RADEON™ 9200 FSC Series User’s Guide P/N 137-40465-10 Copyright © 2003, ATI Technologies Inc. All rights reserved. ATI and all ATI product and product feature names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ATI Technologies Inc. All other company and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Features, performance and specifications are subject to change without notice. Product may not be exactly as shown in the diagrams.
Disclaimer While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, ATI Technologies Inc.
Table of Contents Disclaimer ............................................................................................... i Product Notice......................................................................................... i MACROVISION..................................................................................... i Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Features At A Glance ............................................................................
Using and Adjusting TV Out................................................................ 31 How TV Display Cannot Be Used ....................................................... 31 Using a Monitor vs. Using the TV Display.......................................... 32 Adjusting Monitor Display................................................................... 32 Viewing Text on a TV.......................................................................... 33 Reducing Edge Distortion ........................
1 Introduction The RADEON™ 9200 FSC Series graphic accelerators delivers ground breaking 3D graphics performance. • Designed and built by ATI Technologies Inc. • Powered by the RADEON™ 9200 Series Graphics Processing Units (GPU). • Awesome 3D gaming performance. • Support for OpenGL® applications. • Support for Direct 3D® applications. • High resolution in 3D up to 2048x1536. • Best performance for today’s and tomorrow’s applications. • Supports TV-out to connect your PC to your TV or VCR.
2 Features At A Glance RADEON 9200 FSC Series The RADEON 9200 FSC Series provides high performance acceleration for today's demanding 3D graphic applications. Its main features are: • VIDEO IMMERSION™ II which provides industry-leading DVD playback and digital TV decode capability. • CHARISMA ENGINE™ II which is the main GPU, providing the necessary power to accelerate today’s 3D games and applications.
3 ATI’s Catalyst™ Software Suite Multiple Displays and 3D Gaming Experience ATI’s Catalyst Software Suite provides multiple display functionality for those computers with support for more than one installed monitor, and the advanced graphic features, such as SMARTSHADER, for the ultimate 3D gaming experience. For help on installing the Catalyst™ Software Suite, refer to the Getting Started Guide. The Catalyst™ Software Suite installs the ATI display tabs.
4 HydraVision™ (Optional) In addition to the multiple display functionality available with ATI’s Catalyst Software Suite for those computers with support for more than one installed monitor, you can also use HydraVision™ for advanced multi-monitor management. For more information on HydraVision, please refer to the HydraVision User’s Guide PDF located on your ATI Installation CD.
5 Connecting Your Monitor The RADEON 9200 FSC Series provides hardware support for one VGA monitor. It also provides TV Output via a S-Video out or a Composite out connector. Plug the monitor cable into your card then turn on the PC and monitor(s).
6 Display Configurations The following table lists the different ways you can connect displays to your card. Display Configuration Connector(s) Used Comments One CRT display VGA connector CRT- cathode ray tube analog display One TV TV Output Cards with S-Video out also support Composite out via a S-Video-to-Composite adapter*. Cards with Composite out DO NOT support connection to TVs with S-Video Input.
7 Catalyst™ Software Suite The following section provides an explanation of each ATI tab available after installing the Catalyst Software Suite. i Features presented in the following pages may not be supported in all operating systems and/or may appear differently. ATI Displays Tab The ATI Displays tab provides the multi monitor features for those computers with support for more than one installed monitor.
8 Enabling/Disabling Secondary Displays (optional) 1 Access the Windows® Control Panel. Doubleclick Display. 2 Click on the Settings tab and then the Advanced... button. 3 Click on the ATI Displays tab. 4 Click the enable/disable button for the display device you want to enable/disable. 5 Click OK or Apply to save the changes. Enabling Extended Desktop Mode (optional) 1 Access the Windows® Control Panel. Doubleclick Display. 2 Click on the Settings tab.
9 To enable Extended Desktop Mode, refer to the section Enabling Extended Desktop Mode (optional). 1 Access the Windows® Control Panel. Doubleclick Display. 2 Click on the Settings tab and then the Advanced... button. 3 Click on the ATI Displays tab. The ATI Displays tab shows you the display(s) that are active. The Primary display has the button depressed. To change the display assignment, you can click the Primary display’s button or you can click the button of the other display device.
10 ATI Color Tab The ATI Color tab is used to adjust the color settings. You can change the red, green and blue display colors. Desktop brightness and Game Gamma (brightness) can also be changed. ATI Color Tab Desktop Brightness This increases or decreases the brightness of your desktop. The higher the gamma value, the higher the brightness of your display. Color Curve This adjusts the selected color (red, green or blue check button) by moving the color curve with your mouse.
11 Clicking the Game Gamma button accesses the Game Gamma Properties. Game Gamma Properties Red Green Blue sliders These controls allow you to increase or decrease the color brightness of Direct 3D® and OpenGL® games played in fullscreen mode. RGB Lock Uncheck this to adjust the RGB sliders individually. Check this to adjust all three sliders at the same time. Defaults button This allows you to reset the Game Gamma settings to default values.
12 ATI Options Tab The ATI Options tab provides detailed driver information and access to the card’s specifications. You can also enable or disable the ATI taskbar icon. ATI Options Tab Version Information Provides the Catalyst version number, 2D version number and the driver build information. Details button Provides access to the Details tab which lists the card’s hardware details and driver information.
13 Disable quick resolution feature Quick resolution feature is accessible by leftclicking the ATI icon in the system tray. Checking this option disables the feature. Reduce DVI frequency on highresolution (optional) Resolves display corruption or no image at high resolutions (for example 1280x1024 @75Hz) using a digital DVI display. (This setting has no effect when using a DVI-to-VGA adapter.
14 ATI Overlay Tab The ATI Overlay tab allows you to configure the brightness, contrast, saturation, hue and gamma properties of your video overlay. Video Overlay Video overlay allows for the viewing of full-motion video on your PC. However, there is only one video overlay, which is only available on the Primary display. The video overlay controls are automatically activated during playback of any video file type that supports overlay adjustments.
15 ATI Overlay Tab Brightness Use this slider to adjust the brightness of the video image. Contrast Use this slider to adjust the contrast in the video image. Saturation Use this slider to adjust the vividness of the color. Sliding it all the way to the left removes all color and produces a black and white picture. Hue Use this slider to adjust the pureness or tint of the red, green and blue components of the color. Gamma Use this slider to adjust the overall intensity of the video image.
16 Full Screen Video The source video is scaled so that your display is showing full screen. Note: if the source video contains horizontal black bars, as do some DVD movies, the full screen video will also contain black bars. 4:3 (Standard TV) Select this option if the aspect ratio of the display device showing full screen video has the standard 4:3 aspect ratio (standard TVs and monitors).
17 OpenGL® Control Panel Using this tab, gamers can fine-tune the settings for OpenGL® games. Main and Custom Settings In the Main Settings you can maximize overall performance by moving the slider to the left, or you can enhance overall image quality by moving the slider to the right.
18 Main Settings slider This allows you to emphasize what kind of application experience you’d like to have. Moving the slider to the left will maximize application performance, while moving the slider to the right will provide excellent 3D image quality. Moving this slider from one position to the next changes the individual Custom Settings sliders found below.
19 Texture Preference slider Selecting this decides whether your application should use high quality or high performance textures. Moving the slider to the right delivers the highest quality experience. Moving the slider to the left emphasizes a high performance solution while still providing good visuals. Mipmap Detail Level slider This will allow you to choose the texture quality of the mipmaps the application will use. Mipmaps are a collection of different sized textures of the same image.
20 OpenGL® Compatibility Settings Force Z-buffer depth This allows you to explicitly set the Z-Buffer depth. Most applications will work best when Disabled is selected Alpha dithering method When applications use both dithering and alpha blending, visual artifacts can occur. This option allows you to select how the application should handle both features at the same time.
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22 Direct 3D® Control Panel Using this tab, gamers can fine-tune the settings for Direct 3D® games. Main and Custom Settings In the Main Settings you can maximize overall performance by moving the slider to the left, or you can enhance overall image quality by moving the slider to the right.
23 Main Settings slider This allows you to emphasize what kind of application experience you’d like to have. Moving the slider to the left will maximize application performance, while moving the slider to the right will provide excellent 3D image quality. Moving this slider from one position to the next changes the individual Custom Settings sliders found below.
24 Texture Preference slider Selecting this decides whether your application should use high quality or high performance textures. Moving the slider to the right delivers the highest quality experience. Moving the slider to the left emphasizes a high performance solution while still providing good visuals. Mipmap Detail Level slider This will allow you to choose the texture quality of the mipmaps the application will use. Mipmaps are a collection of different sized textures of the same image.
25 Direct 3D® Compatibility Settings Support Wbuffer This will enable W-Buffer support for 3D games. It is recommended to disable this for games that do not support this feature. Certain applications require the increased precision of W-Buffering and will exhibit artifacts unless the W-Buffer is enabled. Support 32-bit Z-buffer depth Z-Buffer Bit Depth can be 16 bits, 24 bits, or 32 bits. 16 and 24 are selected by default to achieve optimum performance.
26 Support DXT texture formats Enabling this allows applications to use this kind of texture format. There are a few applications that can only support a limited number of texture formats. By selecting Disabled, the driver will not support DXT texture formats, thus reducing the number of texture formats supported. Alternate pixel center This may eliminate problems with some D3D games which display vertical and horizontal lines around textures, or text that appears incorrect.
27 Using TV Out View your PC’s display on a TV The RADEON 9200 FSC Series has TV Out capability. You can attach your card to a TV and monitor at the same time. Or you can connect it to your VCR and record your monitor’s display. TV display is ideal for playing games, giving presentations, watching movies, and browsing the Internet. The following tips will help you get the most out of your TV Out feature.
28 Connecting to a TV or a VCR To connect your card to a TV or a VCR, use the available TV Output connector. Your card will support either a S-video connector or a Composite connector. If your TV has cable input only, you can connect your card to your TV through your VCR or an RF modulator (available in most electronics stores). The RADEON 9200 FSC Series with only a Composite out connector DOES NOT support connection to TVs with S-Video In.
29 RADEON 9200 FSC Series S-Video Cable or Composite Cable OR RADEON 9200 FSC Series S-Video Cable OR RADEON 9200 FSC Series S-Video-to-composite Adapter Cable Composite Cable
30 Starting Windows® with TV Display Enabled The TV screen may become scrambled during the initial Windows® logo display. This is only a temporary effect and your screen will be restored within a few seconds. During start up, your card will go through a sequence of mode settings, during which your TV display will remain blank. This process takes only a few seconds and helps program the TV display.
31 The SCART connector supports only the Composite video format, which means you will have to use a S-Video-to-Composite video adapter cable if your card only supports the S-Video connector. If your European TV has S-Video In, you can use a S-Video cable (available in most consumer electronic stores) rather than the SCART connector if your card only supports the S-Video connector. A RADEON 9200 FSC Series with only a Composite out connector DOES NOT support connection to TVs with S-Video In.
32 Using a Monitor vs. Using the TV Display Using your TV for your PC’s display is ideal for playing games, giving presentations, watching movies, and browsing the Internet. However, the display on your monitor may change or looked squashed. This occurs because the display adjusts to fit the dimensions of your TV. To correct the monitor’s display, use the monitor’s control buttons to adjust its display size and position. Some single frequency monitors may not work with TV display enabled.
33 Viewing Text on a TV A TV is designed primarily to show moving, rather than static, images. The large dot pitch of a TV (which is fine for moving video) will yield poor quality static images such as text. The small text sizes commonly used for PC desktops can appear blurred or unclear on a TV. You can compensate for this by using larger fonts. To Use Larger Display Fonts 1 Access the Windows® Control Panel. Double- click Display. 2 Click the Settings tab, the Advanced... button, then the General tab.
34 4 Click on the TV button. 5 Click the Adjustments tab. 6 In the Screen Size section, click on the plus (+) button beside the horizontal arrowheads to increase the horizontal size of the TV display. 7 Click OK or Apply to save the changes you have made. You can also reduce edge distortion by increasing the TV’s contrast. To Increase the TV Contrast 1 Access the Windows® Control Panel. Double- click Display. 2 Click on the Settings tab and then the Advanced... button.
35 Changing Display Configurations If you move your PC to a place where you are using TV display only, make sure that you have the TV display feature enabled. You can set your display resolution as high as 1024x768. However, higher resolutions will result in a virtual desktop. If a TV is your only display device and a higher mode is selected, the display on your TV will disappear.
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37 Connect to a TV, VCR, or Camcorder for video capturing Some versions of the RADEON 9200 FSC Series have video capturing capabilities from your camcorder, VCR, or TV. Use your favorite video editing application to add effects, make edits, or stream your video on the internet. Connect a TV, camcorder, or VCR to your RADEON 9200 FSC Series graphics card, as shown.
38 RADEON 9200 FSC Series S-Video Cable or Composite Cable Windows® Volume Control For correct audio performance, your sound card’s line input must be active. To display the Line Input setting in the Windows® Volume Control panel: 1 Right-click the speaker icon in the Taskbar (usually in the lower-right corner of your screen). 2 Click Open Volume Controls. 3 If the Line-In volume slider is not visible, click Options, then click Properties.
39 4 Click the Line-In volume control checkbox, then click OK. If the Mute checkbox is checked, click it to cancel muting. If the volume icon is not in your Taskbar, do the following: • Click Start, then click Control Panel. • Double-click Sounds and Audio Devices. • In the Volume tab, check Place volume icon in the taskbar.
40 Capturing video using Windows® Movie Maker To capture video with Windows® Movie Maker: 1 Click Start then All Programs then Accessories then Windows® Movie Maker. 2 Click the Record button to open the Record dialog. 3 Select Record both to record video and audio. 4 Choose record quality. a Click Change device... b Click Configure... c Locate the Video Standard selection box. d Choose the video standard appropriate for your country (PAL for most of Europe, NTSC for North America).
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