1. nt4_454.exe Driver
2. readment.txt File Contents

readment.txt Driver File Contents (nt4_454.exe)

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README.TXT                  MATROX GRAPHICS INC.                    2000.04.25

                    Matrox PowerDesk for Windows NT 4.0
                              Rev. 4.54.031


Contents
========

- Release description
- Installation
- Using Matrox PowerDesk
- Hardware-accelerated 3D
- Notes, problems and limitations
- Matrox TV output
- DualHead notes


Release description
===================

This is the Matrox Windows NT Display Driver. It supports Microsoft
Windows NT for x86 CPU's, version 4.0 (Build 1381 -- or later).

This product includes:

- Display Driver
- Matrox PowerDesk for Windows NT 4.0

The display driver supports up to 16 graphics chips at a time. If one of
those chips has DualHead support, the display driver supports up to 17
displays at a time. (Note: A graphics card may have more than one graphics
chip. Also, the display driver must support each model of graphics card
installed in your computer.)


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.

If you're installing this software on many systems, there are setup options
to partially automate the procedure. For more information, see the
"setup_un.doc" file included with this software.


Using Matrox PowerDesk
======================

Changing resolution, selecting a monitor, and using the Matrox PowerDesk is
covered in the "online.doc" file.  You can view this file with WordPad.


Hardware-accelerated 3D
=======================

For 3D hardware acceleration, the Matrox Windows NT 4.0 display driver
supports
the OpenGL interface with 2 driver types -- MCD (Mini Client Driver) and ICD
(Installable Client Driver). The Matrox Millennium, Millennium II, Mystique,
Mystique 220, and G100-based graphics cards have MCD support. The Matrox
G200-based, G400-based and later graphics cards have ICD support. (An ICD has
more potential for optimization than an MCD.)

3D hardware acceleration has the following restrictions:

- Currently no acceleration is available when multiple cards are
  in use.

- The MCD/ICD does not support 8bpp (256 colors) and 24bpp (16777216
  colors) modes. 16bpp (64K colors) and 32bpp (True Color) modes are the
  ones that can be hardware-accelerated.

- Limitations to the available resolutions are to be expected. All
  3D modes require extra memory to handle double buffering and/or
  Z-buffering, and this memory is no longer available for display.


Notes, problems and limitations
===============================

- Computers with more than one PCI bus

  It is possible that a switch to a full-screen Command Prompt, or any
  change of mode, will result in a blue-screen crash if a card is
  installed on a PCI bus other than bus 0. The problem is under
  investigation.  Moving the card to a different PCI slot is a possible
  workaround.

  There are systems where Windows NT reports conflicts between adapters
  installed beyond the PCI bridge.  In this case, the Matrox
  miniport driver cannot access its own card. If your system appears
  unable to find the card, try moving it to a different PCI slot.

  Installing Microsoft Service Pack 3 (or later) for Windows NT 4.0 should
  fix many of these problems.

- DirectDraw with virtual desktops

  Some DirectDraw programs don't work properly with virtual desktops.
  We recommend you run DirectDraw programs with a normal desktop.

- 3D-Maze screen saver

  Display problems may appear while using the "3D-Maze" screen saver.
  These may happen after Microsoft Service Pack 2 for Windows NT 4.0 is
  installed. These display problems are apparently fixed by Service
  Pack 3 (or later).

- Running Winstone 97

  The CenterPOPUP feature should be disabled (which is the default
  setting) when running the Winstone 97 benchmark. Some tests may
  report a time-out error if CenterPOPUP is used.

- Limitation with multiple graphics cards

  Windows NT 4.0 supports a maximum of about 280 different display
  modes (combinations of resolution, color palette and refresh rate
  settings). You may encounter this limit if you have more than one
  Matrox graphics card installed in your computer.

  If the Matrox "VESA settings" option button is selected when there
  are multiple Matrox cards in your computer, you're even more
  likely to encounter the Windows NT 4.0 limit in the number of
  display modes. This is because the "VESA settings" option supports
  several different refresh rates for each display resolution and
  color palette setting.

  If you have more than one Matrox graphics card in your computer, we
  recommend you not use the "VESA settings" option. Note that changing
  your refresh rate through the Microsoft "Display Properties" dialog
  box activates the "VESA settings" option.

- 3D Studio MAX 1.2

  If you have problems running 3D Studio Max 1.2 using the Matrox
  HEIDI driver, try disabling the "Use bus mastering" check box under
  "General settings". To access this check box, click "Start" ->
  "Programs"-> "Matrox PowerDesk" -> "Matrox Display Properties" ->
  "Performance".

- 3D Studio MAX 2.0

  Switching between HEIDI software emulation and OpenGL acceleration
  while 3D Studio Max 2.0 is running, may cause the viewports to
  flicker while playing animations. This problem may also happen if
  display settings (resolution or color palette) are changed while
  3D Studio Max is running. If you experience these problems, try
  closing 3D Studio Max, changing your display settings (resolution or
  color palette), and then restarting 3D Studio MAX.

- 15-bit color palette support

  A 15-bit color palette is no longer supported.

- Multi-display desktop support

  With a multi-display desktop, all displays use the same color palette and
  display resolution. The maximum display resolution you can select is
  determined by the display with the highest maximum display resolution.

  If a display in your multi-display desktop doesn't support a selected
  display resolution, that display will automatically use a virtual display.
  With a "virtual display", parts of your "display area" are off-screen. You
  can move your mouse pointer to the edge of the screen to move the visible
  part of your virtual display. This virtual display feature is similar to
  using the Matrox zoom (PixelTOUCH) feature.

  Note: The "virtual display" feature isn't available with the secondary
  display of a DualHead-supporting graphics card. If a secondary display is
  part of your multi-display desktop, the maximum display resolution you can
  select is limited by the maximum display resolution of your secondary
  display. For more information on DualHead, see "DualHead notes".

  Software monitor settings help determine the maximum display resolution
  for each display. If software monitor settings aren't properly selected for
  all displays, one or more displays may become garbled or unusable if an
  unsupported display resolution is selected. For more information on
  selecting software monitor settings, see the online PowerDesk guide
  (online.doc).

- Video playback with multi-display mode

  In multi-display mode, digital video playback may be more limited than in 
  single-display mode. Specifically, some DVD or video playback programs may 
  not start at all or playback with lower quality. You may be able to run the 
  program and/or improve playback quality by closing the program, switching to 
  single-display mode, and then restarting the program. For more information 
  on switching to single-display mode, see other Matrox documentation.

  This limitation may not apply to "DualHead Multi-Display" mode. For more 
  information, see "DualHead notes" in this file.

- OpenGL support

  Note the following limitations related to the OpenGL driver included with
  Matrox PowerDesk:

    - OpenGL support may not be included in some versions of Matrox PowerDesk.
      For a version of Matrox PowerDesk with OpenGL support enabled, see
      the Matrox Web site (www.matrox.com/mga).

    - Under Windows NT 4.0, OpenGL acceleration isn't supported with
      Matrox MMS (Multi-Monitor Series) graphics cards or if you have more
      than one Matrox graphics card installed in your computer.

    - With DualHead-supporting graphics cards, OpenGL acceleration is
      available while using "DualHead Multi-Display" mode under
      Windows NT 4.0, (as long as there isn't another graphics card installed
      in your computer).

    - 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 3.0 of 3D Studio Max.)

- System memory requirements

  Because of a limitation in Windows NT 4.0, you may experience problems
  if your computer doesn't have more system memory than the total amount
  of graphics memory used in your computer. To determine the amount of
  graphics memory used in your computer, add the total amount of graphics
  memory on each installed Matrox graphics card.

  Depending on your total amount of graphics memory, here are some
  recommended amounts of system memory for Windows NT 4.0:

      Graphics memory  |   System memory
          (total)      |   (recommended)
    -------------------+------------------
           32 MB       |   64 MB or more
           64 MB       |  128 MB or more
          128 MB       |  192 MB or more
          160 MB       |  256 MB or more

- Full-screen DOS support with multiple graphics chip

  If you have more than 10 graphics chips in your system (for example, 3
  Matrox MMS-Quad cards), your system may stop responding when running a
  DOS program in full-screen mode. If your DOS program supports it, run it
  in a DOS window.


Matrox TV output
================

Certain models of Matrox graphics cards support TV output. With TV output
support, you can view or record your computer display with a TV or video
recorder connected to your graphics card.

Recommendation
--------------
- While playing games using TV output, we recommend you use a 640 x 480
  display resolution. This is because the resolution capabilities of TVs are
  lower than most computer monitors. If you use a higher display resolution
  (800 x 600 or 1024 x 768), the display on your TV may not look as sharp as
  the display of your computer monitor -- that is, some of the extra detail
  may be harder to see on your TV.

- For Matrox G100/G200 graphics cards with TV ouput support:
  Matrox default advanced TV output settings are good for viewing most
  computer graphics (for example, computer games or your Windows desktop) on
  most TVs. Based on broadcast standards, there are advanced TV output
  settings that are better suited for viewing full-screen video (for example,
  from a video file). These settings are:

  NTSC
     Brightness : 180
     Contrast   : 234
     Saturation : 137
     Hue        : 0

  PAL
     Brightness : 167
     Contrast   : 255
     Saturation : 138
     Hue        : 0

  Note: For ideal settings, you may also need to adjust the settings on your
  TV. The default brightness, contrast, saturation and hue settings on most
  consumer video devices are higher than broadcast standards. These settings
  are usually OK for viewing video but may not look OK with computer graphics.
  (This is why Matrox default TV output settings are lower than what's ideal
  for video.) For more information on how to adjust settings on your TV, see
  your TV manual.

More information
----------------
For more information on display settings, see your Matrox manual and online
documentation. For information on how to change the display resolution of a
game you're using, see its documentation.

Note: The Matrox zoom and virtual desktop features aren't supported in TV
output mode. Also, TV output mode isn't supported if you have more than one
Matrox graphics card in your computer.

Note: For TV output with full-screen DOS display modes under Windows NT 4.0,
only text display modes (02h, 03h) are supported.


DualHead notes
==============

Certain Matrox graphics cards can use one graphics chip to control two
separate displays -- this is the Matrox "DualHead" feature. If you have a
DualHead-supporting graphics card, note the following under Windows NT 4.0:

- DualHead software controls (on the Matrox PowerDesk "DualHead" property
  sheet) are only available if, when Windows NT 4.0 restarts, a secondary
  display is connected to your DualHead-supporting graphics card. For more
  information on DualHead software controls, see context-sensitive help.

- The "VESA settings" option isn't available when you're using a TV as your
  secondary display.

- With the "DualHead Multi-Display" feature, DirectDraw and OpenGL
  acceleration is available for the main and secondary displays of your
  DualHead-supporting graphics card.

- With the "DualHead Multi-Display" feature, all displays in your system
  may be limited by the display capabilities of the secondary display of
  your DualHead-supporting graphics card. Specifically:

  - Only a 16- or 32-bit color palette is available.

  - The Matrox zoom feature (PixelTOUTCH) is unavailable.

  - The mouse pointer is drawn entirely by the software. As a result, the
    mouse pointer may flicker or disappear while it's in an area of the
    display that's being redrawn quickly (for example, a video window).

  - Because the secondary display doesn't support the "virtual display"
    feature, the maximum display resolution of a multi-display desktop is
    limited by the maximum display resolution of the secondary display.

- If you have 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 remain unavailable to that program until 
  it's 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. 

- The "DualHead Clone" feature is unavailable if your DualHead-supporting
  graphics card isn't controlling the primary display of your computer.
  The "primary display" of your computer is the one that first displays
  information when your computer restarts. For information on how to change
  which graphics card controls your primary display, see your system manual.

- With the "DualHead Clone" feature, both the main and secondary
  display of your DualHead-supporting graphics card use the same monitor
  settings (specifically, the same vertical refresh rate).

  If your secondary display is a TV, the vertical refresh rate is determined
  by the TV standard selected on the Matrox PowerDesk "Monitor" property
  sheet (60 Hz for NTSC, 50 Hz for PAL).

  If your secondary display is a computer monitor, the "Monitor" property
  sheet isn't available. In this case, use the "Refresh Frequency" control
  on the "Settings" property sheet to change your vertical refresh rate. If
  you select a refresh rate or display resolution that isn't supported by
  either display, one or both displays may become garbled or unusable.

- With the "DualHead Clone" feature, the virtual desktop feature is
  unavailable.