Elsa Gladiac 511 User manual

ELSA GLADIACTM 5II

While the information in this manual has been compiled with great care, it may not be deemed an assurance of product

characteristics. ELSA shall be liable only to the degree specified in the terms of sale and delivery.

The reproduction and distribution of the documentation and software supplied with this productand the use of its contents

is subject to written authorization from ELSA. We reserve the right to make any alterations that arise as the result of

technical development.

ELSA is DIN EN ISO 9001 certified. The accredited TÜV CERT certification authority has confirmed ELSA conformity to the

worldwide ISO 9001 standard in certificate number 09 100 5069, issued on June 15, 1998.

You can find all declarations and approvals for the products, as long as they were available at the time of publication, in

the appendix of this documentation.

Trademarks

Windows®, Windows NT®and Microsoft®are registered trademarks of Microsoft, Corp.

OpenGL® API is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc.

The ELSA logo is a registered trademark of ELSA AG. All other names mentioned may be trademarks or registered

trademarks of their respective owners.

Subject to change without notice. No liability for technical errors or omissions.

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uses only unless otherwise authorized by Macrovision Corporation. Reverse engineering or disassembly is prohibited.

ELSA, Inc.

1630 Zanker Road

San Jose, CA 95112

USA

www.elsa.com

52070 Aachen

Germany

www.elsa.de

|ELSAGLADIAC 5II |

Preface

Thank you for placing your trust in this ELSA product.

In choosing the ELSA GLADIAC 511, you have selected a graphics board

which is just as well suited to professional users as to ambitious players.

ELSA products are subject to the highest of standards in production and

quality control which are the foundation for consistently high product quality.

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 utility programs

are described, and you will find detailed information about 3D acceleration.

This documentation was compiled by several members of our staff from a

variety of departments in order to ensure you the best possible support when

using your ELSA product.

Further information on the Internet at 'www.elsa.com'

Our online services 'www.elsa.com' are available to you around the clock

should you have any queries regarding your ELSA GLADIAC 511 or require any

further support.

Our KnowledgeBase can be found at 'www.elsa.com/support'. In the

'Support' file section under 'Know-How', you can find answers to frequently

asked questions (FAQs). Current drivers, firmware, tools and manuals can be

downloaded at any time.

|ELSAGLADIAC 5II |

Before you read on...

The installation of the ELSA GLADIAC 511 hardware and software drivers is

described in full in the Installation Guide which accompanies this manual.

You should refer to that document before attempting to install your board, and

before reading this manual.

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.1 Highlights of the ELSA GLADIAC 511. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.2 What's in the box? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1.3 What hardware do I need?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2 After installing the drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.1 Software installation from the CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.2 The right settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.2.1 What are your options?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.2.2 What is best for what situation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.3 Changing the resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.3.1 Settings for Windows 95 and Windows 98/Me. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.3.2 Windows 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.3.3 Windows NT 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3 TV-Out Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3.1 One Interface – many possibilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3.1.1 From the VGA signal to the TV signal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3.1.2 What kind of device can be attached? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3.1.3 Direct connection of S-video devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3.1.4 Connecting TV devices with the adapter cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4 Graphics know-how. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4.1 3D graphics representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4.2 3D interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

4.2.1 What APIs are available? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

4.2.2 Direct 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

4.2.3 OpenGL API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

4.3 Color palettes, TrueColor and gray scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4.3.1 VGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4.3.2 DirectColor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4.3.3 VESA DDC (Display Data Channel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4.3.4 DDC2B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4.3.5 DDC2AB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

5 Technical data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

5.1 Characteristics of the graphics boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

5.2 The ELSA graphics board addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

5.3 Ports on the graphics boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

5.3.1 ELSA GLADIAC 511TV-OUT (32 and 64MB RAM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

5.3.2 ELSA GLADIAC 511 TWIN and ELSA GLADIAC 511PCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

5.3.3 ELSA GLADIAC 511DVI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

5.3.4 The VGA D-shell socket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

5.3.5 The S-video connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

5.3.6 The DVI Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

6 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

6.1 CE conformity and FCC radiation standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

6.1.1 European Council (CE). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

6.1.2 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

6.2 Warranty conditions for Europe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

6.3 Warranty conditions for North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

7 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

8 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

|Introduction 7

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

1 Introduction

“Reading the manual is a waste of time.” A prejudice you are proving to be

wrong right now by reading this manual. And rightly so. In this case it’s really

worth the effort. Because the ELSA GLADIAC 511 has some smart features

that are only described here in the manual.

So only those who read the manual will truly be taken with this card. We'll

make it as short and easy as we can, promise.

1.1 Highlights of the ELSA GLADIAC 511

With the new ELSA GLADIAC 511 product family, ELSA offers the low-priced

entrance into the graphics boards technology with the Transform&Lighting

unit. It is based on the new NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 400 graphics processor and

supplies outstanding representation quality and performance e.g. for presen-

tations, office and Internet applications or PC games. The operating systems

Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows Me are sup-

ported.

Five versions of the ELSA

GLADIAC 511 cover the most areas of application

perfectly: The ELSA GLADIAC 511TV-OUT with onboard TV-out interface for

output of presentations, games or DVD movies on TV, VCRs or projectors

available with two memory outfits with 32 or 64 MB SDRAM. As well as a

second VGA output and the TV-out interface the ELSA GLADIAC 511PCI offers

almost GeForce AGP performance with a virtual AGP bus: Ideal for upgrading

older Pentium systems or PCs with onboard graphics chips without an AGP

slot. The ELSA GLADIAC 511TWIN offers high-quality multi-monitor solutions

with all standard monitors with full usage of the AGP performance.

The ELSA GLADIAC 511DVI is only available as a special solution for system

integrators. Modern digital monitors can also be connected to its DVI-I port

or extra monitors can be connected with the supplementary VGA output.

The retail versions, the GLADIAC 511TV-OUT, GLADIAC 511PCI and GLADIAC

511TWIN include an attractive software package, including ELSAmovie 2000

software DVD player and the latest games bundle.

쎲The latest 3D graphics technology with the NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 400

GPU (graphics processing unit) processor

쎲32 or 64-MB SDRAM depending on model

Introduction |

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

쎲High-definition picture—high performance with up to 2048 x 1536 pixels,

over 16 million colors and refresh rates of up to 200Hz provide an

astounding picture—ideal for 19" to 24" monitors

쎲Support via Internet and hotline

쎲Three-year warranty

1.2 What's in the box?

You will notice if your graphics board is missing. But you need to check that

the box contains all of the following:

쎲Graphics board

쎲Installation Guide

쎲CD-ROM with installation and driver software, utilities and electronical

documentation

If any part is missing please contact your dealer. ELSA reserves the right

to vary the products supplied without prior notice. The current package

contents are described on our web site.

1.3 What hardware do I need?

쎲Computer: A system with an Intel Celeron, Pentium, AMD Athlon or

Duron processor (300 MHz or higher) and a minimum of 32 MB RAM is

required. Approx. 100 MB free disk space and a CD-ROM drive are

required for the installation.

쎲Bus: The ELSA GLADIAC 511 is available in AGP or PCI formats. For AGP

your computer must have a free AGP slot, and must support the AGP

standard as specified in version 2.0 or higher.

쎲Monitor: The ELSA GLADIAC 511 works with a standard IBM VGA

compatible horizontal scan frequency of 31.5kHz while booting and in

DOS operation.

|After installing the drivers 9

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

2 After installing the drivers

In this chapter you will find descriptions of

쎲where you can find the software for operating your ELSA graphics board,

쎲the performance characteristics of your graphics board, and

쎲the most effective tuning for the combination of monitor and ELSA

graphics board.

2.1 Software installation from the CD

The ELSA graphics board is normally supplied with software on a CD-ROM.

You will find all the utilities described in this manual on the GLADIAC 511

CD—unless they are a component of the operating system.

Once you have successfully completed the steps described in the Installation

Guide, your ELSA GLADIAC 511 is integrated into your computer system with

installed drivers. If the autostart function for your CD-ROM drive under Win-

dows has been switched off, the setup program on the GLADIAC 511 CD will

not start automatically. It can be found and started manually from the root

directory of the CD and is called SETUP.EXE.

The greater part of the installation is automated; ELSA setup detects the

installed operating system and ELSA graphics board(s). First of all select the

language for the installation and then the components you wish to install.

2.2 The right settings

Our tip is: Invest a little time at this stage and you won’t regret it. Take your

time to set up your system just right. Your eyes will thank you for it, and you

are guaranteed to have more fun in front of your screen.

To set up your system properly, the following questions should be answered:

쎲What is the maximum resolution I can set on my system?

쎲Which color depth do I want to use?

쎲How high should the refresh rate be set?

To help you find the answers to these questions, this chapter has been

divided according to the operating systems available. Just look for the

section about the operating system you use. All you need to know you will

After installing the drivers |

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

find there. All the software you need, if not already a part of your operating

system, is on the ELSA GLADIAC 511 CD.

2.2.1 What are your options?

The tables below show the maximum possible resolutions for the

ELSA GLADIAC 511. Please note that these resolutions cannot be achieved

under all operating conditions.

2.2.2 What is best for what situation?

There are some basic ground rules for you to follow when setting up your

graphics system. On one hand, there are the ergonomic guidelines, although

nowadays these are met by most systems, and on the other hand there are

limitations inherent to your system, e.g. your monitor. The question of

whether your applications need to run using large color depths—perhaps

even TrueColor—is also important. This is an important condition for many

DTP or CAD workstations.

“More pixels, more fun”

This is an opinion which is widespread, but which is not entirely true under

all circumstances. The general rule is that a refresh rate of 85Hz meets the

minimum ergonomic requirements. The resolution to be selected also

Max. refresh rate (Hz)

Color depth 256 colors (8 bit) HighColor (16 bit) TrueColor (32bit)

2048 x 1536 60 – 75 60 – 75 60 – 75

1900 x 1440 60 – 85 60 – 85 60 – 85

1600 x 1200 60 – 120 60 – 120 60 – 100

1280 x 1024 60 – 170 60 – 170 60 – 150

1024 x 768 60 – 200 60 – 200 60 – 200

800 x 600 60 – 200 60 – 200 60 – 200

640 x 480 60 – 200 60 – 200 60 – 200

HighColor = 65,536 colors, TrueColor = 16.7 million colors

|After installing the drivers 11

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

depends on the capabilities of your monitor. The table below is a guide to the

resolutions you might select:

2.3 Changing the resolution

You set the resolution of your graphics board in the Control Panel under

Windows.

2.3.1 Settings for Windows 95 and Windows 98/Me

Once you have specified the graphics board model and the monitor data, the

program will automatically 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 modify the display

settings.

햴Click here on the 'Settings' tab.

2.3.2 Windows 2000

The settings for the graphics driver are included in the Control Panel under

Windows 2000. 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.

햲Click on the 'Settings' tab.

Monitor

size

Typical

image size

Minimum

resolution

Maximum

resolution

Ergonomic

resolution

17" 15,5"–16,0" 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" 19,0"–20,0" 1024 x 768 1600 x 1200 1280 x 1024

24" 21,0"–22,0" 1600 x 1000 1920 x 1200 1600 x 1000

After installing the drivers |

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

햳Click Advanced... in the 'Settings' dialog.

햴Select the 'Graphics Board' tab in the dialog that opens.

햵A button labeled Display mode... is located in the lower part of the

window. Click it to view a list of all configurable combinations of

resolution, color depth and refresh rate. The values in the list depend on

the capabilities of the monitor and graphics board. Select the desired

combination and confirm by pressing OK.

햶When finished, click Apply... to check the new settings. You are then

given the option of selecting or canceling the chosen settings. If you are

satisfied with the new combination, confirm your selection by pressing

OK.

You will find further information on how to customize your graphics settings

under Windows 2000 in your system manual.

2.3.3 Windows NT 4.0

The settings for the graphics driver are included in 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 'Display 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 Windows NT 4.0 in your system manual.

|TV-Out Interface 13

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

3TV-Out Interface

This chapter describes the possibilities available with the TV-out adapter.

3.1 One Interface – many possibilities

The TV-out interface enables a whole new range of uses for the

ELSA GLADIAC 511. Here are some tips and ideas to get you started:

쎲With your television, you can

쑗finally experience the real action of the games. A sound card will

make your game playing a multimedia pleasure.

쑗enjoy the DVD films in full view.

쎲A professional projector with video input

쑗brings your games and DVD films to the screen. You will really have

a movie theater in your living room!

쑗displays your presentations in large format for a large group of inter-

ested viewers.

쎲With your video recorder, you can

쑗record games sequences as video. Your heroic campaign against the

Orcs can be preserved for posterity on video tape. Or incorporate

some digital specials into your tape of your family.

3.1.1 From the VGA signal to the TV signal

Unlike a computer monitor, a television set is not able to process the VGA sig-

nals from a graphics board. This is obvious if the 15-pin monitor output on the

back of the graphics board is compared with a TV antenna cable. The signals

travel in fundamentally different ways. The TV-out interface of the

ELSA GLADIAC 511 is thus equipped with its own "interpreter", a chip which

converts VGA signals for the television. This TV signal is of course also rec-

ognized by other devices—such as a projector with TV signal input or a video

recorder.

3.1.2 What kind of device can be attached?

You can connect any standard TV or video device to the TV-out interface for

the ELSA GLADIAC 511. The TV output works in accordance with the S-video

standard. Modern devices with an S-video interface (compatible to Hi-8 sig-

TV-Out Interface |

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

nal) can therefore be connected to the TV-out interface. Older devices often

have only a composite input (also referred to as an FBAS input). An adapter

cable is included so that you can also connect these devices to the TV-out

interface.

The best choice for devices that have both an S-video and a composite input

is the modern S-video connection. This will give you a better display quality.

The TV-out interface can generate signals conforming to the PAL and NTSC

standards. Refer to the operating instructions for your television or video

device to find out what signal standards it supports.

3.1.3 Direct connection of S-video devices

Devices with S-video input can be connected directly to the TV output. Use

an S-video cable with two mini-DIN connectors. These cables can be

obtained form any dealer.

S-video cable

with mini-DIN

connectors

Projector

Television

Video

ELSA GLADIAC 511 with

TV-out interface

|TV-Out Interface 15

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

3.1.4 Connecting TV devices with the adapter cable

To connect TV devices with composite or FBAS input use the adapter cable

included with your ELSA GLADIAC 511.

Mini-DIN connector

for connecting the

TV-out interface of

the GLADIAC 511

Cinch socket for devices

with composite input

Projector with video input

Television

Video

TV-Out Interface |

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

|Graphics know-how 17

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

4 Graphics know-how

This is the chapter where we really get stuck in. Anyone who wants to know

more about graphics—especially in connection with the ELSA GLADIAC

511—will find a whole load of technical stuff right here.

4.1 3D graphics representation

Today it is considered de rigueur to know all about 3D. Your curiosity will be

aroused as soon as you experience the first visual wizardry generated by your

new graphics board. Two features of the 3D display will leap out at you: it's

both realistic and fast. The amount of work required here is known only to the

processor, but we will describe it in detail to you below.

The 3D pipeline

What actually happens when a monitor displays a 3D object? The data

describing the 3D object are passed through what is known as the 3D

pipeline, in which the mathematical calculations for its representation in

space and perspective on the monitor are carried out. What happens in

detail?

Start: The object data

The pipeline starts at the object. The object description is made up of the data

(points). The basic geometric primitive is the triangle. The corner points of the

object's triangles are described using coordinate points (x, y and z), where the

'z' value represents the depth information. Depending on the display

representation, these points are assigned additional data regarding material,

texture, special effects and much more. As a result, an enormous amount of

data is sent into the pipeline.

Geometrical transformation

This part of the 3D pipeline is very processor-intensive, as all the calculations

for the 3D scene are carried out at this stage. Simplified, it comprises the

following steps:

Object data Geometrical

transformation Rendering Display on

the monitor

Graphics know-how |

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

쎲Transformation—In transformation, the objects are aligned in

perspective as seen from the observer's point of view.

쎲3D clipping—In this process, each polygon is checked to determine

whether it is partially or fully invisible. The invisible faces or parts of

objects will be removed.

쎲Back-face culling—This process computes hidden surfaces resulting

from the observation perspective chosen. Any object having an invisible

front surface is omitted.

쎲Illumination—The illumination of the scene by different light sources is

calculated.

쎲Scaling on the screen—The above steps are now calculated for three-

dimensional space using normalized coordinates. The on-screen image

coordinates will only now be computed.

RenderingRasterization

At this stage, the 3D scene is filled with color shades and textures are

applied. Different processes and methods are also applied here.

쎲Shading—Shading takes account of the effects created by different

light sources on the 3D object and provide for a very realistic overall

impression. Here, too, there are different methods which are more or less

processor-intensive:

쑗Flat shading assigns a color value to each polygon. This results in a

faceted representation, which requires only short computation times.

쑗In Gouraud shading, all the vertices of the polygons are assigned a

color value. The remaining pixel information for the polygon is

interpolated. This method gives a very gentle color transition, even

with fewer polygons than are required for flat shading.

쎲Texture mapping—At this stage, the 3D object undergoes a sort of

”face lift”. The materials and textures are assigned. Different methods

are used here to make the textures appear realistic, even when enlarged

or reduced. As a first step, the textures are computed:

쑗Point sampling is the simplest method. A pixel-by-pixel comparison is

made between the texture template and the surface to be filled. This

method leads to a very coarse representation, especially when

enlarged.

쑗In linear mapping, a new color value is interpolated from the adjacent

pixels (or texels) of a texture. This gives better results than point

sampling, as the hard boundary between the coarse pixels is blurred.

|Graphics know-how 19

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

쑗The MIP mapping method stores a large number of enlargement

stages for the texture. The depth information of a primitive is then

used to determine which enlargement stages of the texture will be

used in drawing. Information concerning the transparency of the

texture is carried in the alpha channel. Finally, a distinction is made

in MIP mapping between bilinear and trilinear filtering. Bilinear

filtering interpolates between two pixels of two textures, trilinear

filtering interpolates between four pixels for each of two textures.

쑗Bump mapping introduces a new dimension. Relief or raised textures

can only be generated with the other methods in two dimensions

using light and shadow effects.

The staircase effect is corrected by anti-aliasing. This is either done by

interpolating mixed pixels, in which a new color value is computed from

two adjacent color values.

쎲The frame buffer

The finished image will not be written to the frame buffer until this

complex sequence of steps is completed. The frame buffer is made up of

front and back buffer. The back buffer acts as a buffer page, in which the

next image to be displayed is built up. The front buffer is the memory

area where the image that appears on the monitor is located. This

prevents the process of image drawing being visible. The duplicate

storage method is also known as double buffering.

Buffer swapping: Display on the monitor

Two possibilities exist for transferring a completed image from the back to

the front buffer, and thus to the display. The obvious method is to copy the

contents to the front buffer one byte at a time, a process known as “blitting”.

Page flipping is significantly faster: in this case the content of the buffer is

not rewritten—the addresses of the front and back buffers are simply

exchanged. As a result, only tiny data volumes are transferred.

The buffer swapping will only ever be performed once the image drawing

process in the back buffer is completed. This procedure should be repeated

at least 20 times a second to give a smooth representation of 3D scenarios.

In this context, we speak of frames per second (fps). This is a very important

value especially for 3D applications. A cinema film runs at 24fps.

Graphics know-how |

|ELSA GLADIAC 5II |

4.2 3D interfaces

Software interfaces, including 3D interfaces, are known as APIs (Application

Programming Interface). The question is what these interfaces are used for

and how they work.

In simple terms: They make developers' work easier. In the past it was

necessary to address the various hardware components directly in

programming if you wanted to exploit their capabilities to the full. The APIs

are a kind of translator operating between the hardware and the software.

The specification of standard definitions was the precondition for the proper

function of these translation routines. These definitions are implemented by

the hardware manufacturers during development and optimized for the

hardware concerned. Developers can implement complex procedures

relatively easily by using these definitions. They can use a uniform command

set when programming and do not need to know the characteristics specific

to the hardware.

4.2.1 What APIs are available?

There are a good dozen more or less commonly found 3D APIs. However, in

recent years, two formats have established themselves as the favorites:

Direct3D and OpenGL. ELSA graphics boards support these commonly found

3D interfaces. The functional differences between the interfaces are slight.

Your ELSA GLADIAC 511 supports the following APIs.

4.2.2 Direct 3D

As a development of Mode X and DirectDraw under Windows 3.1x, Direct 3D

is a branch of the DirectX multimedia family which was developed directly for

Windows 95 to accelerate the slow 3D display characteristics of the

operating system. Direct 3D cooperates with Direct Draw in two-dimen-

sional display. A typical situation would be, for instance, rendering a 3D

object while Direct Draw is placing a two-dimensional background bitmap.

Immediate mode and retained mode

As can be assumed from the two terms, immediate mode is a programming

mode that is close to the hardware. Retained mode, on the other hand, is a

programming mode that is largely predefined through an API interface. What

does this mean in detail? Looking at the two systems hierarchically, the

immediate mode is also known as the low-level mode. The programming

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