Got the wrong card?

[Arthur Hagen]

I just bought an ATI X800pro AGP to replace a Matrox Parhelia, mostly
because the Parhelia doesn't have true DX9 and OpenGL 1.4+ support, but also
to get a speed boost.

However, I have two problems, both related to dual-head use with two
analogue monitors.

1: Multi-head co-dependency.
Whenever doing mode changes on the primary display, the second display
flickers. Same if hitting the "Advanced" button in the "Settings" tab of
the Windows Display properties -- the second display flickers for several
seconds, before the advanced settings show up on the primary screen. Is
there really only a single RAMDAC on this card, or something else that
causes this?

2: Video overlay in independent mode.
Is there really no way to run one resolution on the primary while displaying
full screen video overlay on a secondary monitor in a different resolution?
3rd party software or anything -- if this can't be done, I've just wasted
$400 and need to put the Parhelia back in, much as I'd hate to.

If it's a "negative" on question #2, and I can't do this with the ATI X800,
what reasonably current card *can* I do this with? ATI or otherwise?

Regards,

 

[Geoff]

I just bought an ATI X800pro AGP to replace a Matrox Parhelia, mostly
because the Parhelia doesn't have true DX9 and OpenGL 1.4+ support,
but also to get a speed boost.

However, I have two problems, both related to dual-head use with two
analogue monitors.

1: Multi-head co-dependency.
Whenever doing mode changes on the primary display, the second display
flickers. Same if hitting the "Advanced" button in the "Settings"
tab of the Windows Display properties -- the second display flickers
for several seconds, before the advanced settings show up on the
primary screen. Is there really only a single RAMDAC on this card,
or something else that causes this?

just the way the driver detects displays connected i think

2: Video overlay in independent mode.
Is there really no way to run one resolution on the primary while
displaying full screen video overlay on a secondary monitor in a
different resolution? 3rd party software or anything -- if this can't
be done, I've just wasted $400 and need to put the Parhelia back in,
much as I'd hate to.

i run powerdvd on my second screen (tv)
althoughht atm the overlay doesn't wor for some reason, maybe it's the
driver ver i have atm (cat 4.12)
i'v had it working fine in the past where i play games on primary and watch
dvd on secondary, full screen, power dvd screws up the ratio on xvid or
divx, i forget which ...
i'm using media player 6.4 (mplayer2.exe) with all the bits turned off, put
tv in overlay mode, can't see any edges

oh ya i have 9800 pro, not x800

 

[Arthur Hagen]

i run powerdvd on my second screen (tv)
althoughht atm the overlay doesn't wor for some reason, maybe it's the
driver ver i have atm (cat 4.12)
i'v had it working fine in the past where i play games on primary and
watch dvd on secondary, full screen, power dvd screws up the ratio on
xvid or divx, i forget which ...
i'm using media player 6.4 (mplayer2.exe) with all the bits turned
off, put tv in overlay mode, can't see any edges

oh ya i have 9800 pro, not x800

More to the point, you have a TV, and not a second monitor.
The problem seems to be that the overlay *only* works with a second monitor
if the monitors are in clone mode, and not independent mode.

 

[Earth Angel]

More to the point, you have a TV, and not a second monitor.
The problem seems to be that the overlay *only* works with a second
monitor
if the monitors are in clone mode, and not independent mode.

Are you using the standard ati control panel or the hideous catalyst control
centre? I found that I couldn't output at a different resolution to a second
screen when using the catalyst control centre whilst I could when using the
old standard ati control panel.... worth a look if you aren't already using
it...

 

[Arthur Hagen]

Are you using the standard ati control panel or the hideous catalyst
control centre? I found that I couldn't output at a different
resolution to a second screen when using the catalyst control centre
whilst I could when using the old standard ati control panel....
worth a look if you aren't already using it...

I used the non-.NET "old" style driver install -- both the one on the CD and
then the latest one from ATI. Coming from a Matrox Parhelia, I knew all
about the pains and bloat of .NET and wanted to avoid it.
..NET is evil and must be destroyed.
In the "Advanced" section of the display properties, the Overlay tab had
everything greyed out, and a notice that it would only work in "clone mode".
Running my primary at 1600x1200 and my secondary at 1152x864, I could get no
overlay to open on the secondary, no matter what I tried. Yet, I was not
allowed to drag overlay capable apps to the second monitor either (to
full-screen them there as a sad workaround), which means that the overlay
*limitations* are active, at least...

Anyhow, this is all water under the bridge now -- the ATI X800 Pro card is
back in its box I'm back to using the old Parhelia card until I can find a
card that really works for me. Too bad that marketing material and reviews
are very limited on multi-head specifics and limitations, and tend to focus
entirely on frame rates and 3d quality (in which this card was, I admit, a
killer. The only thing I didn't like was the reduced quality in 3DMark 2001
SE[1] and apparently not allowing multiple ICC profiles (this is only a
problem under W2k, as XP is "dumbed down" and doesn't allow it in the OS).
But all in all, a wonderful card, if it wasn't for the problems that makes
it unusable for *me*. I'm sure that most people would have a really good
experience with it. For single-head use it must be awesome.


[1] The headlights of the SUV in "car chase", for example, were visibly
reduced to a grid, and in "dragothic", it skipped re-drawing some objects at
every frame, causing visual stuttering but large numbers. This was
especially noticable with the church spire and people who got burned, both
of which would jerk several pixels at a time in a 16mm film fashion, despite
the claim of frame rates of 200+. This card is really fast enough that that
kind of cheat^H^H^H^H^Hoptimising isn't necessary.

Regards,

 

[ewitte]

In the "Advanced" section of the display properties, the Overlay tab
had

everything greyed out, and a notice that it would only work in "clone mode".
Running my primary at 1600x1200 and my secondary at 1152x864, I could get no
overlay to open on the secondary, no matter what I tried. Yet, I was not
allowed to drag overlay capable apps to the second monitor either (to
full-screen them there as a sad workaround), which means that the overlay
*limitations* are active, at least...

AFAIK most drivers are written so that the overlay will only work on
the monitor set as primary. This is a Macrovision (copyright) issue
and is done on purpose. I have no clue which companies/drivers don't
follow these guidelines. They are all afraid of what will happen if
they don't kiss MPAA's butt. Perhaps another workstation level card
such as a Quadro or FireGL?

Eric

 

[cowboyz]

AFAIK most drivers are written so that the overlay will only work on
the monitor set as primary. This is a Macrovision (copyright) issue
and is done on purpose. I have no clue which companies/drivers don't
follow these guidelines. They are all afraid of what will happen if
they don't kiss MPAA's butt. Perhaps another workstation level card
such as a Quadro or FireGL?

Eric

I don't know how to fix this but for what it is worth I used to run a
GeForce 4 MX 460 and play DVD in a small window on my primary monitor and
have it overlaid(sp?) overlay... full screen on the secondary.; Since
changing to a 9800pro I can't do this. My problem is exactly as you
describe. If the monitors are set to clone mode then it will overlay full
screen to monitor 2 but not otherwise. Bit of a pain really.