The 3dfx Hub |

To open the 3dfx Hub, simply double-click on the 3dfx Tools TaskMan icon in the System Tray. You could also open the 3dfx Hub by right-clicking on the 3dfx Tools TaskMan icon and selecting "3dfx Hub" from the pop-up menu.

The 3dfx Hub resembles the Windows Display/Advanced Properties dialog box but does not include the standard Windows pages from that dialog box. Instead, the 3dfx Hub collects together only the 3dfx Tools pages for easy and direct access to the 3dfx Tools features and options. The pages in the 3dfx Hub are:

Advanced Features Page | - | Select the specific 3D acceleration features required by your 3D software.
Anti-Aliasing Page | - | Select the best combination of processing power and image quality for your specific 3D requirements.
Color Page | - | Adjust the Gamma levels and other display features of your Voodoo card.
Info Page | - | View detailed information about your Voodoo card, its features, driver and BIOS versions, and the 3dfx Tools software.

3dfx Advanced Features Page |

Select the "3dfx Advanced Features" tab to open the "3dfx Advanced Features" page, shown here…

The "3dfx Advanced Features" page of the 3dfx Hub

NOTE: Changing the settings on the "3dfx Advanced Features" page could affect the visual quality or display performance of your Voodoo card with some software. You should only make changes to these settings if you are sure they are necessary for the proper functioning of the software you are using.

Click on the small "+" to the left of an entry or on the name of the entry to view the option for that item. Click on the name of the option to see its current setting, and then click on the setting shown there to change the value for that option. Various options and settings may be listed depending on your model of the Voodoo card, including:

Direct3D Options

- Alpha-Blending
- 3D Filter Quality
- Anti-Aliasing

OpenGL (and Glide) Options

- Splash Screen
- Legacy Texture Compression
- Alpha-Blending
- 3D Filter Quality
- MIP Map Dithering
- Triple Buffering
- Rendering Color-depth
- Maximum Buffered Frames
- Anti-Aliasing

3dfx Anti-Aliasing Page |

Select the "3dfx Anti-Aliasing" tab to open the "3dfx Anti-Aliasing" page, shown here…

The "3dfx Anti-Aliasing" page of the 3dfx Hub

NOTE: Anti-Aliasing (AA) options are dependant upon the specific model of the Voodoo card installed in your system, so all of the options shown here may not be available for your card. For example, the Voodoo4 card does not support 4-sample AA.

Use the "Direct3D" and "OpenGL" buttons to assign different Anti-Aliasing options for use by your Direct3D and OpenGL (or Glide) programs. Be sure to use the "Apply" button to activate the individual settings for each 3D API separately.

Anti-Aliasing (Voodoo4) - Two sub-samples are used per pixel to fill-in the jagged edges of lines and smooth the appearance of curves for a more pleasing and realistic visual image by taking multiple samples of a scene and blending them together. Enable AA to improve image quality. Disable AA to improve 3D framerates.

- Single chip only - Compatibility mode (for troubleshooting, if necessary).
- 2-sample AA - High performance hardware mode with 2-sample Anti-Aliasing for improved image quality.

Anti-Aliasing (Voodoo5) - Two or four sub-samples are used per pixel to fill-in the jagged edges of lines and smooth the appearance of curves for a more pleasing and realistic visual image by taking multiple samples of a scene and blending them together. Enable AA, or increase from 2-sample AA to 4-sample AA, to improve image quality. Disable AA, or reduce from 4-sample AA to 2-sample AA, to improve 3D performance.

- Single chip only - Compatibility mode (for troubleshooting, if necessary).
- Fastest Performance - Maximum hardware performance with no Anti-Aliasing.
- 2-sample AA - High performance hardware mode with 2-sample Anti-Aliasing for improved image quality.
- 4-sample AA - Normal hardware performance with 4-sample Anti-Aliasing for the best image quality.

3dfx Color Page |

Select the "3dfx Color" tab to open the "3dfx Color" page, shown here…

The "3dfx Color" page of the 3dfx Hub

Gamma Settings - The controls in the "Gamma Settings" group allow you to increase or decrease the color brightness levels of your display. If your display seems too dark or too bright, move the Gamma slider controls to the left to decrease the Gamma levels or to the right to increase the Gamma levels. If you need to adjust the relative color levels for your display, then remove the check from the "Lock Gamma" slider controls to move the Gamma slider controls for each color separately (R = Red, G = Green, B = Blue). The default Gamma Setting is 1.00 for each color.

You can adjust the Gamma settings for your Windows Desktop itself, or you can separately adjust the Gamma settings to use for your Direct3D or Glide/OpenGL applications. Please note that any Gamma adjustments you select for your Direct3D or Glide/OpenGL applications will only be used when such programs are running in full-screen mode. Direct3D or Glide/OpenGL applications running in a window on your Desktop will use your Desktop Gamma settings.

Selection - The four options in the "Selection" group allow you to choose which set of the Voodoo card's features you want to change. When the "Desktop" option is selected, you can change the Voodoo card's Gamma Settings for your Windows desktop environment itself. Please note that this option only affects the non-3D functions of Microsoft's DirectX.

Desktop - This option allows you to change the Gamma Settings, Contrast, or Brightness for your Windows Desktop itself.

Direct3D - This option allows you to change the Gamma Settings for your Direct3D applications (when run in full-screen mode).

Glide / OpenGL - This option allows you to change the Gamma Settings for your Glide and OpenGL applications (when run in full-screen mode).

Video Overlay - Select this option to change the Gamma Settings, Contrast, or Brightness for your Video Overlay applications.

Display Customization - This option allows you to save the changes you have made to the Gamma, Contrast, and Brightness settings into a single custom display configuration for your Windows Desktop that can be then selected by name from the drop-down list. This gives you the ability to save several different custom display configurations that contain the specific display options you may need and select easily between them.

Contrast - This option allows you to change the contrast of your display for the Desktop or Video Overlay selections.

Brightness - This option allows you to change the brightness of your display for the Desktop or Video Overlay selections.

Reset to Previous - Click this button to undo any changes you have made to the options for the current selection (Desktop, Direct3D, or Glide / OpenGL).

Factory Defaults - Click this button to restore the original factory default values for the currently selected option.

Load Bitmap - Click this button to select a bitmap from your system to use for the Gamma display image.

3dfx Info Page |

Select the "3dfx Info" tab to open the "3dfx Info" page, shown here…

The "3dfx Info" page of the 3dfx Hub

NOTE: The version numbers and features shown in the above example would be replaced on your screen with the actual version numbers and features supported by your Voodoo hardware and software

Click on the small "+" to the left of an entry to view the details for that item. The information available for your Voodoo card includes:

- Bus Type (AGP or PCI)
- Optional Outputs (DVI or TV Out, if supported by your 3dfx card)
- Total Video Memory
- Graphics Chips (the number of VSA-100 chips on your 3dfx card)
- Graphics Clock Speed
- BIOS Version

Information about the Display Driver that you are currently using is also shown, as well as the 3dfx Tools Version currently installed on your system. Other items listed on this page give you access to information about the current and previous display adapters and monitors you have used with your system.

Save - Allows you to save the information on this page in a standard text file (.TXT).

Print - Allows you to print the information on this page to your system's default printer, if you have a printer connected to your computer.