Cardinal Technologies SNAPplus User Manual

A

A~,

-

~•~TION

~VIDEO

A

CAPTURE

A

SNAPplus

VIDEO OUTPUT

A

User

's

Manual

COLORS

A

BIT

BUS

INTE

RFA

CE

Cardinal Technologies, Inc.

II

Compatible with standard PC text and

..

.. ..

..

graphics software. Industry standard RGB-video, S-Video and

composite-video inputs (PAL or NTSC) Industry standard RGB-video, S-Video,

composite-video and VGA video outputs. NTSC output is enabled when running 640x480 graphics mode only.

Live or still video frame grabbing - up

to

640x480 in 16,777,216 colors. High performance 16 bit bus interface . Easy to use - requires no significant training .

SNAPplus

Desktop

Video

Adapter

Discla imer

Cardinal® Technologies Inc. provides this publication

as

is without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied , including

but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Further, Cardinal Technologies Inc. reserves the right to revise this

pub

lication and to make changes from time to time to the content hereof without obligation of pub-

lisher to notify any person of such revision or changes. Some states do not allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties

in

certain transactions, therefore, this statement may not

apply

to you.

Trademarks

The Cardinal® logo is a registered trademark and SNAPplus™ is a trademark of Cardinal Technologies, Inc .. GEM and Desktop Publisher are trademarks of Digital Research Inc. IBM PC/XT, PC/

AT

and PS/2 Model 35 are registered trademarks of International

Business Machines Corporation. WordPerfect

is

a registered trademark of WordPerfect Corporation. AutoCAD and AutoShade are

registered trademarks of Auto Desk Inc .. OS/

2,

Microsoft and Microsoft Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Lotus 1-2-3 and Symphony are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. Ventura is a registered trademark of Ventura Software, Inc

..

Tseng Labs is a registered trademark of Tseng Labs, Inc

..

All other names and logos are trademarks or

registe red trademar

ks

of their respecti ve companies .

Copyright

nc

..

be

reproduced , or distributed

without the prior written permission of Cardinal Technologies, Inc

..

Warranty

Cardinal

Technologies,

Inc

..

provides a one

year

warranty

for

this

product.

So

that

we

may

serve

you

promptly

and

with

quality

service

please

take

the

following

steps:

Save

your

purchase

receipt.

Save

the

box,

packing

material

and

static

protection

material.

Please

fill

out

and

return

the

Registration

Card,

located

in

the

back

of

this

manual.

If

you

need

technical

assistance please

refer

to:

Preparing

Your

Product

for

Servicing,

located

in

the

back

of

this

manual.

Table

of

Contents

1.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.1

Features

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1

1.2 Standard Items

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2

1.3 Optional Items

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2

2. Hardware Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.1

Switches and Jumpers .......

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3

2.2 Installation Procedure

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5

2.3 Connecting Cables

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7

2.4 Setup and Testing

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9

2.4.1 Testing Video Input

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9

2.4.2 Testing Video Output . . .

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9

3. The SNAPshot Desktop Video Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11

3.1

Getting Started With SNAPshot

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11

3.2 SNAPshot Quick Start

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4. File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

13

4.1

New ............

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13

4.2 Preferences

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4.2.1 Change Device Assignments

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14

iii

4.3

Open

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14

4.3.lChoosing a File

Format

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14

4.4 Close

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4.5 Save

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16

4.6 Save As

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16

4.7 Grab Full Frame .....

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. 16

4.8 Exit ......

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5. Overlay Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

5.1

Set Color Key

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. . . 17

5.2 Set Video Window

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17

5.3 Move Video Window

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17

5.4 Pan Video

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5.5 Color Key ....

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5.6 Video Window

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5.7 Freeze Frame . .

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5.8 Live Action

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6. View Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

6.1 Fit In Video Window

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19

6.2 Fit In Client Window ... . .... . .

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19

6.3 Fu

ll

Frame Video ........

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19

6.4 Full Screen Preview

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iv

7.

Animation Menu

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21

7.1

Load

In Memory ............................

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21

7.2

Loop

Frame

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22

7.3

Full Screen

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22

7.4

Hide

Animation ................

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7.5

Color Cycling

OK .......

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22

7.6

Use

All Colors ..........................

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7.7 Settings

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23

7.7.1 Speed Units

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7.7.2 Speed . . .

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7.7.3 Lock

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7.7.4 Loop: Frames

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7.7.5 Duration

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24

7.7.6

Repeat

Sound ........

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24

7.7.7

Dela

y Sound .

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24

7.7

.8

Pause

at

End

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24

7.7.9 Test .........

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24

7.7.10 Cancel

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25

7.8 Transition Settings .

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7.8.1

Cut

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7.8.2 Fade to Black ..............

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7.8.3 Fade to White

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7.8.4 Transition Length

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V

8. Control Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

8.1

Video Control Panel

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.

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27

8.2

Animation Control Panel

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27

9. SNAPshot Ribbon Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

10. Effects Menu

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31

10.1

Gray Scale ......

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31

10.2 Negative

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11. Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

11.1

Extended Mode Drivers

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33

11.2 Additional Driver Support

.............................................................

.

......

33

11.3

The

SETUP Program

.............................................

.

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34

11.3.1 Using SETUP

......................................................

.

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34

12. Utility Programs

..............................................................

35

12.1

EANSI.SYS

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35

12.1.1 Installing EANSI.SYS

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35

12.2

The

FASTBIOS Accelerator Utility

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36

12.2.1 Installing the FASTBIOS

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36

12.3 Screen Center Utility ....

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37

12.3.1 Installing the Screen Center Utility

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37

12.4

The

Diagnosti

cs

Utility

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38

12.4.1 Installing the Diagnostics Utility ..........

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39

12.5

The

Video Mode Selection Utility

.............................................................

40

vi

12.5.1 Installing the Video Mode Selection Utility ....................................................

40

12.5.2 Running

VMODE ...

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.

..........................

.

................

41

12.5.3 Refresh

Rate

Selection

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42

12.6 Text

Mode

Selection

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45

13. The Enhanced Mode Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

13.1

Monitor

Compatibility

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.

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47

13.2

The

VESA High Resolution Drivers ...

..................................................

.

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48

13.2.1 Installing the VESA Drivers

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....

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...

48

13.3

The

8514/A Drivers

..................................................................

.

.......

49

13.3.1 Installing the 8514/A Drivers .

.......................

. . .

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49

14. The 1,otus

1-2-3

Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

51

14.1 Installing the Lotus Drivers .

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.

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...

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51

15. The Microsoft Windows Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

53

15.1

Windows 3.1 Drivers . .

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.

..................................

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......

53

15.1.1 Installing the Windows

3.1

Drivers ...

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.. .. ..

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53

15.2

The

Microsoft Windows 3.0 Drivers

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...

54

15.2.1 Installing the Windows 3.0 Drivers

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54

16. The AutoCAD 10.0 Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

55

16.1

Installing the AutoCAD 10.0 Driver

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55

16.2 Installing AutoShade

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.

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56

16.3 Using

the

AutoCad 9.0/10.0 Driver

.............................................................

56

vii

17. The AutoCad

DLD-386

Driver

..................................................

57

17.1 Features

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57

17.2 System Requirements . .

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57

17.3 Configuring

DLD-386

VGA

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57

17.4 Installing the

DLD-386

Drivers

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58

17

.5 Changing Colors

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... 62

17.6 Advanced Features ... . . . ............

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65

17.6.1 Memory

Meter

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66

17

.6.2 Display List Cleanup

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66

17

.6.3 Current Color/Layer Indicator

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66

17.7 Memory Usage and Lists

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67

17.8

The

Remove/Overwrite Option

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.

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.

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68

17.8.1 VIEWing the Full Drawing ...

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. . .

69

17.8.2 Avoiding Accidental

REGEN

's

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.

................

.

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....... 70

17.8.3 Adding

DLDCLEAN

to

your

Pull-downs

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.

....... .

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...

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70

17.9 Using 3D Studio and AutoShade 2.0

..................

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. .

71

17.9.1 AutoShade 2.

0with

RenderMan

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71

17.9.2 Autodesk 3D Studio

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71

18. The Ventura 2.0 Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

73

18.1 Installing

the

Ventura 2.0 Drivers

...........

.

.........................................

.

........

73

19. The GEM 3.0/3.1 Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

19.1 Procedure for a single drive system

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75

19.2 Procedure for a dual drive system. . .....

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77

20. The WordPerfect 5.0/5.1 Option and Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

20

.1 Installing the WordPerfect Drivers

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79

viii

21. The

0S/2

Presentation Manager Drivers

..........................................

81

21.1

Installing the OS/2 Drivers .

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81

22. Video Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

83

22

.1 Definition

of

Terms

......................................................................

.

...

83

22

.2 NTSC

vs.

PAL

..........

..

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..

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84

22.3

Non - Interlacing

vs.

Interlacing

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..

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.

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84

22.4

Write-protected

VCR

Tapes

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.

....

. .

...

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..

84

23. Technical Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

24. Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Specifications

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89

Options

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90

Pin Descriptions

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91

SNAPplus MCI Drivers

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92

SNAPplus AVI Drivers

...........................................................................

98

ix

Figures

Figure 1 -

IRQ

Jumper P12

.........

......

. .

..................

.

...................................

4

Figure 2 - Jumper Re-positioning

.................................................................

4

Figure 3 -

Zero

Wait State Jumper

Pll

.......

..................

.

...................................

4

Figure 4 -

PC

Cover Removal

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5

Figure 5 - Dust Cover Removal

....................................................................

5

Figure 6 - Card Installation

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.........................................................

. . 6

Figure 7 -

S-Video

Cable

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.

..................

.

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..

. 7

Figure 8 - Composite Video Cable

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.

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.

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...

. 7

Figure 9 - Connector Insertion

....................................................................

7

Figure

10

- Equipment

Hook-up

Scheme; Sample

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8

Tables

Table 1 Standard Operating Modes

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43

Table 2 Enhanced Operating Modes

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44

Table 3 High Color Operating Modes

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45

X

1. Introduction

The SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter completes the pre -

viously missing link between the video and computer (analog and digital) worlds by capturing live or still video on a PC monitor or TV screen. With this product, video from Camcorders or VCRs can be displayed and edited on PCs while PC graphics can be displayed on TV monitors or recorded on VCRs. Moreover, video and graphics from both sources can

be

merged. The SNAPplus Desktop Video

Adapter is compatible with the IBM PC/

AT,

the PS/2 Model

35 or any 100% compatible computer.

The SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter is a bridge between

several different video standards. The card accepts compos-

ite, S-Video

or

RGB inputs at NTSC or PAL frequencies and

outputs composite, S-Video or RGB signals

at

NTSC rates.

A built-in VGA graphics controller originates PC graphics

video, and the video output is a mix

of

the incoming video

and graphics, eliminating additional graphics card adapters.

Note on Copyright:

[&]

T~levision programs, films, !

video tapes and any other

materials may

be

copyrighted. Unauthorized

re-

cording of such materials may

be

contrary to the

provisions of the copyright

law.

1.1

Features

• Compatible with standard PC text and graphics soft-

ware.

• Easy

to

use - requires

no

significant training.

• Industry standard RGB-video, S-Video and compos-

ite-video inputs (PAL or NTSC)

• Industry standard RGB-video, S-Video, composite-

video and VGA video outputs. NTSC output is enabled when running 640x480 graphics mode only.

• Robust GENLOCK - compatible with SVS (Still

Vid-

eo System) products, cameras, VCRs etc.

• Live or still video frame grabbing - up to 640x480 in

16,777,216 colors.

• Live or still video scaling and zooming.

• Built-in VGA graphics controller.

Maximum resolution of 800x600 in 32,768 or 65,536 colors. Maximum resolution of 1024x768 in 256 colors. Maximum resolution of 1280x1024 in

16

colors

• High performance

16

bit bus interface.

• DOS and Windows 3.0/3.1 drivers included.

• Single card compatible with PC/

AT

and PS/2 Model 35

computers.

Introduction

1

1.2 Standard Items

.--:;--i

1

• SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter

~

• Composite-Video Input/Output Cable

• S-Video Input/Output Cable

• SNAPplus User's Manual

• REELtime User's Manual

• SNAPShot/SNAPTest Diskette

• SNAPplus Drivers Diskette; includes MCI and

AVI

drivers

• SNAPplus Windows 3.1, 3.0 Driver Diskette

• Demo Diskette

1.3 Optional Items

• One Input/Output cable kit, consisting

of: One BNC type ROB-video cable One

D-sub

type ROB video cable One S-Video cable One composite-video cable A software developer 's kit - SDK

With the optional ROB-video, S-Video and composite-video cables the SNAPplus' video inputs and outputs can be connected to video input/output devices. These connectors are all industry standard types.

2 Introduction

2.

Hardware Installation

To

achieve optimum performance you must have:

• An 80286 or better

PC.

• 2Mb (or greater)

of

RAM.

• 1.44Mb 3.5" diskette drive.

• 80Mb hard drive (or larger).

• A VGA (Video Graphics Adapter) or an analog multi-

synchronous color monitor.

Warning

The SNAPplus comes packed

in

a protective anti-static foam

tray.

[&]

Do

not remove the card from the tray until you are ready to configure and install

it.

Electrostatic discharge can cause damage to the card. Handle the card only by its edges and mounting bracket.

DO

NOT TOUCH the edge con-

nector or any of the integrated circuits.

2.1

Switches and Jumpers

For this discussion, please refer

to

the illustrations on the

next page, for further details. Switch module

SWI

contains four separate switches, which

have been factory set to OFF;

do

not move them!

Jumper

Pl

I controls the zero wait state. When zero wait state

is enabled bus operations are completed faster than under

normal conditions, resulting in faster graphics speeds. Zero wait states are not supported on all motherboards;

if

your

motherboard falls into this category leave the jumper in the

disabled position (default); see Figure

3.

Jumper P12

is

used to configure interrupts. IRQI I (default),

IRQ12

or

no

interrupts are available, see Figure

1.

Most soft-

ware does not require that interrupts be set; however,

if

you

use the

AVI

drivers you should set P12 (see page 98.)

If

your software requires a specific interrupt, move the jumper to the correct position.

Hardware Installation

3

0

4

0

Interrupt

IRQ

12

•r•~

Lft

id

'

Jumper

straight u an

it

over

the

ne

p I d

re-position

w

ocat1on.

Figure 2 _ Jum

per Re-positioning

~

Zero

wait

state

disabled

.

F

(default

pos

ition)

rgure 3 - Zero W . .

art

State Jumper

P11

Hardware Installation

2.2 Installation Procedure

If

you

have

another

graphics

[.&]

card installed

in

your computer, f .

you must remove it! •

1.

TURN OFF the computer and disconnect it from the

power source.

2. If the computer's motherboard has a built-in graphics controller, it must be disabled, please refer to the computer's

user manual.

3.

Remove the cover from your computer to access the card expansion slots.

This

is

an

example

cover;

your

PC

may

have a different

case

from

the

one

shown.

Remove

Cover

Screws

Figure 4 - PC Cover Removal

4.

Select an empty

16-bit

slot, one with two card edge

sockets. It is best to locate the card as far as possible from

any other cards, disk drives or the power supply to reduce electrical noise and interference. Rearrange existing cards

if

necessary.

Figure 5 - Dust Cover Removal

Hardware Installation

5

0

5. Remove the slot's dust cover and save the screw.

6.

Remove the SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter from its antistatic packing box.

Figure 6-Card Installation

7. Carefully pick up the SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter by

its top edge. Line up the card with the card guide and the expansion slot openings. Firmly slide the card into the slots and make sure the card

is

completely seated in

the sockets.

If

the card will not slide in smoothly,

do

not

force it. Make sure the card is lined up properly, and try

again.

You

may need to loosen the adjacent slot's cover to

make the card fit properly.

8.

Use the retaining screw, that was removed in step 5,

to

se-

cure the card's bracket to the chassis.

9. Replace the computer cover; refer to your computer User's Manual

if

you need assistance

Note: Some computers have a Graphics Controller built into the mother board.

If

your PC has that option you may have to change switch settings on the motherboard; use the setting for Video Graphics Adapter (VGA) or Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA.) Refer

to

your Comput-

er's User manual for configuration information.

6

Hardware Installation

2.3 Connecting Cables

8-pin

To

SNAPplus

4-pin

To

Input/Output Device

8-pin

To

SNAPplus

RCA plug

To

Input/Output Device

VGA

MONITOR

@

I

@

~

IN

~

OUT

~

CONTROL

0

Figure 7 -

S-Video

Cable Figure 8 - Composite Video Cable

Every cable (except the monitor cable) is terminated on one end with an 8 pin connector, the other end is terminated with a

4-pin

connector

or

an RCA plug. The

8-pin

connector plugs into the SNAPplus card

and the 4-pin/RCA connector plugs into an Input/Output device, such

as

a Camcorder, a VCR

or

a Digital

Camera, etc. When you plug these connectors into the SNAPplus' sockets be especially careful to observe the direction

of

the connector; the arrow

must

face left, see Figure

8.

These connectors are very delicate, please use

care when you insert them, do not force them into the socket. Gently align the pins

of

both connector and

socket, before you attempt insertion. Once the card has been installed, the various cables can be connected.

Arrow

When inserting this connector

into the socket, make certain

that the side with the arrow

faces left.

Figure 9 - Connector Insertion

Hardware Installation 7

OUT

~

•

CONTROL

0

8

' ~ '

'

~:

'

~'

Either

of

these

two

cables

can

be

used, depending

on

the

type

of

socket

your

device

features

.

:~

-----~

:

~

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - J

Either

of

these

two

cables

can

be

used, depending

on

the

type

of

socket

your

device

features

.

s ..

,,,n.,

0 10

O

UT

IN

AUDIO

©)

L

©)

OUT IN

©)

R

©)

Figure 10 Equipment

Hook-up

Scheme; Sample

Hardware Installation

IN

©)

VCR

~

CH3 CH 4

OFF

0

2.4 Setup and Testing

An on-board test program can be used to quickly verify system operation. Before running the test program please make certain that:

• All required cables and auxiliary video equipment are attached.

• Verify that all systems power up normally. Make cer-

tain that the computer is in the DOS environment; not in Windows or OS/2.

2.4.1 Testing Video Input

1.

Provide a video signal to the SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter.

2.

Insert the diskette labeled SNAPshot/SNAPtest into the drive; the assumption is that drive

a:

will be used.

3. Type:

a:snaptest

-in ( P~ess:

Enter )

4.

If

the video input selection (shown

at

the bottom

of

the VGA screen) is not correct, press the SPACE bar until the proper video input is selected, i.e. Composite-video,

SVideo or RGB-video. The monitor will display a digitized replica

of

the image

provided by the external device.

5.

To

exit press any key

If

you desire to save the image in a file on the hard disk

drive for later use, begin step 3 above with:

a:snaptest

-in

<filename>; filename is a name you

choose. 0

The generated file will be in 16-bit Targa format

(a

true 2

color file format, widely used by graphics developers) and will be given a .tga suffix.

6.

To

get out

of

Test: ( Press: Esc)

2.4.2 Testing Video Output

1.

Type:

a:snaptest

-out

( Press: Enter)

2.

The monitor and the auxiliary video output device will display a standard color bar pattern. Verify that this pattern matches on both monitors.

3.

To

exit press any key

If

you have a 640x480, 16-bit Targa file, you can display

it on the VGA monitor and on the auxiliary video output

device by typing:

a:snaptest

-out

<filename>; filename is the name, mi-

nus the . tga suffix,

of

the 16-bit Targa file.

Hardware Installation

9

10

Hardware Installation

3. The SNAPshot Desktop Video Software

SNAPshot

is

a utility program written for the Windows

3.1/3.0 environment. It can capture images from any video

source, be it live video or still images, and display them on a VGA monitor or store them on hard disk. Images can be scaled, positioned, processed or overlaid with computer graphics. Furthermore, animated images, generated via popular animation programs, can be integrated into live, or still video.

3.1 Getting Started With SNAPshot

1.

Make certain that you have the Windows 3.1 driver installed and set for 32,768 colors; the Windows

3.1

driv-

ers are included in this package.

If

you have not yet

installed them, do it now; see instructions on page 53.

2.

Create a directory on your hard drive and call it snapshot. Example: C:> md snapshot ( Press: Enter )

3.

Copy all files on the SNAPshot/SNAPtest diskette

to

the

snapshot directory;

we

assume you are using drive

a:

Example: C:> copy a:*.* c:\snapshot

( Press:

Enter)

4.

Go into Windows; double-click on the Program Manager icon.

5.

Click on NEW to create a new program group.

6.

In

the Description field type:

SNAPplus.

You

can leave the Group File field blank.

7.

Click on

OK

to create a new Windows folder called

SNAPplus.

8.

With the SNAPplus folder open, click on NEW

to

create

a new program item.

9.

In

the Description field type:

SNAPshot

10.

In

the Command Line field type:

c:\snapshot\snapshot.exe

11.

Click on

OK

to create a new program item.

12.

The SNAPshot TV icon should now appear in the SNAPplus group.

13.

To

use the SNAPshot program simply double click on the

SNAPshot icon and the basic SAPshot window will appear.

The SNAPshot Desktop Video Software

11

SNAPshot - [Untitled)

-

Eile

Qverlay

Yiew

Animation

Qontrol

Effects

50 O

~

500

~

50 0

~

...

The top most bar displays the type

of

file you will be working with. The second bar lists the various system menus that are available; see descriptions on the following pages. Below is the ribbon panel, which can be used to adjust picture quality and window scale. The symbol icons on the right can be used to

activate certain functions; see SNAPshot Ribbon Panel

on page 29 for details.

3.2 SNAPshot Quick Start

If

you want a quick demonstration

of

the SnapShot Desktop

Video software, proceed

as

follows:

1.

Verify that a video source is connected to the SNAPplus video input connector.

2.

If

the SNAPshot program

is

not already running, start it

by

double-clicking on the SNAPshot icon.

3.

From the FILE pull down window, select Preferences.

4.

Within the Preferences box, select the video input, i.e. RGB, S-Video or Composite Video. In addition, select the video frequency, i.e. NTSC or

PAL.

5.

Close the Preferences box, by clicking on OK.

6.

From the OVERLAY pull down window, select

Set Video Window.

7.

Position the mouse in the blank section

of

the screen; this

is known

as

the client window. While holding the mouse

key move the mouse,

to

create a window area. The video input should be visible in the opened up window, provided the video source is supplying video. Release the mouse key.

8.

Adjust the slide buttons in the Ribbon Panel area for optimum image quality.

9.

From the VIEW pull down window, select Full Frame

Video. The video input should now fill the entire screen.

Press the mouse key to exit back

to

normal mode.

10.

From the OVERLAY menu, select the

Set Video Window menu item; the video window

should now disappear.

12 The SNAPshot Desktop Video Software

4.

File Menu

The File pull down menu contains general commands for opening and saving files, clearing the client area, changing file names, setting up the working preferences and exiting the program.

4.1

New

Clicking on New clears the current window(s) and frees up the memory associated with these windows.

If

you have

loaded an image and have not saved it prior to selecting New, you will be asked

if

you would like to save it; see Save As

on page

16.

You

do

not need to select New each time you

want to load a new image; you can do this simply

by

select-

ing Open; see page 14 for a description.

SNAPshot - [Untitled]

...

4.2 Preferences

The preferences have to be set to select various video parameters. Move the arrow to the Preference icon bar and click on it. These values are stored in a file after each time they are set. Therefore, they only need to be changed

if

your working

setup has changed or

if

you exit the program. The Prefer- !Aa

4

ences dialog box will appear:

~

File Menu 13

To

set the various options, simply click on either the word,

i.e., S-video,

or

on the icon next to the word.

You

will see

that either this icon • or that icon D gets activated.

To

execute your selections click on the cancel icon.

If

you de-

cide to cancel the entire window click on the

OK

icon.

4.2.1 Change Device Assignments

To

chan e device as

si

nments click on the arrow

of

this

No Device Present t icon. A sub-window will ap-

pear, listing the devices currently supported.

To

activate simply click on the device name. Currently only Port 1 is supported and that is through COM2 on the PC.

4.3 Open

Select Open and a dialog box for selecting files will appear.

4.3.1 Choosing a File Format

Click on this

~

icon and another dialog box, showing a

stack

of

file formats, will appear.

[--d-]

To

select one

of

these file formats click on the file format you

wish to select; the video will reverse for a short instance and the selected file format will appear in the Format bar in reverse video. The sub-window will disappear. Notice that a filename (in this example: pegasus.fli) appears in the lower left, clear window.

14

File Menu

Click on this filename; the filename will reverse video and will appear in the Filename bar.

After the filename has been moved into the Filename bar,

click on the I

'i/

OK

I icon to activate the file.

If

for any reason a file can not be opened this message will appear;

simply click on

OK

to

get back.

-I

Error

(D

Can't

open

file

~

Moving

through

the

file

format

stack

You

can use the

to

move through the file

format stack. Put the arrow in this icon, hold the mouse button and move the bar icon up or down. As you move through the file format stack the previously selected file format will always stay in reverse video.

Note:

If

you move the icon bar just a short distance nothing will

happen - move it aggressively. You

can also move through the file format stack incremental-

ly by clicking on the

icons~

once; or,

if

you wish, by hold-

ing the mouse button until the desired file format appears in the window. By keeping the mouse button depressed you can move to the beginning or to the end

of

the stack. Select the

file format

as

described above.

File Menu 15

0

4.4 Close

Closes the current window.

If

the current image, such

as

a

frozen video frame image, had not been saved before, you

will be asked

if

you would like

to

save it. Closing unused

windows will help conserve memory.

4.5 Save

Saves the image of the active window with the same filename it had before it was opened. The current name will ap-

pear in the caption bar

of

the active window.

To

give an

image a different name, use Save As.

4.6 Save As

Saves the image

in

the active window with a new name or

under a different file format. After selecting Save As, this dialog box will appear:

Click on this g icon and choose the file format, followed

by

choosing a file name.

4.7 Grab Full Frame

Grab Full Frame, or the hand

~

icon,

is

used to grab

(capture) a video frame and save it

as

a file for later manipulation. Simply click on this icon, the frame will be captured (watch the fingers on the hand move) and a file save

sub-

menu will pop

up.

4.8 Exit

Clicking on EXIT will Leave the SNAPshot program.

You

will be prompted

to

save any unsaved images

as

each

of

the

windows is closed.

16 File Menu

5. Overlay Menu

The Overlay menu contains functions for controlling the video and graphics overlay

of

the SN APplus card. Color keying and video windows can be setup and turned on or off. The video can be frozen to a still image or shown as live motion.

Ereeze

Frame

/

_!,,ive

Action

SNAPshot - [Untitled]

5.1

Set Color Key

...

Select Set Color Key to set the color which will allow video to pass through that color. In other words it is possible to let video pass through an area

of

a certain color, i.e. all the white

areas

of

a bird, all the green areas

of

a meadow

or

all the blue

stars in a flag. If Set Color Key is active, clicking the mouse

in the area (the blue stars in a flag) through which video is to be passed, will change the color key to the color

of

the pix-

el clicked on. The Color Key will be made active automatically, but it can

be turned on/off by clicking on it, or by using the key icon

on the Ribbon Control Panel; see section 5.5 for a detailed discussion.

5.2 Set Video Window

Select Set Video Window to open up a rectangular area for video display.

If

Set Video Window is made active, dragging

the mouse in the client area will allow video to pass through

[J

in a rectangular region. Move the cursor to a point in the cli- 5

ent window where the new video window is to start. Hold the mouse button and drag the cursor until the opening

of

the

new window is the desired size and then let go

of

the button.

5.3 Move Video Window

Select Move Video Window to move the current video win- dow to a different location while retaining the current size and contents. Move Video Window can

be

used only

if

a Video Window has previously been defined and is active in the current window.

To

move the video window, simply press the left button and drag the video window to its new location. The Move function stays in effect until either a Pan

or

a Set

Color Key function is invoked.

Overlay Menu

17

5.4 Pan Video

Select Pan Video to move video around inside the video

frame. Press the left mouse button and drag the picture

around. The Pan function stays in effect until either a Move or a Set Color Key function is invoked.

5.5 Color Key

Select Color Key to activate or de-activate color keying.

If

Color Key is activated, a check mark will appear next to the Color Key menu item and video will pass through the cur-

rently selected color. Color Key can also be controlled via the SNAPshot Ribbon Panel by clicking on the key icon

[i]

Color Key is effective only

if

Set Color Key has been turned

on; see section 5.1. Example: The window you are displaying contains the picture of a yellow and red brick wall. The incoming video shows live video i.

e.

Star Wars.

If

you wish to have Star Wars pass through

all the red bricks turn on Set Color Key and click on a red brick.

The Color Key has now been set to red and you will see that Star Wars will be passed through the bricks.

You

can tum video passing on or off by clicking on the key

icon

[i]

or by using the pull down window.

If

you wish to

change to letting video pass through the yellow bricks, simply click on a yellow brick and Star Wars will be passed through.

5.6 Video Window

Select Video Window

to

activate or de-activate video win-

dowing.

If

Video Window is activated, a check mark will ap-

pear next to the Video Window menu item and a video window will appear at the current rectangular coordinates. Video Window can also be controlled via the SNAPshot

Ribbon Panel by clicking on the window icon

[I]

5.7 Freeze Frame

Select Freeze Frame to freeze the current video.

If

Freeze Frame is enabled, a check mark will appear next to the Freeze Frame menu item.

If

the input to the SNAPplus card

is live motion video from a VCR or Camcorder, selecting Freeze Frame will freeze the video input in the current frame . Freeze Frame can also be selected from the SNAP-

shot Ribbon Panel by clicking on the snowflake icon:

~

5.8 Live Action

Select Live Action to enable live motion video to the SNAP- plus card. Typically, the card is in live action mode unless Freeze Frame has been enabled

to

grab a file.

If

Live Action

is

enabled, a check mark will appear next to the Live Action

menu item. Live Action can also be selected from the SNAP- shot Ribbon Panel by clicking on the slate icon:

125)

18

Overlay Menu

6. View Menu

The View menu contains functions for displaying the graphics

or

video image in various formats. The video can be

scaled to a defined window, to the client window

or

it can be displayed full frame. The client window is defined as the available display area below the Ribbon Panel.

6.1

Fit

In

Video Window

Effects

'r

+

~

m

Ill

cj

~

•

Select Fit In Video Window to scale the video input to fit

in the currently defined video window. The video will be scaled so that the full frame video will fit

into the video window. This may cause the aspect ratio to

change and may not appear natural. Fit

In

Video Window

can only be invoked

if

a video window has previously been

defined and is active.

6.2 Fit

In

Client Window

Select Fit In Client Window to scale the video input to fit in the client window. The video will be scaled

so

that the full

frame video will fit into the client area. Fit In Client Win-

dow can only be invoked

if

a video window has previously

been defined and is active. Fit In Client Window can also be controlled via the SNAPshot Ribbon Panel by clicking on

this

[TI

icon.

6.3 Full Frame Video

Select Full Frame Video to remove the Windows borders and display full frame video. Clicking on the left button

of

the mouse will return to the previous window state.

6.4 Full Screen Preview

Select Full Screen Preview to remove the Windows' borders and Snapshot Ribbon Panel and display the graphics or video

of

the current window. This option is useful for pre-

viewing before saving as a file

or

for taking the output

of

the

SNAPplus to video tape. Full Screen Preview can also be controlled via the SNAPshot Ribbon Panel by clicking on

this

[W]

icon.

View Menu 19

20

View Menu

7. Animation Menu

With the Animation function the SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter becomes a sophisticated interactive video graphics device. Animated entities, generated with Autodesk's Animator or Animator Pro TM, can be superimposed over live vid- eo or still images. The movement of the animated entities can be controlled via the Animation Control Panel; see page

22. The degree of movement

i.

e.

speed, duration, pause, etc.

can be controlled by setting parameters in Settings

as

de-

scribed on page 23. All of the menu items except for Settings are toggles. Click-

ing on the item will activate it, displaying a check mark . Clicking again will de-activate it, removing the check mark.

.S.ettings

.

I

~

II+

ll~IIW

l11Jlle1ll~ILD

7.1

Load

In

Memory

From the Animation menu select Load In Memory

to

load the current and subsequent animations into memory for faster play back. When

an

animation

is

loaded into memory, access is faster than when the program must access a storage device such

as

a hard disk. This

is

especially true for animations with large average frame sizes. Normally, the animations are played from the hard drive; however, loading it into memory before playing

it

will cause a longer startup time. When playing back animations from the hard drive the transitions (fade from a certain color

to

black or fading from a

certain color

to

white - at the start or at the end) may be very

slow.

If

the transitions

of

a particular animation is too slow

for your application then this animation

is

the one that should 0

be loaded into memory. Always keep

in

mind that anima-

tions take up a lot

of

memory; make sure you have enough

available memory.

Note: Before

an

animation file can be loaded into memory,

Load in Memory has to be activated .

If

the Animation Error window appears click on OK to get

back.

Animation

Error

Cl)

Could

not

change

for

the

loaded

animation

[QR]

Animation Menu 21

7.2 Loop Frame

Select Loop Frame to make the last frame

of

the animation

a transition between the last and first frames.

7.3 Full Screen

Select Full Screen to play the animation in a full screen VGA mode. The program hides other windows and centers the image on screen without Windows borders. In Full Screen mode, the animation will play faster and colors play back as designed. In addition the animation will become larger. When Full Screen is not active the animation is dis-

played in a window and the size

of

the animation does not

change even

if

the animation window is maximized.

7.4 Hide Animation

Select Hide Animation to keep the animation invisible until it

is

played and hides it again when playback is stopped. Use

the buttons on the Animation Control Panel to control the

movement

of

the animation.

1:1

Animation

Control Panel

t>

Play

~

Reverse

Frame

,~[i]~~illJI

:

:::e

..

Fo~ardFrame

The Animation Control Panel will be displayed every time an animation file is loaded and can be removed by clicking

on the Animation Control Panel

of

the Control pull down

window or by selecting Close

Alt+

F4

from the sub-window

shown above; click on this E] icon.

7.5 Color Cycling OK

Turn Color Cycling OK on (selected) to reserve some

of

the

Windows color palette for animation playback, this will

re-

sult in faster playback.

If

Color Cycling OK is off ( not

selected), Windows will manage the color palette and will try to match the color for each frame to the rest

of

the screen. This will result in slow playback and some strange color effects.

7.6 Use All Colors

Use All Colors is effective only when Color Cycling OK

is

on and is irrelevant

if

Full Screen mode is used for playback.

When Use All Colors is

off

Windows palette entries are reserved only when animation color changes are detected; this speeds up animation.

When Use All Colors is on, 236 available Windows palettes entries are reserved. This gives animation complete control over all color changes, however, colors in other windows will be compromised.

Suggestion: Be judicious in the use

of

color in designing animations.

If

more than 256 are used playback will be less than perfect.

22

Animation Menu

Plan your animations to change color sparingly, and plan palettes so they remain consistent within and between animations.

7.7 Settings

Select Settings for further control

of

animation playback.

The Settings dialog pertains to parameter settings

of

the

animation. Speed, number

of

loops, and duration

of

the animation when it is played back, can be set. These values can

be

changed either by typing in values or using the sliders

and buttons.

Animation

Settings

- c \

0

Load

into

Memory

Frames:

86

0

Use

Eull

Screen

Duration

6.1

181

LQop

Frame

Present

Design

Speed

14.190

181

C.olor

Cycling

OK

O

l.!se

All

Colors

Ani~;~ii~

J~i~;:\!)J~ri~e;n~u~}~~e-s

-pe-r-se-co_n_d_

~k:

.$.peed

ULL=:J

j,

~

I I j bi• I

0

!,oops:

Frames~

H•

j j J j+

+j

0

Quration

~

k•

j j j j +cj

Rgpeat

Sound

~

I • I I· I

V•

:j

Dela~Sound

rr='1

I•

I Ffl

b+d

e.ause

at

End

c::iILl j

•I

I

11

• I

!

Transitions!~~~

7.7.1 Speed Units

Speed is expressed in either jiffies or frames per second; the default is frames per second. A jiffy is the shortest unit

of

pause between frames during playback. A single jiffy

is approximately 1/70 second. Change from frames per second to

jiffies

by

selecting one or the other.

7.7.2 Speed

When frames per second are used

as

speed units, the speed

is increased by moving the slider

to

the right (the numbers increase); the frame speed may be limited to integral divisors of

18

frames

per

second (18, 9, 6 etc.) When Jiffies are used

as

speed units, the speed is increased

by

moving the slider

to

the left; the numbers decrease; see definition of a Jiffy in the

previous section.

7.7.3 Lock

The Speed, Loops: Frames and Duration fields contain independent values; one must remain constant

as

the other two

change. For example,

if

the speed

of

the animation

is

changed, either the number

of

loops or the duration must stay

constant. This is the purpose

of

the Lock buttons. A field can

be chosen

to

lock by clicking on it, or the slider bar of the locked field can be moved, in which case the lock automatically moves to another field.

Animation Menu

23

0

7.7.4 Loop: Frames

Loops:Frames represent the number

of

times the animation

is played. The first value,

Loops~

is

the number

of

times to

play a complete loop

of

the animation.

The second value, Frames, represents the number of frames

played after all the frames have been played. The value in Loop:Frames can range from one frame to 999 loops. The value also can be set to Forever or

to

Sound. When the value

is Forever, the animation will play until an external com-

mand stops it. When the value

is

Sound, the animation loops until the

associated sound finishes playing. The animation stops playing at whatever frame is on screen at the end

of

the sound.

7.7.5 Duration

This value represents the length

of

time the animation plays.

Its value can range from Oto 49:99:999 or Forever. When the

value is Forever, the animation will play until an external

command stops it.

7.7.6 Repeat Sound

Use this slider to change the number

of

repetitions

of

a sound

during the selected animation. The slider range is 1

to

1,000,

or Forever. (If a O is entered it will be interpreted

as

Forever.)

A value of Forever causes the sound

to

repeat for the duration

of

the animation's loop.

7.7.7 Delay Sound

With this slider one can specify when the sound should start in relation to when the animation starts. Its value can range from -50:00.000 to 50:00.000. A negative value causes the sound to start that specified amount

of

time before the animation, while a positive value starts the sound after the animation starts. A zero value, the default, starts the sound and animation simultaneously The delay value is tied

to

the

speed

of

the animation.

If

the design speed is not changed,

the delay is

as

started.

If

the animation is slowed down or

speeded up, the delay lengthens or shortens accordingly.

7.7.8 Pause at End

Use this slider

to

set the length

of

a pause at the end

of

the

animation. Its value determines how long the last frame

of

an animation stays on screen and can range from 0.000 to

50.000 seconds.

7.7.9 Test

Click on this button

to

play through the animation with the

settings

as

they are currently adjusted. Click again to return

to Settings dialog box.

24

Animation Menu

7.7.10 Cancel

Click on Cancel to exit from the Settings dialog box without

having made any changes.

7.8

Transition Settings

Click

on

the

Transition icon

and this dialog box will appear:

A starting and

an ending transition can be crated by using the following options.

7.8.1 Cut

Animation

Settings -c:\

®

c~iarting

Transitions

Transition

length

0

Fade

from

blac!WLI

l•I

L I

l•I

Fade

from

white

@

cTirding

Transitions

Transition

length

0

Fade

to

black~

F• H I <I H• n

Click on Cut for no transition effect

7.8.2 Fade

to

Black

As a starting transition, this effect causes the animation to appear gradually from a black background . As

an

ending transition, the animation gradually disappears into a black background.

7.8.3 Fade

to

White

As a starting transition, this effect causes the animation to appear gradually from a white background. As an ending transition, the animation gradually disappears into a white

background.

7.8.4 Transition Length

Each transition can be set to a length

of

between 0.25 and '7-

10.0 seconds. Either enter a value in the field provided or ad-

~

just the slider.

If

Cut is selected the slider and transition field

are disabled.

Animation Menu

25

26

Animation Menu

8.

Control Menu

The Control pull down window contains a list of control menus that can be activated or deactivated. All

of

the menu items act as toggles. Clicking on the item will activate it, displaying a check mark. Clicking again will de-activate it, removing the check mark and the control panel.

bcsh

r

b

~

75

0

~

GQQ]x

50

O

~

uQQ]

y

50

O

~

75

0

50

a

~

8.1 Video Control Panel

The Video Control Panel is not supported.

8.2 Animation Control Panel

Select Animation Control Panel to display or remove the

animation control panel.

.

'·

..

t>

Play

~

Reverse

Frame

Ill

Stop

II

Pause ~ Forward

Frame

The Animation Control Panel will be displayed every time an animation file is loaded and can be removed by clicking on this menu selection or

by

selecting Close Alt + F4 from

the menu in the icon box.

When the animation is initially loaded into the system the animation is motionless. The Animation Control Panel will be displayed only for animation purposes.

Control Menu

27

28

Control Menu

9.

SNAPshot Ribbon Panel

Select the SNAPshot Ribbon Panel to activate or deactivate the ribbon panel. The SNAPshot Ribbon panel is automati- cally loaded

at

the start of the program and cannot be moved

but can be removed. The SNAPshot Ribbon Panel contains the following controls:

B C S H Control Faders

Vary percentage

of

Brightness,

Contras

t,

Saturation and Hue in

video from Oto 100.

R G B Control Faders

Vary percentage

of

Red, Green

and Blue in video from Oto 100.

Scale Control Faders

Vary size

of

video from O to 1600

percent.

bcsh

50

-3:!-

~

50

<D

~

50

<D

~

50

<D

~

scale

~

x

~

~y~

~

X&Y

~

Color Key Button . ....

...

.. ..

. . .... . . . .

Activate/Deactivate Color Keying.

Video Window Button . .

...............

.

Activate/Deactivate Video Window.

Grab Button

............

. . . . . . .

.....

. .

Grab current image to file.

Freeze Frame Button . ....... . ....

..

. . . · l + I

Fr

eeze video to still image.

Live Action Button .

...............

.

...

· I

CJ'

I

Go to live motion video.

Full Screen Preview Button

.....

...

......

· I

rn

I

Show full frame preview, no Windows border.

11=!:iJ

Fit In Client Window Button

.............

!fl

Scale video to fit in client window

LJ

Grab Full Frame . . .

......

. . . . .....

. . . . · I

liJ

I

Grab full image to file

SNAPshot Ribbon Panel

29

30

SNAPshot Ribbon Panel

•

Eile

Qverlay

Yiew

Animation

Qontrol

r b

50

0

~

50

0

~

50

0

~

10. Effects Menu

...

..

[I]

10.1 Gray Scale

Clicking on this button changes color video to gray scale; this

is

a toggle switch and when activated a check mark ap-

pears.

10.2 Negative

Clicking on this button changes the color video

to

a negative

video; this

is

a toggle switch and when activated a check

mark appears.

Effects Menu 31

32 Effects Menu

11. Drivers

None

of

the drivers, residing on the diskette, are required for standard VGA operation. However, using these drivers will maxi- 'ii-

mize the performance and capabilities of the SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter. You'll find two types

of

programs on the dis-

~

kettes - Utility Programs and Extended Mode Drivers

as

well

as

a menu-driven SETUP program, which will help you load

the utilities and drivers.

11

.1

Extended Mode Drivers

The following drivers are available.

•

Microsoft

Windows

3.1

•

Microsoft

Windows

3.0

•

OS/2

Presentation

Manager

V1

.2

•

AutoDesk

AutoCAD

release

10.0

•

AutoDesk

AutoCAD

release 10.

0/386 & 11.0/386

•

Digital

Research

GEM

V3.1

•

Digital

Research

GEM

V3.0

•

Ventura

Publisher

V2.0

•

Lotus

1-2-3

V2.0,

2.01/Symphony V 1.1

•

Word

Perfect

V5.0

•

Word

Perfect

V5.1

•

VESA

Drivers

V1

.00

•

8514/A

Emulation

For application programs that contain run-time versions

of

Windows (e.g. Microsoft Excel, Aldus Pagemaker), simp

ly

install the appropriate Windows extended mode driver and

the program will automatically operate in the desired extended mode. Installing other special drivers is not required.

11

.2 Additional Driver Support

This card contains the popular Tseng Laboratories ET4000

VGA chip. Many software programs support this chip's extended modes. If your SETUP program lists a video configu- ration option for the Tseng Laboratories ET4000 you should select it to enable your graphics adapter's extended modes.

Any software/driver which is compatible with the Cardinal

Technologies 700 series VGAs will work on the SNAPplus

Desktop Video Adapter.

Drivers

33

11.3 The

SETUP

Program

SETUP

is

completely menu-driven and offers on-screen

prompts

to

aid you in the installation .

The program is designed

to

help you:

• Review all the utility and driver programs included with your SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter

• Load the desired programs onto your PC's hard drive

The following procedure explains how you can access and

use the SETUP program to view the programs included with your SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter and to load them

onto your PC.

11.3.1 Using SETUP

The assumption is that drive

a:

will be used

1.

Insert diskette

#1

into drive

a:

2.

Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

3.

Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

4. Press any key to display the main menu. The names

of

all

the programs, residing in SETUP, will be listed.

5.

To

select a program on the list, use the ARROW keys to

scroll up or down, and ( Press: Enter)

6.

A new window may appear, listing all available options. Sometimes only one option will be available. Use the ARROW keys

to

scroll through the list.

( Press: Enter) to select one or more options.

7.

When you have made a selection ( Press: End )

8.

You

will probably want

to

install the programs in the same directory where you have installed other utility programs/drivers. For your convenience, you may want to specify this directory in the

PATH=

statement in your au-

toexec.bat file. See your DOS manual for more informa-

tion.

9.

Insert the path you wish

to

choose ( Press: Enter) and

follow instructions appearing on the screen.

10.

After you have returned to the main menu

( Press: Esc) to return

to

DOS.

11.

Change to drive C by typing:

C:

( Press: Enter)

12. Change directory to the pathname created in step

9.

13. You

can now call up the program/utility that you have

installed - follow directions for the various installations.

34

Drivers

12. Utility Programs

Available utility programs are: VMODE.COM, VDIAG.EXE, CENTER.COM, FASTBIOS.SYS and EANSI.SYS.

VMODE.COM:

VDIAG.EXE:

This utility

is

used

to

switch the dis-

play modes to best suit your require-

ments. This utility is used to verify the func-

tionality of the card.

CENTER.COM: This utility is used

to

center the screen.

FASTBIOS.SYS: This utility improves the card's perfor-

mance

by

relocating the video BIOS in

the computer's mother board RAM.

EANSI.SYS: This file enables your card to display

132 columns.

12.1

EANSI.SYS

The EANSI.SYS file enables you

to

utilize the enhanced

modes of the SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter.

If

your

CONFIG.SYS file contains the line DEVICE = ANSI.SYS you need to replace that line with DEVICE = EANSI.SYS

and copy the EANSI.SYS file to the root directory

of

your hard-disk. The following procedure explains how you can install the EANSI.SYS file to your hard-disk :

12.1.1 Installing EANSI.SYS

The assumption is that drive

a:

will be used

1.

Insert diskette

#1

into drive

a:

2.

Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

3.

Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

4.

Press any key

to

display the main menu. The names

of

all

the programs, residing in SETUP, will pop up.

5. Select Utility programs ( Press: Enter)

6. Select EANSI.SYS ( Press: Enter)

7.

( Press: End )

8.

You

now will get the message:

Enter the [drive:path] for installation.

[C:\]

Before copying selected drivers to your hard disk, the

SETUP program will display the current drive and the

di-

rectory where the drivers will be copied to.

You

can

Utility Programs

35

change the drive and the directory by typing over these entries.

9.

Insert the path you wish to choose ( Press: Enter) You

now will get the message: (if the drive path does not

already exist)

Create path

[C:\]

(YIN)?

10.

Type: Y ( Pres

s:

Enter) The installation will begin.

11.

( Press: Esc)

12.

After you have been returned

to

the main menu

( Press: Esc) to return to DOS. The system will prompt with:

Do you really want to exit (YIN)?

13. Type: Y ( Press: Enter )

14.

Change to drive C

by

typing:

C:

( Press: Enter)

You have to reboot before the

EANSI.SYS file takes effect.

12.2 The FASTBIOS Accelerator Utility

Your SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter contains a video graphics BIOS program which resides in EPROM (Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory.) This program enables the card to interface with your computer 's operating system,

as

well

as

with graphics application software.

When installed, the BIOS Accelerator creates a TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident program), which loads a copy

of

the graphics BIOS into the computer's RAM (Random Access Memory), resulting in faster graphics performance.

NOTES:

The BIOS Accelerator uses approximately 3K

of

RAM and

requires an 80286 or better computer.

If your computer shadows the Video BIOS ROM, you do not

need to use this utility.

12.2.1 Installing

the

FASTBIOS

The assumption is that drive

a:

will be used

1.

Slide diskette

#1

into drive

a:

2.

Type:

a:

(

Pr

ess: Enter)

3.

Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

4.

Press any key to display the main menu. The names

of

all

the programs, residing in SETUP, will pop up.

36

Utility Programs

5. Select Utility programs ( Press: Enter)

6.

Select FASTBIOS.SYS ( Press: Enter)

7.

( Press: End )

8.

You

now will get the message:

Enter the [drive:path] for installation.

[C:\]

Before copying selected drivers to your hard disk, the

SETUP program will display the current drive and the di-

rectory where the drivers will be copied to.

You

can

change the drive and the directory by typing over these

entries.

9.

Insert the path you wish to choose ( Press: Enter) You

now will get the message:

(if

the drive:path does not

already exist)

Create path

[C:\]

(YIN)?

10. Type: Y ( Press: Enter) The installation will begin.

11.

( Press: Esc)

12.

After you have been returned to the main menu ( Press: Esc) to return

to

DOS.

The system will prompt with:

Do you really want to exit (YIN)?

13. Type: Y ( Press: Enter)

14. Change

to

drive C

by

typing: ~

12

C:

( Press: Enter)

~

15. Add the following line to the top

of

your config.sys file:

DEVICE= <path>FASTBIOS.SYS

12.3 Screen Center Utility

The Screen Center Utility CENTER.COM, enables you to center the 800x600 and 1024x768 resolution display on your monitor. CENTER.COM automatically adjusts the screen whenever your computer gets re-booted.

You

do

not need to re-run CENTER.COM unless you want to readjust the screen.

12.3.1 Installing the Screen Center Utility

The assumption is that drive

a:

will be used

1.

Slide diskette

#1

into drive

a:

2.

Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

3. Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

Utility Programs

37

4. Press any key to display the main menu.

5. Select Utility Programs ( Press: Enter)

6. Select CENTER.COM ( Press: Enter)

7. ( Press: End )

8. You now will get the message:

Enter the [drive:path] for installation.

[C:\]

Before copying selected drivers to your hard disk, the SETUP

program will display the current drive

and

the sub-directory where the drivers will be copied to. You can change the drive

and

the directory by typing over

these entries.

Q.

Insert the path you wish to choose ( Press : Enter) You now will get the message: (if the drive:path does not

already exist)

Create path

[C:\]

(YIN)?

10. Type: Y - The installation will begin.

11.

( Press: Esc)

12. After you have been returned to the main

menu

( Press: Esc) to return to DOS.

The system will prompt with:

Do you really want to exit (YIN)?

13. Type: Y

14. Change to drive C by typing:

C:

( Press: Enter)

15. Insert <path> CENTER.COM in the autoexec.bat file.

<path> is the full path name

of

the directory, where

CENTER.COM was copied to.

16. Reboot your computer.

17. Change to the directory where CENTER.COM was copied to and type:

CENTER ( Press: Enter)

18. Follow instructions provided on the screen.

12.4 The Diagnostics Utility

This diagnostic program verifies the functionality

of

your SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter card by showing specifications for each video

mode

and demonstrating each with

color bars and text.

38

Utility Programs

12.4.1 Installing the Diagnostics Utility

The assumption is that drive a: will be used

1.

Slide diskette #1 into drive a:

2.

Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

3. Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

4.

Press any key to display the main menu. The names

of

all

the programs , residing in SETUP will pop up.

5.

Select Utility Programs ( Press: Enter)

6.

Select VDIAG.EXE ( Press: Enter)

7. ( Press: End )

8.

Before copying selected drivers to your hard disk, the

SETUP program will display the current drive and the sub-directory where the drivers will be copied to.

You can change the drive and the directory by typing over these entries.

9. The installation will begin; follow instructions appearing on the screen.

10. After you have returned to the main menu ( Press:

Esc

) to return to DOS.

11.

Change to drive C by typing:

C:

( Press: Enter)

12. Insert <path> VDIAG.EXE in the autoexec.bat file.

<path> is the full path name

of

the directory, where

VDIAG.EXE was copied to.

13. Reboot your computer.

14. After the utility has been loaded, you can use it at any

time by ty~p_in_g_:

--~

VDIAG ( Press: Enter)

15. Follow instructions provided on the screen.

Caution

If you experience difficulty

running the VDIAG at 800x600 resolution your monitor may not be compatible with the current refresh rate.

You

may need

to adjust the refresh rate.

Utility Programs

39

12.5 The Video Mode Selection Utility

Caution

~

You

should use the Video Emula-

fil

tion Selection Utility program only •

if

you have software that

is

written specifically for

these emulation standards and the software can-

not

run

in

standard VGA mode.

The VMODE lets you set:

Video Emulation Screen Format Selection Refresh Rate Selection

Many graphics cards require that the monitor and the software match; i.e. a VGA card will run VGA software on a VGA monitor

ONLY;

an EGA card will run EGA software

on

an

EGA monitor ONLY, etc. However, the SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter will not only run VGA software, but al

so EGA, CGA, MGA or HGC software on your VGA mon-

itor. The SNAPplus Video Adapter can emulate (imitate):

• IBM Color Graphics Adapter (CGA)

• IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA)

• IBM Monochrome Adapter (MGA)

• Hercules Monochrome Graphics Adapter (HGC)

Minimal software setup ,

if

any, is required to emulate other devices . Some software packages automatically configure itself for the proper graphics mode. In that case, no further setup is required.

12.5.1 Installing the Video Mode Selection Utility

•

The assumption is that drive

a:

will be used

1.

Slide diskette

#1

into drive

a:

2.

Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

3. Type: setup ( Pres

s:

Enter)

4. Press any key to display the main menu. The names

of

all

the programs, residing in SETUP will pop up.

5.

Select Utility Programs ( Press: Enter)

6.

Select VMODE.COM ( Press: Enter)

7.

( Press: End )

8.

You

now will get the message:

Enter the [drive:path] for installation.

[C:\]

Before copying selected drivers to your hard disk, the SETUP program will display the current drive and the

40

Utility Programs

sub-directory where the drivers will be copied to.

You can change the drive and the directory by typing over these entries.

9.

Insert the path you wish to choose ( Press: Enter) You

now will get the message: (if the drive:path does not

already exist)

Create path

[C:\]

(YIN)?

10. Type: Y - The installation will begin.

11.

( Press: Esc)

12.

After you have been returned to the main menu ( Press: Esc) to return to DOS. The system will prompt with:

Do you really want to exit (YIN)?

13. Type: Y

14.

Change to drive C by typing:

C:

( Press: Enter)

15. Insert <path> VMODE.COM in the autoexec.bat file.

<path> is the full path name

of

the directory, where

VMODE.COM was copied to.

By placing the VMODE command in your autoexec.bat file, your computer will automatically configure the VGA card to

~12

the desired mode

of

operation upon power-up.

~

12.5.2 Running VMODE

When you access VMODE for the first time you have to run

VMODE INSTALL.

Type: vmode <parameter> and you will get this message:

Please

run

VMODE

INSTALL

first

to

configure

the

program

Type: VMODE install - make your choice and follow instructions.

You

can now use VMODE any time by typing:

VMODE <parameter> ( Press: Enter)

where <parameter> corresponds to the desired emulation,

as

shown in this chart.

Parameters

cga vga mono ega mga color

hercules

Follow instructions provided on the screen.

Utility Programs 41

Caution

Once you have locked the

SNAPplus Desktop Video

Adapter into mga, cga,

or

ega emulation, DO

NOT attempt to

run

VGA software, and

DO

NOT

attempt to use any of the other graphics utilities

or drivers described

in

this manual.

12.5.3 Refresh Rate Selection

In order to take advantage

of

the enhanced capability

of

high

performance monitor

s,

this SNAPplus Desktop Video

Adapter provides enhanced modes

of

operation beyond the VGA standard. Table 1 and Table 2 summarize the operating modes.

Before using VMODE to select a new refresh rate, you would need to verify that your monitor is capable

of

supporting the horizontal and vertical frequencies listed in the table for the desired video mode

s.

If

your monitor can not support these

frequencies the display will be distorted. All mode numbers are in hexadecimal format. Several

modes, such as 29, 30 and 38 can

be

operated at different refresh rates. You can select the rate best suited for your application by typing:

VMODE <VMODE argument>

VMODE<modenumbeD

Mode number and VMODE argument are listed in Table

1,

Table 2 and Table

3.

Example

1:

To

run a text editor at 640x480 resolution, with 16 colors and

80x30 text format (mode 12)

at

72 Hz, enter:

VMODE 72h

VMODE12

then invoke the Editor.

Example

2:

If

you have already selected 800x600x256 driver for Win-

dows and now wish to run Windows at 72Hz, enter:

VMODE48k

then invoke Windows.

If

you are experiencing problems running in the 800x600

mode it may

be

necessary to adjust the horizontal refresh rate

of

the SN APplus Desktop Video Adapter to meet the require-

ments

of

your monitor. Please review the refresh rates shown in Table 1 and Table 2 to determine proper operating frequencies.

NOTE:

If

your monitor screen becomes unstable after a VMODE

command, you can restore it to the

power-up

configuration

by

typing:

VMODE 80x25

or

VMODE VGA

42

Utility Programs

Mode

Vmode

Araument

Tvoe

Colors

Text

Font

Pixels

H.

Freau. Khz

V.

Freau. Hz

0

200

Text

16

40x25

8x8

320x200

31.50

70.00

o·

350

Text

16

40x25

8x14

320x350

31.50

70.00

o+

400

Text

16

40x25

9x16

360x400

31.00

70.00

1

200

Text

16

40x25

8x8

320x200

31.50

70.00

1'

350

Te-xt

16

40x25

8x14

320x350

31.50

70.00

1+

400

Text

16

40x25

9x16

360x400

31.50

70.00

2

200

Text

16

80x25

8x8

640x200

31.50

70.00

2

350

Text

16

80x25

8x14

640x350

31.50

70.00

2+

400

Text

16

80x25

9x16

720x400

31.50

70.00

3

200

Text

16

80x25

8x8

640x200

31.50

70.00

3

350

Text

16

80x25

8x14

640x350

31.50

70.00

3+

400

Text

16

80x25

9x16

720x400

31.50

70.00

4

Graphics

4

40x25

8x8

320x200

31.50

70.00

5

Graphics

4

40x25

8x8

320x200

31.50

70.00

6

Graphics

2

80x25

8x8

640x200

31.50

70.00

7

350

Text

Mono

80x25

9x14

720x350

31.50

70.00

7+

400

Text

Mono

80x25

9x16

720x400

31.50

70.00

D

Graphics

16

40x25

8x8

320x200

31.50

70.00

E

Graphics

16

80x25

8x8

640x200

31.50

70.00

F

Graphics

Mono

80x25

8x14

640x350

31.50

70.00

10

Gr

aphics

16

80x25

8x14

640x350

31.50

70.00

11

Graphics

2

80x30

8x16

640x480

31.50

60.00

11

72h

Graphics

2

80x30

8x16

640x480

39.00

73.00

12

Graphics

16

80x30

8x16

640x480

31.

50

60.00

12

72h

Graphics

16

80x30

8x16

640x480

39.00

73.00

13

GraPhics

256

40x25

8x8

320x200

31.50

70.00

Table 1 Standard Operating Modes

Utility Programs

43

Mode

Vmode

Araument lvoe

Colors

Text

Font

Pixels

H.

Freau.

Khz

V.

Freau. Hz

21

Text

16

132x60

8x8

1056x480

30.50

60.00

22

Text

16

132x44

8x9

1056x396

30.50

70.00

23

Text

16

132x25

8x16

1056x400

30.50

70.00

24

Text

16

132x28

8x14

1056x392

30.50

70.00

25

Graphics

16

80x60

8x8

640x480

31.50

60.00

25

72h

Gr

aphics

16

80x60

8x8

640x480

39.00

73.00

26

Text

16

80x60

8x8

720x480

31.50

60.00

29

35k

Graphics

16

100x37

8x16

800x600

35.50

56.00

29

38k

Graphics

16

100x37

8x16

800x600

38.00

60.00

29

48k

Graphics

16

100x37

8x16

800x600

48.00

73.00

2A

35k

Text

16

100x40

8x15

800x600

35.50

56.00

2A

38k

Text

16

100x40

8x15

800x600

38.00

60.00

2D

Graphics

25

680x25

8x14

640x350

31.50

70.00

2E

Graphics

25

680x30

8x16

640x480

31.50

60.00

2E

72h

Graphics

25

680x30

8x16

640x480

39.00

73.00

2F

Graphics

25

680x25

8x16

640x400

31.50

70.00

30

35k

Graphics

256

100x37

8x16

800x600

35.50 56.00

30

38k

Graphics

256

100x37

8x16

800x600

38.00

60.00

30

48k

Graphics

256

100x37

8x16

800x600

48.00

73.00

37

45m

Graphics

16

128x48

8x16

1024x768

35.50

87.00

37

65m

Graphics

16

128x48

8x16

1024x768

49.00

60.50

37

72m

Graphics

16

128x48

8x16

1024x768

56.00

70.00

38

45m

Graphics

256

128x48

8x16

1024x768

35.50

87.00

38

65m

Graphics

256

128x48

8x16

1024x768

49.00

60.50

38

72m

Graphics

256

128x48

8x16

1024x768

56.00

70.00

3D

Graohics

16

160x64

8x16

1280x1024

48.00

87.00

Table 2 Enhanced Operating Modes

44 Utility Programs

Mode

Vmode

Argument

Type

Colors

Text

Font

Pixels

H.

Frequ.

Khz

V.

Frequ.

Hz

2D

Graphics

65

80x25

8x14

640x350

31.50

70.00

2E

Graphics

65

80x30

8x16

640x480

31.50

60.00

2E

72h

Graphics

65

80x30

8x16

640x480

39.00

73.00

2F

Graphics

65

80x25

8x16

640x400

31.50

70.00

30

35k

Graphics

65

100x37

8x16

800x600

35.50

56.00

30

38k

Graphics

65

100x37

8x16

800x600

38.00

60.00

Table 3 High

Color

Operating

Modes

12.6 Text Mode Selection

Your SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter can display 132 columns and up to 60 lines (rows)

of

text when using popular text-based applications on high performance VGA and multi synchronous monitors.

NOTE:

When using this utility with an application program such as WordStar

or

WordPerfect, the application may have to be configured for the specific screen size. Please refer to the appropriate section in this manual for information on how to configure these programs.

After the VMODE utility has been loaded you can access it any time by simply typing:

vmode <columns x rows> ( Pre

ss:

Enter)

Valid values for columns x rows are:

40 X 25

80 X 25

80 X 43

80 X 50

80 X 60

100 X 40

132 X 25

132 X 28

132 X 44

132 X 60

If,

for example, you wanted to set 132 columns with

25

rows for your text screen, you would specify the following command:

vmode 132x25 ( Press: Enter)

Be

aware

that

your

monitor's

display

capabilities

may

limit

the

number

of

columns/rows

you

can display.

Utility Programs

45

46

Utility Programs

13. The Enhanced Mode Drivers

w Caution m

~

Installing these software drivers

~

requires reasonable proficiency with the DOS operating system and the appropriate software package. Incorrect installation can render the application software inoperable.

Your

graphics card is 100% IBM VGA compatible and provides all standard operating modes and resolutions. Plus, it offers a large set

of

enhanced functions and higher resolu-

tions.

The enhanced mode drivers software enables your card to

use enhanced operating modes. These modes are shown in

Table 1 and Table

2,

starting on page 43.

l.f

you intend to use your graphics card in the standard

VGA

modes

ONLY,

you do not need to install the en-

hanced mode drivers programs.

NOTE:

We

recommend that you install your graphics software and

verify that it operates properly

in

the standard VGA modes

before installing any

of

the enhanced mode drivers software.

13.1

Monitor Compatibility

Before installing any enhanced mode driver program, you need to ensure monitor compatibility. Verify that your moni-

~J

tor supports the enhanced resolution(s) you want

to

use consult the appropriate user's documentation or contact your dealer. Make sure that your monitor

is

capable

of

handling the refresh rate (horizontal and vertical frequency), listed in Table

1,

Table 2 and Table

3.

Following are some general

compatibility guidelines:

• Standard VGA monitors

do

not support 800x600 and

1024x768 resolutions.

• Most multi-synchronous monitors, such

as

the NEC Multisync II and Sony CPD-1303, will support up to 800x600 resolution.

• High performance multi-synchronous monitors, such as

the NEC 3D, will support up to 1024x768 resolution

(interlaced.)

• Super high performance multi-synchronous monitors,

such

as

the NEC 4D and Sony Multiscan CPD-1304,

will support all modes up

to

1024x768 resolution (noninterlaced.) The NEC 5D can support up to 1280x 1024 resolution.

The Enhanced Mode Drivers

47

Each new release

of

the supported application packages (i.e. Windows, AutoCAD etc.) usually requires a new release of the corresponding enhanced mode drivers program. The program releases which are supported are clearly indicated in the SETUP program's main menu.

13.2 The VESA High Resolution Drivers

VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) drivers provide an industry standard software interface to the extended resolutions and features

of

the graphics hardware.

These drivers work with any

of

a large number

of

software programs which adhere to the VESA graphics standard, thereby eliminating the need for drivers that are unique to each particular software package.

The VESA drivers conform

to

the VESA Super VGA Standard #VS891001. The drivers support the following extended modes:

800x600

16 colors

graphics

1024x768 16

colors graphics

1280x1024

16 colors

graphics

640x480 256

colors graphics

1024x768

265 colors

graphics

13.2.1 Installing the VESA Drivers

1.

Slide Diskette

#1

into drive a:.

2.

Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

3.

Press any key to continue.

4.

Select VESA High Resolution Drivers ( Press: Enter) and ( Press: End )

5.

Before copying selected drivers

to

your hard-disk, the SETUP program will display the current drive and the sub-directory where the drivers will be copied to.

6.

Insert the path you wish to choose ( Press: Enter) You

now will get the message: (if the drive:path does not

already exist)

Create path [C:\] (YIN)?

7.

Type: V (The installation will now begin.)

8.

Follow instructions appearing on the screen.

You

can access the driver at any time by changing to the di-

rectory you had created and type: VESAVGA ( Press : Enter)

48

The Enhanced Mode Drivers

Note:

You

will probably want

to

install these drivers in the

sa

me

directory where you have installed other drivers. For

your convenience, you may want

to

specify this directory

pathname in the PATH=statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT

file.

13.3 The 8514/A Drivers

The 8514/A drivers provide

an

industry standard software

interface

to

the enhanced resolutions provided

in

many

of today's graphics hardware devices, including the SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter. These drivers work with any of a

large number

of

software programs, which adhere to the 8514/A graphics software standard, thereby eliminating the need for drivers that are unique to each particular software package. The 8514/A drivers support the following enhanced modes:

Note: There are a few software packages which directly ac-

cess 8514/A hardware registers instead of working through the 8514/ A software interface (Microsoft Windows is one of these notable exceptions.) These packages will not work with this set of drivers.

13.3.1 Installing the 8514/A Drivers

1.

Slide Diskette

#1

into drive

a:

2. Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

3.

Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

4. Press any key to continue. The SETUP main menu will display the names

of

all the utility and driver programs.

5.

Select 8514/A Emulation ( Press: Enter)

6. Select the desired resolution ( Press: Enter)

7. ( Press: End )

8.

Follow instructions appearing on the screen.

Note: You

will probably want to install the driver in the same directory where you have installed other utility software. By placing the pathname in your system's AUTOEXEC.BAT file, your computer will automatically install the driver for you.

9. Change to the directory where you installed the driver,

then type:

[RIXAl4]

if

you plan to use the 16-color drivers, or:

[RIXAl8]

if

you plan to use the 256-color drivers.

10. Start your application software.

You

may need to re-con-

figure your program to run with the new 8514/A driver.

See your software user's manual for more information.

The Enhanced Mode Drivers

49

50

The Enhanced Mode Drivers

14. The Lotus

1-2-3

Drivers

The Lotus drivers are designed to work with Lotus

1-2-3,

release 2.0/2.01. These drivers are also designed to work with Lotus Symphony, release 1.0/1 .1/2.0.

If

you are not familiar

with the Lotus INSTALL program, read the Getting Started section

of

the Lotus documentation.

If the Lotus package has not yet been installed , install it ac-

cording to the Lotus manual and verify that it operates prope

rly.

The Lotus drivers support the following resolutions:

80x25 16 colors 80x60 16 colors

132x25

16

colors

132x28

16

colors

132x44

16

colors

14.1 Installing the Lotus Drivers

I. Slide Diskette

#1

into drive

a:

.

2.

Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

text text text text text

3.

Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

4.

Press any key to continue.

The SETUP main menu will display the names

of

the

utility and driver programs.

5. Select Lotus ( Press: Enter)

6.

Select the desired resolution (see table above)

( Press: Enter)

7.

( Press: End )

8.

Before copying selected drivers to your hard-disk, the SETUP program will display the current drive and the sub-directory where the drivers will be copied to.

You can change the drive and the directory by typing over the displayed one.

9.

Insert the path you wish to choose ( Press: Enter)

10.

You

now will get the message: (if the drive:path does not

already exist)

I Create path [C:\] (YIN)?

The Lotus

1-2-3

Drivers

51

11.

Type: Y ( Press: Enter) The installation will now begin; follow instructions.

12

. ( Press: Esc ) to return to DOS.

13.

After you have been returned to DOS, change directory to where you had installed Lotus and start the installation program by typing:

install ( Press: Enter)

The Lotus

1-2-3

install menu should appear.

14.

Follow instructions provided. When the Main Menu appears:

15.

Select Advanced Options

16. Select Add New Drivers to Library. 17

. Select Modify Current Driver Set.

18. Select Text Display

or

Graphic Display

19.

Select one of the following enhanced text modes (corresponding to the driver you installed):

VGA Adapter (80x25 color text only) VGA Adapter (80x60 color text only) VGA Adapter (132x25 color text only)

VGA Adapter (132x28 color text only)

VGA Adapter (132x44 color text only)

VGA Adapter (All Color Text Modes)

20. Select Return to Menu.

21. Select Save Changes.

22. Specify the name

of

the driver set. The default name

of

the Lotus driver set is

123.

If

desired, ( Press: Enter)

to select this name ; otherwise specify another name. NOTE:

If

you choose the default driver set name, the enhanced text mode is automatically selected when Lotus is started.

If

you enter your own driver set name, you will

need

to

type:

123 <driver set name> ( Press: Enter)

to run Lotus with the enhanced text mode. While this method may be less convenient, it does allow Lotus to be run in the standard 80 column mode when it is started with the 123<driver

set

name>

command.

23. Exit the program. Additional driver sets can be created at any time by repeating this procedure. However,

if

more than one set is

generated, each set requires a unique name.

52 The Lotus

1-2-3

Drivers

15. The Microsoft Windows Drivers

15.1

Windows

3.1

Drivers

The Windows

3.1

driver installation is done entirely via

Windows SETUP. These driver files are in Microsoft compressed format and can only be accessed and executed by

installing through Windows SETUP. Copying the files into

the \Windows\Systems sub-directory will not work and may corrupt the Windows installation.

15.1.1 Installing the Windows

3.1

Drivers

If Microsoft Windows

3.1

has not yet been installed, install

it now and verify that it operates properly.

I. Make a sub-directory to hold the driver files, type:

md

\et4drv ( Press: Enter)

2.

Insert the Windows

3.1

driver diskette into the appropri-

ate drive and type:

copy a:\*.* \et4drv ( Press: Enter)

3.

Move to the Windows sub-directory and type: setup ( Press: Enter)

Or,

with Windows running, select Setup from the Pro-

gram Manager Main group.

4. Select: DISPLAY from the Menu

5.

Select:

OTHER

...

from the Menu

6.

When asked where the graphics drivers will be found, type the following ( delete what the system has displayed in the input window):

\et4drv

7.

Select the appropriate driver/resolution from the list.

8.

Proceed normally through the remainder

of

the installa-

tion procedure.

You

are now ready to use the installed

drivers with your Windows 3. I application.

The Microsoft Windows Drivers

53

15.2

The

Microsoft Windows 3.0 Drivers

The drivers support the following resolutions:

800x600 16 colors

1024x768 16 colors

1280x1024 16 colors

640x480 256 colors 800x600 256 colors

1024x768 256 colors

640x480 32k colors 800x600 32k colors 640x480 65k colors 800x600 65k colors

15.2.1 Installing the Windows 3.0 Drivers

If

Microsoft Windows 3.0 has not yet been installed, install

it

and verify that it operates properly.

1.

Slide diskette

#1

into drive a:

2. Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

3. Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

4. Press any key to continue. The SETUP main menu will display the names

of

all the

utility and driver programs.

5.

Select Microsoft Windows 3.0 ( Press: Enter)

6.

Select the desired resolution ( Press: Enter)

7.

( Press: End )

8.

Before copying selected drivers to your hard-disk, the SETUP program will display the current drive and the sub-directory where the drivers will be copied to.

You can change the drive and the directory by typing over the displayed one.

9.

Insert the path you wish

to

choose ( Press : Enter)

10.

Follow the instructions provided.

11.

Return to DOS, change directory to where you had installed Windows and run the Microsoft Windows SETUP program.

54 The Microsoft Windows Drivers

16. The AutoCAD 10.0 Drivers

These drivers provide AutoDesk's AutoCAD program (re-

lea

se

9.0 and 10.0) with the following resolutions:

640x480

16

colors graphics

800x600

16

colors graphics

1024x768

16

colors graphics

NOTE:

This AutoCAD

dri

ver conforms to the AutoDesk Device In-

terface (ADI) for rendering drivers and display drivers.

16.1 Installing the AutoCAD

10.0

Driver

1.

Slide diskette

#1

into drive

a:.

2.

Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

3.

Type: setup ( Pres

s:

Enter)

4.

Pre

ss

any key

to

continue.

The SETUP main menu will display the names

of

all the

utility and driver program

s.

5.

Select AutoDesk AutoCad release 9.0 or 10.0

6.

Select the desired driver(s) and follow the instructions appearing in the bar at the bottom of the screen.

7.

After the installation

is

completed ( Press: Esc)

8.

From the main menu ( Press: Esc)

to

return to DOS.

9.

Move to the AutoDesk AutoCad directory.

10.

Configure the driver for the desired resolution and screen colors.

Type: VINST and respond to the questions.

Color codes are

as

follows:

0 - Black 4 - Cyan

1 - Red

5 - Blue

2 - Yellow 6 - Magenta 3 - Green

7 - White

8-15 - Intensified versions of

0-7

11.

Install the driver in your AutoCAD program by typing: VADl40 ( Press: Enter)

12. Configure your AutoCAD program for the new driver by following these remaining steps.

The AutoCAD 10.0 Drivers

55

13

. Start AutoCAD by typing:

ACAD ( Press: Enter) and select

Configure AutoCAD from the AutoCAD main menu.

14.

Select Configure Video Display from the configura-

tion menu.

15

. Select

ADI

display from the list

of

video drivers

(installed at interrupt 7A.)

16.

Continue through the configuration process, save the new configuration and return to the main menu.

NOTE:

The AutoCAD driver can be re-configured at any time for different resolutions by running the VINST program again (as described in step 8.)

16.2 Installing AutoShade

The first time you use AutoShade with an ADI driver, you need to configure AutoShade for an ADI display. Follow these steps.

1.

Change

to

the directory where AutoShade is installed.

2. Before running the AutoShade program, delete the file

SHADE.CFG.

3. Start the AutoShade program . The program will ask for a display and rendering driver.

Select

ADI

for both drivers and indicate that you have a

Dual Display System.

4. When you exit the AutoShade program, a new SHADE.CFO file will be created for you.

16.3 Using the AutoCad 9.0/10.0 Driver

The new driver must be loaded each time you start your computer. Follow these instructions.

1.

Load the driver by typi

ng:

VADl40 ( Press: Enter)

2.

Start AutoCAD by typing:

ACAD ( Press: Enter)

NOTE:

By placing your command from step 1 in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, your computer will automatically install the driver for you.

56

The AutoCAD 10.0 Drivers

17. The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

The DLD386 driver is compatible with AutoCad Release

I 0/386 and 11/386. It runs in the protected mode only.

17.1

Features

•

Accelerates

redraws,

pans,

zooms

•

Transparent

to

use -no

new

commands

or

special

menus

are

required

•

Protected

mode

ADI

driver -completely

AutoCad

386,

Re-

lease

11,

3D

Studio

and

AutoShade

2.0

w/RenderMan

com-

patible

•

No

memory

conflicts;

works

with

AutoCad

386's

built-in

Virtu-

al

Memory

Manager

•

Supports

both

16

and

256

color

VGA

modes.

For

rendering,

the

24

bit

True

Color

is

also

supported.

•

Includes

Custom

Colors,

which

lets

you

customize

all

logical

and

physical

colors

in

an

interactive

mode.

•

Completely

compatible

with

all

AutoCad

3

rd

party

software

•

Supports

higher

resolutions,

up

to

1024x768,

with

256

colors

17.2 System Requirements

A 386 or 486 PC with AutoCad 386, Release 10/386 and 11/386, 3D Studio, or AutoShade 2.0 w/RenderMan

Additional extended memory is recommended for optimal performance.

If

there is significant hard-disk activity while you are using DLD386-VGA , it may be an indication that you should add more memory to your system. One MB

of

memory is recommended for the driver.

17.3 Configuring DLD-386 VGA

HELP during DLDSETUP is only a keystroke away. At any time, you can press the question mark (?) key to get help information pertaining to the current DLDSETUP prompt. Please note that the DLDSETUP.HLP file must

be

present

in

order for HELP to appear.

If

you need to make some change to

an

existing configuration, running DLDSETUP again will allow you to reconfigure DLD386-VGA with all the prompts defaulting to the values you had selected during your previous configuration.

If

you want to start with a completely fresh installation, just

delete DLDSETUP.DAT in the directory pointed to by the

DLDCFG environment variable.

Also,

if

at any point during the configuration process you

want to change an item on a previous menu,

just

press the

ESC key until you have returned to the desired menu. Press-

ing ESC at the Driver Selection prompt will return you to DOS without making any changes to your configuration.

The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

57

17.4 Installing the

DLD-386

Drivers

1.

Slide diskette #1 into drive

a:

2.

Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

3. Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

4.

Press any key to continue. The SETUP main menu will display the names

of

all the

utility and driver programs.

5.

Select AutoDesk AutoCad rel. 10/386 or 11/386

( Press: Enter)

6.

Select the desired driver(s) by following the instructions appearing in the bar at the bottom

of

the screen

( Press: Enter)

7.

( Press:

End

)

8.

You

now will get the message:

Enter the [drive:path] for installation.

[C:\

ACADll]

Before copying selected drivers to your hard-disk, the SETUP program will display the current drive and the sub-directory where the drivers will be copied to.

You

can change the drive and the directory by typing over the displayed one.

9.

Insert the path you wish

to

choose

10.

You

now will get the message: (if the drive :path does not

already exist)

Create path

[C:\]

(YIN)?

11.

Type: Y ( Pres

s:

Enter)

The installation will now begin.

12.

( Press: Esc)

13.

After you have been returned to the main menu ( Press: Esc) to return to DOS . The system will prompt with:

l Do you really want to exit (YIN)?

14. Type: Y ( Press: Enter)

15.

After you have been returned to DOS, move to the directory that you installed DLD386-VGA and type:

DLDSETUP ( Press: Enter) to start the configuration

program. An information screen, informing what DLDSETUP

does, will appear. Press any key to continue once you have read the overview.

58

The AutoCad

DLD-386

Driver

16.

You

will now

be

prompted for the type ofDLD386-VGA

driver you wish to use: 16 Color

or

256 Color. The 16

Color driver (DLDVGA.EXP) supports AutoCAD and the AutoShade and 3D Studio design screens in

16

colors at any 16 color resolution supported by your VGA board. The 256 Color driver (DLDVG256.EXP) supports AutoCAD in your VGA board's 256 color modes. While you have many more colors

to

choose from in AutoCAD in the 256 Color mode , drawing will be somewhat slower because the driver has

to

manipulate more bytes of information on the display. In both cases, the rendering portions

of

3D Studio and AutoShade 2.0 w/RenderMan

will be supported at 65k colors.

17.

To

progress

to

the next menu, the Driver Configuration

Menus, you must hit <FlO> or ( Press: Enter)

1.

8.

The Single

vs

Dual Screen option is used to tell the driver

if

you want

to

operate on only one screen (the one attached to the VGA board) or two (in case you also have a Monochrome Display Adapter in the same system

as

the

VGA) when in AutoCAD.

If

you choose Automatic, the

driver will run single screen

if

AutoCAD is started

on

the

VGA, and dual screen

if

you start AutoCAD from the

monochrome display. Selecting Always Dual will cause the driver to always run in dual screen mode - don't se-

lect this mode

if

you don't have a monochrome board

in

your system.

19.

The Flip Screen Method is a fail-safe feature. In virtually all cases the Instant selection will suffice, but in some

rare cases the combination

of

a certain VGA with a sys-

tem may result in junk on the display when doing a flip

screen back

to

the graphics display in AutoCAD .

If

this

occurs on your system, use the Force Redraw option to

eliminate this junk. The forced redraw will occur at normal AutoCAD speed, not DLD386-VGA redraw speed. Please note that this prompt does not appear when you have selected the 256 Color VGA driver, since you are

always running in the Force Redraw mode when you are in the 256 color modes

20.

You

may choose the Font size you would like to use for

your AutoCAD menus, pull-downs, and dialog boxes;

[0

i.e. 8x8/8xl4/8x16. All the fonts are 8 pixels wide, but 17

the height varies. For resolutions above 800x600 we recommend the 8x16 font selection. The default is the 8x14 font.

21.

Enter the method for updating the Display List: Remove/

Overwrite/Disable. For a trouble-free operation, we

suggest that you choose Overwrite initially. When an object is erased or moved, the Remove option

causes its vectors to be removed from the Display List. The Overwrite option causes new erase vectors

to

be

The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

59

added to the Display List so the object will be drawn, then

rubbed out

on

screen updates. This option avoids the po-

tentially major list update delay associated with the Re-

move option, but increases redraw time and makes the

Display List larger (you can clean up the display list with

the DLDCLEAN command - see: Advanced Features

for more information.) Disable, disables the Display List

- the Fast Redraw List

is

still maintained, unless you spe-

cifically disable it

as

well. See - The Remove/Overwrite

Option, for complete information.

22. Enter the method for updating the Fast Redraw List: Re-

move/Overwrite/Disable. For trouble-free operation,

we suggest that you choose Overwrite initially.

When an object

is

erased or moved, the Remove option

causes its vectors to be removed from the Fast Redraw List. The Overwrite option causes new erase vectors to be added

to

the Fast Redraw List

so

the object will be drawn, then rubbed out on screen redraws. This option avoids the potentially major list update delay associated with the Remove option, but increases redraw time and makes the Fast Redraw List larger. Disable, disables the Fast Redraw List, slowing redraws

to

pan/zoom speed.

23. Your SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter can display up to 65k colors. Answer

Yes

if

you plan

to

use the AutoDesk

rendering package.

24. Enter the number

of

lines

of

text you would like to appear

at the bottom of your AutoCAD screen.

You

may select a

number between 1 and

10.

If

you

do

not want any lines

of

text at the bottom

of

the display, use AutoCAD

to

disable

the command area (see your AutoCAD Installation

manual for more information). The default for this

prompt is

3.

25. Choose Cardinal Video Color 24 from the list which ap-

pears when you press

<Fl>.

You

may need to page up or

down

to

find your card. Once you have made a board

selection, you will have to select the resolution that you

want to run AutoCAD and AutoShade at. Press the

<FlO> key once you have made your choice.

26. Once all changes are made, press the <FlO> key

to

save

the configuration information. The batch file FASTA-

CAD.BAT will be created in the current directory, and

the configuration file DLDSETUP.DAT will be created in either the directory pointed to by the DLDCFG environment variable or,

if

DLDCFG

is

not set, in the current

directory.

27. Configure your colors by running COLOR16.EXE

if

you are using the 16 color VGA modes, or COL-

OR256.EXE

if

you are using the 256 color VGA modes. See Changing Colors for more information on configuring your AutoCAD colors.

60

The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

28. Copy the newly created FASTACAD.BAT to your boot drive root directory, your AutoCAD directory,

or

into any

directory on your DOS path. Then, whenever you want to

load

DLD386-VGA,

just run the FASTACAD.BAT file.

The FASTACAD.BAT file contains four lines that set four separate environment variables:

DLDCFG

, used by PanaRender-VGA+, to find all

of

its

configuration files; and

DSPADI, RCPADI, RDPADI - used by AutoCAD, Au-

toShade 2.0 w/RenderMan, and 3D Studio

to

find the

driver file. FASTACAD.BAT only needs

to

be run once

per system boot.

NOTE:

DLD386-VGA is

not

instaHed

as

a TSR, instead, AutoCAD uses the DSPADI environment variable to determine where the display driver can be found and what the driver's name is. AutoShade and 3D Studio both require the RCPADI and RDPADI environment variables

to

be

set.

The actual configuration information for

DLD386-VGA

is located in the file DLDSETUP.DAT, which was created or modified when you last ran DLDSETUP.

29.

If

you want the environment variables to be set automati-

caHy

at startup, edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and add

a line to run FASTACAD to the end

of

it; i.e., FASTA-

CAD. This assumes that the directory in which FASTACAD.BAT resides is in your

PATH.

If

you have DOS 3.2

or earlier, the command needs

to

be

at the end

of

your

batch file because DOS

can't

return to the AUTOEX-

EC.BAT file after running the FASTACAD batch file.

If

you have DOS 3.3 or subsequent versions

of

DOS, use the

command CALL FASTACAD instead, anywhere in the

AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Alternately, you may want to

just copy the contents

of

the FASTACAD.BAT file into

your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

If

you don't wish to put the command(s) in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you may put them in a batch file which also starts AutoCAD, or

simply remember to run FASTACAD before starting

AutoCAD.

NOTE:

If

you get a message such

as

Out

of

Environment Space

when you run FASTACAD.BAT, you will need

to

en-

large your environment.

If

you are running MS-DOS 3.2

or

later, this

is

accomplished by adding:

SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P C:\E:768

to your CONFIG.SYS file. The /E:768 specifies an environment size

of

768 bytes. Change this number

as

ap-

The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

61

propriate.

You

will need

to

reboot

if

you modify your

CONFIG.SYS file.

30. Run the FASTACAD program, or restart your system (if you've modified the AUTOEXEC.BAT file) to start the driver.

31. Change the AutoCAD display device configuration by starting AutoCAD, and then from the main menu, select option 5, Configure AutoCAD. From there, select option 3, Configure Video Display. Choose the ADI P386 dis-

play driver option

as

your display device. For more de-

tails, please refer to the AutoCAD Installation and Per-

formance Guide.

32.

If

you are going to be using AutoShade 2.0 w/RenderMan or 3D Studio with this driver, read section 15.12, on how to configure these packages to work with DLD386-VGA.

33.

You

are now ready to use your accelerated AutoCAD.

If

you are not sure that AutoCAD is using DLD386-VGA, type: DLDUSAGE at the AutoCAD command prompt while editing a drawing.

If

DLD386-VGA is loaded and running, this command should return information about memory usage.

If

AutoCAD reports

an

error instead,

your DLD386-VGA is not properly loaded.

17.5Changing Colors

The DLD386-VGA supports CustomColors color configuration. What's so unique about CustomColors is that it gives you the ability to modify all your AutoCAD colors, including menu colors, text colors, dialog box colors and even drawing colors.

CustomColors simulates an AutoCAD screen, complete

with all possible objects. For editing the color configuration when you are running AutoCAD in 16 colors on a VGA, use

COLOR16.EXE

to

load CustomColors, and for the 256 col-

or VGA modes use COLOR256.EXE. Once you enter the utility, you are provided with the following configuration menu at the bottom of the screen:

(O)bject, (D)rawing, (P)hysical, (A)Dlpal, (V)GApal, (R)eset, (L)oad, (S)ave, (E)xit

NOTE:

In COLOR256, there is no (D)rawing option.

62

The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

In

the following commands, select the first letter only.

(O)bject

Selecting O enables you to change

the

color

of

any Auto-

CAD

screen object, such as

the

graphics area background

color, the menu area text

color

or

the border line color.

Select the object

whose

color

you want to change by moving

the highlighted box around using the left and right cursor control keys and pressing Enter when you have highlighted the desired object. Note that a

one

line description

of

the ob-

ject

type is displayed at the

top

of

the screen as you

move

the

box around.

Once you have selected the object, another highlighted box will appear around the color boxes, nearest the bottom

of

the

screen.

The

se are the physical colors that the

VGA

board

supports.

Use

the left and right cursor keys (as well as the

up and down keys in the 256 color mode) to select which physical color should

be

used for

the

object you have selected and

hit Enter.

The

screen will quickly redraw with the new color

selection for the object you have chosen, and you will

be

back at

the

start

of

object selection, in case you want

to

change the color

of

another object.

It is important to note that when you change the background color to a new color, all drawing colors identical to that new color, will

be

swapped with the previous background color

inCOLOR16. For

example,

if

your

current background color is white and you change it to blue, all the boxes in the drawing color area (middle

of

the screen in 16 color mode) that used to

be

the

same shade

of

blue will become white. In the 16 color mode,

drawing color O always reflects the background color.

In COLOR256, changing the background color will only

cause physical color O to assume the same color as the color you have selected. No other colors will

be

affected, unless

you have chosen color O for another object, in which case it will have the same color as the new background.

NOTE:

Any

time during color configuration, you can press the

ESC

key once

or

twice and return to the configuration menu. Also,

pressing the question

mark

(?)

key

will provide you with

context sensitive

HELP

.

(D)rawing

This option allows you to modify all the

AutoCAD

drawing

colors (color O through 255) in a fashion similar to the way you change object colors.

The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

63

NOTE:

In COLOR256, this option

is

not available since you can di-

rectly modify all

of

the 256 physical colors directly, there-

fore the remainder

of

this explanation applies only when us-

ing COLOR 16.

When this option

is

selected, a highlighted box appears in the

drawing color area

of

the simulated AutoCAD display. The

box can be manipulated using the four cursor keys.

You

may

notice that the drawing color portion

of

the display

is

laid out

just

as the CHROMA drawing supplied with AutoCAD.

When you hit Enter, the highlight moves down to the

16

physical colors, just

as

it does during the object color selec-

tion. Pick the physical color you want for the selected drawing color, using the arrow keys and then hit Enter, to have your selection take effect.

NOTE:

The highlighted box used to select drawing colors and physical colors may at times be hard

to

see, namely, because

of

the

background color you have selected. CustomColors was intentionally designed to work this way, because the highlighted box color happens to be the same

as

the one used by

the AutoCAD crosshair cursor and the AutoCAD UCS icon. So,

if

you

can't

see the highlighted box during the color con-

figuration, you

won't

be able to see the cursor when running

AutoCAD.

If

you

can't

find another background color that feels right and still want to use the one that was causing you problems with the highlighted box, you can choose an alternate background color and then modify the associated physical color to

suit your needs.

(P)hysical

Choosing the Physical option from the nienu allows you to alter the red, green and blue components

of

the

physical col-

ors. A highlighted box will appear in the row

of

16

physical

colors at the bottom

of

the screen in COLOR 16, or some-

where in the large block

of

256 physical colors in COL-

OR256.

Use the arrow keys to select the color you wish to edit and

press Enter. Three sliders will appear near the bottom

of

the

display, with the horizontal position

of

the slider for each

of

the color components (red, green, or blue - RGB), indicating

the relative intensity

of

the component. You can use the left

and right arrow keys to move the slider for the selected com-

ponent,

or

type in a number from O to 255.

Note that VGAs support only 64 intensities/color component, so an intensity

of O is

the same

as

an intensity

of

3. The up and down arrows allow you to select which component you want to alter. As you manipulate the sliders, all objects on the display that are

of

the same color

as

the selected physi-

cal color will change in hue.

64

The AutoCad

DLD-386

Driver

This way you can visually determine the most appropriate setting for your display. Pressing Enter will set the RGB values you have selected for the physical color you were modifying.

(A)D1

pal

This constructs a default ADI color palette,

as

defined in the

Autodesk Device Inte,face Driver Development Kit.

(V)GApal

This constructs a default VGA color palette,

as

defined when you select the VGA display device during AutoCAD configuration.

(R)eset

This option will reset the physical colors

to

their initial state.

The initial state depends on which

of

the two palettes (ADI

or VGA) you selected prior to choosing this command.

If

you

are selecting this option in a freshly loaded version of COL-

ORI

6 or COLOR256, the initial palette will be assumed to

be

the ADI palette.

(L)oad

This reloads the color information from the file DLDCO-

LOR.DAT.

It

will be loaded from the directory pointed to by

l>LDCFG, or from the current directory

if

DLDCFG is not

NC

t. If DLDCOLOR.DAT cannot be found, an error mes-

s

nge

will

be

displayed.

This command

is

useful because it allows you to go back to your previously edited color configuration, in case you have made some mistakes in configuring your colors that you want to undo.

Caution

Don't Accidently Wipe Out Your

Changes

Selecting (A)DI pal, (V)GA pal, (R)eset or (L)oad will irrevocably wipe out any current color changes you may have made, unless you have just saved your new setting; so use them only when you really need to, such

as

when you have made so many color changes that you can't seem to get back to

a reasonable place and just want

to

start over.

(S)ave

Save the current color palette in DLDCOLOR.DAT.

It

will

be saved in the directory pointed to by DLDCFG, or in the current directory,

if

DLDCFG is not set.

(E)xit

Exits CustomColors.

If

you have made palette changes, but

not saved them, you will be asked

if

you want

to

save your

changes before exiting.

17.6 Advanced Features

Among the additional features, not accessible through the installation program, are a memory meter, a command to manually clean up the display lists, and a current color indicator.

The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

65

17.6.1 Memory Meter

While in AutoCAD, you can check how much memory the display list and fast-redraw list are occupying at any time.

The way to do this is by typing DLDUSAGE at the Com-

mand prompt. DLDUSAGE will return information on how much memory each viewport is occupying. Since AutoCAD can support up to sixteen viewports, it is possible to have up to sixteen display lists. But multiple viewports

don't

necessarily have to use multiple display lists, even though each viewport will have its own fast-redraw list, because

of

an

AutoCAD feature known

as

slave viewports.

If

a viewport is a slave

of

another viewport (known as the master viewport), then the slave and the master share the same display list, and therefore only the master viewport will show memory in use for a display list when using DLDU-

SAGE.

17.6.2 Display List Cleanup

While in the Overwrite mode for display list maintenance, the display lists can get quite large, because

of

multiple

ERASEs, MOVEs, ROTATEs, etc. (see: The Remove/Over-

write Option).

The same may occur, although at a slower pace, in the Remove mode. Instead

of

having to do a REGEN to recreate

the display lists from scratch, you can use the DLDCLEAN

command to clean up the display lists. The DLDCLEAN command removes all deleted objects from the display lists and it requires as much time as an AutoCAD REDRAW.Note

that the whole display will be erased and recreated as part

of

this clean up process. In a multiple viewport setting, this

means that all viewports and their associated lists will be cleaned

up.

17 .6.3 Current Color/Layer Indicator

Another feature that will simplify drawing under AutoCAD is the addition

of

a small, outlined box on the left edge

of

the

status line. Inside the box is the current AutoCAD drawing

color.

If

the status line is disabled, this box will not appear.

As

of

version 1.1, DLD386-VGA supports a number

of

new AutoCAD command line commands designed to allow advanced users better control over display list processing:

DLDHELP

Provides a one-line summary for every special DLD386-VGA command. It is recommended that you flip to the text screen to view the output.

DLDVER

Displays DLD386-VGA version and serial number.

DLDDLMODE

66

The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

Displays the current mode

of

your redraw and display list

(i.e. Remove, Overwrite, or Disabled).

All

of

the following force a DLDCLEAN to be processed

when executed:

DLDFREEMEM

Frees up all display list memory currently in use by DLD386-VGA and performs a DLDCLEAN. This is useful when DLD386-VGA has gone a long time without a DLDCLEAN and has allocated more memory than is neces-

sary.

You

may want

to

use this command instead

of

DLDCLEAN.

DLDDLISTRM

Puts the display list in Remove mode

DLDDLISTOV

Puts the display list in Overwrite mode

DLDDLISTDS

Disables the display list

DLDFLISTRM

Puts the fast redraw list in Remove mode

DLDFLISTOV

Puts the fast redraw list in Overwrite mode

DLDFLISTDS

Disables the fast redraw list

17.7 Memory Usage and Lists

DLD386-VGA shares extended memory with AutoCAD via the PharLap Virtual Memory Manager. This means that DLD386-VGA will automatically page to disk

if

it uses up all the RAM that AutoCAD has left for its use. See Appendix A.3 in the AutoCAD Installation and Perfonnance Guide for more information on Virtual Memory Management. Please note that

if

you start seeing excessive hard disk accesses during PANs, REDRAWs, and ZOOMs while using AutoCAD with DLD386-VGA, try using the DLDCLEAN command more often.

If

this doesn't affect the amount

of

disk access

it's probably time to add more memory to your system. Con-

tact your AutoCAD dealer for assistance in upgrading your memory.

Regarding display list memory, it's important to realize that

[0?

DLD386-VGA speeds up AutoCAD operations by creating a Display List in memory, and sending that list to the VGA for PANS and ZOOMs. Redraws are run from the Fast Redraw List, which is even faster; but both

of

these lists take up

memory. How much memory? For production use, we recommend

that at least 1 megabyte be available for DLD386-VGA.

To

determine how much memory AutoCAD is using, use the

STATUS command while in AutoCAD (refer to Section

4.4.1, page 37, in the AutoCAD Installation and Perfor-

mance guide for more information.)

The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

67

The Display List for a simple drawing, such

as

the shuttle Columbia, might require only 20 Kbytes. Complex drawings may require several megabytes. We have seen Display Lists for a drawing range from one-tenth the size

of

the drawing

file to three times the size.

In

general, the Display List aver-

ages about about the same

as

the

DWG

file size. The Fast Redraw List will also occupy some memory, with the worst case being that it occupies

as

much

as

the Display List. This means that you should count on both lists generally talcing up as

much

as

twice the

DWG

file size. Also, complex objects such as circles and text expand when translated into display list format, so a drawing with a lot

of

complex objects and

text will have a larger display list than a simpler drawing.

NOTES:

Text takes up a disproportionate amount

of

space in the Dis-

play List.

To

keep the list small, put text in its own layer

of the drawing; then don't display the text layer when editing the rest

of

the figure. This will keep memory consumption

down and speeds up execution. The AutoCAD manuals have an excellent section on perfor-

mance, concentrating on memory usage.

To

get the most per-

formance out

of

the program, read the appropriate sections

of

those manuals,

as

well

as

this one.

If

you find that yourDLD386-VGA REDRAWs, PANs, and ZOOMs are causing excessive hard disk accesses (due to paging or swapping), you are probably running out

of

RAM

space. At this point you have three options:

1.

Start using the DLDCLEAN command more frequently.

2.

Disable the Fast Redraw List, which will slow down your

redraws and give you a little more RAM to play with; or

3.

Buy at least one or two more megabytes

of

32-bit

RAM. The latter will greatly improve your productivity under AutoCAD.

You

may want

to

use the DLDUSAGE command, described

in the previous section, to keep tabs on your display list usage

as

time goes on.

Your system may not have enough memory to manage large drawings without excessive paging and also simultaneously support the Display List and the Fast Redraw List. This may happen because DLD386-VGA makes AutoCAD run so much faster that you want

to

work with larger drawings! Af-

ter a certain amount

of

time spent adjusting memory parame-

ters, the only way

to

do your work at top speed is to buy more

memory.

17 .8

The

Remove/Overwrite Option

During installation, you are asked

if

you wish to maintain the Display List and the Fast Redraw List by removing or overwriting erased vectors; you also have the option

of

disabling either or both lists, though this option is not needed for normal operations.

68

The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

The Remove and Overwrite options come into play when you erase or move an object (moving is the same

as

erasing and then redrawing somewhere else.) When you erase, move or rotate an object, the Display List and Fast Redraw List must be updated

to

get rid

of

the displaced object. There are

two ways to do this:

• Remove option - search the list for the offending vec-

tors and remove them. This is the elegant solution, but the search takes a measurable amount

of

time.

For small drawings, the extra time will not be noticeable, but for large drawings it most likely will be.

If

you are

editing large portions

of

sizeable ( over 1

OOK)

drawings, make sure to use the Overwrite option documented below.

• Overwrite option - add more vectors to the list to

overwrite the offending vectors with new vectors in the background color.

This avoids the time loss to find and remove the vectors, but causes a strange effect: when the screen is updated, the erased object is drawn, then disappears as it is overwritten by the new vectors in the background color!

This slows each redraw, and the extra overwrite vectors add to

the length of the list. Fortunately,

if

things get too messy,

ull

you need to do is use the

DLDCLEAN

command, which

will clean up the display list in about the time it would take

for

AutoCAD to perform one

of

its REDRAWs.

We

recommend that you use Remove mode for both lists for

small drawings or,

if

you have a relatively small amount

of memory for the lists. For medium-sized drawings, you may want

to

go

to

Overwrite mode for at least the Fast Redraw List, so that redraws will be speeded up, but the Display List will still be updated correctly. This will minimize the strange

draw then undraw effect for erased objects. For even larger

drawings, where searching and updating a list takes a lot

of time, you will want to go to Overwrite mode for both lists. Remember

to

use the

DLDCLEAN

command occasionally

as

you erase and move more objects.

17.8.1 VIEWing the

Full

Drawing

Since DLD386-VGA is totally transparent to users with re-

~

spect to using normal AutoCAD commands

to

REDRAW,

~

PAN, and ZOOM, you still have to suffer from some

of

Auto-

CAD's nuances. One

of

these nuances is that ZOOM ALL and ZOOM EXTENTS both force a REGEN, because AutoCAD does not keep track

of

various boundaries necessary to avoid the REGENs. REGENs are rather time-consuming and don't use any display list processing to speed themselves up. One way around this problem is to use another

of

Auto-

CAD's built-in features, namely the VIEW command.

The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

69

When you first load your image and see the whole drawing on the screen at once, just type: VIEW Save ALL,

Which

will save the display position you see under a view named

All. After you' ve done some detailed editing and want to re-

turn back to the big picture, type: VIEW Restore ALL, instead

of

ZOOM All or ZOOM Ex-

tents, and the full drawing will be restored

to

the display at

display list speeds, without a REGEN.

17.8.2 Avoiding Accidental REGEN's

Another nuance

of

AutoCAD is that

if

you ZOOM in too far or PAN over too far, you may inadvertently cause a REGEN. AutoCAD again provides a very simple solution: the REGENA UTO command. Just type REGENAUTO Off at the AutoCAD command prompt, and automatic REGENs will be disabled. The REGAN AUTO setting is also saved as part

of

your drawing file, so you only need

to

execute it once per

drawing.

You

may even want

to

set REGENAUTO off in your ACAD.DWG drawing template, so that all your drawings are created with REGEN AUTO set off.

17.8.3 Adding DLDCLEAN to your Pull-downs

If

you find that you are frequently using the DLDCLEAN

command, you may want

to

add it to your pull-down menus.

We

recommend adding it to the DISPLAY menu. This can

be done

by

editing the file ACAD.MNU, which contains the

commands for all your pull-downs,

as

well as the side me-

nus. Make sure to make a backup copy

of

ACAD.MNU first! Search the file for the Display menu definition (usually found after a line that says ***POP4.) Go to the end

of

the

definition, just past the line that starts off with [Set View-

ports .

..

], and add the following two lines:

[--]

[Clean Display List]"C"CDLDCLEAN Once these two lines have been added, save the edited

ACAD.MNU file and run AutoCAD. Pull up a drawing that uses the standard AutoCAD menus , and AutoCAD will re-

compile the ACAD.MNU file into ACAD.MNX. Once this compilation is complete, you should be able to use the Clean

Display List pick off of the Display menu to clean up DLD386--VGA's display lists for all your normal drawings.

70

The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

17.9 Using 3D Studio and AutoShade 2.0

17.9.1 AutoShade 2.0 with RenderMan

To

configure AutoShade v2.0 to use DLD386-VGA, start

AutoShade with SHADE /R, which will allow you to recon- figure AutoShade. For the display device, select P386 Auto-

Desk Device Interface display driver, and for the rendering

display select the P386 AutoDesk Device Interface render-

ing driver.

If

you are running the display and rendering screen on the same monitor (i.e. single monitor), make sure to

tell AutoShade this. By the way, a single monitor approach

will require a redraw

of

the display screen after a rendering

screen,.

17.9.2 Autodesk 3D Studio

To configure 3D Studio, you need to edit the 3DS.SET file,

located in your 3DS directory. Locate the line that starts with

DEFAULT-DISPLAY.

You

want to modify it so that the

line reads: DEFAULT-DISPLAY=RCPADI. Do the same with the line that starts with MAIN-DISPLAY (i.e.

MAIN-

DISPLAY=RCPADI). Make sure to remove

the";"

in front

of

these lines. Also,

if

you selected to use the 256 color VGA

driver during the set up, you may change the

MATERIAL-

DISPLAY line in 3DS.SET as well. Save your changes, and

you're ready to use 3D Studio. See your

3D

Studio installation documentation for additional information on configuring 3D Studio.

The AutoCad DLD-386 Driver

71

72

The AutoCad

DLD-386

Driver

18. The Ventura 2.0 Drivers

The Ventura Drivers support the Ventura Publisher Release

2.0 software. They provide the following resolutions:

800x600

16

colors

graphics

1024x768

16

colors graphics

18.1

Installing the Ventura 2.0 Drivers

1.

Install Ventura Publisher, specifying VGA, 640x480, 2

colors

as

the graphics device.

2.

Slide diskette

#1

into drive a.

3.

Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

4. Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

5. Press any key to continue.

6.

Select Ventura Publisher ( Press: Enter)

7. Select the desired driver(s) ( Press: Enter)

8.

( Press: End )

Before copying selected drivers

to

your hard-disk, the SETUP program will display the current drive and the sub-directory where the drivers will be copied to.

9.

Insert the path you wish to choose ( Press: Enter)

10.

You

now will get the message:

After installing the drivers on your hard

drive, you need to copy the files to a floppy

disk on drive

A.

Run the program

VPDRV2_0.EXE from drive A to install the

drivers.

11.

Follow instructions

12.

After you return to DOS, change directory to where you

had installed Ventura Publisher and copy the following

[IDs

files to a floppy in drive

a:

VP2_0.txt VPDRV2_0.EXE

SO1024.VGA, SO800.VGA

13.

Execute vpdrv2_0 from drive a and respond to the ques- tions.

14. When the program asks you to specify the display device and resolution, select one of the drivers you just installed.

The Ventura 2.0 Drivers

73

74

The

Ventura 2.0 Drivers

19. The GEM 3.0/3.1 Drivers

The GEM Drivers are compatible with GEM Release 3.0 and

3.1. They provide the following resolutions:

800x600 16 colors graphics

1024x768 16 colors

graphics

If

you

do

not have GEM installed on your PC, follow the pro-

cedure provided in the GEM documentation to install GEM

3.0/3.1 with the standard VGA screen driver. Installation procedures for a single drive system and a double

drive system are outlined. In either case make certain that you first install GEM 3.0/3.1 with the standard VGA screen driver.

19.1 Procedure for a single drive system.

1.

Create a GEM DRIVER

PAK

DISKETTE - the assump-

tion is that drive A will be used.

2.

Insert a blank diskette in drive

a,

and format it by typing:

format

A:N

( Press: Enter) ( on some DOS Versions

type: format A:) The formatting will take some time and it will provide feedback

as

to its progress.

3.

FORMAT will prompt for a volume label with the following message:

Volume Label

(11

characters, Enter for none)?

Enter the following text using upper case:

GEM DRIVRPK ( Press: Enter)

Information will now be echoed to the screen, answer N to the question:

FORMAT ANOTHER (Y/N)?

4.

Label this diskette: GEM Driver Pak

5.

Go

to

the root directory

on

your hard disk.

6.

Create a new directory for temporary storage of the GEM

3.0/3.1 driver files by typing: md\gemdrvrs ( Press: Enter)

7. Slide Diskette

#1

into drive

a:

8. Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

9. Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

10. Press any key

to

continue.

The SETUP main menu will display the names

of

all the

utility and driver programs.

The GEM 3.0/3.1 Drivers 75

11.

Select Digital Research GEM V 3.0 or

3.1

( Press: Enter)

12.

Select the desired resolution ( Press: Enter )

13. ( Press: End )

14.

You

now will get the message:

Enter the [drive:path] for installation.

[B:\]

Before copying selected drivers to your hard-disk, the SETUP program will display the current drive and the sub-directory where the drivers will be copied to.

You can change the drive and the directory by typing over the displayed one.

15.

Insert the path C:\GEMDRVRS ( Press: Enter)

16.

The system will now instruct you to insert diskette #2

17. The system will now respond with:

I Create path [C:\gemdrvrs] (YIN)?

18.

Type: Y ( Press: Enter) The installation will now begin.

19.

( Press: Esc)

20. After you have been returned to the main menu

( Press: Esc) to return

to

DOS.

The system will prompt with:

I Do you really want to exit (YIN)?

21. Type: Y ( Press: Enter)

22. Return to the hard drive by typing c: ( Press: Enter)

23. Copy the newly installed drivers to the previously for-

matted GEM 3.0/3.1 Driver Pak diskette; place it in drive A and typ_e_:

___

_

copy

*.

*

A:

( Press: Enter)

24. Insert the GEM 3.0/3.1 System Master diskette in drive

a.

Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

Type: gemsetup ( Press: Enter)

25. From the main menu select:

CHANGE EXISTING CONFIGURATION

( Press: Enter)

76 The GEM 3.0/3.1 Drivers

26. Select: CONTINUE

27. Select: CHANGE YOUR CURRENT SETUP

28. Select: VGA 16 COLOR 800x600 (depending on the

previous setup this entry may be different - choose the appropriate option)

29. Select: OTHER (Driver Pack)

30. Insert the GEM Driver Pack that you created previously

31. Select: CONTINUE

32. Select: VGA 16 COLOR 800x600

33. Select: SAVE AND EXIT FROM GEM SETUP

34. You will now get a message :

Insert the disk labeled GEM DRIVER PACK

Ignore this message and select: CONTINUE

35

. The

GEM

SETUP procedure is now completed.

19.2

Procedure for a dual drive system.

1.

Insert a blank diskette in drive B, and format it by typing:

format

B:N

( Press: Enter)

The formatting will take some time and it will provide feedback as to its progress.

2.

FORMAT will prompt for a volume label with the following message:

Volume Label

(11

characters, Enter for none)?

Enter the following text using upper case:

GEM DRIVRPK ( Press: Enter)

Information will now be echoed to the screen, answer No to the question:

FORMAT ANOTHER (V/N)?

3.

Label this diskette: GEM Driver Pak

4. Run the drivers

SETUP

program as outlined on the pre-

vious page, using the path

B:

when prompted.

5.

Return to the main menu and ( Press: Esc) to exit to DOS .

6. Complete the installation by proceeding from step

11

of

I

19)

the previous section.

The GEM 3.0/3.1 Drivers

77

@]

78

The GEM 3.0/3.1 Drivers

20. The WordPerfect 5.0/5.1 Option and Driver

Your SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter has the capability to

run WordPerfect (release 5.0) in 132-column text mode.

No

special driver is required to do this.

Follow these steps to configure WordPerfect for 132-column text mode:

I.

Make sure the VMODE utility program is installed in your computer.

If

it is not, install it in your computer by

following instructions provided in section 12.5, on page

40.

2.

Use the

VMODE

utility to initialize 132-column text

mode.

For

example, enter the following command:

[vmode 132x25]

3.

Start WordPerfect. The program will automatically detect the number

of

rows and columns specified.

Note:

If

for some reason the program is unable to adapt to the

132x25 mode, start WordPerfect with the following com-

mand:

[wp /ss=25, 132]

4. When you exit WordPerfect, you can return the program to the normal 80-column text mode by typing a command

similar to the following:

(vmode 80x25]

20.1 Installing the WordPerfect Drivers

Two WordPerfect drivers are provided for the following enhanced modes:

800x600 16 colors graphics

1024x768 16 colors graphics

1.

Slide diskette

#1

into drive A.

2.

Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

3. Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

4. Press any key to continue. The SETUP main menu will display the names

of

all the

utility and driver programs.

5. Select Wordperfect ( Press:

Enter

)

6. Select the desired driver(s) by following the instructions appearing in the

bar

at the bottom

of

the screen

( Press: Enter)

The WordPerfect 5.0/5.1 Option and Driver

79

7.

( Press: End )

8.

You

now will get the message:

Enter the [drive:path] for installation. [C:\ WPSI

Before copying selected drivers to your hard-disk, the SETUP program will display the current drive and the sub-directory where the drivers will be copied to. You can change the drive and the directory by typing over the displayed one.

9.

Insert the path you wish to choose ( Press: Enter)

10.

You

now will get the message:

(if

the drive:path does not

already exist)

I Create path

[C:\]

(YIN)?

11.

Type: Y ( Press: Enter) The installation will now begin.

12. ( Press: Esc)

13. After you have been returned to the main menu

( Press: Esc) to return to DOS.

The system will prompt with:

I Do you really want to exit (YIN)?

14. Type: Y ( Press: Enter)

15. After you have been returned to DOS, change directory to where you had installed Wordperfect and start WordPerfect; i.e. type:

WP ( Press: Enter)

16. Once you are in WordPerfect follow instructions

17

. Press the SHIFT and

F1

keys to enter the SETUP menu.

18

. Select option (3) Display.

19. Select option (5) Screen Type and choose Tseng

Labs 800x60016-colors orTseng Labs 1024x768 16-colors, corresponding to the driver you installed.

Note: These enhanced resolutions are utilized for the

WordPerfect Document Preview mode only.

80 The WordPerfect 5.0/5.1 Option and Driv-

21. The OS/2 Presentation Manager Drivers

The OS/2 Presentation Manager drivers support the following resolutions:

800x600 16 colors

1024x768

16 colors

21.1 Installing the

OS/2

Drivers

1.

Slide diskette

#1

into drive A.

2.

Type:

a:

( Press: Enter)

3.

Type: setup ( Press: Enter)

4.

Press any key to continue.

graphics graphics

5.

Select OS/2 Presentation Manager ( Press: Enter)

6. Select the desired driver(s) ( Press: Enter)

7. ( Press: End )

8.

Before copying selected drivers to your hard-disk, the SETUP program will display the current drive and the sub-directory where the drivers will be copied to.

9. Insert the path you wish to choose ( Press: Enter)

and follow instructions appearing on the screen.

10. After you return to the main menu ( Press: Esc) to re-

turn to DOS.

11. Change directory to where you had installed OS/2 and start OS/2

12. Ensure that the driver is copied to the directory defined by the LIBPATH environment variable.

13. Rename the driver DISPLAV.DLL

Notes: The DISPLAY.DLL file residing in the directory

defined by LIBPATH is the standard VGA 640x480,

16

color driver. You might want to save it before performing

step 12.

The desired driver can not be copied to the LIBPATH di- rectory while Presentation Manager is running

as

OS/2

will lock the existing DISPLAY.DLL in place.

The OS/2 Presentation Manager Drivers 81

82

The

OS/2 Presentation Manager Drivers

22. Video Tutorial

To

the beginner it may seem odd that a special product, such

as

the SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter, is needed to dis-

play video on a computer monitor. The reason

is

that video signals, processed by Television, Camcorders or VCRs, are different from video signals used by computers. The SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter provides a bridge between these video standards.

22.1 Definition of Terms

• Composite- Video

A composite-video signal is transferred over a single conductor, usually a coaxial cable with an RCA phono jack

as

a termination.

• S-Video

An S-Video signal is transferred over two conductors, plus ground(s.) One conductor carries the luminance and the other conductor carries the color information. Generally a four conductor cable with a four pin miniDIN connector is used.

• RGB-video

An RGB-video signal is transferred over four conductors, plus ground(s.) There is one conductor each for the red, blue and green information, and one for sync; sometimes sync is carried on the green information,

so only three conductors are needed. Generally coaxial cables with BNC type connectors are used.

Composite-video

is

very common because

of

its simplicity

(one cable only.)

It

is also the original Television standard,

however, it offers the poorest video quality.

S-Video

is

becoming very common because it is easy to use on consumer video equipment; i.e. VCRs, Camcorders etc. and it offers reasonably good picture quality.

RGB-video is less common but is frequently used because

it offers the highest picture quality. In

general, composite-video should be avoided because

of its poor picture quality. RGB-video should be used when the highest picture quality is required. S-Video is probably used the most because

of

its extensive support and reasonably

good picture quality.

Video Tutorial

83

22.2 NTSC vs. PAL

NTSC and PAL are standards that specify timing characteristics

of

composite-video, S-Video and RGB-video. NTSC is generally used in the United States and Japan, while PAL is generally used in Europe.

The SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter can accept either NTSC

or

PAL

as

inputs. On the SNAPplus Desktop Video Adapter NTSC output is enabled when running 640x480 graphics mode only.

22.3 Non-Interlacing

vs.

Interlacing

The video input and output

of

the SNAPplus Desktop Video

Adapter, like all Television type video, is interlaced. Inter-

laced video will flicker, which causes eye strain when

viewed for a long time.

The flicker is most apparent in horizontal lines . While lines of

that type usually

do

not appear in video generated by

VCRs and Camcorder

s,

computer generated images often

contain such lines. Thin horizontal lines in computer graph-

ics should therefore be avoided.

The VGA graphics output

of

the SNAPplus Desktop Video

Adapter

is

non-interlaced; except for 1024x768 and

1280x1024 resolutions.) Non-interlaced video will not flicker and hence is much easier for viewing - eye strain is reduced.

22.4 Write-protected VCR Tapes

Many VCR tapes are write-protected in order

to

prevent un-

authorized copying

of

this information. When viewing the

video output

of

such tapes on the SNAPplus Desktop Video

Adapter, the top portion

of

the screen may be skewed.

84 Video Tutorial

23. Technical Description

For the following technical description please refer to the block diagram on the next page.

The Video DECODER circuit allows one

of

three video inputs to be selected, and processes the selected signal into separate

RGB

signals. The video inputs can be composite,

SVideo or RGB at either PAL or NTSC rates. The decoder contains hue, saturation, brightness, contrast and gain adjustments which are software-programmable through the I2C (1-squared-C) bus.

The GENLOCK circuit generates a high frequency clock which is phase-locked to the horizontal sync

of

the incoming video. This clock is utilized by the logic to digitize the incoming video. The ADC converts the analog RGB signals into digital form. Each color channel is digitized into an eight bit value, so that each video pixel is represented by a 24-bit number. Each frame

of

video is digitized into

an

array

of

640 x 480 pixels.

The IMAGE CONTROLLER controls writing and reading of

the digitized video data into IMAGE MEMORY. The image memory is dual-ported, so that data can be simultaneously written/read through two separate channels.

Generally, the first (parallel) port is used to write ADC data into the image memory, so that the image memory simply contains a digitized replica

of

the video input. Alternatively,

the parallel port can be set up to allow PC software

to

write

or read the image memory. The second (serial) port is used ~

23

to read data out at VGA monitor rates.

~

The IMAGE CONTROLLER and memory can be configured for either

15

bit, 16-bit or 24-bit modes. As the ADCs always generate 24-bits, the image controller discards the lower bits when in the

15

or 16-bit mode. The choice

of

the mode is determined by the currently selected graphics resolution. For 640 x 480 resolutions, either

15

bit, 16-bit

or 24-bit is acceptable. However, when either 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768 graphics resolution is used,

15

or 16-bit mode

must be used.

The VGA CONTROLLER and VGA MEMORY form a high-performance VGA graphics system. This graphics controller implements all

of

the standard graphics capabili-

ties required

by

a PC, plus many additional ones.

It

is

based

on the popular Tseng Labs ET4000 architecture.

Technical Description

85

The DIGITAL MULTIPLEXER allows pixel-by-pixel switching

of

the video output between the digitized video and graphics data. The switching can be based on the graphics color

or

by

X-Y

coordinates

of

the video. The output

of the multiplexer feeds the VGA/TRUE COLOR DAC, which converts the digital video data into analog form appropriate for driving monitors.

The LINE BUFFER converts the output of the digital multiplexer from VGA monitor rates to NTSC video rates. Another VGA/TRUE COLOR DAC converts digital video data

into analog form. This video (at NTSC rates)

is

output

as

ROB, and via the S-Video ENCODER as composite or

S-

Video. The MICRO CONTROLLER implements a communication

channel for controlling selected video equipment. As an option an EXPANSION socket can be added to accommodate daughter boards. These boards contain provisions for true 24-bit graphics, video compression/decompression and a large character font ROM.

86

Technical Description

S- Video

S-Video

Input

Decoder &

Genlock

Encoder

Output

Composite

(MC1378)

Switch

(CXA1145)

Composite

Video

TDA8466

Video

Input

Output

ADC

(TDC1175) RGB Video

RGB

@

Input

Video Output

Image

Line Buffer

VGA/True

Controller

(UPD42101)

ColorDAC

(Gate- Array)

(BT473)

VGA

Digital

VGA/True

VGA

Memory

Controller

Multiplexer

Co

lor DAC

VGA

(1MBVRAM)

(Gate Array)

(BT473)

Output

(ET4000)

Expansion

RS232C Port

Connector

VKey

Optional Port

S/NTSC Video Analog Path

!i!miWll

RGB Analog Path

RS232C Port

Microcontroller

- Board Digital Logic

Personal

(8051)

-

PCBus

Computer

Optional Port

c::::::J

12 CBus

Bus

12 CBus

Technical Description

87

88

Technical Description

24. Appendix

Specifications

The SNAPplus uses industry standard hardware

to

interlace

with peripheral devices.

Video input

RGB-video, S-Video and composite-video; either PAL rates or NTSC All inputs are 75

Q.

The RGB-video and S-Video inputs

are 0.7V

p--p,

while the composite- video input is

l.0V

p--p.

The composite sync input is RS 170 and can range

from 0.7V to

5.0V.

Video input socket is a 8 pin

mini-DIN

Video output

Provides RGB-video, S-Video and composite-video at NTSC rates. NTSC output is enabled when running 640x480 graphics mode only. All outputs are

75

Q,

8 pin mini-DIN sockets.

VGA output

VGA socket is

15

pin hi-density D-subminiature

Video adjust

The following parameters are software-programmable: RGB-Video, S-Video, NTSC or PAL and

~

composite-video input selection; brightness, contrast, 2 4

hue (S-Video and composite-video only); saturation

(S-Video and composite-video only); red, green and

blue channel gains.

Video AID

Video is digitized to 15,

16

or 24 bit resolution,

up

to

a

maximum of 640x480.

Scaling

Input can be scaled from 0 to 100% in increments of approximately 2.5%.

Appendix

89

Graphics

Video input is permitted for all resolutions up to 860x600

(for resolutions exceeding 640x480 video input will not

be full-screen.)

For

resolutions exceeding 640x480, only

15/16-bit video digitization is permitted.

Resolutions:

all standard VGA resolutions 132x43, text 640x480, 32,768 or 65,536 colors 800x600, 32,768 or 65,536 colors 1024x768, 256 colors (interlaced, non-interlaced) 1280x1024,

16

color (interlaced)

Zooming

The digitized video can be zoomed (horizontally and/or vertically) by a factor

of

1 to 15.

CPU bus

16-bit ISA (EISA compatible)

Card size

3.90 x 13.0, (PC/AT compatible)

Power

15

watt maximum

Registration

FCC Class A approved; ( class B pending)

Options

One lnpuVOutput cable kit, consisting of:

One BNC type RGB-video cable One

D-sub

type RGB video cable One S-Video cable One composite-video cable

A software developer's kit -

SDK

90

Appendix

Cardinal Technologies SNAPplus User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual