ATI Technologies Radeon 9700 Series User manual

RADEON 9700
SERIES
USER
MANUAL
Rev. :A0
Date : 12, 2002
Part No. : 25-10432 -00

Handling Precautions
Warning:
Static electricity may cause damage to the integrated circuits on
the electric device. Before handling any card outside of its
protective packaging, ensure that there is no static electric charge
in your body.
Observe the following basic precautions when handling the card or other
computer components:
Wear a static wrist strap which fits around your wrist and is
connected to a natural earth ground.
Touch a grounded or anti-static surface or a metal fixture such as a
water pipe.
Avoid contacting the components on add-on cards, motherboards,
and modules with the golden fingers connectors plugged into the
expansion slot. It is best to handle system components by their
mounting brackets.
The above methods prevent static build-up and cause it to be discharged
properly.
Trademark
All trademarks mentioned in this manual are registered properly of
the respective owners.
Handling Precautions
Thismanualmaynot,inwholeorinpart,bephotocopied,reproduced,
transcribed, translated, or transmitted in whatever form without the
written consent of the manufacturer, except for copies retained by the
purchaser for personal archival purposes.
Notice

1-1
Introduction
The RADEON™ 9700 Series graphic accelerators deliver
ground breaking 3D graphics performance.
lPowered by the RADEON 9700 Series Visual
Processing Unit (VPU).
lFirst 8-pixel pipeline architecture.
lFirst to support DirectX 9.0.
l256-bit DDR memory interface.
lSupport for AGP 8X specification.
lFirst to use pixel shaders to accelerate video.
lSupport for Direct 3D®applications.
lSupport for OpenGL®applications.
lHigh resolution in 3D up to 2048x1536.
lFast 3D gaming.
lDigital flat panel support.
lSupports TV-Out to connect your PC to your TV
or VCR.
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RADEON™9700 Series User Manual
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Features At A Glance
lThe RADEON™ 9700 Series includes:
lSMARTSHADER™ II which can realistically
create the visual properties of any material, like
glass, metal, wood, and produce 3D depth by
rendering the object’s shadows.
lSMOOTHVISION™ II which provides users with
various degrees of jagged edge removal from 3D
images, allowing users to configure their own high
quality or high performance gaming experience.
lVIDEOSHADER™ which applies real-time noise
filtering resulting in crisp clean video output.
lFULLSTREAM™ which removes blocky artifacts
from streaming Internet video and provides a
sharper image.
lTRUFORM™ technology which makes the curved
surfaces of 3D objects look smoother and more
life-like.

Introduction
1-3
CATALYST™ Software Suite from ATI
Multiple Displays and 3D Gaming Experience
ATI’s CATALYST Software Suite provides multiple
display functionality, and the advanced graphic features,
such as SMARTSHADER II, for the ultimate 3D
gaming experience. For help installing the CATALYST
Software Suite, refer to the Getting Started Guide.
The CATALYST Software Suite installs the ATI display
tabs. These tabs are accessed through the Windows®
Display Control Panel, through the Advanced... button
located on the Settings tab.
Direct 3D and OpenGL
The CATALYST Software Suite also supports the latest
versions of Direct 3D and OpenGL. Many new 3D game
titles, and the latest versions of older titles, will virtually
come to life as they utilize their advanced Direct 3D or
OpenGL features. Gamers can fine-tune their settings for
the ultimate experience in 3D image quality or 3D
gaming performance.
ATI’s Direct 3D and OpenGL tabs are available through
the Windows®Display Control Panel, through the
Advanced... button located on the Settings tab.

RADEON™9700 Series User Manual
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HydraVision™
In addition to the multiple display functionality available
with ATI’s CATALYST Software Suite, 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 Installation CD.

2-1
Multiple Displays
Connecting Your Monitor(s)
Your RADEON 9700 Series provides hardware support
for one DVI-I monitor or two VGA monitors using the
supplied DVI-I-to-VGA adapter. A TV can also be used
to expand your desktop by using the S-Video out.
Plug the monitor cable into your card (if you are
running multiple monitors, connect their cables to the
appropriate connectors), then turn on the PC and
monitor(s).
To connect a flat panel directly to your card, use the
DVI-I 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, as shown below.
DVI-I-TO-VGA
ADAPTER
DVI-I
CONNECTOR
VGA
CONNECTOR
FROM
MONITOR
STANDARD VGA
MONITOR CONNECTOR
S-VIDEO OUT
Chapter 2

RADEON™9700 Series User Manual
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When you use multiple monitors with your card, one
monitor will always be Primary. Any additional
monitor(s) will be designated as Secondary.
Display Configurations
Your RADEON 9700 Series graphics accelerator card
provides dual display functionality and TV Out. The
following table lists the different ways you can connect
displays to your card.

3-1
CATALYST Software Suite
The following section provides an explanation of each
ATI tab added to the Display Properties after installing
the Catalyst Software Suite.
Note:
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 multiple monitor features.
Here you can enable/disable display devices and swap
the assignment of Primary and Secondary displays.
Chapter 3

RADEON™9700 Series User Manual
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Enabling/Disabling Secondary Displays
1. Access the Windows®Control Panel. Double-click
Display.
2. Click the Settings tab and then the Advanced...
button.
3. Click 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
1. Access the Windows®Control Panel. Double-click
Display.
2. Click the Settings tab.
3. Click the monitor icon for the display onto which you
want to extend your desktop.
4. Click Yes to enable the selected display.
5. Checkmark the Extend my Windows desktop
onto this monitor check box (Windows®may
automatically place it there).
6. Click OK or Apply to save the changes.

CATALYST Software Suite
3-3
Dynamic Display Reassignment
You can change the assignment of your Primary and
Secondary display on the fly, without rebooting.
However, before you can change the assignment of the
Primary display, at least one Secondary display must
be enabled, and Extended Desktop mode must be
enabled.
To enable a Secondary display see Enabling /Disabling
Secondary Display on the previous page.
To enable Extended Desktop Mode see Enabling
Extended Desktop Mode on the previous page.
1. Access the Windows®Control Panel. Double-click
Display.
2. Click the Settings tab and then the Advanced...
button.
3. Click 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, click the Primary
display’s button or click the button of the other
display device. In Windows®2000 clicking the button
will reassign the Primary and Secondary monitors.
Clicking the button creates a clone or mirror image of
the Primary display onto the Secondary display. Clicking
the button extends your desktop to a Secondary
display located to the right of the Primary display.

RADEON™9700 Series User Manual
3-4
Clicking the button extends your desktop to a
Secondary display located below the Primary display.
4. Click OK or Apply to save the changes.
Virtually Repositioning Your Displays
1. On the Settings tab, click and drag the appropriate
monitor icon to the desired position. For example, the
secondary display can be dragged to the left of the
primary display, allowing it to be virtually on the left,
as shown below.
2. Click OK or Apply to save the changes.

CATALYST Software Suite
3-5
Ratiometric Expansion
Your RADEON 9700 Series card offers ratiometric
expansion (or digital panel scaling as it is commonly
known). This expands a low resolution image to fill a
higher resolution panel. However, ratiometric expansion
is only available on the Primary display. Therefore, if a
flat panel display (FPD) is set as Secondary, the
Extended Desktop mode is disabled and the resolution is
less than the FPD’s native resolution. This causes the
FPD to default to center mode.
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.

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Clicking the Game Gamma button accesses the Game
Gamma Properties.

CATALYST Software Suite
3-7
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.

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Clicking the Details button provides graphics card,
graphics driver and system information.
ATI Overlay Tab
The ATI Overlay tab allows you to configure the
brightness, contrast, saturation, hue and gamma
properties of your video overlay.

CATALYST Software Suite
3-9
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.

RADEON™9700 Series User Manual
3-10

4-1
Direct 3D Control Panel
Using this tab, gamers can fine-tune the settings of their
Direct 3D games.
Main and Custom Settings
The Main Settings allows you can maximize overall
performance by moving the slider to the left, or maximize
overall image quality by moving the slider to the right.
Selecting Custom Settings disables the Main Settings
slider allowing you to fine-tune the Direct3D settings of
your RADEON 9700 Series.
Chapter 4

RADEON™9700 Series User Manual
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