README.MGA                MATROX GRAPHICS INC.                Febuary 16, 1995


                    MGA Driver for MicroStation 5.0
                           Revision 2.00.009

This floppy disk contains the MATROX MGA driver for MicroStation 5.0.  This 
driver supports all types of MGA boards: Ultima, Ultima Plus, Impression,
Impression Plus, Impression Lite.

The driver also supports single screen (with or without swap screen), dual 
screen and Windows Connection (single or dual screen).  

This driver supports MicroStation 5.0 only. Contact our technical support
staff if you do not have a 1.2x release of our MicroStation 4.0 driver.

New features:
-------------

The 2.0 driver introduces the following new features: 
  
- Window management (backing store)
- Hardware assisted 3D rendering (for Impression models)
- Dynamic Link Module (DLM)
- New configuration screen

The window management is handled by the driver, which makes copies of 
overlapping windows. Those copies (backing store) are then used to restore 
the view contents without delay. This makes window movements much faster.

The software rendering performed by MicroStation is accelerated by the MGA 
3D hardware capabilities when you render a view in HIDDEN LINE, FILLED HIDDEN 
LINE, CONSTANT or SMOOTH shading. This makes rendering at least two times
faster.

The window manager and accelerated 3D features are implemented with the new
Dynamic Link Module technology of MicroStation 5.0.  This leads to a smaller,
faster driver. CADBench scores have nearly doubled !

In addition, the MGA driver has a completely new configuration interface that 
is easier to use.

Floppy contents:
----------------

   README.MGA           this file
   INSTALL.EXE          installation program
   PKUNZIP.EXE          file decompression  utility
   FILES1.ZIP           driver files

Product files: 

   README.MGA           This file
   US5_MGA.MGL          Driver identification file for USCONFIG program
   US5_MGA.EXE          Configuration utility program
   US5_MGA.MA           MDL part of the driver
   US5_MGA.DLM          DLM part of the driver
   MGALOGO.BMP          Configuration resource file

Installation:
-------------

The installation program takes care of copying all the necessary files to
the \USTATION\DRIVERS subdirectory.  To start the installation program type
at the dos prompt:
                   a:install

Then, follow the instruction and you are done!

Configuration:
--------------

You can use an MGA in single or dual screen configuration. In dual screen
configuration, the MGA can be either the "right" or "left" screen; the other
display adapter can be another MGA board, a VGA board or another high-res 
adapter. The configuration is done separately for each MGA board when the 
driver is started.

To properly configure each board you have to set these parameters:

    Board address:  Only if you have multiple MGA boards in your system
    Pixel depth:    Number of colors up to 16 Million colors
    Resolution:     Up to 1600x1200 depending on the number of colors selected

Then you can set some options:

    SwapScreen:     Enables the swapscreen feature. 
                    (available only in single screen with 256 colors LUT)
    Fast rendering: Enables the hardware assisted 3D rendering.
                    (available on Impression models only)
    Backing store:  Sets the amount of memory to use for view backstore.
                    None:    Backing store is disabled
                    Minimal: Backing store is enabled for the size of the 
                             screen (so would handle up to 8 tiled views)
                    Full   : Backing store is fully enabled
                             (so would support up to 8 views in cascade)

If you want to reconfigure the MGA driver, start the USCONFIG utility and 
re-select the MGA driver for the desired screen.

Accelerated 3D:
---------------

With the new MicroStation 5.0 API, 3D lines, quads and triangles are
transformed and lit by the MGA driver and then rendered using the MGA's 3D
hardware capabilities. The result is real-time 3D.

When you select the FAST RENDERING option in the configuration program,
the MGA 2.0 driver accelerates the rendering of MicroStation views in the 
following modes:
                   - HIDDEN LINE
                   - FILLED HIDDEN LINE
                   - CONSTANT SHADE 
                   - SMOOTH SHADE 

The Fast Rendering option is supported only on Impression and Impression Plus
models.

Note that texture mapping is not supported in CONSTANT SHADE and SMOOTH 
SHADE.

Note that the Matrox DynaView/3D MDL application shipped with drivers 1.0 and
1.1 is no longer supported.

Windows Connection:
-------------------

When using the Windows Connection with one board, the configuration is 
straightforward; you just select the Windows Connection as the display 
adapter for the right screen in the USCONFIG program, and you are done. In 
this case, this driver is not used. Make sure that for best speed you are
using an MGA Windows driver.

If you have two MGA's in your system and wish to use Windows Connection
for one of them, please take note of these important points:

- The Matrox Windows driver will use the board having the highest address 
mapping. So the adapter with the Windows Connection will always start on that 
board.         

- The board having the highest address mapping must have the VGA switch enabled
to avoid sharing the MicroStation dedicated screen with Windows in text mode.  
Refer the DUAL SCREENS section of the  MicroStation document INTRODUCING 
MICROSTATION PC, page 6-13 for  more information.

- To configure the second MGA board you must activate, in Windows, the 
"MicroStation TEXT" window.  If you don't, the keyboard and the mouse pointer 
in the configuration utility won't work.  The mouse has limited movements if
the "MicroStation Text Window" is not in full screen.

Driver history:
---------------

2.00 version

- Complete reorganisation of the driver using DLM extension provided with 
  MicroStation 5.0. Window manager and accelerated 3D added.

1.23 version 
   
- Last version of the MATROX drivers for MicroStation 4.0.  This driver
  supports all Matrox MGA boards and can also be used with MS 5.0.


                         TIPS AND LIMITATIONS
                         --------------------

- If you have 2 MGA VL-bus boards and want to use Windows Connection on
  one of them, be aware that NONE of the boards can be mapped at the (default)
  AC00 base address, otherwise the MGA "DOS" driver will not be able to
  work.

- Fast rendering option is enabled only on ORTHOGONAL view, that is views
  that have the camera attribute OFF.

- When using Fast rendering, the colors are not exactly the same as
  MicroStation rendering.

- Rendered views with Fast rendering are cleared after the operation when 
  the attribute "Delayed display" is ON (Setting->Rendering->Attribute menu).

- When a window in front of a view is moved off to the side, there may be some 
  lines missing because of drawing modifications.  Just update the view to
  correct this problem.
  
- When a window in front of a newly renderized view is moved off to
  the side, the exposed  rectangles are drawn in wireframe.
