
                         ***************************
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                         *     (TRIDENT 9750)      *
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                         *       USER MANUAL       *
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                                                                 Ver 1.1
Notice
The information in this document is subject to change in order to improve
reliability, design, or function without prior notice and does not
represent a commitment on the part of this company.
In no event will we be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental,
or consequential damages arising out of the use or the inability to use
the product or documentation, even if advised of the possibility of such
damages.
No part of this reference manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means without the prior written permission of company.


Trademark Acknowledgments
 * 3DImage9750 and TVGA are registered trademarks of Trident
   Microsystems, Inc.
 * AutoCAD and Autoshade are trademarks of Autodesk,Inc.
 * VESA is a trademark of Video Electronics Standards Association.
 * IBM is a registered trademark and PS/2 and OS/2 are trademarks of
   International Business Machines Corp.
 * Pentium is a trademark of Intel Corp.
 * Microsoft, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Windows are registered
   trademarks of Microsoft Corp.
 * RAMDAC is a trademark of Brooktree Corporation.

All other product names or trademarks are property of their respective
owners.


FCC Compliance Statement

This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject
to the following two conditions:

(1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) this device must accept any interference received, including
    interference that may cause undesired operation.

FCC WARNING

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a
Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits
are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference
in a residential installation.
This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and,
if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause
harmful interference to radio communications.
However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a
particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference
to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the
equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the
interference by one or more of the following measures:
 * Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
 * Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
 * Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that
   to which the receiver is connected.
 * Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

Shielded cables and I/O cords must be used for this equipment to comply
with relevant FCC regulations.


Table of Contents
1.      Introduction
1.1     Features
1.1.1   Compatibility
1.1.2   Resolution and Color Selection
1.1.3   3D and 2D GUI Accelerator
1.1.4   VESA DPMS and VESA DDC2B supported
1.1.5   Virtual Screen
1.1.6   DCI and DirectDraw Supported
1.1.7   Live Video Capture
1.2     Software MPEG Playback
1.3     Extended VGA mode support
2.      Microsoft Windows 3.1
2.1     Installation
2.2     Screen Control
3.      Microsoft Windows 95
4.      Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
5.      XingMPEG Player
5.1     Installing the XingMPEG Player
6.      Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)


Section 1.  Introduction
Thank you for purchasing this 3DImage975x 3D/2D Graphical User Interface
(GUI) accelerator adapter. This adapter works with Accelerated Graphics
Port (AGP) bus of your system to bring you high resolution, true color
capability, high performance, and compatibility with most software and
hardware.
The adapter efficient video acceleration allows user to play MPEG
full-motion video CD with Software only. 3DImage975x turns your PC into a
high-powered 3D and 2D graphics-capable machine with PC display
capabilities, you can enjoy outstanding 3D performance while playing games
or adding 3D elements to design or multimedia projects.

1.1  Features
 þ Supports extensive high-performance 3D functionality.
 þ Accelerates the most frequently used 2D GUI/video operations.
 þ Supports up to 1280x1024x64K Hi-colors mode using 4MB on board.
 þ Supports up to 1024x768x64K Hi-colors mode using 2MB of video memory.
 þ Supports VESA Display Power management Signaling (DPMS) and VESA
   DDC 2b standards available on most of the VGA, SVGA and multisync
   monitor.
 þ Software MPEG playback or live video capture capable.
 þ Supports the standard IBM Feature Connector (FC) and Video Module
   Interface (VMI) Host Connector for sending graphics data to an add-on
   video controller.

1.1.1  Compatibility
This 3D/2D Graphical User Interface (GUI) accelerator adapter is IBM VGA
compatible on BIOS, register, and hardware. This adapter works only with
a Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) bus slot.

1.1.2  Resolution and Color Selection
 þ Supports up to 1024x768 in 16, 256, 32K, 64K and 16M colors non-
   interlaced.
 þ Supports 1280x1024 in 16, 256, 32K and 64K colors non-interlaced.
 þ Supports 1600x1200 in 16 and 256 colors non-interlaced.
 þ 80 column text modes in 30, 43 and 60 rows.
 þ 132 column text modes in 25, 30, 43 and 60 rows.

1.1.3  3D and 2D GUI Accelerator
Accelerates the most frequently used 2D functions in today's graphics-
intensive environments plus complete 3D GUI acceleration:
 þ Complete 3D primitive support.
 þ Texture mapping.
 þ Gouraud Shading for smooth shading.
 þ Alpha blending for transparency effects.
 þ Fog.
 þ Z-buffering at 16/32 bit-per-pixel.
 þ Page flipping for double and triple buffering for smooth animation
   effects.

1.1.4  VESA DPMS and VESA DDC2B supported
Supports VESA Display Power management Signaling (DPMS) which decreases
energy consumption when used with a monitor that meets the VESA standards
for power management. Supports VESA DDC 2B standards for automatically
selecting the correct display setup on a monitor that meets the VESA DDC
standard.

1.1.5  Virtual Screen
The Virtual Screen features takes advantage of un-used display memory by
expanding the display area into the off-screen area; this feature allows
the user to make effective use of a display screen larger than the
standard 640x480, 800x600 or 1024x768 resolutions.

1.1.6  DCI and DirectDraw Supported
Supports DCI for Windows 3.1x and DirectDraw for Windows 95 for
enhancement of display quality and playback performance during software
MPEG video playback. Both DCI for Windows 3.1x and DirectDraw for
Windows 95 are memory manger for video memory. Using such memory manager
for video manger, a program can manipulate video memory with ease, taking
full advantage of the blitting and color decompressing capabilities of
3DImage975x video hardware.

1.1.7  Live Video Capture
Live video capture is the process of accepting video data from an outside
source and writing it to the frame buffer from where it can be displayed
or stored. This process is supported by 3DImage975x through the Feature
Connector and the Video Module Interface(VMI) Host Connector.

1.2  Software MPEG Playback
The 3DImage975x support software MPEG Playback. Full-motion software
MPEG video playback through 3DImage975x's fast video accelerator is
available with the installation of a software MPEG player. You can use
XingMPEG Player, MediaMatics MPEG Arcade Player or other program to
drive the 3DImage975x DCI hardware to decode MPEG *.mpg, *.mpv, *.vbs
and Video CD *.dat format CD titles, gets high performance of MPEG full-
motion Video playback. (Refer 5.0 section XingMPEG Player introduction)

1.3  Extended VGA mode support

 Mode #   Resolution-Colors    Mem Req.    Text Res     Mode Type
======== ===================  ==========  ==========   ===========
  50h        640x480-16           2M        80x43          Text
  51h        640x473-16           2M        80x43          Text
  52h        640x480-16           2M        80x60          Text
  53h       1056x350-16           2M       132x25          Text
  54h       1056x480-16           2M       132x30          Text
  55h       1056x473-16           2M       132x43          Text
  56h       1056x480-16           2M       132x60          Text
  57h       1188x350-16           2M       132x25          Text
  58h       1188x480-16           2M       132x30          Text
  59h       1188x473-16           2M       132x43          Text
  5Ah       1188x480-16           2M       132x60          Text
  5Bh        800x600-16           2M       100x75         Graph
  5Ch        640x400-256          2M        80x25         Graph
  5Dh        640x480-256          2M        80x30         Graph
  5Eh        800x600-256          2M       100x37         Graph
  5Fh       1024x768-16           2M       128x48         Graph
  60h        720x480-256          2M        90x30         Graph
  61h        720x480-16M          2M        90x30         Graph
  62h       1024x768-256          2M       128x48         Graph
  63h      1280x1024-16           2M       160x64         Graph
  64h      1280x1024-256          2M       160x64         Graph
  65h      1600x1200-16           2M       200x75         Graph
  66h      1600x1200-256          2M       200x75         Graph
  6Bh        640x400-16M          2M        80x25         Graph
  6Ch        640x480-16M          2M        80x30         Graph
  6Dh        800x600-16M          2M       100x37         Graph
  6Eh       1024x768-16M          4M       128x48         Graph
70/1h        720x480-32K/64K      2M        90x30         Graph
72/3h        640x400-32K/64K      2M        80x25         Graph
74/5h        640x480-32K/64K      2M        80x30         Graph
76/7h        800x600-32K/64K      2M       100x37         Graph
78/9h       1024x768-32K/64K      2M       128x48         Graph
7A/Bh      1280x1024-32K/64K      4M       160x64         Graph
7C/Dh      1600x1200-32K/64K      4M       160x64         Graph


Section 2.  Microsoft Windows 3.1

2.1  Installation
The graphic installation program (TINSTALL) supports a simple 6 step
installation procedure for the display driver setup program, the power
management program and the UNinstall program.

To use TINSTALL, follow the 6 steps below:
 1. Ensure that MS Windows 3.1 is up and running properly, using the
    standard VGA driver.
 2. Select the MAIN group in Program Manager.
 3. Click on FILE or press ALT + F.
 4. Click on RUN or press R to select command line.
 5. Type in X:\VGA\TRIDENT\9750\WIN31\TINSTALL and press ENTER.
 6. A menu will appear, presenting a choice of Express Installation or
    Custom Installation.

Express Installation
This is a quick and decision free installation. Display drivers will be
copied into the TRIDENT.SGI directory and Utility files will be copied
into the TRIDENT.UTL directory. Once all files are copied, a program group
called DISPLAY DRIVER AND UTILITIES will be created.

Custom Installation
Custom Installation allows control over file storage and in what program
group the icons are placed. The first dialog box that appears shows the
default directory to which the display drivers will be copied. To change
the directory name select the default name, delete it and then enter the
desired directory name.
Once the desired directory name is selected, continue the installation
procedure by selecting CONTINUE, or by pressing ENTER. The next dialog
box displays a summary of where files are stored. Select CONTINUE to copy
the drivers and utilities files. When all files are copied, the program
will present a choice of program groups where the icons will be created.
Create a new group to place the utility icons or select from pre-existing
groups (e.g. main, applications, accessories etc.).
When all necessary files are copied and a group name is selected, the
TINSTALL program will create three icons:
 a. Screen Control (Used to configure display drivers).
 b. DPMS (Used for power management configurations).
 c. UNinstall (Used to delete the installed TRIDENT drivers).

NOTE: Different "display driver set" versions cannot be installed to the
same directory name.
"Display driver sets" of the same version number will replace the existing
one.

2.2  Screen Control
The Screen Control panel contains controls for setting screen resolution,
color depth, font size, and refresh rate. Not all combinations of screen
resolution, color depth, font size, and refresh rate are attainable.
Color depths of 16, 256, 64K, or 16.7M colors can be selected by clicking
next to the desired option. Color depth determines the number of colors
that may be simultaneously displayed on the screen. The selected color
depth determines the possible resolutions.
Screen resolutions of 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024 or 1600x1200
can be selected by clicking next to the available options. The virtual
screen size is automatically adjusted to be at least as large as the
selected screen resolution.
Available refresh rates are dependent on the selected color depth and
resolution. The "Back to Default" option is used to reset the refresh rate
to the factory default value in case your monitor does not support a high
refresh rate.
Configuring the Display Driver
 þ Select the color depth first.
 þ Select the resolution.
 þ Select the font size (if available as an option).
 þ Select the refresh rate.
 þ Click on OK. If the current driver does not support the selected
   configuration, Windows will have to be restarted.


Section 3.  Microsoft Windows 95

The following steps describe how to install Windows 95 display drivers:
 1. Ensure that MS Windows 95 is up and running properly using the Trident
    SVGA driver that it has detected.
 2. Open the "My Computer" program group and select the "Control Panel"
    icon.
 3. Select the "Display" icon and then select the "Settings" page.
 4. Select either the "Change Display Type" or the "Advanced Properties"
    selection bar, and then select the "Change" button next to Adapter
    Type.
 5. On the "Select Device" page, select the "Have Disk" button to install
    the Trident display driver from the CD title.
 6. After the "Have Disk" button is selected, an "Install From Disk"
    window will appear. Select the "Browse" button to browse the directory
    "X:\VGA\Trident\9750\WIN95" of your CD drive, where X: stands for the
    drive letter of your CD drive in your system.
 7. Once in this directory, the files TRIDENT.INF will appear under file
    name list. Select "OK" to return to the "Install From Disk" windows.
    Under the statement "Copy manufacturer's files from", the line
    "X:\VGA\Trident\9750\WIN95" should appear. Select "OK" to start
    installing the driver files from the CD drive.
 8. After the files has been copied from the CD drive to the hard drive, a
    "Select device" window will appear. Under Models, the line "Trident
    Image 975x linear accelerated for AGP" will now be listed.
 9. Select the "OK" button to close the "Select Device" window and to
    select the "Color Palette", "Desktop Area" and "Refresh Rate" of your
    choice under the Trident accelerated driver.

Once the desired color palette (the number of colors), desktop area
(resolution) and refresh rate has been chosen, the Windows 95 system will
be re-started using the Trident accelerated driver.


Section 4.  Microsoft Windows NT 4.0

The following steps describe how to install Windows NT 4.0 display drivers:
 1. Select the "Display" icon in control panel and then select the
    "Settings" page.
 2. Select "Display Type..." button in the "Settings" page.
 3. Select "Change..." button from the Adapter type section.
 4. Select "Have Disk..." button from the Change Display page.
 5. Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 will prompt you for the correct path where
    the Trident drivers are located. Enter the path
    "X:\VGA\TRIDENT\9750\NT40" where X: is the drive where CD of the
    3DImage975x Utility Drivers CD title has been inserted.
 6. If the driver "Trident Video Accelerator" is listed under the Display
    list, Select the "OK" button to continue.
 7. Once the driver files are copied, Restart Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 for
    the changes to take effect.
 8. Select the desired color palette (the number of colors), desktop area
    (resolution), and refresh frequency in the settings page of Display
    Properties and then select the "Test" button in the same page to
    determine whether your selection works properly. Select "Apply" to
    active the selected mode.


Section 5.  XingMPEG Player

The XingMPEG player contains an MPEG software decoder and titles allowing
you to use Image975x to run MPEG full-motion video without a hardware
MPEG decoder adapter.
The XingMPEG Player application is perfect for watching your favorite
clips and VideoCD movies, through its elegant control panel interface,
the XingMPEG Player gives you more advanced features than other media
players including zoom, volume control, files information and frame
capture.
Before installing the XingMPEG Player, make sure the following hardware
and software is installed and working:
 * Intel Pentium-100MHz or higher computer with at least 8MB of RAM.
 * Microsoft Windows 3.1 or higher.
 * A Hard disk with at least 3MB of free space.
 * A sound card with a Windows wave audio driver is optional.

5.1  Installing the XingMPEG Player
 1. Turn on your computer and start Windows.
 2. Insert the Software MPEG (XingMPEG Player) diskette into your drive
    A:.
 3. Choose "Run" from Program Manager's File menu in Windows 3.1 or from
    the "Start" menu in Windows 95.
 4. In the "Run" dialogue box type the drive letter of your disk drive and
    "Setup" (e.g. A:\SETUP).
 5. Follow the setup program's on-screen instructions.


Section 6.  Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1þ Why do we need 3D graphics capability in our PC?

A1þ 3D technology is becoming increasingly important (and common) not
    only in games, but also in other applications such as VRML (Virtual
    Reality Modeling Language), which allows 3D scene descriptions in Web
    applications. 3D technology is used for image editing, modeling, and
    an increasing number of in home and business applications. In games,
    as well as other applications, 3D acceleration not only allows better
    visual qualities and more realistic scenery attributes than software
    alone, but it also allows a higher frame rate, which translates into
    a more interactive experience for the end users.

Q2þ What does "Rendering Engine" mean?

A2þ "Rendering Engine" generically applies to the part of the graphics
    engine that draws 3D primitives, usually triangles. In most
    implementations, the rendering engine is responsible for interpolation
    of edges and "filling in" the triangle.

Q3þ What does the set-up engine do in a graphics controller?

A3þ A set-up engine allows drivers to pass triangles in the form of raw
    vertex information; whereas, most common designs force triangles to be
    pre-processed for the rendering engine in terms of delta values for
    edges, color, and texture.

Q4þ Why does a 3D graphics chip need to have both a rendering engine and a
    setup engine?

A4þ Any "3D application", a game, VRML, or modeling package, can benefit
    from 3D rendering. This is especially true of applications that use
    texturing extensively, because texturing and texture filtering are
    very intensive operations at the pixel level in terms of CPU
    operations and demands for memory bandwidth. Without a set-up engine
    in a graphics controller, the CPU has to calculate the delta values
    for edges, color, and textures; the drivers need to handle ten (10)
    times more extensive data. This results in slower 3D pipeline
    operations between the CPU and the graphics controller.

Q5þ If we use powerful CPUs, such as a Pentium 200, can a standard 2D
    graphics card achieve 3D performance?

A5þ Yes and no. Software rendering can take advantage of "tricks" learned
    by force of necessity through years of trial and error. With such
    stratagems, the speed of software rendering for simple scenes can
    approach that of low-level hardware 3D rendering. On the other hand,
    as scenes become more complex (or frame sizes become larger), there
    are conflicts between using the CPU for high-level game logic,
    geometry, lighting, and rendering, all of which increase their
    demands. No current CPU or system can perform advanced quality-
    enhancements (bilinear filtering and alpha blending) in real time.
    Even general case texture mapping with RGB lighting is too much for
    the current CPU generation.

Q6þ What does "software 3D" mean ?

A6þ Software 3D is generally used to mean using non-specific (2D) hardware
    in conjunction with the CPU to render for 3D applications. Some of
    these techniques allow usable 3D applications when high-powered and/or
    MMX-equipped CPU's are employed along with special-case software
    optimization techniques. As stated above, SW 3D can achieve credible
    results with today's (software optimized) applications, but the rising
    popularity of good 3D hardware at the consumer price level is
    inexorably compelling the public to expect hardware level scene
    enhancements and frame rates.

Q7þ What is 3DImage9750?

A7þ The 3DImage9750 is one of the first of the "second generation" 3D
    controllers which will catapult 3D applications of all types into the
    PC mainstream by providing the feature set and performance necessary
    for compelling 3D applications. It does this by combining proven VGA,
    video, and graphics acceleration with an advanced 3D rendering core
    including a set-up engine and a full 3D feature set.

Q8þ Why should the customer choose Trident 3DImage9750 over other
    alternatives?

A8þ As stated above, the 3DImage9750 is second generation. This means that
    it combines the full feature sets often seen in first generation
    designs with the essential elements that were missing in those
    designs:
    * High performance 3D achieved by innovative design.
    * Careful attention to system level integration.
    * Aggressive use of existing and recently developed technology, such
      as single-cycle EDO and SGRAM memory interfaces.
    Though it is possible that individual competitive parts may beat the
    3DImage9750 in isolated areas of comparison, the 3DImage9750 represents
    an overall competency in all areas, with excellence in some important
    ones, such as 3D and video, that make it the best choice on the market
    today for both consumer and commercial applications.
