Study Lab for Chapter 9

Use the "Key Terms and Definitions" section of the lab to review terms used in this chapter. Try the "Practice Test" to check your comprehension of the chapter. Tackle the "Lab Exercises" to apply your knowledge. Use the following sections to prepare for the video and display part of the A+ Certification Exam.

Key Terms and Definitions

8-bit color

2 ⁸ (256) colors.

16-bit color

2 ¹⁶ (65,536) colors.

24-bit color

2 ²⁴ (16,777,216) colors.

32-bit color

3D implementation of 24-bit color.

AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)

A series of high-speed standards for video cards.

AGP Pro

An AGP slot that has the characteristics of an AGP Universal slot and also provides the additional power and connector used by AGP Pro cards.

AGP Universal

An AGP slot that can handle both 3.3V and 1.5V cards.

barrel distortion

Screen geometry fault in which the sides of the display area are bowed outward.

color depth

General term for the number of colors displayed. For example, a monitor set for 16-bit color depth displays 65,536 colors.

color temperature

Refers to the relative "warmth" or "coldness" of the colors onscreen. Noon daylight has a color temperature of 5,500 degrees Kelvin, whereas a blue sky has a color temperature of 9,000 degrees Kelvin; sunrise or sunset has a color temperature of 3,200 degrees Kelvin. As you can see, the higher the color temperature, the bluer (colder) the light is. Many monitors offer two or more color temperature settings to help adjust for differences in room lighting.

CRT

Cathode Ray Tube; describes monitors which use a picture tube.

DB - 15F

VGA connector on video card.

DB - 15M

VGA cable's connector.

Degaussing

The process of demagnetizing the shadow mask inside a CRT monitor. When the monitor builds up excess magnetism , color fringing or image distortion takes place.

Digital Flat Panel ( DFP )

Early standard for LCD display interfacing; replaced by DVI.

Digital Visual Interface ( DVI )

Mainstream digital interface for LCD displays; DVI-I version also supports analog displays when a VGA adapter is used. DVI-D is digital only.

Direct3D

The 3D graphics portion of DirectX used by many Windows-based games .

DirectX

Microsoft's application program interfaces (APIs) for 3D graphics, 3D sound, game controls, and other multimedia hardware/software.

Display Properties sheet

Multi-tabbed Windows interface used to control monitor and video card features and display appearance.

dual head

Popular term for a video card that can support two monitors. Many recent mid-range and high-end graphics cards have this feature.

DualView

Windows XP adaptation of multiple-display support that treats monitors plugged into a portable computer's external VGA port as a secondary monitor. Also requires graphics chipset support.

DXDIAG (DirectX Diagnostics)

A program that can be used to test graphics, sound, and other hardware used by Microsoft's DirectX 3D drivers.

EISA

A 32-bit backward-compatible development of ISA; long obsolete, but might be seen in some very old servers and workstations.

flicker-free refresh rates

Term for vertical refresh rates of 72Hz or above that reduce or eliminate screen flicker.

graphics aperture

A BIOS setting used to determine the size of the memory address space used by the AGP card.

graphics card

Another name for video card.

integrated graphics

Graphics incorporated into the motherboard's main chipset. For example, the Intel 845G chipset includes 3D graphics. Integrated graphics use part of the system memory.

ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)

A 16-bit version of the original IBM PC slot developed for the IBM AT. Obsolete by about 1999.

LCD

Liquid Crystal Display; display technology which is used by laptops and in flat-panel displays in place of CRTs.

multiple-display support

The capability to run two or more monitors at the same time on a PC.

onscreen display

Menu displayed by most recent CRT and LCD monitors for use in adjusting color quality, screen geometry, and other display-quality settings. Often abbreviated as OSD.

OpenGL

An application programming interface (API) originally developed for CAD but also popular with 3D game developers.

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)

A 32-bit slot that replaced VL-Bus and EISA from the mid-1990s.

pincushion distortion

Screen geometry fault in which the sides of the display area are bowed inward.

Primary VGA BIOS

A BIOS setting that controls whether the AGP or PCI card is the primary display.

RCA jack

A TV-out connector that mixes luma and chroma into a single signal.

resolution

Number of horizontal x vertical dots used by the display. Standard VGA is 640x480, but most systems today use monitors that support 1,024x768 or higher resolutions .

S-video

A TV-out connector that sends luma and chroma signals separately for better picture quality.

Safe Mode

A Windows startup mode used for troubleshooting; it uses standard VGA drivers but doesn't load any 32-bit drivers, so many devices don't work.

screen geometry

Appearance of the sides of the display area on a CRT. Should be straight on all four sides, but might require adjustment if bowed or wavy.

screensaver

Blanks the screen or displays a changing animation to protect the screen from phosphor burn-in.

Synchronous Graphics RAM ( SGRAM )

A modified form of SDRAM made for video cards.

TV-out

General term for any output from a display circuit that can be used by a TV or VCR.

Unified Memory Architecture ( UMA )

A method of sharing system memory with integrated video. Helps reduce system costs, but also reduces performance.

vertical refresh rate

How many times per second (Hz) the screen is redrawn. 72Hz or higher is preferable to avoid flicker on a CRT (LCDs don't flicker).

VGA (Video Graphics Array)

An IBM-designed analog graphics display standard from 1987 that is the basic mode used by all video cards from about 1989 to the present.

VGA Mode

A Windows NT/2000/XP startup mode that loads standard VGA drivers but doesn't load all other normal drivers.

Video RAM ( VRAM )

A fast, dual-ported form of video memory. Replaced by DDR-SDRAM and SGRAM.

VL-Bus (VESA local-bus)

A 32-bit development of ISA that's faster than EISA; replaced by PCI as the Pentium processor replaced 486s in the mid-1990s.

Window RAM ( WRAM )

A fast form of video memory based on VRAM. Replaced by DDR-SDRAM and SGRAM.

Practice Test

1:	You need to install an AGP card in a system that has an AGP Universal slot. Which of the following cards will fit into this slot? (Choose all that apply) AGP Pro AGP 2x AGP 4x PCI
2:	Your client has connected a TV to a desktop system with a TV-out connection. However, there is no picture going to the TV set. The cables are tightly connected to both the TV-out port and the TV set, and the TV works properly with a video game. Which of the following is the most likely solution? (Choose one) Install a TV driver for the video card. Enable multiple-monitor support. Disconnect the cable to the monitor. Press the key combination to toggle the display from the monitor to the TV.
3:	Your client is trying to play a 3D game on a system with a 16MB 3D graphics card. The display supports 16+ million colors at 1,280x1,024 with Adobe Photoshop, but the 3D game can only display 16-bit color at this resolution. Which of the following can be used to support 16+ million colors in the game? (Choose all that apply) Install new drivers for the game. Reduce screen resolution to 1,024x768. Replace the 3D graphics card with a model with 32MB or more of RAM. Install new Windows graphics drivers.
4:	Your client is using a system with integrated graphics. There is not enough graphics memory available on the system to achieve high-resolution 32-bit colors in the client's favorite 3D game. The system has no available expansion slots. Which of the following upgrades could improve the amount of graphics memory? (Choose one) Replace the monitor. Replace the processor with one containing more L2 cache memory. Install a secondary monitor. Install more system memory.
5:	You are installing a PCI video card in a system for use with a secondary monitor. The system already has an AGP graphics card installed. The system can't detect the new video card. Which of the following BIOS options should be tried to resolve this problem? (Choose one) Primary VGA BIOS AGP Fast Write Plug and Play Operating System Graphics aperture size
6:	Which of the following picture quality problems can usually be fixed with the controls on the monitor? (Choose one) Flickering display Grainy appearance of color photos Text and icons too large Color fringing
7:	A computer running Windows 98 crashes whenever it tries to play a DirectX game; business applications work properly. Which Display Properties dialog should be used to disable DirectX acceleration until updated drivers can be installed? (Choose one) Troubleshoot Direct3D Performance OpenGL

Lab Exercises

Required equipment : working system, video card drivers/operating system CD with drivers, Internet connection, ESD protection (wrist strap, antistatic mat), tools to open system

Display Detective

Objective : Determine what displays the system supports and how much memory is used for graphics.

1. Shut down the system and examine the rear of the system. Which type(s) of video ports are visible (VGA, RCA jack TV-out, S-video TV-out, DVI-I, coaxial connection for a TV tuner, and so forth)?

2. Restart the system and run DXDIAG (if installed) to determine the chipset and the amount of memory available.

3. Use other methods outlined in this chapter if DXDIAG is not available, or download and run SiSoftware Sandra from http://www.sisoftware.net/ to check out your system.

Driver Detective

Objective : Discover the driver version and technical information about the driver.

1. Use the Windows Device Manager or Display Properties to determine the driver version in use.

2. Visit the vendor's Web site. Are newer drivers available?

3. Check the vendor's Web site for a list of known bugs and interaction problems with certain programs. Check your system to see if any problematic programs are installed.

4. Download the driver and any additional utility software provided for the video card.

5. Review the installation process.

Answers to Practice Test

A1:	Answers B (AGP 2x) and C (AGP 4x) are correct. They don't call it a "Universal" slot for nothingAGP Pro requires its own slot, and PCI is completely different than AGP.
A2:	Answer B (enable multiple monitor support) is correct. Believe it or not, using the TV-out port is considered using multiple monitors. Although some systems might start using the TV-out as default if the monitor cable is disconnected and a few might support a customized keyboard toggle to switch displays, using the Display Properties sheet works when these other methods might not.
A3:	Answers B (reduce screen resolution to 1,024x768) and C (replace 3D graphics card with a model with 32MB or more of RAM) are correct. Here's why: 32-bit color requires more than 16MB of RAM at 1,280x1,024 resolution. Thus, the only way to play the game is to reduce the resolution, accept 16-bit color at the higher resolution, or stop playing long enough to replace the video card.
A4:	Answer D (install more system memory) is a winning answer. Depending upon the system, adding more system memory can often boost the amount of memory available for graphics. Sometimes a BIOS configuration change might also be necessary. It varies by the system, but it's worth a shot.
A5:	Answer A (primary VGA BIOS) to the rescue. It might be necessary in some cases to make the PCI card's VGA BIOS the primary one. This can prevent the AGP card from performing at full speed, but if there's no other way to make the cards work, it's all you can do. This is why I recommend opting for a single-slot AGP solution for multiple monitors.
A6:	Answer D (color fringing) is the right choice. The degaussing feature (which wipes away color fringing) is on the monitor. The other choices require a trip through the Display Properties sheet.
A7:	Answer C (Performance) gets you a gold star. Troubleshoot is what the dialog is called in Windows XP, but Windows 98 calls it Performance. Direct3D and OpenGL dialogs aren't standard dialogs (they're implemented only with vendor-provided drivers) and they're used to fix 3D gaming issues that happen when you play, not crash, your favorite game.