ELSA ERAZOR III LT User manual

ELSA ERAZORTM III Pro
ELSA ERAZORTM III LT
User Manual

© 1999 ELSA AG, Aachen (Germany)
Whiletheinformationinthismanualhasbeencompiledwithgreatcare,itmaynotbedeemedanassur-
ance of product characteristics. ELSA shall be liable only to the degree specified in the terms of sale
and delivery.
Thereproductionanddistributionofthedocumentationandsoftwaresuppliedwiththisproductandthe
use of its contents is subject to written authorization from ELSA.
ELSAisDINENISO9001certified. TheaccreditedTÜVCERTcertificationauthorityhasconfirmedELSA
conformity to the worldwide ISO 9001 standard in certificate number 09 100 5069, issued on June 15,
1998.
This product incorporates copyright protection technology that is protected by method claims of certain
U.S. patents and other intellectual property rights owned by Macrovision Corporation and other right
owners.UseofthiscopyrightprotectiontechnologymustbeauthorizedbyMacrovisionCorporation,and
is intended for home and other limited viewing uses only unless otherwise authorized by Macrovision
Corporation. Reverse engineering or disassembly is prohibited.
Trademarks
Windows®, Windows NT®and Microsoft®are registered trademarks of Microsoft, Corp.
Allothernamesmentionedmaybetrademarksorregisteredtrademarksoftheirrespectiveowners. The
ELSA logo is a registered trademark of ELSA AG.
Subject to change without notice. No liability for technical errors or omissions.
Aachen, August 1999
No. 21635/0899
ELSA AG
Sonnenweg 11
52070 Aachen
Germany
ELSA, Inc.
2231 Calle De Luna
Santa Clara, CA 95054
USA

Preface
Thank you for placing your trust in this ELSA product.
Whetheryouchosethe
ELSAERAZORIIIPro orthe ELSAERAZORIIILT ,youhaveselected
a graphics board which is just as well suited to professional users as to ambitious play-
ers. The graphics processor on the board ensures high-speed generation of on-screen
graphicsmakingthisboardidealforadvancedCADandvisualizationapplicationsaswell
as for fast animation. ELSA products are subject to the highest of standards in produc-
tion and quality control which are the foundation for consistently high product quality
ELSA ERAZOR III .
This manual provides all the information you will need to get the best out of your ELSA
graphics board. For instance, which resolution is best for which monitor, or how is the
board upgraded? The accompanying ELSA utility programs are described, and you will
find detailed information about 3D acceleration.
ELSA products are subject to continual further development. It is therefore possible that
the information printed in this manual is not current in all respects.
IntheREADMEfilesonthe
ERAZORIII CDcanalwaysbefoundcurrentinformationabout
updates.
If you have further questions or need additional help, you can rely on our online services
which are available to ELSA customers. Look for information on the ELSA's website.
In very urgent cases the ELSA Hotline can be reached under the following number:
1-800-272-6131
or from outside the USA:
[phone]
or in the United Kingdom:
[phone]

Before you read on...
TheinstallationoftheELSAERAZOR IIIhardwareandsoftwaredriversisdescribedinfull
intheInstallation Guide which accompanies thismanual. Youshould refer to that docu-
ment before attempting to install your board, and before reading this manual.

Contents
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro und ELSA ERAZOR III LT
V
Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................................1
ELSA ERAZOR III highlights..................................................................................... 1
Video-in................................................................................................................... 1
Video-out................................................................................................................. 2
What's in the box?.................................................................................................. 2
What hardware do I need?..................................................................................... 2
CE conformity and FCC radiation standard............................................................. 3
After installing the drivers ...........................................................................................5
Software installation from the CD.......................................................................... 5
The right settings.................................................................................................... 5
What are your options?...................................................................................... 6
What makes sense?........................................................................................... 7
Changing the resolution.......................................................................................... 7
Windows 95 and Windows 98........................................................................... 7
Windows NT 4.0 ................................................................................................ 9
Video––what’s in, what’s out? ..................................................................................11
Signal interchange––an overview........................................................................ 11
Video-in............................................................................................................ 12
Video-out.......................................................................................................... 12
The right connection?............................................................................................ 12
One for all: The composite video adapter cable.............................................. 12
Connection to a TV set.......................................................................................... 14
ELSA video settings ....................................................................................................15
Video-in................................................................................................................. 15
The video picture on the computer monitor..................................................... 15
How does the video image get onto the computer monitor?.......................... 17
Overwhelmed?...................................................................................................... 17
What’s IN?....................................................................................................... 17
What is OUT?................................................................................................... 18
The computer display on TV/video.................................................................. 18
Useful stuff and more ..................................................................................................21
The Multimedia Player.......................................................................................... 21
Video control deluxe............................................................................................. 22
In detail: operation........................................................................................... 22
Searching for information................................................................................ 24
Neat, meetings!.................................................................................................... 24
MainActor—the principal performer.................................................................... 25

Contents
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro und ELSA ERAZOR III LT
VI
The sequencer.................................................................................................. 25
The video editor............................................................................................... 26
The Viewer....................................................................................................... 26
Fine-tuning for performance freaks...................................................................... 27
All about graphics ....................................................................................................... 29
3D graphics representation .................................................................................. 29
The 3D pipeline................................................................................................ 29
3D interfaces......................................................................................................... 31
What APIs are available? ................................................................................ 32
Direct 3D.......................................................................................................... 32
OpenGL............................................................................................................. 33
Color Palettes, TrueColor and Gray Scales........................................................... 33
VGA.................................................................................................................. 33
DirectColor....................................................................................................... 34
VESA DDC (Display Data Channel)....................................................................... 34
DDC2B.............................................................................................................. 35
DDC2AB ........................................................................................................... 35
Video signal formats............................................................................................. 35
Composite video .............................................................................................. 35
S-VHS............................................................................................................... 35
IEEE 1394.......................................................................................................... 36
Video formats: compressors at work.................................................................... 36
RGB16 .............................................................................................................. 36
YVU9 ................................................................................................................ 36
ELSA compression ........................................................................................... 37
Technical data .............................................................................................................39
Characteristics of the graphics board .......................................................... 39
ELSA graphics board addresses........................................................................... 39
Ports on the graphics board.................................................................................. 40
The VGA D-shell socket .................................................................................. 40
Appendix .......................................................................................................................41
Declarations of Conformity .................................................................................. 41
Warranty conditions............................................................................................. 43
Glossary ........................................................................................................................45
Index ..............................................................................................................................49

Introduction
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
1
Introduction
Youpossesseitherthe ELSAERAZORIIIPro ,whichexistsintwoversions—withorwith-
outvideofunctions—orthe
ELSAERAZORIIILT ,whichhasnovideofunctions. Thisman-
ual describes both versions. You may not need to read everything: Sections within the
manual which refer to video functions are marked accordingly.
ELSA ERAZOR III
highlights
쮿NewNVIDIATNT2Prographicsprocessor(
ELSAERAZORIIIPro )orTNT2M64( ELSA
ERAZOR III LT
)
쮿The raw power of 32MB of synchronous video memory plus up to 128 MB of AGP
texture space
쮿Pixel clock frequency up to 300 MHz
쮿With
ELSAERAZORIIIPro optionalvideo-in and outversionforvideocapture, inter-
net video and games on the big screen for Windows 98 and Windows 95
쮿Two independent 3D rendering pipelines for maximum performance
쮿Product support via Internet WWW site
쮿Six-year warranty
쮿This board complies with the CE and FCC rules.
쮿full compatibility with 3D shutter glasses
ELSA 3D REVELATOR
Video-in
쮿Video recording—Full screen for PAL/NTSC
쮿Videoediting withbundled MainActorsoftwareincluding animatedGIFandMPEG2
export.
쮿Internet videoconferencing with bundled Microsoft NetMeeting software
쮿Comfortable videotext and teletext display (TV tuner required, e. g. VCR)
쮿Three independent video inputs (1 x S-Video, 2 x composite) for VCR, satellite tuner
and camera

Introduction
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
2
Video-out
쮿Play games on the big TV screen
쮿Record games and applications to VCR
쮿Render animation previews directly to the VCR
쮿Edit video directly on the TV
쮿High quality output with 10bit DAC and flicker filter
쮿Two simultaneous video outputs (1 x S-Video, 1 x composite)
What's in the box?
Youwillnoticeifyourgraphicsboardismissing. Butyouneedtocheckthattheboxcon-
tained all of the following:
쮿Graphics board
쮿Installation Guide
쮿User Manual
User Manual for ELSA ERAZOR III LT on CD only.
쮿CD-ROM with installation and driver software and utilities
쮿CD-ROM with Direct3D demo programs
쮿Only with video-equipped graphics boards:
Adapter for video-in and video-out
Ifanypartismissingpleasecontactyourdealer. ELSAreservestherighttovarytheprod-
ucts supplied without prior notice.
What hardware do I need?
쮿Computer: Minimum requirements are a Pentium 166 or compatible. The
ERAZOR III only really comes to life if your computer has a Pentium II or compatible
processor or even better. Less muscular processors will not get the best out of the
board.
쮿Bus: The
ERAZOR III is available as an AGP version. Your computer must have an
AGP bus.
쮿Monitor: The
ERAZOR III works with the standard IBM VGA compatible horizontal
scan frequency of 31.5 kHz while booting and in DOS operation.

Introduction
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
3
CE conformity and FCC radiation standard
CE
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits of the European
CouncilDirectiveontheapproximationofthelawsofthememberstatesrelatingtoelec-
tromagnetic compatibility (89/336/EEC) according to EN 55022 class B.
FCC
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital
device pursuant to Part 15 of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Rules.
CE and FCC
Theselimitsaredesignedtoprovidereasonableprotectionagainstradiofrequencyinter-
ference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate
radiofrequencyenergy. Itmayinterferewithtoradiocommunicationsifnotinstalledand
used in accordance with the instructions. However, there is no guarantee that interfer-
encewill notoccurin aparticularinstallation. If thisequipmentdoescause interference
toradio ortelevisionreception (thiscanbedeterminedby turningthisequipment offand
on),theuserisencouragedtotrytocorrecttheinterferencebyoneormoreofthefollow-
ing measures:
쮿Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
쮿Increase the distance between this equipment and the receiver.
쮿Connecttheequipmenttoanoutletonacircuitotherthanthattowhichthereceiver
is connected.
쮿Consult your dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician.
쮿Caution:To complywiththelimits foranFCC Class Bcomputingdevice, alwaysuse
a shielded signal cable.
Caution to the user: The Federal Communications Commission warns the user that
changes or modifications to the unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for
compliance could void the user's authority to operate the equipment.

Introduction
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
4

After installing the drivers
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
5
After installing the drivers
In this chapter you will find descriptions of
쮿where you can find the software for operating your ELSA graphics board,
쮿the performance characteristics of your graphics board, and
쮿how you can most effectively tuning for the combination of monitor and ELSA gra-
phics board.
Software installation from the CD
TheELSAgraphicsboardisnormallysuppliedwithsoftwareonaCD-ROM . Youwillfind
all the utilities described in this manual on the ERAZOR III CD—unless they are a com-
ponent of the operating system
.
OnceyouhavesuccessfullycompletedthestepsdescribedintheInstallationGuide,your
ELSA ERAZOR III is integrated into your computer system with installed drivers. In this
way,youhaveverylikelycometoknowtheprogramELSACDsetup.Thisprogramshould
start automatically after inserting your
ERAZOR III CD, but if not, then you can run the
SETUP.EXE from the CD’s root directory.
The CD setup recognizes the operating system and the ELSA graphics board. Based on
thisinformation,theprogramdisplaysthedriverandtheselectionofsoftwaresupported.
All of these programs are on the
ERAZOR III CD.
The right settings
Our tip is: Invest a little time at this stage and you won’t regret it. Take your time to set
upyour system just right.Youreyeswill thank you forit,andyou are guaranteedtohave
more fun in front of your screen.
List of software which can
be installed
Information about the ent-
ries listed

After installing the drivers
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
6
To set up your system properly, the following questions should be answered:
쮿What is the maximum resolution I can set on my system?
쮿Which color depth do I want to use?
쮿What value should I set for my display refresh rate?
Tohelpyoufindtheanswerstothesequestions,thischapterhasbeendividedaccording
to the operating systems available. Just look for the section about the operating system
youuse.Alltheinformationyouneedishereandallthesoftwareyouneed,ifnotalready
a part of your operating system, is on the
ERAZOR III CD.
What are your options?
The tables below show the maximum possible resolutions for the ELSA graphics board.
Notethattheseresolutionscannot be achieved under all operating conditions.
ELSA
ERAZOR III
Pro
Max. Refresh Rate (Hz)
Color depth: 256 colors (8bit) HighColor (16bit) TrueColor (24bit/32bit)
1920 x 1440 60 –75 60 –75 60 –75
1600 x 1200 60 –160 60 –90 60 –90
1280 x 1024 60 –160 60 –120 60 –120
1152 x 864 60 –160 60 –160 60 –160
1024 x 768 60 –160 60 –160 60 –160
800 x 600 60 –160 60 –160 60 –160
640 x 480 60 –160 60 –160 60 –160
HighColor = 65,536 colors, TrueColor = 16.7 million colors
ELSA
ERAZOR III
LT
Max. Refresh rate (Hz)
Color depth: 256 colors (8bit) HighColor (16bit) TrueColor (24bit/32bit)
1920 x 1440 60 –75 60 –75 60
1600 x 1200 60 –85 60 –85 60 –85
1280 x 1024 60 –100 60 –100 60 –100
1152 x 864 60 –140 60 –140 60 –140
1024 x 768 60 –160 60 –160 60 –160
800 x 600 60 –160 60 –160 60 –160
640 x 480 60 –160 60 –160 60 –160
HighColor = 65,536 colors, TrueColor = 16.7 million colors

After installing the drivers
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
7
What makes sense?
There are some basic ground rules for you to follow when setting up your graphics sys-
tem.On the onehand,thereare theergonomicguidelines,although nowadays theseare
met by most systems, and on the other hand there are limitations inherent to your sys-
tem,e.g.yourmonitor.Thequestionofwhetheryourapplicationsneedtorunusinglarge
colordepths––perhapsevenTrueColor––isalsoimportant.Thisisanimportantcondition
for many DTP or CAD workstations. We recommend that games and “normal”Windows
applications are operated in HighColor with 65,536 colors.
“More Pixels, more fun”
This is an opinion which is widespread, but which is not entirely true under all circum-
stances. The general rule is that a refresh rate of 73 Hz meets the minimum ergonomic
requirements.Theresolutiontobeselectedalsodependsonthecapabilitiesofyourmon-
itor. The table below is a guide to the resolutions you might select:
Changing the resolution
You set the resolution of your graphics board in the Control Panel under Windows.
Windows 95 and Windows 98
The ' Settings' are automatically integrated into the Control Panel during the instal-
lation of the
WINman Suite . You can use these Settings to tweak your graphics system
for the best performance. The ' Settings' provide some great features. Once you
havespecifiedthegraphicsboardmodelandthemonitordata,theprogramwillautomat-
ically detect which settings are possible and which are not. This means, for instance,
that it is impossible for you to select an incorrect refresh rate which might damage your
monitor.
햲Click on Start, then select Settings 왘Control Panel.
햳You will find the Display icon in the Control Panel. When you start this program,
you are shown a dialog box where you can modified the display settings.
Monitor
size Typical image size Minimum resolution Maximum resolution Ergonomic resolution
17“15.5“- 16“800 x 600 1024 x 768 1024 x 768
19“17.5“- 18.1“1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 1152 x 864
20“/21“19“- 20“1024 x 768 1600 x 1200 1280 x 1024
24“21“- 22.5“1600 x 1000 1920 x 1200 1600 x 1000

After installing the drivers
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
8
햴Here you should click on the ' Settings' tab.
Under Windows 98, you can reach the ' Settings' by selecting the Settings tab and
then clicking on the
Advanced...
.
It is important to carry out the following settings or checks step by step:
쮿the monitor type
쮿the resolution of the monitor
image (Scheme, Data Set) and
쮿the color depth
쮿the refresh rate.
Choosing the monitor
If your monitor supports DDC, the preset values will be displayed under 'Scheme'. If this
isnotthecase,clickonChange... to callupthedatabaseofmonitortypes. Youwillbe
presentedwithalistofmonitormanufacturersandmonitormodels. Ifyourmanufacturer
is present, click on the entry and then select your model. If your monitor is not listed,
there are two options. One option is to select the '_Standard monitor' from the list of
manufacturers and then select the resolution you wish to work with.
Asecondoptionrequiresinformationaboutthetechnicalspecificationsforyourmonitor.
Consult your monitor manual to ensure that you have the correct information. Click on
Change... inthe'Monitortypedatabase'window. Inadditiontotheinformationregard-
ing the monitor manufacturer, and the model designation, you will have to enter the fre-
' Settings' has all the options
for setting up the graphics board
for your monitor.
ERAZOR III

After installing the drivers
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
9
quency ranges for the horizontal and vertical scan frequencies and specify the diagonal
size of your monitor.
Check your entries for the image frequencies carefully, as otherwise you might damage
yourmonitor
. Looktheseupinyourmonitormanualorconsultthemonitormanufacturer.
Windows NT 4.0
Thesettings for the graphics driver are includedin the Control Panel under Windows NT
4.0. Use the command sequence
Start 왘Settings 왘Control Panel
to call the dialog window where you should find the icon for Display. Double click on
this symbol to open the window with its various tabs. Click on the 'Settings' tab.
You can select the possible settings for 'Color palette', 'Font size', 'Resolution' and 'Dis-
play frequency' from this dialog box. The available selection is determined by the ELSA
driver you have installed. You should always check the configuration you have selected
by clicking on the Test button.
You will find further information on how to customize your graphics settings under Win-
dows NT 4.0 in your system manual.
If your monitor type is not listed in the
monitors database you can enter the
monitor manufacturer and model type
here.
The vertical and horizontal frequency
ranges and the diagonal size of the
screen are the important settings.

After installing the drivers
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
10

Video––what’s in, what’s out?
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
11
Video––what’s in, what’s out?
This section is relevant only for those boards equipped for video functionality. You can
check if this is the case with your board by looking at the connectors on the mounting
bracket of the ELSA ERAZOR III. If your board is fitted with a VGA connector only, then
you unfortunately cannot make use of the functions described here.
The ELSA ERAZOR III has a video socket to which you connect the composite video
adapter cable supplied. The sockets on the composite video adapter cable allow you to
connect three video sources and two output devices. Exciting new possibilities are
opened up under Windows 98 and Windows 95 with the board’s video capabilities–
especially the video-in function.
Signal interchange––an overview
Below we will show you just how open the ELSA ERAZOR III is to all sides.
The illustration shows you, on the left, the input devices which can be connected to the
graphics board. Your ELSA graphics board has three inputs, two of these are composite
videoinputsandoneisaS-VHSinput.TheboardiscapableofprocessingthePAL,NTSC
and SECAM video standards.
Ontheright,youseethedevicescapableofdisplayingtheVGAsignalfromthecomputer.
Youcansendthecontentofthecomputerscreenthroughthevideo-outsocketstoatele-
vision, a video recorder or a projector.
You can operate your ELSA ERAZOR III with a monitor and a TV simultaneously.
Television
Video
recorder
Projector
Video camera
Video recorder
Laser disk
player
Satellite
decoder
Video-In Computer with
ELSA
ERAZOR III
Video-Out

Video––what’s in, what’s out?
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
12
Video-in
Before the ELSA ERAZOR III can react, the signals must be clear. It is of no use if you try
to connect the antenna to the
ELSA ERAZOR III . The antenna’s HF signal transmits infor-
mation for several channels, and not a simple, unambiguous video signal as required by
the
ELSAERAZOR III .IfyouwishtodisplayaTVpictureonyourmonitor,thenyoucannot
simplytaketheantenna-outputofyourvideorecorder.Instead,thevideorecorder’sScart
connector must be connected with the composite input of the
ELSA ERAZOR III .
Video-out
Unlike a computer monitor, a television set is not able to process the VGA signal from a
graphicsboard.Comparingthe15-pinoutputforthemonitorwithacoaxialantennacable
makesitimmediatelyclearthatthesignals arehandled infundamentallydifferentways.
The
ELSAERAZOR III isequippedwithitsowntranslator, achipwhichconvertsVGAsig-
nalsfor thetelevision. Thissignalcan ofcourse beusedby otherdevices suchasprojec-
tors with a video input or a video camera.
The right connection?
Thevideo socketison the mountingbracketof the ELSA ERAZOR III . Plugthe composite
video adapter cable into this video socket (see page 36).
One for all: The composite video adapter cable
The composite video adapter cable supplied with the board provides everything you
need:Video-in and video-out connections. First plug the wide connector withthe VIDEO
ELSA ERAZOR III
Antenna signal
Video camera
TV picture in the Video
Capture window on the
computer monitor
Cable or
TV tuner
Example video signal processing with
ELSA ERAZOR III

Video––what’s in, what’s out?
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
13
socket in to the ELSA ERAZOR III . Five cables come out of this plug. Each cable is cov-
ered by a sleeve marked with the assignment of the various sockets.
When connecting a device to the composite video adapter cable you need only consider
the following:
쮿What kind of device do I want to attach?
–Input device, e. g. a video camera
–Output device e. g. a video recorder
쮿What connections are there on the device?
–S-VHS (Y/C) and/or
–Composite video (FBAS).
UsetheS-VHSconnectionforpreferenceifthedevicehasbothanS-VHSconnectionand
a composite video connection.
IN 2 –video –composite video (FBAS)
IN 3 –video –composite video (FBAS)
OUT –video –composite video (FBAS)
OUT –S-Video –S-VHS
IN 1 –S-Video –S-VHS
Plug for connecting to the output (VIDEO) on the
ELSA ERAZOR III
(15-pin D-sub-plug)
Composite video connector socket on the composite video adapter
cable
S-Video connector socket on the composite
video adapter cable

Video––what’s in, what’s out?
ELSA ERAZOR III Pro and ELSA ERAZOR III LT
14
Connection to a TV set
You can connect any normal television to the ELSA ERAZOR III . Look in the operating
instructionsforyourtelevisiontofindoutwhatvideostandardsitsupports. PALorNTSC
devices—it depends on the model—can be connected to the
ELSA ERAZOR III .