[English] PDREADME.TXT MATROX GRAPHICS INC. 2001.02.22 Matrox PowerDesk for Windows 2000 Revision 5.51.005 Contents ======== - Description of this release - Installation - More information - Notes, problems, and limitations Description of this release =========================== Matrox PowerDesk software includes a display driver and display utilities. With this software, you can take full advantage of your Matrox graphics hardware and you can access additional Matrox display-related features. Installation ============ To install Matrox PowerDesk, start the "setup" program included with it, then follow the on-screen instructions. The setup program will only install software if a Matrox graphics card model supported by the setup program is installed in your computer. More information ================ For more information on Matrox PowerDesk, see the help file included with it. For information specific to your Matrox graphics card, see your Matrox or system manual. Notes, problems, and limitations ================================ - DirectDraw, Direct3D and DirectVideo support The DirectDraw driver we provide is compatible with DirectX 2 (or later) and includes Direct3D support. For our DirectDraw/Direct3D driver to be called, and benefit from hardware acceleration, Microsoft DirectX 2 (or later) MUST be installed, even for programs originally made for DirectX 1. Also, if a recent version of DirectX isn't installed, some Matrox PowerDesk features may not be available. We provide DirectX on the Matrox CD-ROM. The latest DirectX is available from the Microsoft Web site, and is included with many DirectX programs. IMPORTANT: If the DirectX setup program prompts you to replace the existing display drivers, click "No". Otherwise, the setup program installs display drivers which are not as optimized as the Matrox drivers and which do not support PowerDesk software. Note that depending on the origin of your Microsoft DirectX software, it may not include DirectVideo support. For faster playback of Indeo and Cinepak AVI files, you should install Microsoft DirectVideo support. - Matrox bus mastering This driver supports bus mastering. Bus mastering is a feature that allows expansion cards to perform tasks at the same time as your computer's CPU. If you have a fast Pentium computer (faster than 166 MHz), the display performance of most programs is improved when bus mastering is used. To use bus mastering with 3D (Direct3D/OpenGL) programs, your graphics card needs an interrupt request (IRQ). Most computers automatically assign an IRQ to graphics cards, but some do not. If your graphics card hasn't been assigned an IRQ, programs that use Matrox bus mastering may not work properly. For more information, see your Matrox or system manual. - DirectDraw and Automatic Power Management As stated in "Microsoft DirectX Release Notes", September 30, 1995, a DirectDraw game may be unable to restore properly if it is suspended by Automatic Power Management utilities. - Installation in different language versions of Windows If you install software in a language different from the language of your operating system (for example, English software on a Japanese system), you may have problems with text and dialog box controls being cut off. This is because of differences in system fonts. - OpenGL support Note the following limitations related to the OpenGL driver included with Matrox PowerDesk: - If you have a newer Matrox product or your Matrox software was provided by the manufacturer of your computer, full OpenGL support may be disabled with your Matrox display driver. For a Matrox display driver with full OpenGL support enabled, see the Matrox Web site (www.matrox.com/mga). (If your Matrox product was provided by the manufacturer of your computer, check the Web site of that manufacturer for a display driver. A display driver provided by the manufacturer of your computer is more likely to be tested with your computer model.) - Using 3D Studio MAX 2.0, you may experience problems with the viewports being improperly redrawn. If this happens, simply click in a viewport to properly update their display. This problem isn't present with version 2.5 (or later) of 3D Studio MAX. - DualHead Multi-Display mode under Windows 2000 If you have a DualHead-supporting graphics card and you apply "DualHead Multi-Display" mode under Windows 2000, this version of Windows treats the main and secondary displays of a DualHead- supporting graphics card as a single display (which the Matrox display driver divides between two monitors). As a result, these displays always use the same resolution and color palette settings. Also, in your Windows desktop, the virtual positions of these displays are always aligned next to each other. While in DualHead Multi-Display mode with a computer monitor as your secondary display, you can't adjust your secondary monitor with the Windows "Monitor" or the Matrox PowerDesk "Monitor Settings" property sheets. If your secondary monitor supports Plug-and-Play (DDC), PowerDesk automatically uses the correct maximum display resolution and refresh rate. If your secondary monitor doesn't support Plug-and-Play, make sure that the correct settings are selected under "Max. secondary resolution" on the Matrox PowerDesk "DualHead" property sheet. - Video playback with DualHead modes If you have a a DualHead supporting graphics card and you're using DualHead Multi-Display, Clone, or Zoom mode, digital video may appear as a solid color on your secondary display. This can happen if video is played using the hardware-overlay feature of your Matrox graphics card. Video played using the overlay feature is generally of higher quality but it can be viewed only on your main display. Because only one program at a time can use the overlay feature, any other program started while the overlay feature is used won't be able to use the feature. The overlay feature will be available to the first program to start after the program currently using the overlay is closed. For video that normally uses the hardware-overlay feature, you may be able to view the digital video on your secondary display by running another instance of the video player. For example, if you're viewing a file using the overlay feature with Microsoft Media Player, double-clicking on the file again starts another instance of the Media Player. This instance properly plays video on your secondary display. Then, you could close the first instance of the Media Player and still be able to view video on your secondary display. - DualHead DVDMax with a TV While viewing video with a TV using the "DualHead DVDMax" feature, you may notice occasionnal jerky video playback (dropped frames) after playing a video for a few minutes. If you view video playback with your computer monitor, this problem shouldn't occur. - 15-bit color palette support for Windows 2000 For advanced users: By default, the 15-bit color palette is unavailable for Windows 2000. If you need to use this color palette, you can make it available by adding the "User.Enable15Bpp" value to your Windows registry and then setting this value to "1". If you're adding this value, add it under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" > "SYSTEM" > "CurrentControlSet" > "Services" > "mgau" or "g200" or "g400" > "Device0". The value type is "REG_DWORD".