[English] README.TXT MATROX GRAPHICS INC. 1998.11.24 Matrox PowerDesk for Windows 95/98 Revision 4.28.037 Contents ======== - Description of this release - Installation - More information - Registry settings - Notes, problems, and limitations - Matrox Diagnostic program - IRQSET.EXE program - Matrox TV output Description of this release =========================== This product includes a Windows 95/98 display driver AND the Matrox PowerDesk for Windows 95/98, which allows: virtual desktop, hardware pan and zoom, DirectDraw/Direct3D driver and more... Installation ============ To install both Matrox PowerDesk and the Matrox display driver, start the included "setup" program. The setup program first asks you which language you want to use, then to choose between a "Typical" or "Custom" installation. With a "Typical" installation, the setup program installs all Matrox PowerDesk utilities in the default "\Program Files\Matrox MGA PowerDesk" folder. We recommend you use "Typical". After PowerDesk is installed, the setup program automatically changes the Windows 95/98 display driver, then prompts you to restart your computer for all changes to take effect. You can customize the installation process by editing the "mga.ini" file. For example, you can change the default installation path, default driver performance switches, default schemes, and so on. The file is self-documented. This type of customization is for advanced users only. More information ================ For more information on settings, refresh rates etc., see the WordPad file "online.doc". This file is included on the Matrox disk, and installed in your "\Program Files\Matrox MGA PowerDesk\" folder. Registry settings ================= PowerDesk settings are kept in the Windows 95/98 registry, under the keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MATROX\POWERDESK HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MATROX\DESKNAV HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MATROX\COLOR CONTROL Notes, problems, and limitations ================================ - DirectDraw, Direct3D and DirectVideo support The DirectDraw driver we provide is compatible with DirectX 2 (and later) and includes Direct3D support. For our DirectDraw/Direct3D driver to be called, and benefit from hardware acceleration, Microsoft DirectX 2 (or later) MUST be installed, even for programs originally made for DirectX 1. We provide DirectX on the Matrox CD-ROM. The latest DirectX is available from the Microsoft Web site, and is included with many DirectX programs. IMPORTANT: If the DirectX setup program prompts you to replace the existing display drivers, click "No". Otherwise, the setup program installs display drivers which are not as optimized as the Matrox drivers and which do not support PowerDesk software. Note that depending on the origin of your Microsoft DirectX software, it may not include DirectVideo support. For faster playback of Indeo and Cinepak AVI files, you should install Microsoft DirectVideo support. - Matrox bus mastering This driver supports bus mastering. Bus mastering is a feature that allows expansion cards to perform tasks at the same time as your computer's CPU. If you have a fast Pentium computer (faster than 166 MHz), the display performance of most programs is improved when bus mastering is used. To use bus mastering with 3D (DirectX) programs, your graphics card needs an interrupt request (IRQ). Most computers automatically assign an IRQ to graphics cards, but some do not. If your graphics card hasn't been assigned an IRQ, programs that use Matrox bus mastering may not work properly. For more information, see your Matrox or system manual. The Millennium graphics card doesn't support bus mastering. Also, some older computers may not support bus mastering at all. - Adobe Type Manager limitation With Adobe Type Manager installed, you cannot run the driver if the "Advanced Graphics Acceleration Settings" is set to none. Note that ATM is installed as part of Adobe Acrobat Reader. This is an Adobe problem documented in the Windows 95/98 "display.txt" file. - Monitors in interlaced mode Some older monitors such as the NEC 3D and many "SuperVGA" monitors do not support non-interlaced mode in all resolutions. The Matrox display driver does not properly handle interlaced mode with the Windows 95/98 monitor selection method. If you have one of these monitors, please use the Matrox Monitor selection method. - DirectDraw and Automatic Power Management As stated in "Microsoft DirectX release Notes", September 30, 1995, a DirectDraw game may be unable to restore properly if it is suspended by Automatic Power Management utilities. - Installation in different language versions of Windows 95/98 If you install software in a language different from the language of your operating system (for example, English software on a Japanese system), you may have problems with text and dialog box controls being cut off. This is because of differences in system fonts. - Millennium 3D acceleration library The "Millennium 3D acceleration library" is no longer supported. (For users of the Millennium graphics card, this option was available in previous versions of Matrox PowerDesk for Windows 95.) The performance of a few older 3D programs may be affected. 3D acceleration is supported for programs that use DirectX. - VESA modes DOS programs running in DOS full-screen mode are handled by the Matrox Video BIOS. The BIOS supports all standard VGA modes, AND many VESA VBE 1.2 and 2.0 modes: VESA Graphics Modes Mode Resolution Colors 100h 640x400 256 101h 640x480 256 110h 640x480 32K 111h 640x480 64K 112h 640x480 16.8M 102h 800x600 16 103h 800x600 256 113h 800x600 32K 114h 800x600 64K 115h 800x600 16.8M 105h 1024x768 256 116h 1024x768 32K 117h 1024x768 64K 118h 1024x768 16.8M(*) 107h 1280x1024 256 119h 1280X1024 32K(*) 11Ah 1280X1024 64K(*) 11Ch 1600X1200 256 11Dh 1600X1200 32K(*) 11Eh 1600X1200 64K(*) (*) requires 4Mb memory Text Modes Mode Columns Rows 108h 80 60 109h 132 25 10Bh 132 50 10Ch 132 60 Matrox Diagnostic program ========================= Restart your computer and close all other programs before running Matrox Diagnostic. The Matrox Diagnostic program tests the bus mastering feature of your system and if another program is using bus mastering at the same time (a 3D game for example), a system error may occur. IRQSET.EXE program ================== If you have a 3D program for Windows 95/98 that doesn't start or stops running, you may be having a problem with bus mastering. The Matrox card needs an Interrupt Request (IRQ) number for bus mastering to work properly and some computers do not automatically give the Matrox card an IRQ. You can manually assign your Matrox card an IRQ through the IRQSET.EXE program we provide. First, check for an IRQ number: (1) Right-click "My Computer" on the Windows desktop background. (2) Click the "Properties" menu item. (3) Click the "Device Manager" tab. (4) Click the "Properties" button. (5) Check if the Matrox display driver appears in the IRQ list. If it does, there is no need to manually assign an IRQ and you can stop here. IF NOT, note which IRQ number (10, 11 or 12) is not used and continue with the instructions below. To manually assign an IRQ (PCI graphics card only): (1) Open your "autoexec.bat" file with the Windows 95/98 Notepad program. Your autoexec.bat file is in the root directory of your boot drive. (2) Add a line to your autoexec.bat with the path to "IRQSET", followed by the IRQ you want to use (the unused number you noted above). For example, to assign your Matrox card IRQ 10, insert the following line in your autoexec.bat (INCLUDING the quotation marks): C:"\Program Files\Matrox MGA PowerDesk\IRQSET" -i A (The path you use MIGHT be different if you have a customized installation of Matrox PowerDesk on your computer.) The above example is for IRQ 10. To use a different IRQ, replace "A" with ONE of the following letters (capitalized): B (for IRQ 11) C (for IRQ 12) (3) Save the changes to the autoexec.bat and exit Notepad. (4) Restart your computer for the changes to take effect. Matrox TV output ================ Certain models of Matrox graphics cards support TV output. With TV output support, you can view or record your computer display with a TV or video recorder connected to your graphics card. Notes ----- When viewing the output of your computer on a TV, your computer monitor also uses TV settings. TV settings have lower resolutions and refresh rates than typical computer monitor settings. Lower refresh rates may result in more noticeable flicker. Because some computer monitors don't support TV settings, a computer monitor may become garbled or unusable while TV output mode is used. If this happens, simply turn off your computer monitor and use your TV to view your computer display. Your computer monitor will work normally when you disable TV output mode. Recommendation -------------- - While playing games using TV output, we recommend you use a 640 x 480 display resolution. This is because the resolution capabilities of TVs are lower than most computer monitors. If you use a higher display resolution (800 x 600 or 1024 x 768), the display on your TV may not look as sharp as the display of your computer monitor -- that is, some of the extra detail may be harder to see on your TV. - Matrox default advanced TV output settings are good for viewing most computer graphics (for example, computer games or your Windows desktop) on most TVs. Based on broadcast standards, there are advanced TV output settings that are better suited for viewing full-screen video (for example, from a video file). These settings are: NTSC Brightness : 180 Contrast : 234 Saturation : 137 Hue : 0 PAL Brightness : 167 Contrast : 255 Saturation : 138 Hue : 0 To access these settings with PowerDesk for Windows 95/98, click "Start" -> "Programs" -> "Matrox PowerDesk" -> "Matrox Display Properties" -> "Settings" -> "Advanced" -> "TV Out". For more information on these settings, see context-sensitive Help. Note: For ideal settings, you may also need to adjust the settings on your TV. The default brightness, contrast, saturation and hue settings on most consumer video devices are higher than broadcast standards. These settings are usually OK for viewing video but may not look OK with computer graphics. (This is why Matrox default TV output settings are lower than what's ideal for video.) For more information on how to adjust settings on your TV, see your TV manual. More information ---------------- For more information on display settings, see your Matrox manual and online documentation. For information on how to change the display resolution of a game you're using, see its documentation. Note: The Matrox zoom and virtual desktop features aren't supported in TV output mode.