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Related Manuals for ATI Technologies 100 437807 - Radeon X1950 Pro HD PCI Express 256MB Video Card
Summary of Contents for ATI Technologies 100 437807 - Radeon X1950 Pro HD PCI Express 256MB Video Card
- Page 1 ® Radeon X1950 Pro User’s Guide P/N 137-41129-20...
- Page 2 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 products 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.
- Page 3 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.
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Page 5: Table Of Contents
Table of Contents Getting Started......1 Installing Your Graphics Cards Using Multiple Displays ..... 3 Display Configurations Using TV Display and Capture Features . - Page 6 Glossary ....... . . 45 Index ........63...
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Page 7: Getting Started
Getting Started ® Congratulations on the purchase of your ATI Radeon X1950 Pro graphics card. We hope that you will enjoy countless hours of trouble-free computing. System Requirements Hardware ® ® ® • Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon • 512MB of system memory; 1GB or more for best performance. -
Page 8: Installing Your Graphics Cards
2 Installing Your Graphics Cards Installing Your Graphics Cards ® The instructions that follow assume that the Radeon X1900 family CrossFire™-ready graphics card has already been successfully installed. If you have not already done so, see the Getting Started Guide that came with the graphics card for installation instructions. -
Page 9: Using Multiple Displays
Display Configurations 3 Using Multiple Displays Display Configurations To ensure the highest possible performance, only one display device is supported when CrossFire™ is active. When CrossFire™ is active other display devices connected to the other DVI connections on both graphics cards are rendered inactive. - Page 10 4 Display Configurations Display Connector(s) Comments Configuration Used CRT display + DVI-I connector HDTV with DVI-I to VGA adapter + S-video out to HDTV (YPrPb) cable DFP display + DVI-I connector + S-video out DFP display + DVI-I connector + HDTV S-Video Out to HDTV (YPrPb)
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Page 11: Connecting Your Monitors
Display Configurations 5 Connecting Your Monitors ® Connections and Adapters for the Radeon X1950 Pro Card Standard VGA Monitor Connector. To connect a VGA monitor to the DVI-I connection plug the supplied DVI-I-to-VGA adapter into the DVI-I connector, then plug your monitor cable into the adapter. - Page 12 6 Display Configurations ® Note: Some Radeon X1900 graphics cards have one DVI-I connector and one VGA connector. To connect your monitors Power off your computer and monitors. Plug the monitor cables into their appropriate connectors. Power on your monitors first, and then restart your computer so that ®...
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Page 13: Using Tv Display And Capture Features
Using TV Out 7 Using TV Display and Capture Features This chapter describes how to use the TV display and video capture ® features of your Radeon X1950 Pro card. Using TV Out ® Your Radeon X1950 Pro has TV Out capability. Viewing Your PC Display on a TV ®... - Page 14 8 Using TV Out To connect S-video Out Power off your computer and your TV (or VCR). Determine if your TV (or VCR) supports either an S-video or composite video connection. Looking at the back of your PC, locate your S-video out. Using an S- video cable or the supplied adapter cable, attach one end of the cable to your graphics card and the other to your TV (or VCR).
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Page 15: Connecting To Hdtv
Connecting to HDTV 9 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. - Page 16 10 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.
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Page 17: Using Your Ati Hdtv Video Cable
Using Your ATI HDTV Video Cable 11 Installing your ATI HDTV video cable 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. Turn on your computer. - Page 18 12 Using SCART Connectors for European TVs S-video to composite cable with adapter S-video to Composite Adapter (Plus Audio Connections) S-video out connection S-video to composite adapter/cable Composite cable SCART adapter Audio mini-jack connection Left and right RCA audio connectors...
- Page 19 Using SCART Connectors for European TVs 13 S-video to composite adapter S-video to Composite Cable Using an Additional Adapter (Plus Audio Connections) S-video out connection S-video to composite zdapter/cable Composite cable SCART adapter...
- Page 20 14 Using SCART Connectors for European TVs S-video to Composite Cable Using an Additional Adapter (Plus Audio Connections) Audio mini-jack connection Left and right RCA audio connectors...
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Page 21: Capturing Video
Capturing Video ® The Radeon X1950 Pro can capture video from your camcorder, VCR, or TV. Use your favorite video editing application to add effects, make changes, or stream your video on the Internet. The audio and video output connectors on your TV, camcorder, or VCR will be similar to those depicted in the illustration. -
Page 22: Connecting Your Media Device For Video Capture
Video in/video out cable. Typical video in of TV, VCR, or camcorder connections. Typical video out of TV, VCR, or camcorder connections. Connecting your media device for video capture Use a video in/video out cable to connect the S-video connection on your ®... - Page 23 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 . Click Open Volume Controls .
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Page 25: Catalyst Control Center
® Launching Catalyst Control Center 19 ® 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 Center to fine-tune your graphics settings, enable or disable connected display devices, and change the orientation of your desktop. -
Page 26: Other Quick Launch Access Points
® 20 Launching Catalyst Control Center Other Quick Launch Access Points ® Launching Catalyst Control Center Using the System Tray ® Right-click the ATI icon in the Windows System Tray. ® Select Catalyst Control Center from the popup menu. ® Launching Catalyst Control Center Using the Desktop Shortcut ®... -
Page 27: Help
Help 21 Help ® Use the Catalyst Control Center Help feature to access the comprehensive ® online help system, generate a Problem Report, and get the installed Catalyst Control Center version information. To access Help ® • Click the Help button in the Catalyst Control Center Dashboard. -
Page 28: Crossfire
22 CrossFire™ CrossFire™ The CrossFire™ aspect requires the following components to be available in ® order to appear as an option within Catalyst Control Center: ® • A CrossFire™-ready motherboard with at least two PCI Express slots. ® • Two Radeon X1950 Pro CrossFire™... -
Page 29: Crossfire™ Faq
CrossFire™ FAQ The following are frequently asked questions about CrossFire™. For the latest information, including lists of CrossFire™ certified motherboards and power supplies, and the latest CrossFire™ configurations, please consult the CrossFire™ Web site at: ati.com/crossfire What combination of products are required to build a working ®... - Page 30 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 PCIe™ x16 slots are enabled in the CMOS. ® Are there any software settings required for a Radeon X1950 Pro CrossFire™...
- Page 31 CrossFire™ bridge interconnect ® To install the CrossFire™ bridge interconnects, see the Radeon X1950 Pro CrossFire™ Getting Started Guide. Which games/applications work with CrossFire™? ® CrossFire™ works with all 3D games and applications. If Catalyst ® A.I. is enabled in the Catalyst Control Center software, the optimal rendering mode available for the application is automatically selected.
- Page 32 • 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-aliasing patterns within each frame. What happens if you pair two CrossFire™ graphics cards with different architectures? ®...
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Page 33: Welcome To Crossfire
CrossFire™ Overview 27 Welcome to CrossFire™ ATI CrossFire™ is the ultimate multi-GPU performance gaming platform, using ATI CrossFire™ ready motherboards and ATI graphics cards. CrossFire™ Overview This section provides an overview of the main features and configurations for CrossFire™. These topics are covered in more detail in other chapters of this manual. - Page 34 28 CrossFire™ Rendering Modes ® The ATI Catalyst display driver automatically selects the best of the three performance modes when a 3D application is started, without requiring user intervention. You can also choose to improve image quality by ® selecting the new Super Anti-aliasing mode in the Catalyst Control Center.
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Page 35: Scissor Mode
CrossFire™ Rendering Modes 29 Scissor Mode In this mode, each frame is split into two horizontal or vertical sections,with each section being processed by one GPU. The ideal configuration is determined automatically for each application. Radeon ® X1950 Pro Graphics Card ®... -
Page 36: Super Anti-Aliasing Mode
30 CrossFire™ Rendering Modes Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR) Mode In this mode, all even frames are rendered on one GPU, while all odd frames are rendered on the other. The completed frames from both GPUs are sent to the display. By allowing both GPUs to work independently, AFR provides the greatest potential performance improvements of all the available modes. - Page 37 CrossFire™ Rendering Modes 31 3D images. Rather than simply determining the color of each pixel on the screen by sampling a single location at the pixel’s center, anti-aliasing works by sampling multiple locations within each pixel and blending the results together to determine the final color. ®...
- Page 38 32 CrossFire™ Rendering Modes ® Radeon X1950 Pro Graphics Card ® Radeon X1950 Pro Graphics Card ® Partial Frame Rendered on Radeon X1950 Pro Graphics Card ® Partial Frame Rendered on Radeon X1950 Pro Graphics Card Final Rendered Frame on Display Some types of textures, especially those with transparent portions, can exhibit aliasing that is not removed by MSAA techniques.
- Page 39 CrossFire™ Rendering Modes 33 pattern that does a better job of anti-aliasing near-horizontal and near-vertical edges, resulting in better overall image quality. Two of the new Super Anti-aliasing modes use a combination of MSAA and SSAA to achieve the ultimate in image quality. They work by not only using different multi-sample locations on each GPU, but also by offsetting the pixel centers slightly.
- Page 40 34 CrossFire™ Rendering Modes...
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Page 41: Reference
Troubleshooting 35 Reference This chapter provides information on troubleshooting, where to get additional accessories, and 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. - Page 42 36 Troubleshooting General Troubleshooting Problem Possible Solution No Display • 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.
- Page 43 Troubleshooting 37 CrossFire™-Specific Troubleshooting Problem Possible Solution CrossFire™ is In order for CrossFire™ to function, the CrossFire™ Not Functioning bridge interconnects must correctly connect the CrossFire™ graphics cards. 1. Connect one end of the CrossFire™ bridge interconnect to the internal VMO connection on one of the cards.
- Page 44 38 Troubleshooting CrossFire™-Specific Troubleshooting Problem Possible Solution Screen Rotation Screen rotation is not an available feature on CrossFire™ Function Does systems. Not Work or is Unavailable Video displays This is normal as CrossFire™ starts up. flicker during system startup CrossFire™ This is normal when starting up for the first time after starts in software installing two Radeon...
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Page 45: Product Registration
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/support French, Spanish, ATI TECHNOLOGIES INC. Portuguese, Attention: Customer Care German Mail 1 Commerce Valley Drive East Markham, Ontario Canada L3T 7X6 Telephone 9:00AM - English 1-877-284-1566 (toll-free) US &... -
Page 46: Additional Accessories
40 Additional Accessories Service Availability Language Access 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 +1-905-882-3277 (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. -
Page 47: Compliance Information
Compliance Information 41 Compliance Information This section details the compliance information for this product. FCC Compliance Information ® This Radeon X1900 product complies with FCC Rules part 15. Operation is subject to the following two conditions • This device may not cause harmful interference. •... -
Page 48: Ce Compliance Information
42 Compliance Information 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 conformité... - Page 49 Compliance Information 43 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive Compliance This product was manufactured by ATI Technologies Inc.
- Page 50 44 Compliance Information...
- Page 51 Glossary 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.
- Page 52 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.
- Page 53 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 other 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.
- Page 54 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”...
- Page 55 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.
- Page 56 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.
- Page 57 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.
- Page 58 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”...
- Page 59 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. 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.
- Page 60 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.
- Page 61 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 flicker-free.
- Page 62 ® PCI Express (PCIe™) 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.
- Page 63 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.
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Page 64: Shadow Mask
SDTV SDTV is an acronym for “Standard Definition Television” that identifies lower resolution 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. -
Page 65: Specular Highlight
SmoothVision™ HD SmoothVision™ HD incorporates improved anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering and 3Dc™ compression features designed to further enhance 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. -
Page 66: Texture Mapping
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 contain 4-pins within a single connection housing and are commonly found on consumer DVD players, VCRs, game consoles, and related devices. -
Page 67: Trilinear Filtering
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. - Page 68 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.
- Page 69 Index Numerics 1080i 47, 53 16:9 (aspect ratio) 25, 27, 28, 31, 37, 45, 58, 59 45, 59 47, 53, 58 4:3 (aspect ratio) 38, 53, 58 480i 38, 58 480p 5:4 (aspect ratio) 38, 53 720p 45, 55, 56 Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) Accessories Alpha blending...
- Page 70 19, 22, 24, 25, 28, 37, 48 Catalyst Control Center 60, 62 Chrominance CMOS 31, 36, 47 Color Color component Color correction Color curve 35, 41 Compliance information 50, 60, 62 Composite Video 30, 59 Compositing Engine Configuration tips 36, 47 Contrast Control Panel Control point...
- Page 71 DVI-D 36, 37, 51 DVI-I Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) Enable CrossFire ™ Enhanced Definition Television (EDTV) Euroconnector External connectors FCC Compliance Flat Shading Frame Buffer Frames per second (fps) Games TV display 31, 47, 52 Gamma 52, 53 Gouraud Shading 27, 28, 29, 30 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 47, 58 Graphical Processor Unit (GPU) 9, 11...
- Page 72 Lighting Linux 60, 62 Luminance Mac OS X Master graphics card Microsoft DirectX Mipmap Mipmapping 1, 22, 45 Motherboard Multi-monitor 31, 32, 33 Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing (MSAA) 51, 55, 56 NTSC Offscreen Memory 54, 55 OpenGL 55, 58 3, 55, 56 1, 2, 24, 28, 29, 30, 32 PCI Express 45, 56...
- Page 73 1, 9, 32, 36, 57 Resolution Rotation Safe Mode Safety instructions 53, 57 Saturation 11, 12, 13, 57 SCART 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 57, 59 Scissor Mode Screen rotation SECAM Separate Video Shader Shader effects Shadow mask SmartShader HD 33, 59 SmoothVision HD Specular highlight...
- Page 74 8, 9, 11, 38 displaying PC output on 7, 9 TV display games TV Out UXGA 50, 60 Vertex processing Vertex shader Vertex shaders Vertical refresh rate 1, 57 VGA connector VHDCI 11, 12, 13, 36, 38 Video Video capture Video Graphics Array Video Memory Volume control...
- Page 75 YPbPr connector 48, 62 Z-buffer...
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