for more complex detailed and realistic shader effects in applications requiring high performance 3D rendering SmoothVision HD SmoothVision HD incorporates improved anti aliasing anisotropic filtering and 3Dc compression features designed to further enhance ATI Technologies 126 image quality Anti aliasing performance is improved providing better overall detail and image quality The enhanced anisotropic filtering ensures sharper and clearer pictures at higher frame rates and the new 3Dc compression technology makes it possible to display higher polygon counts for 3D rendered objects Specular Highlight The bright usually small intense light reflected from a 3D surface with a high refraction value From the intensity and spread of this highlight users can differentiate between a hard smooth surface such as metal or porcelain or a soft textured surface such as fabric or skin Super Anti aliasing A feature that improves image quality by combining the results of full screen anti aliasing across two graphics cards in a CrossFire configuration The two graphics cards work on different anti aliasing patterns within each frame The results of which are combined by the compositing engine on the CrossFire Master
84. hics cards that require a connection to the computer s power supply will have a power cable connected to them Installing the graphics card 1 Turn off the computer monitor and other peripheral devices 2 Unplug the computer s power cord and disconnect all cables from the back of your computer O WARNING Wait approximately 20 seconds after unplugging the power cord before disconnecting a peripheral or removing a component from the motherboard to avoid possible damage to the motherboard 3 Remove the computer cover If necessary consult your computer s manual for help in removing the cover WARNING Remember to discharge your body s static electricity by touching the power supply or the metal surface of the computer chassis 4 Unscrew or unfasten and remove any existing graphics card from your computer Note If your computer has an on board graphics capability you may need to disable it on the motherboard For more information see your computer documentation 5 Locate the appropriate slot and if necessary remove the metal back plate cover 6 Align your ATI graphics card with the slot and press it in firmly until the card is fully seated 7 Screw in or fasten the graphics card securely and replace the computer cover 8 Reconnect any cables you have disconnected and plug in the computer s power cord 9 Turn on the monitor and then your computer ATI Technologies Advanced Installation AGP 9
85. ically 43 Super Anti aliasing 101 Super Anti Aliasing 126 Super Sample Anti Aliasing SSAA 63 112 ATI Technologies ATI Technologies SuperTiling 101 126 SurroundView 24 102 S Video 126 Swap display 44 Switch Views 31 SXGA 124 System Information 40 system requirements 4 System Tray Icon 37 T Temperature 54 Temporal anti aliasing 61 temporal filtering 129 Texel 127 texture buffer 115 Texture mapping 127 Texture Preference 127 the same on all displays 82 Theater Mode 78 82 83 86 87 Theater Mode Settings 87 ToolTips 36 Transition Minimized Differential Signaling TMDS 127 Transparent Anti Aliasing 69 Trilinear filtering 128 Triple buffering 72 Troubleshooting 103 105 HDTV adapter 105 troubleshooting 103 TV 40 43 44 45 46 48 94 95 105 TV display 93 95 games 95 TV Out 93 U Unreal Tournament 2003 65 Unreal Tournament 2004 65 UXGA 124 V VCR 116 119 127 Vector Adaptive Deinterlacing 111 128 VersaVision 128 Vertex shader 128 Vertex shader units 128 vertex shaders 125 vertical refresh rate 123 ATI Technologies 140 VGA 4 124 VGA connector 129 Video 79 80 81 82 84 85 86 87 88 104 105 Video Adjustments 88 video aspect ratio 83 87 Video Graphics Array 129 Video Immersion Il 129 video memory 115 Video Preset 79 Video Wizard 79 VideoShader HD 129 Views 30 VPU Recover 88 89 129 W Wait for display refresh 68 Wait for vertical refresh setting 70 Warranty
86. ienced users Custom View Custom View allows you to choose the features that appear in the left navigation pane Custom View is recommended for experienced users who want to access only the features they adjust most often or that their 3D applications support Switch Views When in Advanced view click View button and select either Basic or Custom View When in Basic view select Advanced in the Basic View Welcome page or click the Advanced button in any other page Note The Advanced button does not appear in all Basic View pages ATI Technologies 32 Hotkeys Manager Create a Custom View 7 In Advanced View click View and select Define Custom View 2 Inthe Define a Custom View dialog click the plus sign beside the graphics card name to expand the tree view 3 Select the check box next to each aspect you wish to add to your custom view 4 Click OK to save the changes Hotkeys Manager The Hotkeys Manager allows you to create shortcut key combinations to quickly perform tasks such as changing a graphics setting or opening an application A hot key is a combination of one or more modifier keys such as Ctrl Alt or Shift and any letter from the alphabet Note Hotkeys Manager is only available in Advanced View Display Hotkeys Manager 1 Click Hotkeys in the Dashboard 2 Select Hotkeys Manager Enable Hotkeys feature 1 Open Hotkeys Manager 2 Select the Enable Hotkeys feature check box Edit an existing hot key
87. in the Advanced View of the Dashboard 2 Click Help Contents Search for Help 1 Click the Help button in the Advanced view of the Dashboard 2 Click Search Help 3 Enter the word s you wish to search for the in search box of the Catalyst Control Center Help 4 Click Go Create a Problem Report Create a problem report should you experience a problem with your ATI product This report can be used by an ATI Customer Care agent to help diagnose and resolve the problem 1 Click the Help button in the Advanced View of the Dashboard 2 Click Problem Report Wizard 3 Follow the Wizard s instructions Display the version of the installed Catalyst Control Center 1 Click the Help button in the Dashboard 2 Click About Catalyst Control Center ATI Technologies Information Center 39 Information Center The Information Center provides detailed information about the installed graphics hardware and associated software e Graphics Software includes information such as installed 2D and 3D driver versions OpenGL version and Catalyst Control Center version e Graphics Hardware includes information about each installed graphics card such as the installed graphics chipset device ID bus type memory size and BIOS version ATi CATALYST Control Center kaaga creel P7 ba 75 rae lew ind a bd a es references aah il ili ili Graphics Settings amp Welcome Information Center E Information Center
88. isplays Manager From the Tree Menu click Displays Manager Enable a secondary display device 1 From the Tree View pane click Displays Manager 2 Click the number 2 display icon in the right hand box a a ATI Technologies 42 Displays Manager Advanced View 3 Click Yes to the Enable this display dialog e Optionally right click the number 2 icon in the right hand box and click Enable in the pop up menu Note Repeat steps 2 and 3 above for each additional connected device The number on the display icon will increment as more displays are added Enable Extended Mode If the secondary display is disabled 1 From the Tree View pane click Displays Manager 2 Click the number 2 display icon in the right hand box 3 Click Yes to the Enable this display dialog e Optionally right click the number 2 icon in the right hand box and click Enable in the pop up menu If the secondary display is in Clone mode Vertical or Horizontal Stretch mode 7 Click and drag the display icon from the Clone box to Additional Displays box 2 Release the mouse button and click Remove display Optionally right click the number 2 icon in the right hand box and click Disable in the pop up menu 3 Click the number 2 icon in the right hand box 4 Click Yes to the Enable this display dialog Enable Clone Mode If the secondary device is disabled 1 From the Tree View pane click Displays Manager 2 Click and drag the display device icon i
89. lable by using multiple DVI connectors ATI Technologies 128 Trilinear Filtering A sampling method used to produce realistic looking 3D objects Trilinear filtering averages one of the bilinear filter mipmap levels along with the standard mipmap samples Vector Adaptive Deinterlacing A technique that provides smoother less jagged edges for interlaced video playback Interlaced video consists of alternating odd and even numbered scan lines which are then mapped to an equivalent pixel by pixel display on a CRT or Flat Panel Display Without correction jagged lines appear in a video image either as doubled scan lines or lines that are improperly interpolated With vector adaptive deinterlacing the difference in pixel values is considered across multiple lines and alternating frames using Pulldown detection on the interlaced video source and then intelligently re interpreted to produce smoother edges in interlaced video images VersaVision An ATI technology enabling accelerated display rotation and scaling Any desktop can now be rotated 90 degrees left or right or even 180 degrees while maintaining the full feature set of other ATI 2D and 3D technologies such as SmoothVision VersaVision works with single or multiple displays Vertex Shader Three dimensional objects displayed on a screen are rendered using polygons each of which is made up of intersecting triangles A vertex is a corner of a triangle where it c
90. level emitted from the computer display Buffer A name referring to portions of on board video memory One large buffer is always used to display images to the screen this is the display buffer The rest of offscreen memory is typically used by applications as back buffers z buffers and texture buffers Catalyst Control Center Catalyst Control Center is the successor technology to the Catalyst software formerly available only through the Windows Control Panel It has a new user interface providing a more interactive means of controlling such things as 2D and 3D performance while providing immediate feedback using a more intuitive graphical user interface Color Component Three color components Red Green and Blue combine in various intensities to determine the color of each pixel on the screen The values of each color component are graphically represented by a corresponding color curve Color Correction Correct discrepancies between the real color value and the way a screen displays it Color discrepancies can be caused by a variety of sources including the lighting conditions in the work area and gradual shifts in color over time on monitors or flat panel displays Color Depth Color depth refers to the number of color shades available on your display and is measured in bits per pixel bpp Typical ranges are 256 colors 8bpp thousands of colors 16bpp and millions of colors 32bpp ATI Techno
91. lick Maintain aspect ratio to maintain the ratio between width and height while making adjustments Click Accept Click OK in the HDTV Format warning message box Click Apply to add your new HDTV format to the Predefined and Custom HDTV Formats list and the Displays Manager mode list Note The format to be added must be based on one of the standard timing formats 720p or 10801 Remove an HDTV Format 1 From the Tree View pane expand Digital Panel Properties 2 Click HDTV Support 3 Click to highlight the HDTV format to be removed in the Predefined and Custom HDTV Formats list box 4 Click Remove button Note The removed format will be removed from the Displays Manager mode list once the computer has been rebooted Apply an HDTV Format 1 From the Tree View pane expand Digital Panel Properties 2 Click HDTV Support ATI Technologies 58 3D 3 Click to highlight the desired an HDTV format in the Predefined and Custom HDTV Formats list box 4 Click Apply Format Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Discard your setting
92. logies 116 Component Video Typically used on DVD players and HDTV systems component video is a standard Red Green Blue RGB color signal for televisions The signal is split and compressed into separate luminance and color values luminance Y red minus luminance R Y and blue minus luminance B Y The value for green is not transmitted The display device automatically fills in the color values that are not red or blue DVDs are encoded using component video so display devices will provide enhanced playback when this type of connection is used A common variant of this format used in North America is YPbPr Composite Video Composite video is a type of analog video signal that combines both brightness and color information into a single signal It typically uses a single RCA connection for the video channel and separate RCA connections for the left and right audio channels The quality of the video signal is reduced by the process of mixing the brightness and multiple color channels together into a single channel For this reason it is inferior in signal quality than either S Video or component video Composite video is the broadcast format for analog television signals worldwide and connections are typically available on VCRs DVD players and video games Compositing Engine A chip that is available only on CrossFire Edition graphics cards This chip takes the signals from the GPUs on both the Master graphics
93. m Two components are required e Two CrossFire Edition graphics cards from the same brand family e A CrossFire Ready motherboard with two PCIeTM X16 slots More information on the requirements for each of these components can be found within this FAQ 2 What motherboards support CrossFire The optimal configuration for a CrossFire system is one based on a Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire Edition motherboard Motherboards from other manufactures will be certified as CrossFire Ready when they become available 3 Are there specific CMOS motherboard settings for CrossFire On some motherboards the CMOS may be set by default to support only a single PCI Express X16 slot Ensure that both PCIeTM X16 slots are enabled in the CMOS 4 Are there any software settings required for CrossFire to work Yes there is a setting in the Catalyst Control Center that needs to be enabled for CrossFire to operate When all of the hardware and software has been properly set up and installed the following CrossFire aspect appears in Catalyst Control Center ATI Technologies CrossFire Graphics Adapter 3RadeonX1300 Senes SyncMaster a f crossrire settings a ones deives xcepionlpadomance on a inge dip by the processing power of two or more Graphics Processing Unite GPUs E Enable CrossFae CrossFire itis highly recommended that you leave When enabling EAL nba Standard pasion N
94. mensional perspective and fade away into the background It works best when used in conjunction with Mipmapping Anisotropic filtering can be set to favor either an increase in system processing performance or improved image quality e Setting for performance is best used with applications that display objects with smooth simple surfaces such as those seen in CAD applications e Setting for quality is best used with applications that display highly detailed scenes backgrounds and textured objects such as those seen in 3D games e Ifyou are unsure how to configure anisotropic filtering use the Let the Application Decide option Your display will automatically adjust to the application s requirements Set the Anisotropic Filtering preference manually 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click Anisotropic Filtering 5 meee ATI Technologies 64 Anisotropic Filtering 3 Ensure the application override is disabled To do so make sure the Let the Application Decide check box is cleared The slider control will become available 4 Click the Control slider and move the selector to your preferred setting To increase processing performance move the slider to the left To increase image quality move the slider to the right Set the Anisotropic Filtering to automated preference 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click Anisotropic Filtering 3 Ensure the application override is enabled To do so make sure the Let th
95. n ATI graphics cards VGA DVI I VGA DVI I S Video CATV Composite Connector Types VGA Supports an analog CRT monitor DVI I Supports a digital monitor VGA DVI I Adapter Supports an analog monitor on a DVI I connection S Video In Out Supports a TV VCR or Camcorder CATV Supports a TV antenna or cable service Composite Supports a TV VCR or Camcorder O For more information about connecting to your All in Wonder graphics card see the AIW All in Wonder Quick Start Guide and the All in Wonder User s Guide located on the CD that came with your new All in Wonder graphics card ATI Technologies CHAPTER 3 Using Multiple Displays Connecting Your Monitors Your Radeon X1550 Series graphics card provides hardware support for the following display configurations e Single VGA e Single DVI e Dual VGA DVI I to VGA adapter use required The TV Out connection supports the following TV formats cables not provided e Composite e S video Component The TV Out connection can be combined with DVI or VGA DVI I to VGA adapter use required for clone or extended display support ATI Technologies Connections and Adapters for the Radeon X1550 Series Card 1 Standard VGA Monitor Connector To connect a VGA monitor to the DVI I connector plug the supplied DVI I to VGA adapter into the DVI I connector then plug your monitor cable into the adapter 2 DVI
96. n Attached displays currently disabled to the empty box to the right of the Main box 3 Click Clone Main with display device in the pop up menu If the secondary display is enabled 1 Right click the display device icon in Desktop 2 when in Extended mode Rightmost when in Stretch Horizontal mode or Lower in Stretch Vertical mode ATI Technologies Displays Manager Advanced View 43 2 Click Clone Main with display device 3 Click Yes to the Displays Manager Notification dialog Note Display device can be CRT DFP TV or HDTV Enable Stretch Main Vertically If the secondary display is disabled 1 From the Tree View pane click Displays Manager 2 Click and drag the display device icon from Additional Displays to the empty box to the right of the Main box 3 Click Stretch vertically onto display device in the pop up menu 4 Click Yes in the Displays Manager Notification dialog If the secondary display is enabled 1 Right click the display device icon in Desktop 2 when in Extended mode Rightmost when in Stretch Horizontal mode or Clone in Clone mode 2 Click Stretch vertically onto display device in the pop up menu 3 Click Yes in the Displays Manager Notification dialog Note Display device can be CRT DFP TV or HDTV Enable Stretch Main Horizontally If the secondary display is disabled 1 From the Tree View pane click Displays Manager 2 Click and drag the display device icon from Additional Displays to th
97. nd Higher rates equals better more naturalistic performance for such things as games set in a 3D environment Sometimes abbreviated to fps Gamma Sometimes confused with brightness gamma actually refers to the correction that is applied to any display device in order to produce more gradual increases or decreases in the perceived brightness for that device A change in gamma produces a non linear change in the color curve ensuring that perceived changes in color and intensity are consistently applied Gouraud Shading A shading method used to produce a smooth lighting effect across a 3D object A specific color is used at each vertex of a triangle or polygon and interpolated across the entire face HDCP HDCP is an acronym for High Bandwidth Digital Copy Protection It is a form of digital rights management designed to protect copyright of signals being transported across DVI or HDMI connections Several international regulatory bodies have recommended its incorporation into high definition display and playback devices HDMI HDMI is an acronym for High Definition Multimedia Interface It is a 19 pin connector used for transferring combined digital audio and video HDMI supports standard enhanced and high definition digital video signals and is designed for use with VCRs DVD players personal computers and set top boxes A DVI adapter can be used to transfer the video signal to an HDMI capable di
98. nel 5 23 115 Control point 116 Copy protection DVDs 105 CPU 123 Crazy Taxi 3 65 Create a list of active Hotkeys 33 Create a Profile 34 Create or Edit Profile 34 CrossFire 99 100 101 102 126 CrossFire Edition 99 101 116 CrossFire F A Q 99 CrossFire Ready 99 100 CRT 4 105 116 117 125 Custom View 31 32 Customer Care 38 103 105 106 107 D Dashboard 27 30 31 117 Define Custom View 32 de interlacing 83 84 87 129 adaptive 84 bob 84 motion adaptive 84 Delete a Profile 35 Depth Buffer 120 Desktop Area 44 desktop size 44 Detect a newly connected display device 45 Detect Displays 45 Determine how display devices are detected 48 device ID 39 134 Digital 104 Digital Flat Panel DFP 43 44 45 55 56 104 Digital flat panel DFP display 4 Digital Panel properties 51 Digital Video Interface 118 Direct 3D 46 70 71 72 101 113 117 124 126 DirectX 117 Disable Catalyst A I 66 91 Disable Catalyst A I 65 Display Color page 74 Display Data Channel DDC 49 Display Detection Options 46 Display Options 46 Display the online help 38 Display the version of the installed Catalyst Control Center 38 Displays Manager 40 41 Displays Manager Advanced View 41 Dithering 117 Doom 3 65 Dot pitch 95 117 125 dot pitch 95 driver installation 21 drivers installing 21 uninstalling 5 DVD 4 21 116 119 127 DVI 51 52 53 119 DVI Settings 53 DVI A 118 DVI D 118 DVI I 104 118 DXT 72 DXT texture formats 72
99. ngs e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center n ATI Technologies 46 Display Options Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Display Options The Display Options aspect gives you additional control to optimize performance of OpenGL and Direct 3D applications Use 3D Refresh Rate Override to set a refresh rate of your choice when a full screen application or game has a default refresh rate that is lower than optimal Choose one of the Display Detection Options to prevent screen flicker when detecting a display If you are using an older TV or one that has non standard inputs that may not be automatically detected use Force TV Detection When a TV is detected using this method it appears in the Displays Manager aspect and can be configured as required However some features that rely on automatic detection such as extended desktop will not be supported ATI Technologies Display Options 47 ATi CATALYST Control Center Graphics Settings 6 Maan ka Display Options E Information Center Graphics Software Graphics Hardware Graphics Adapter 1 482 7109 SyncMaster F 2 Displays Mani gt jay O 3D Refresh Rate Override a By default some full screen applications operat
100. ntrol Center icon in the Windows System Tray 1 Click Preferences button in the Advanced View of the Dashboard 2 Click Enable System Tray menu in the drop down menu Note When a check mark appears next to Enable System Tray Menu the CatalystTM Control Center icon appears in the Windows System Tray Change Catalyst Control Center language 1 Click Preferences in the Advanced View of the Dashboard Click Select a Language in the drop down menu Choose a language from the list Click OK Restart Catalyst Control Center QA KR Q N Change the appearance of the Catalyst Control Center 1 Click Preferences in the Advanced View of the Dashboard 2 Click Select a skin in the drop down menu 3 Choose a skin from the Skin drop down menu 4 Click OK Restore Catalyst Control Center to the factory default settings 1 Click Preferences in the Advanced View of the Dashboard 2 Select Restore factory defaults in the drop down menu 3 Click Yes ATI Technologies 38 Help Help Use the Catalyst Control Center Help feature to access the comprehensive online help system generate a Problem Report and get the installed version information Display help for the aspect or feature you are using 1 Click the Help button in the Advanced View of the Dashboard 2 Select Help for this Page e Optionally click anywhere in the aspect or feature you are using and press the F1 key Display the online help 1 Click the Help button
101. of the display of 3D modelling applications that change very quickly or have been moved or occluded It does this by optimizing the storage of buffer regions in the graphics card s memory buffer Other applications are typically not adversely affected when this is enabled Lighting In 3D computer graphics refers to aspects and quality of the virtual light source being used to make an object visible Lighting can strongly affect the mood of a scene For example a harsh light could be a bare lightbulb that is glaringly bright on the objects closest to it while casting strong shadows in the background A softer light would be more diffuse and not cast shadows such as you would get outdoors on a typical overcast day Mipmapping The most memory intensive aspect of 3D graphics are the textures that give an object its realism like wood marble leather and cloth Because objects in real life become less detailed as they move farther away from the viewer 3D programmers simulate this by using less detailed lower resolution texture maps on distant objects These texture maps are merely scaled down versions of the main texture map used when the object is up close and they use less memory NTSC The name for the type of analog television signal used throughout the Americas except Brazil and in Japan It draws a total of 525 vertical interlaced frames of video at a refresh rate of 60 Hz making it relatively ATI Technologi
102. on high resolution displays can resolve either display corruption or the complete absence of any image when a display is set to a high resolution This should only be enabled if the Digital Panel is experiencing these types of problems Note Alternate DVI operational mode when enabled may eliminate display corruption Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view p ATI Technologies 54 Avivo Color Avivo Color Use Avivo Color with ATI graphics cards that supports per display color settings Independently set the hue and saturation for each attached and enabled display Set Hue Refers to a specific color within the visible spectrum of light defined by its dominant wavelength 1 From the Tree Vi
103. onitor Properties 49 Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Monitor Properties Use the Monitor Properties aspect to configure your Display Data Channel DDC monitor s attributes to display information about the connected monitor and adjust the output display s position and size Note Catalyst Control Center loads aspects dynamically based on what device is attached to the graphics card If you have a display device other than a standard monitor or flat panel display such as an HDTV screen Digital Panel Properties will appear in the Graphics Settings listing instead of Monitor Properties A ATI Technologies 50 Monitor Properties ATi CATALYST Control Center EEE e eT Graphics Settin
104. onnects to another triangle and each vertex carries a considerable amount of information describing its coordinates in 3D space as well as its weight color texture coordinates fog and point size data A vertex shader is a graphics processing function that manipulates these values producing such things as more realistic lighting effects improved complex textures such as hair and fur and more accurate surface deformations such as waves rippling in a pool or the stretching and wrinkling of a character s clothes as he or she moves Vertex shader units A feature built into the graphical processor which renders the texture magnitude and direction of the individual triangles that comprise each polygon of a given 3D object The more vertex shader units available ATI Technologies 129 within the graphical processor the more complex polygons that can be generated per clock cycle and hence finer more naturalistic detail and movement is possible VGA Connector A type of graphics connector sometimes also called an analog connector It is the most common type of video connector available consisting of 15 pins set in three rows The VGA is an acronym for Video Graphics Array which is also the name for the video resolution mode of 640x480 pixels the lowest standard resolution supported by virtually all video cards Video Immersion Il A technology that integrates digital video features such as advanced adaptive de
105. or greater power supply recommended Consult your computer system manual to ensure the power supply is designed to accommodate a high end graphics card with a peak dissipation above 75 watts Operating e Windows XP with Service Pack 2 SP2 System Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Monitor High resolution MultiSync or multi frequency monitors or any other type of VGA monitor Digital flat panel DFP displays or digital CRT display External Connections e 15 pin D shell female VGA output DVI I output e S Video output Before You Begin Before you begin installing your new graphics card please do the following Record Your Serial and Part Numbers The serial number and 102 part number printed on the graphics card are required for registration They are located on a sticker on the back of the card sn 000000 000000 P N 1028360100 O Serial number S N ATI Technologies Before You Begin 5 102 part number P N Write the numbers shown in bold above down before installing your new ATI product Uninstall Previous Graphics Card Drivers To ensure the successful installation of your new Radeon X1550 Series card you must uninstall the drivers for the existing graphics card before removing it from your computer To uninstall previous drivers With your current graphics card still in your computer 1 Close all application
106. perties E Gi Information Center 2 Displays Manager Display Options Graphics Adapter 1 R482 7109 SyncMaster E Digital Panel Properties Avivo Color HDTV Support Display Name SyncMaster aS 3D Maximum reported resolution 1280 1024 Color m Avivo Video Maximum reported refresh rate 75 Hz gt VPU Recover Panel Information 7 Image Scaling 7 Scale image to full panel size Use centered timings DYI Settings 7 E Reduce DYI frequency on high resolution displays Alternate DVI operational mode a Ba Pr Catalyst Control Center Digital Panel Properties Sample Attributes Digital Panel Attributes provides information about the connected digital display Use DVI Settings and Image Scaling to configure your digital display Set Image Scaling 1 From the Tree View pane expand Digital Panel Properties 2 Click Attributes 3 Under Image Scaling click to enable the desired setting Note Enable Scale image to full panel size to fill the digital display ATI Technologies Monitor Properties 53 Note Use centered timings will not resize the desktop to fit the screen and may result in a centered image with a black border around it Adjust the DVI Settings 1 From the Tree View pane expand Digital Panel Properties 2 Click Attributes 3 Under DVI Settings click to enable the desired setting Note Reducing DVI frequency
107. r computer to a place where you are using TV display only make sure that you have the TV display feature enabled prior to removing the monitor The maximum display resolution for TV is 1024 x 768 Choosing a resolution higher than this will cause the TV display to disappear if it is the only display device Using Games and Applications Some older games and applications may program your Radeon X1550 Series directly to run under a specific display mode This may cause your TV display to turn off automatically or become scrambled your PC monitor or portable LCD display will not be affected Your TV display will be restored once you exit the game or if you restart your computer Connecting to HDTV View computer output directly on your High Definition Television HDTV or other component input device Provide a big screen experience for your computer that is ideal for playing games giving presentations watching movies and browsing the Internet HDTV uses YPbPr connectors to receive input YPbPr stands for the following e Y Green Pb Blue e Pr Red p ATI Technologies 96 Connecting to HDTV The HDTV Component Video Adapter can be used in place of the standard A V Output cable to connect to an HDTV or other component input device using component video cables You must have a monitor attached to your computer before installing the ATI HDTV For proper operation of your ATI Component Video Adapter ATI display drive
108. r removing a component from the motherboard to avoid possible damage to the motherboard ATI Technologies Advanced Installation PCle 13 3 Remove the computer cover If necessary consult your computer s manual for help in removing the cover WARNING Remember to discharge your body s static electricity by touching the power supply or the metal surface of the computer chassis 4 Unscrew or unfasten and remove any existing graphics card from your computer Note If your computer has an on board graphics capability you may need to disable it on the motherboard For more information see your computer documentation 5 Locate the appropriate slot and if necessary remove the metal back plate cover 6 Align your ATI graphics card with the slot and press it in firmly until the card is fully seated 7 Screw in or fasten the graphics card securely Make sure the cables are not interfering with anything inside the computer for example a cooling fan and replace the computer cover 8 Reconnect any cables you have disconnected and plug in the computer s power cord 9 Turn on the monitor and then your computer O Your computer will beep possibly show a warning message on your display and the boot process will stop if the graphics card is not correctly connected to the power supply ATI Technologies 14 Connecting Devices Connecting Devices The following illustration shows typical connections found o
109. re grey A completely unsaturated color is grey In terms of the RGB color model a fully saturated color exists when you have 100 brightness in one of the three channels say red and 0 in the two others green and blue Conversely a fully desaturated color is one where all of the color values are the same Saturation can therefore be thought of as the relative difference between the values of the channels SCART SCART is an acronym for Syndicat des Constructeurs d Appareils Radior cepteurs et T l viseurs SCART is an 21 pin connector used mainly in Europe for transferring analog audio and video signals between VCRs DVD players personal computers and set top boxes It is sometimes referred to as P ritel or the Euroconnector Scissor Mode A graphical load balancing scheme where two graphics cards are used to render two halves of an image display One graphics card renders the top half of the screen while the second graphics card renders the bottom half This configuration offers a form of dynamic load balancing between the two cards as each only needs to render 3D object details on only half of the screen instead of the full screen at any one time This type of graphical operation is only available in Radeon CrossFire graphics cards running Microsoft Direct 3D and OpenGL games or applications ATI Technologies SDTV SDTV is an acronym for Standard Definition Television that identifies lower resolution
110. re realistic color e Adjusting the Brightness and Contrast can be useful for 3D games that display dimly lit scenes Display Color page to configure FullScreen 3D 1 From the Tree View pane click Color 2 Select FullScreen 3D from the Set color correction for drop down menu Set Color Gamma 1 From the Tree View pane click Color 2 Click and drag the Control slider to your preferred setting e To increase the Gamma move the slider to the right To decrease the Gamma move the slider to the left e Optionally click the up and down arrow buttons of the adjustment box Click the Reset button to restore the previous settings Note The preview image automatically displays the adjustments you have made Set Color Contrast 1 From the Tree View pane click Color 2 Click and drag the Control slider to your preferred setting e To increase the Contrast move the slider to the right To decrease the Contrast move the slider to the left e Optionally click the up and down arrow buttons in the adjustment box Click the Reset button to restore the previous settings Note The preview image automatically displays the adjustment you have made j P J ATI Technologies 78 Avivo Video for Radeon X1000 Series Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Restore default settings 1 Mov
111. rees up memory while achieving high quality graphics 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click API Specific 3 Select Support DXT texture formats to place a check mark in the check box Set Alternate pixel center for Direct 3D This might eliminate problems with certain Direct 3D games that display vertical and horizontal lines around textures or display text incorrectly This setting should only be enabled if you are experiencing these issues as it may cause problems in other games 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click API Specific 3 Select Alternate pixel center to place a check mark in the check box Set Triple buffering for OpenGL Enabling Triple buffering will improve the frame rate of games when vertical sync is enabled only if the frame rate is less than the vertical sync refresh rate In low memory situations enabling Triple buffering may decrease application performance as there will be less frame buffer memory available for texture and geometry data If there is insufficient memory available to support Triple buffering it will automatically be disabled 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click API Specific 3 Select Triple buffering to place a check mark in the check box Set Force 24 bit Z buffer depth for OpenGL Enables you to explicitly set the Z buffer depth Most applications will work best with the Disabled setting 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click API Specific ATI
112. rements 4 Before You Begin 4 Installing Hardware cece eee ee 7 Graphics Card Bus Types 7 Basic Graphics Card Installation 7 Advanced Installation AGP 9 Advanced Installation PCle 11 Connecting Devices 14 Using Multiple Displays 15 Display Configurations 17 ATI Technologies Installing Software and Drivers 21 Installing Drivers and Software in Windows 21 Monitor Configuration 22 To set up a multi monitor display 23 Reinstalling Drivers 23 Installing the Catalyst Software Suite 24 Catalyst Control Center 27 Launching Catalyst Control Center 27 Catalyst Control Center Dashboard 30 Catalyst Control Center Views 31 Hotkeys Manager 32 Profiles Manager 33 Preferences 35 Help 38 Information Center 39 Displays Manager 40 Displays Manager Advanced View 41 Display Options 46 Monitor Properties 49 Avivo Color 54 HDTV Support 55 3D 58 Standard Settings 59 Anti aliasing 61 Set the Anti Aliasing preference manually 61 Adaptive Anti aliasing 63 Anisotropic Filtering 63 Catalyst A I 65 Mipmap Detail Level 67 Adjust the Mipmap detail level 67 All Settings 68 API Specific 71 Color 73 Color Desktop 74 Color FullScreen 3D 77 Avivo Video for Radeon X1000 Series 78 Standard Settings 79 VPU Recover 88 Using TV Display and Capture Features 93 Using TV Out 93 Connecting to HDTV 95 ATI Technologies CrossFire FAQ cece cece eens
113. roducts which this document relates ATI disclaims all express or implied warranties regarding such products including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability fitness for a particular purpose and non infringement Macrovision Apparatus Claims of U S Patent Nos 4 631 603 4 819 098 4 907 093 and 6 516 132 licensed for limited viewing uses only This product incorporates copyright protection technology that is protected by US patents and other intellectual property rights Use of this copyright protection technology must be authorized by Macrovision and is intended for home and other limited viewing uses only unless otherwise authorized by Macrovision Reverse engineering or disassembly is prohibited ATI Technologies O IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS Read Instructions All the safety and operating instructions should be read before the product is operated Retain Instructions The safety and operating instructions should be retained for future reference Heed Warnings All warnings on the product and the operating instructions should be adhered to e Compatibility This option card is for use only with IBM AT or compatible UL Listed personal computers that have Installation Instructions detailing user installation of card cage accessories e Grounding For continued protection against risk of electric shock and fire this accessory should be installed only in products equipped with a three wire
114. rs must be correctly installed ATI HDTV Cable 1 ATI HDTV Video Output Cable 2 Backplate of the ATI Graphics Card 3 Male RCA Patch Cables available from consumer electronics dealer 4 Typical HDTV Video Input Connections Note Input and output cables lengths should not exceed 50 feet 15m Installing your ATI HDTV video cable 1 Turn on your component input device and set it to YPbPr input Note See your HDTV or component input device manual for configuration information specific to your device ATI Technologies Connecting to HDTV 97 2 Turn on your computer Note Your TV will not display anything until Windows starts This can take several minutes Using Your ATI HDTV Video Cable Use the HDTV Video Cable to watch DVD movies and play video games on your High Definition Television O Copy protected DVDs restrict playback to 480i and 480p modes For maximum performance when you watch DVD movies or play computer games on your HDTV you should find the mode and screen resolution that provide the best result on your TV and use those settings exclusively ATI Technologies 98 Connecting to HDTV ATI Technologies CHAPTER 7 CrossFire FAQ The following are frequently asked questions about CrossFire For the latest information please consult the CrossFire Web site at ati com crossfire 1 What combination of products are required to build a working CrossFire syste
115. s e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view 3D Use 3D to adjust features found in 3D applications such as graphic design CAD programs and games 3D is only available in advanced view Use 3D to individually configure the following settings e Standard Settings e Anti aliasing e Anisotropic Filtering e Catalyst A I e Mipmap Detail Level ATI Technologies Standard Settings 59 e API Specific ATi CATALYST Control Center Hotkeys Graphics Settings amp Welcome Information Center 2 Displays Manager a Display Dptions Graphics Adapter 1 R482 7109 SyncMaster kd Wi Digital Panel Properties aS mp Standard Settings 3 Anti Aliasing Anisotropic Filtering CATALYST AL Mipmap Detail Levi SMARTSHADER All Settings API Specific Color m Avivo Video P VPU Recover Standard Settings 7 Me Use custom settings erformani Pi caTaLysT Custom Selection Catalyst Control Center Standard Settings Standard Settings The Standard settings page provides access to a universal slider control where you can simultaneously adjust all of the standard 3D
116. s card The Catalyst Software Suite has several distinct software elements including Driver e Catalyst Control Center e HydraVision not included in the Express Install e Remote Wonder Software e SurroundView To install the Catalyst software suite Note Optical drive refers to any drive capable of reading CD ROM media 1 Insert the ATI Installation CD ROM into your optical drive If Windows runs the CD ROM automatically proceed to step 5 Click Start gt Run Q N Type the following D ATISETUP If D is not your optical drive substitute the correct drive letter Click OK Click Install under Software Install Click Next and click Yes to the license agreement Click ATI Easy Install to begin the Installation Wizard oN Oa Ma a Follow the Wizard s on screen instructions then choose either Express or Custom Install ATI Technologies Installing the Catalyst Software Suite 25 Not all software components are installed using the Express installation Custom installation allows you to select individual software components for installation ATI Technologies 26 Installing the Catalyst Software Suite ATI Technologies Catalyst Control Center 27 CHAPTER 5 Catalyst Control Center The Catalyst Control Center is a graphical user application providing access to the display features contained within the installed ATI hardware and software Use the Catalyst Control C
117. s that are currently running 2 Navigate to the Control Panel and select Add Remove Programs 3 Select your current graphics card drivers and select Add Remove The wizard will help you remove your current display drivers Note If the previously installed graphics card has any additional software installed it should also be removed at this point 4 Turn off your system and remove the old graphics card ATI Technologies 6 Before You Begin ATI Technologies Graphics Card Bus Types 7 CHAPTER 2 Installing Hardware This chapter will guide you through the physical installation of your new Radeon graphics card Graphics Card Bus Types There are three possible card bus types See the illustration below to determine if you have an AGP PCI or PCI Express PCIe graphics card AGP PCI and PCle Graphics Cards _S E 0 Bus Types 1 AGP card and AGP expansion slot 2 PCI card and PCI expansion slot 3 PCle card and PCle expansion slot Basic Graphics Card Installation There are two types of installation If your graphics card does not require a separate connection to the computer s power supply follow the Basic Install instructions below If your graphics card requires a separate connection to the computer s power supply follow the Advanced Install instructions for either AGP or PCIe as appropriate ATI Technologies 8 Basic Graphics Card Installation Radeon grap
118. s that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK All Settings The All Settings page combines all of the principal 3D features onto a single page without any preview window allowing for quick access and adjustment You can change the settings for the following 3D features as you normally would on each feature s own page e Anti aliasing e Anisotropic filtering e Catalyst A I e Mipmap detail level e Wait for display refresh e Adaptive Anti Aliasing This page is useful when it is not necessary to preview the adjusted settings because the effect is already known or understood Set the Anti Aliasing preference manually Set the Anti Aliasing preference manually 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Click All Settings ATI Technologies All Settings 69 3 Ensure the application override is disabled To do so make sure the Let the Application Decide check box is cleared The slider control will become available 4 Click the Control slider and move the selector to your preferre
119. sFire Ready 12 pipeline graphics card ATI Technologies 10 11 In this scenario both graphics cards will operate as 12 pipeline graphics cards while in CrossFire mode What happens if two CrossFire graphics cards have different clock speeds Both cards will continue to operate at their individual clock speeds neither card is stepped down The compositing engine on the CrossFire card merges the resulting images independent of the clock speed on either graphics card What are the rendering modes and what are their specific advantages The following dynamic rendering modes are available SuperTiling CrossFire renders alternate 32x32 pixel squares in a fine grained checkerboard pattern This configuration increases image rendering quality as each card processes half of the complex 3D objects in the pixel squares Scissor Mode each graphics card renders up to half of the display either vertically or horizontally depending on the game or application Alternate Frame Rendering the two graphics cards are used to render alternate frames of the display This configuration increases the detail of the 3D objects each card can render as each card handles half of the total number of frames Super Anti aliasing improves image quality by combining the results of full screen anti aliasing across two graphics cards in a CrossFire configuration The two graphics cards work on different anti
120. scheme where two graphics cards are used to render alternate frames of the display This configuration increases the detail of the 3D objects each card can render as each card handles half of the total number of frames Essentially each card has more time to render a scene delivering a noticeable increase in 3D detail This type of graphical ATI Technologies 113 operation is only available in Radeon CrossFire graphics cards running Microsoft Direct 3D and OpenGL games or applications Anisotropic Filtering A technique that preserves the surface details of an object as it recedes into the distance by utilizing and blending together the object s texture maps This makes 3D objects appear more realistic as the detail of their surface texture is retained in a smooth seamless fashion on the sections that move or fade away into the background Anti aliasing A method that smooths out the jagged edges of a curved object A black curved line on a white background displayed on a computer screen will have some jaggedness along its edges due to the inherent limitations of using discrete pixels to display the image Anti aliasing smooths out this jaggedness by filling in the white spaces between the jagged edges with varying shades of grey Aspect A group of related features in ATI s Catalyst Control Center software For example the Color aspect clusters together controls that handles gamma brightness contrast and oth
121. se unit is a pixel Texture Mapping In computer graphics two dimensional textured surfaces are referred to as texture maps Texture mapping is the process by which a two dimensional surface gets wrapped around a three dimensional object so that the 3D object takes on the same texture qualities For example if you take a 2D textured surface that looks like cloth and wrap it around a 3D sphere the sphere will now appear to have a cloth like surface Texture Preference Texture Preference is a feature enabling the user to select the texture quality level for the surface of a 3D object Selecting the highest quality possible will provide the most realism although it may also have some impact on the performance of any 3D intensive application Transition Minimized Differential Signaling TMDS A technology designed to reduce electromagnetic interference EMI and improve the digital signal delivered to flat panel displays Its encoding algorithm converts the original 8 bit graphic data into a more fault tolerant 10 bit signal which is then converted back to its original 8 bit form at the display device The signal is also DC balanced allowing for the option of transmitting the signal over fibre optic cable DVI connectors can incorporate up to two TMDS links with each link comprised of the number of signals required for standard RGB output Higher resolutions and refresh rates than standard are possible if multiple TMDS links are avai
122. sed YCbCr which is used for digital video Z buffer The portion of video memory that keeps track of which onscreen elements can be viewed and which are hidden behind other objects In the case of a 3D image it keeps track of which elements are occluded by the foreground in relation to the user s perspective or by another 3D object ATI Technologies Index Numerics 102 part number 4 1080i 56 57 120 129 1080i mode 56 1080p 56 16 9 aspect ratio 113 120 2D 111 3D 58 59 61 62 69 73 77 90 100 101 111 120 125 126 3D Preview 60 62 64 66 67 3D Settings 58 3Dc 111 125 4 3 aspect ratio 113 120 125 480i 105 120 125 129 480p 105 125 129 5 4 aspect ratio 113 720p 57 105 120 129 720p mode 55 A Accelerated Graphics Port AGP 112 123 access system information 40 accessories 107 Activate amp Close 35 Activate a profile 34 Activate an application file or shortcut when a profile is started 35 Adaptive Anti Aliasing 68 Adaptive anti aliasing 63 Add an HDTV format 57 Advanced 31 Advanced View 31 39 41 58 62 69 90 All Settings 68 Alpha blending 112 Alternate Frame Rendering 101 112 Alternate Frame Rendering AFR 101 Alternate pixel center 72 Always on Top 36 AMD Athlon 4 Anisotropic Filtering 58 63 68 69 113 Anisotropic filtering 113 125 Anisotropic Filtering preference 69 Anti aliasing 58 61 63 68 101 112 113 125 126 132 Anti Aliasin
123. settings for any type of 3D application The slider enables you to adjust for overall system performance overall 3D image quality or a balance between the two This page is useful when you are not aware of which type of 3D settings your application uses or when you want to use an overall adjustment control that rapidly configures your application Adjust your Standard settings The default selection is Balanced 1 From the Tree View click 3D n ATI Technologies 60 Standard Settings Click Standard Settings 3 If necessary remove the check mark from Use custom settings Click and drag the Control slider to the left to select High or Optimal Performance or to the right to select High or Optimal Quality Preview your changes The preview image automatically displays your adjustments Optionally double click 3D Preview for a full screen view of the adjustments you have made To exit full screen Preview press the Esc key The Preview can be disabled by clicking the X button in the Preview pane It can also be paused by clicking the button in the Preview pane Clicking the pause button again causes the preview to resume Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when
124. splay although audio must be transferred from a different route as DVI output does not support audio ATI Technologies 120 HDTV Acronym for High Definition Television a format that produces much greater picture quality than a standard television and in a wide screen format that matches that of a movie theater screen The two most popular formats are 1080i and 720p where the number represents how many horizontal scan lines they have and the following letter represents whether the picture is interlaced or the product of progressive scanning technology Interlaced displays paint the odd numbered scan lines and then the even numbered lines to produce a picture whereas progressive scan paints all of the scan lines at once Both formats use an aspect ratio of 16 9 In contrast standard North American television signals are displayed using 480 interlaced 4801 scan lines with a more square aspect ratio of 4 3 Hue Refers to a specific color within the visible spectrum of light defined by its dominant wavelength A light wave with a central tendency within the range of 565 590 nm is visible as yellow In the standard RGB color space used by most computer displays hue refers to a coordinate of the color as described by its red green and blue values minus any additional brightness or saturation values for that color HydraVision HydraVision is ATI s multi monitor management software enabling users to manage the
125. t move the slider to the right To decrease the Contrast move the slider to the left e Optionally click the up and down arrow buttons in the adjustment box Click the Reset button to restore the previous settings Note The preview image automatically displays the adjustment you have made Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view ATI Technologies Color FullScreen 3D 77 Color FullScreen 3D Adjusting the Gamma control alters the overall richness of color Adjusting the Brightness control alters the overall brightness Adjusting the Contrast control alters the overall contrast e Adjusting the Gamma can be useful for CAD applications that rely heavily on color coding or applications that requi
126. th administrator rights Your operating system must be installed and running before you can install the Radeon X1550 Series drivers Also make sure that you have installed Service Pack 2 for Windows XP Make sure your monitor cable is properly attached before you begin Note The installation dialog will display in English if your operating system s language is not supported To install ATI drivers and software Note Optical drive refers to CD ROM or DVD ROM drive 1 Start your system When the Found New Hardware Wizard appears click Cancel When the System Settings Change window asks you to restart your computer click No ATI Technologies 22 Monitor Configuration 2 Run the ATISETUP utility The ATISETUP utility will start automatically when you insert the ATI Installation CD ROM into your optical drive after the operating system has started If your CD ROM auto run is not enabled or the ATISETUP utility does not start automatically a Click the Start button in the task bar b Click Run c Select ATISETUP EXE from the root directory of the ATI Installation CD ROM d Click OK 3 Click Install under Software Install 4 Click Next 5 Click Yes to the license agreement ATI Easy Install will start the Installation Wizard 6 Follow the wizard s on screen instructions to complete the installation O The Express installation option is recommended By selecting this option the HydraVision multi monitor
127. that every 4 frames of film can be reproduced as 5 separate NTSC frames the extra frame created by interlacing interpolated frames The features produces a smoother NTSC video image from a motion picture film source and can be used for better edge image processing in the Vector Adaptive Deinterlacing feature within Catalyst Control Center 3D Acronym for three dimensional referring to computer graphics that appear to have volume and depth Various modeling processes take the representation of a three dimensional object provided by the computer program and render it by using various lighting components applying textures and setting layers of transparency or opacity as required in order to produce a realistic representation of a three dimensional object on a two dimensional display 3Dc An ATI hardware based compression technology that reduces the size of 3D texture data rendering more finely grained texture surfaces with greater efficiency It significantly minimizes the memory footprint of normal maps containing information on how light reflects off textured ATI Technologies 112 surfaces allowing game programmers to include more texture and lighting details without affecting performance Adaptive Anti aliasing Adaptive anti aliasing is a technique that applies a combination of multi sampling MSAA and super sampling SSAA on 3D objects to improve edge smoothness and fine detail Multi sampling works b
128. tionally double click 3D Preview for a full screen view of the adjustments you have made To exit full screen Preview press the Esc key The Preview can be disabled by clicking the X button in the Preview pane It can also be paused by clicking the button in the Preview pane Clicking the pause button again causes the preview to resume Apply your settings 1 Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst Control Center open 2 Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK ATI Technologies Mipmap Detail Level 67 Mipmap Detail Level Mipmapping is a texturing technique that preserves the detail on a 3D object s surface as it moves into the background A series of high and low resolution texture maps are stored in memory and selectively used to create the object s surface depending on
129. ults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Catalyst A I Catalyst A I makes use of ATI s new texture analyzer technology to optimize performance in 3D applications while maintaining or even improving image quality It analyzes individual textures as they are loaded to determine the best and fastest way to display them Use the Standard slider setting to achieve optimal results without impacting performance Use the Advanced slider setting to achieve even better results with minimal impact on performance Catalyst A I includes application specific detection for various games and games engines such as Doom 3 the Half Life 2 engine Unreal Tournament 2003 Unreal Tournament 2004 Splinter Cell Race Driver Prince of Persia and Crazy Taxi 3 Disable Catalyst A l 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D 2 Select Catalyst A I 3 Select Disable Catalyst A I to place a check mark in the check box Set Catalyst A l settings 1 From the Tree View pane expand 3D ATI Technologies 66 Catalyst A l Click Catalyst A I 3 Ifnecessary clear the check mark from Disable Catalyst A I Click and drag to slider to the desired setting Note Change to Catalyst A I settings is not shown in the 3D Preview Preview your changes The preview image automatically displays your adjustments Op
130. ur changes and exit the Catalyst Control Center n ATI Technologies 82 Standard Settings Restore default settings 1 Move the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the window 2 Click Defaults Note Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK Discard your settings e Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used Discard does not close the Catalyst Control Center Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect not just the feature in the current view Video Overlay Theater Mode Use Theater Mode to change the way you view streaming video Select an Overlay Display when in Clone Mode 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click Theater Mode 3 Under Overlay Display Mode Clone mode shows overlay select in Theater Mode full screen if you want the video content to be displayed on both displays The Secondary display displays the same content as the primary e Optionally select in Standard Mode if you want the video content to be displayed on the primary display only e Optionally the same on all displays if you want the contents displayed the same on all display devices Select an Overlay Display when in Extended Mode 1 From the Tree View pane expand Video 2 Click Theater Mode 3 Un
131. w wizard to help you configure your display preferences Experienced users who prefer to manually configure their desktop setting should use the Advanced View Note The Catalyst Control Center will open to the Basic View the very first time it is accessed Experienced users can easily change to Advanced View by selecting Advanced and clicking on the Next button ATI Technologies Displays Manager Advanced View 41 ATi CATALYST Control Center Graphics Settings amp Welcome E Information Center Graphics Software Graphics Hardware Graphics Adapter 1 R482 7109 SyncMaster 2 Display Options Desktop and Display Setup 7 Digital Panel Properties pe 3D ar Color Cj o 9 Avivo Video 4 VPU Recover Attached displays currently disabled To make changes drag or right click the display icons Selected Display on R482 7109 7 SyncMaster Single Desktop area Color quality Refresh rate 1024 x 768 IF High 32 bit ka s0Hz kd Rotation Standard Landscape 0 kd Catalyst Control Center Displays Manager Displays Manager Advanced View Use Display Manager Advanced View to set your desktop resolution the display refresh rate and arrange your displays To change your display configuration requires dragging and or clicking or right clicking a display icon Access D

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