ELSA GLADIAC 511 User manual

ELSA GLADIACTM 5II

© 2001 ELSA AG, Aachen (Germany)
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.
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 rights owners. Use of this copyright
protection technology must be authorized by Macrovision Corporation, and is intended for home and other limited viewing
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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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
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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

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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
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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

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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