ELSA GLADIAC User manual

EN
GLADIACTM
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EN
2000 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 thisproduct and 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.
Declarations of conformity and certificates, in as far as they were available at the time of publication, can be found in the
the appendix of this documentation.
Trademarks
Windows®, Windows NT®and Microsoft®are registered trademarks of Microsoft, Corp.
OpenGL®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.
Aachen, April 2000
ELSA, Inc.
1630 Zanker Road
San Jose, CA 95112
USA
www.elsa.com
ELSA AG
Sonnenweg 11
52070 Aachen
Germany
www.elsa.de
21663/0400
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| ELSA GLADIAC |
EN
Preface
Thank you for placing your trust in this ELSA product.
In choosing the GLADIAC, 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.
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.
The README files on the GLADIAC CD contain the latest information about
updates.
Our online services (www.elsa.com) are available to you around the clock
should you have any queries regarding the topics discussed in this manual or
require any further support. In the Support file section under 'Know-How',
you can find answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs). The Knowledge-
Base also contains a large pool of information. Current drivers, firmware,
tools and manuals can be downloaded at any time.
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| ELSA GLADIAC |
EN
Before you read on...
The installation of the GLADIAC 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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|ELSA GLADIAC |
EN
Content
쎲Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Highlights of the ELSA GLADIAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
What's in the box? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
What hardware do I need? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
쎲After installing the drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Software installation from the CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
The right settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
What are your options?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
What is best for what situation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Changing the resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Settings for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
쎲Useful stuff and more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
The Multimedia Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
ELSA WINman Suite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Fine-tuning for performance freaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Overclocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
ELSAinfo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
쎲Graphics know-how . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3D graphics representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The 3D pipeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3D interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
What APIs are available? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Direct 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
OpenGL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Color palettes, TrueColor and gray scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
VGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
DirectColor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
VESA DDC (Display Data Channel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
DDC2B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
DDC2AB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
쎲Technical data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Characteristics of the graphics board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
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|ELSA GLADIAC |
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ELSA graphics board addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Ports on the graphics board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
The VGA D-shell socket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
쎲Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
CE conformity and FCC radiation standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Declarations of conformity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Warranty conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
쎲Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
쎲Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
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|Introduction 9
|ELSA GLADIAC |
EN
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 is
really worth the effort. Because the ELSA GLADIAC 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.
Highlights of the ELSA GLADIAC
쎲The latest 3D graphics technology with the NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS
processor
쎲32-MB DDR RAM give you scope for image processing and huge textures
쎲4 HyperTexel pipelines and per-pixel shading for even greater realism
쎲High-definition picture—high performance with up to 2048x1536 pixels,
over 16 million colors and refresh rates of 200Hz provide an astounding
picture—ideal for 19" to 24" monitors
쎲ELSA SmartRefresh and ELSA SmartResolution ensure optimized monitor
use by providing the ability to modify resolution and refresh rate
separately.
쎲Supports the ELSA 3D REVELATOR 3D shutter glasses
쎲Support via Internet and hotline
쎲CE and FCC conformity
쎲Six-year warranty
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
쎲Manual
쎲CD-ROM with installation and driver software and utilities
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Introduction |
|ELSA GLADIAC |
10
EN
쎲Optionally available:
Video-in/out module for video editing, video chat, video capture or video
e-mail
If any part is missing please contact your retailer. ELSA reserves the right to
vary the products supplied without prior notice. The current scope of delivery
is described on our web site.
What hardware do I need?
쎲Computer: Minimum requirements are a Celeron 300, Pentium II 300 or
AMD K6 300 processor.
쎲Bus: The GLADIAC is available as an AGP version. Your computer must
have an AGP bus.
쎲Monitor: The GLADIAC works with the standard IBM VGA compatible
horizontal scan frequency of 31.5 kHz while booting and in DOS
operation.
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|After installing the drivers 11
|ELSA GLADIAC |
EN
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.
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 CD—
unless they are a component of the operating system.
Once you have successfully completed the steps described in the Installation
Guide, your graphics board is integrated into your computer system with the
installed ELSA driver. You are now likely to be familiar with the program
ELSA CD setup. If the autostart function for your CD-ROM drive under
Windows has been switched off, the setup program on the Gladiac 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.
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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After installing the drivers |
|ELSA GLADIAC |
12
EN
find there. All the software you need, if not already a part of your operating
system, is on the Gladiac CD.
What are your options?
The tables below show the maximum possible resolutions for the ELSA
graphics board. Note that these resolutions cannot be achieved under all
operating conditions.
What is best for what situation?
There are some basic ground rules for you to follow when setting up your
graphics system. On the 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 (32 bit)
2048 x 1536 75Hz ––
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
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