PrecisionColor PCI Cards Q&A

Q: What differentiates the PrecisionColor 8/1600 from a PrecisionColor 8/1600 version 2?

A: The original PrecisionColor 8/1600 (model 0529) does not support sync on green monitors, while the 8/1600 version 2 (model 0552) does. This means that if your monitor only has three bnc connections (red, green, blue) it will not work directly off of the original 8/1600 card. The original 8/1600 card had slots available for adding 2 Mb of VRAM and the 8/1600 version 2 does not.

Q: What differentiates the PrecisionColor 8/1600 version 2 from a PrecisionColor 24/1600 ?

A: The 24/1600 card has 4Mb of VRAM on the card, and the 8/1600 v2 has 2 Mb of VRAM. The 8/1600 will allow 24-bit color up to a resolution of 832x624, and 8-bit color beyond that up to 1920x1080. The 24/1600 will allow 24-bit color up to 1152x870 and 16-bit color beyond that up to 1920 x 1080.

Q: Do the PrecisionColor PCI cards offer hardware pan and zoom?

A: No, these cards do not support hardware pan and zoom capability.

Q: I get discoloration and distortion on my display when I run an external SCSI device. I do not if I detach the external SCSI device. How can I prevent this problem?

A: Radius has developed a FlashROM upgrade for the PrecisionColor 8/1600 v2 and the PrecisionColor 24/1600 that resolves this problem. The file is available at the following locations:

ftp.radius.com:
ftp://ftp.radius.com/radius/software/mac/PrecisionColor/PrecisionColor_ROM_Updater.hqx

America Online:
Keyword: Radius --> Software Library --> PrecisionColor PCI FlashROM

You can also have the FlashROM upgrade mailed to you by calling 800-375-9256.

The instructions for running the FlashROM update are as follows:

Shut down the Mac
Disconnect all external SCSI devices
Reboot with Extensions off (hold down Shift key)
Run the FlashROM upgrade (do not stop or interrupt this process)
Trash the Display Preferences File as well as the Sound and Display Preferences or the Monitor and Sound Preferences (whichever you have)
Shut down and Zap the PRAM while restarting the Mac (hold down Command, Option, P & R during bootup. Keep all four keys held down until the Mac chimes four times)

Q: I am using a Radius TPD monitor with a single bnc connection and cable 590-0057-01, but I still can't get a display.

A: Check to see if the monitor you are using has a serial number beginning with a "D". If not, you will need to call 800-375-9256 for a possible solution to this sync issue.

Q: I get a yellow image file when I take a screen shot of my display when running a PrecisionColor PCI card How can I prevent this problem?

A: Radius is aware of this issue, but we do not have a solution currently.

Q: I am using a PrecisionColor card in my UMAX SuperMac compatible, but I do not get a display. How can I prevent this problem?

A: Make sure that the Precision card is in one of the bottom four slots of the SuperMac compatible.

Q: I ran Speedometer and Norton Utilities System Info, and they say that my card is not as fast as my Mac built in video. Is something wrong?

A: The measures for built-in-video are often based upon 8-bit graphic performance and often at only 640x480, or 14 inch resolution. On the other hand, the Radius cards are being measured for 24-bit graphic performance. The difference in the number of calculations, and hence time, a CPU must make between 8-bit color depth and 24 -bit color depth is astronomical. Therefore, this is an unfair comparison. What you are experiencing is indeed 24-bit accelerated graphics, which may or may not be faster than 8-bit built-in-video, depending on the card and CPU in question, but it certainly produces a significantly better picture. If photo realism and graphic beauty are not important to your work, you may wish to drop down to the 8-bit level of 256 colors for potentially increased speed. The true value of any graphics card is its ability to generate and accelerate 24-bit images.

Q: I purchased my graphics card in order to accelerate Adobe PhotoShop, and am not seeing any speed increase. Why not?

A: These cards will not accelerate any of the PhotoShop plug-in filters, since the cards were designed to accelerate Apple QuickDraw routines. However, you should see an increase in QuickDraw functions used within Photoshop - such as screen redraw, and scrolling. PhotoShop is a very memory-intensive application, and enough dynamic RAM hasn’t been allocated to the application for a document to reside totally within RAM, PhotoShop will search for scratch disk to use. This is similar to using virtual memory, and is inherently slower than using dynamic RAM. A good rule of thumb is to give Adobe PhotoShop four times more memory than the document you are working on. Therefore, if you are working within a PhotoShop document which is 10 megabytes in size, you should assign 40 megabytes to the PhotoShop application.
To assign additional memory to any Macintosh application:
make sure that the application is closed;
highlight the application icon;
select get info or hit the command and i keys;
type in a larger memory quantity in the memory fields.

Q: My PrecisionColor 8/1600 v.2 or PrecisionColor 24/1600 card is generating purple bars on the screen of my 19-inch display. Why?

A: Your 19-inch display is either a Radius Color Display 19 (model 0031), also known as the GDM-1950, as it is designated on the back. If so, these unwanted purple lines are the result of the display and cable not syncing properly due to the collision of old and new technology. You can relieve this problem, by dialing 800-375-9256 or 800-977-7060 and ordering part number 590-0058-02. This cable will allow the card to properly sense the RCD19 display.

Q: Will I get 24-bit video on my Pivot display using one of these cards?

A: Yes, but only in the native orientation of that display - landscape mode for the PrecisionColor Pivot Display (model #0356), and portrait mode for the fixed frequency Color Pivot Display (model #0277). The PrecisionColor cards do not include the circuitry which allows pivoting. As a result, you can get 24-bit video on either of the displays, but only in one screen orientation. Radius does not make a PCI card which will allow pivoting.

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