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1. SS XQ AGB QV SS I Spectrum 8 Series Ill S A FE EE HNNNNNNBRRER ENGER R AAB ANE EEN AE MMA Will NAMAS NWS X N NuBus Connector TTL Clock oscillators 4 The empty socket is the one nearest the top of the video card Align the TTL Clock Oscillator over this socket so that the square corner of the oscillator is pointing toward the NuBus connector and the four pins are over the four holes in the empty socket on the Spectrum 8 Series III TTL oscillator Socket Installing an oscillator INSTALLING SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III 27 28 About the Finder Calculator Chooser Control Panel Find File Key Caps Scrapbook 5 Gently push the TTL Clock Oscillator into the socket making sure that all four pins are guided straight into the holes of the socket After you have installed your additional TTL Clock oscillator follow the procedure at the beginning of this chapter to install the Spectrum 8 Series III video card and configure it to work with your monitor With the new oscillator installed and the PAL RGB or NTSC RGB monitor connected to the system the oscillator will be selected in turn during the configuration procedure If you follow the procedure to use multiple monitors with your Spectrum 8 Series III system this new TTL Clock Oscillator will automatically be used as one of the monitor configurations Parameter RAM and NuBus Slots The NuBus Slots of t
2. 1ECF 224E 2EBF 117E 465A 4488 11F3 66D6 Red 8 bit number 2EBF Green 8 bit number 117E Blue Analog Blue 8 bit number 1122 i Digital to Analog Signal Converters Color Monitor 8 bit Color System As shown in the diagram the Look Up Table provides the binary numbers to describe the intensity for each of the three electron guns in the monitor Once the Look Up table has supplied the numbers the video adapter uses Digital to Analog D A convertors special circuitry which changes the binary numbers into the electrical signals which operate the monitor So for each and every pixel displayed on the monitor the 8 bit color routine goes something like this the Macintosh assigns an 8 bit number 0 through 255 to a pixel The video adapter goes to the Look Up Table to extract the 24 bit number which generates that color and finally the Digital to Analog convertors turn the 24 bit number into the signals which drive the monitor The monitor receives the signal and fires the three electron guns at the pixel with the exact intensity to produce the desired color And then the Macintosh moves on to calculate the next pixel and the next and the next SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL How fast does all this happen For SuperMac s 19 color monitors the refresh rate is about 75Hz that s 75 times per second Imagine all 786 432 pixels are calculated and blasted with the monitor s electron guns 75 times per second
3. USER S MANUAL T E C HEN VOJETORG N op TRUM Ens USER S MANUAL SUPERMAC TECHNOLOGY Copyright This manual is copyrighted with all rights reserved Under the copyright laws this manual may not be copied in whole or in part without written consent of SuperMac Technology SuperMac Under the law copying includes translating into another language or format SuperMac Spectrum 8 Series III Virtual Desktop and PixelPaint are trademarks of SuperMac Technology Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc Manual 1989 SuperMac Technology Manual written and illustrated by Jim Wolcott and Anne Samborn Kaliczak Manual edited and coordinated by Jim Wolcott Spectrum 8 Series III Project Coordinators Dan Kohn Ellen Jaworski and Bryan Staddon Linotronic Output by Linotext of Cupertino California This manual was produced using Apple s Macintosh II SuperMac s DataFrame XP 150 hard disk Microsoft Word Adobe s Times and Helvetica typefaces and Allied s Linotronic 300 typesetter APPLE COMPUTER INC MAKES NO WARRANTIES EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED REGARDING THE ENCLOSED COMPUTER SOFTWARE PACKAGE ITS MERCHANTABILITY OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PAR TICULAR PURPOSE THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME STATES THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU THIS WARRANTY PROVIDES YOU WITH SPECI
4. displays both color and monochrome The larger sizes up through 4000 x 1500 make it possible to work with large documents or graphics displayed actual size on the Virtual Desktop 1024 x 768 Desktop of SuperMac 19 Monitor 2000 x 1500 4000 x 1500 Comparison of Virtual Desktop Resolutions to scale available with Spectrum 8 Series III Note that you cannot select a Virtual Desktop size which is smaller than the display area of your monitor system Since larger Virtual Desktops are calculated and stored in the video memory of the Spectrum 8 Series III a large Virtual Desktop will mean that you will be able to display fewer colors or shades of gray The chart below compares the various Virtual Desktop sizes and the maximum number of colors or shades of gray available for each size Virtual Desktop Colors Grays Available 1024 x 768 256 4 2 1000 x 1500 as aes 2000 x 1500 eee ae 4000 x 1500 Saar eee Colors Grays available with the various Virtual Desktop sizes USING SUPERVIDEO 41 42 When a Virtual Desktop is selected which is larger than your selected display you can access the extra space by using one of Spectrum 8 Series III s three Panning modes Free Panning Hand Panning or Edge Panning The area you select for the Virtual Desktop and the combinations of Panning features you employ should reflect the kind of work you do with your Macintosh Free Panning Free Panning is the default s
5. A device for example refresh display storage tube display or plotter on which display images can be represented In this manual the display device is always the monitor attached to your SuperMac video card GLOSSARY 59 60 file type A four character sequence specified when a file is created that identifies the type of the file firmware A program which resides in EPROM or ROM Once placed into the EPROM or ROM it cannot be modified damaged discarded by the user The Spectrum 8 Series III firmware includes the Spectrum 8 Series III device driver and the data which describes the characteristics of the six factory supported monitors firmware revision number The firmware revision number is used to identify which version of the Spectrum 8 Series III firmware is installed on a particular board The firmware revision number is listed on the label on top of the EPROM which contains the firmware genlock A circuit used to lock the frequency of an internal sync generator to an external source line frequency The number of horizontal scan lines per second including both the visible raster lines and those that occur during the vertical retrace intervals non composite The red green blue and sync signals used to generate a color display are provided on separate inputs outputs oscillator An electronic device which generates a precisely timed signal Oscillators are categorized by the frequency signals per second at which they
6. Another way to think of it is that the Look Up Table has 000000017 second to send out the color intensity information for each pixel The Look Up Table is a very busy place in the Macintosh Very busy indeed About the Look Up Table The next obvious question is where does the Look Up table come from How are the 256 color selected from the 16 8 million candidates Good questions The Look Up table is defined either by the Macintosh System the System file in the System Folder on your startup disk or by the color application that s currently running For example the Finder of a color Macintosh system gives you the ability to specify a color for folders applications and data files The colors that are allowed are among the 256 colors in 8 bit mode and 15 colors in 4 bit mode of the System s Look Up table You can see the 256 actual colors of the System Look Up table by using the following procedure 1 Choose Control Panel from the Apple menu About Uyro Calculator 2 Scroll down through the Control Panel selections and click on the Monitors ete selection The Monitors Control Panel will appear similar to the diagram below ontro ane Find File Key Caps Scrapbook Control Panel System Colors MACINTOSH COLOR 13 14 As shown in the diagram the 256 colors specified by the System s Look Up table appear at the bottom center of the Monitors Control Panel You can experiment changing the number o
7. With graphics applications that employ a paint bucket for fill effects those fill effects will apply 10 all areas of the Virtual Desktop even the areas not immediately displayed Locking the Menu Bar to the top of the screen When you are working in a far corner of a document using a large Virtual Desktop locating the Menu Bar and activating the pull down menus can be less than convenient Spectrum 8 Series III enables you to lock the Menu Bar to the top of the screen With the Menu Bar locked it will always appear at the top of the screen regardless of where the screen is with respect to the Virtual Desktop USING SUPERVIDEO 43 44 However locking the Menu Bar disables the Free Panning feature of the Spectrum 8 Series III When you have the Menu Bar locked you can access the entire area of the Virtual Desktop by using the Hand Panning and Edge Panning features The chart below describes how the panning features interact in SuperVideo e ee ome e m e Hand Panning When you are working with a large Virtual Desktop there may be times when it is inconvenient to move the cursor to the edge of the screen to activate the Free Panning feature For example when you are working with a large spreadsheet you may need to enter data in cells just past the edge of the visible area of the screen The Hand Panning option is ideal for this situation To activate the Hand Panning feature hold dow
8. 44 Homing the Cursor 46 Hot Keys 48 Installing TTL clock oscillator 26 I Installing Spectrum 8 quick start xiii L Light reflected 2 Locking Menu Bar 44 Look Up Table 11 M Menu Bar locking 43 selecting monitor for 39 Monitor choosing colors 35 Monitor Compatibility 54 Monitor Configuration alternate monitor 26 resetting 23 selecting 23 Monitor Configuration Utility 49 63 64 Monitors color 9 configuration sequence 24 convergence test 36 oscillator requirements xiv screen numbers 37 spatial alignment 38 Multiple Monitors configuring 24 N NTSC 60 NTSC Conversion 53 NuBus slot numbering 37 NuBus Slots parameter RAM 28 O Options Utility 40 centering dialogs 46 changing hot keys 47 homing cursor 46 locking menu bar 43 zooming 45 Oscillator requirements xiv P PAL Encoders 53 Panning edge panning 45 free panning 42 hand panning 44 Parameter RAM 28 61 Pixel 9 Primary Colors additive 2 subtractive 3 SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Q Quick Start xiii R Reflected Light 2 Resetting Monitor Configuration 23 S Screen Numbers 37 Selecting monitor configuration 23 Setting virtual desktop 40 Spatial Alignment 38 Spectrum 8 Series III display signal 54 hardware 16 troubleshooting 51 video port specifications 57 Subtractive Colors 3 SuperMac Bulletin Board 56 SuperMac Monitor installing Spectrum 24 17 SuperVideo About Utility 50 control utility 35 installing 31 monitor u
9. If necessary the user should consult the dealer or an experienced radio television technician for additional suggestions The user may find the following booklet prepared by the Federal Communications Commission helpful How to Identify and Resolve Radio TV Interference Problems This booklet is available from the U S Government Printing Office Washington DC 20402 Stock No 004 000 00345 4 Important This product was FCC certified under test conditions that included use of shielded cables and connectors between system components Genuine SuperMac video cables are shielded to comply as per the test It is important that you use shielded cables and connectors to reduce the possibility of causing interference to radio television and other electronic devices SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Video Port Specifications Pin 8 Pin 1 Pin 15 Pin 9 Close Up of the Spectrum 8 Series II Video Port Pin Function 1 Ground 2 Red video 3 C sync 4 Ground 5 Green video 6 Ground 7 V sync 8 H syne 9 Blue video 10 Reserved 11 Ground 12 Green video 13 Ground 14 Ground 15 Reserved VIDEO PORT SPECIFICATIONS 57 _ Glossary edey Abbreviation for Control panel DEVice When you choose Control Panel from the Apple menu the Control Panel will search through he System Folder looking for files of type cdev For each file of type cdev it finds the Control Panel inserts the file s icon into it
10. Macintosh graphics applications Zooming is available with any application including the Finder The Zooming feature is activated by pressing the Command and Option keys while pressing the up arrow key on the keyboard The screen will zoom in to the area around the cursor This will also activate the Free Panning feature regardless of the size of the Virtual Desktop you have specified File Edit Search Format DE move the menu bar to a different s first st move the menu bar cowe Super ideo cdev yo the change to take a The monitor with th Normal view rear and zoomed view of the screen USING SUPERVIDEO 45 46 When Zooming is activated you still have full control of your Macintosh you can edit text work with any graphics tools enter numbers from the keypad cut copy and paste or choose any selection from the pull down menus You may find the Zooming feature most useful with graphics applications whether or not those applications provide their own close up views of a document Since Spectrum 8 Series III s Zooming feature is hardware based it s extremely fast much faster than software based close up views In addition Spectrum 8 Series III s Zooming feature is always just a keystroke away you don t have to click on special tools or make remote menu selections If the Zooming is activated when the Menu Bar is locked to the top of the screen the Free Pa
11. blended in equal amounts equals white light Objects reflected light are described by the Subtractive Primary colors The three Subtractive Primary colors present in equal amounts on the surface of an object will absorb all colors of light and make the object appear black For objects which are illuminated by some light source the color that we perceive is influenced by the subtle characteristics of the light source The 8 bit video system on the Macintosh II allows you to display up to 256 colors on your monitor screen and those colors can be recreated by color printers printed as color separations or reproduced using other color imaging equipment The color theory in the preceding sections will help you to get the exact colors and effects you want from your Macintosh II system For example since a printed sheet of paper doesn t generate its own light printed images are created using the Subtractive Primary colors If printing inks absorbed and reflected light perfectly then just three colors of ink cyan yellow and magenta would be able to create all the colors of the rainbow Unfortunately under the current technology cyan yellow and magenta inks combine to produce a muddy brown color so a fourth color black is used to print full color images This is why commercial printers refer to full color printing as the four color process Many advanced color applications such as SuperMac s PixelPaint allow you t
12. blue light they will blend together to make pure white Therefore the colors red green and blue are referred to as the Additive Primary Colors With transmitted light all the colors of the rainbow can be generated by varying the intensity of the three Additive Primary colors For example equal amounts of blue and red light make magenta deep purplish red Surprisingly equal amounts of red and green light make yellow light The diagram below shows how red green and blue light can be added together to create other colors Red Magenta Yellow Blue Green Cyan Notice that the center of the diagram where all three colors overlap in equal amounts the result is white light Reflected Light Subtractive Colors Of course most objects that we perceive don t actually generate light instead they reflect the light from a light source To understand how light is reflected off objects requires a bit of explanation In terms of physics light is made up of waves of energy just like the waves which are used to SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL broadcast radio and television signals Each color of light has its own wave length the colors towards the red end of the spectrum are made up of relatively long waves of energy whereas the colors toward the blue end of the spectrum are made of relatively short waves of energy What makes objects appear in certain colors depends on how light waves reflect off the surf
13. brain is responsible for processing the input from the eye and it is the brain s perception which allows us to perceive both candlelight and fluorescent light as being okay white light On an absolute scientific scale of color candlelight is very red incandescent light bulbs are slightly red sunlight is neutral and fluorescent lights are blue green Since photographic film doesn t have a brain to correct the perception of these differences film is very sensitive to different qualities of light This is why professional photographers carry a variety of color filters to compensate for lighting conditions Just as the lighting conditions can vary color perception varies from person to person For example some people are color blind and perceive no colors whatsoever Others may be particularly sensitive to blue or some other color To compound the problem of color perception some people are more sensitive to particular colors at low levels of illumination and Jess sensitive to the same colors when brightly illuminated WHAT IS COLOR 5 Controlling Color The preceding sections of this chapter have offered an introduction into the nature of light and considerations for how color is perceived by the eye How does this relate to the Macintosh Three basic concepts about light are important Light sources transmitted light can be described by the Additive Primary colors The three Additive Primary colors of light
14. it slides into its guide near at the bottom and over the locating pin at the top NuBus connector Spectrum 24 Series III Graphics accelerator Expansion slot Inserting the Spectrum 8 Series III 10 Align the NuBus connector on Spectrum 8 Series III with the NuBus expansion slot on the Macintosh s main circuit board 11 Place one hand along the top edge of the Spectrum 8 Series III video card and gently push the card into the slot until the card is fully seated in the connector Warning Don t force the Spectrum 8 Series III video card into place If you are unable to properly seat the card in the connector remove the card and try again Don t wiggle the card back and forth while you insert it this causes unnecessary stress on the card and the slot 12 Locate the top cover of the Macintosh which was removed at the beginning of this procedure Align the front of the cover with the lower casing of the Macintosh so that the slots on the cover match the tabs on the lower casing Tip the top cover so that the three hooks under the lid are engaged 13 Lower the back of the cover slowly into place making sure is aligned with the lower casing of the Macintosh When it s in position press it down firmly until you hear the rear latches snap into place 14 Locate and replace the security screw on the back of the Macintosh II case SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL 15 With the back of the computer facing you locate
15. output their signal The Apple monitors use a 30 24 MHz Megahertz oscillator This Apple oscillator outputs a timing signal 30 240 000 times per second Most monitors have very tight display timing requirements For best results you should always use an oscillator with the exact frequency required by your monitor NTSC Abbreviation for the National Television Standards Committee Used to identify the color encoding method adopted by the committee in 1953 The NTSC standard was the first monochrome compatible simultaneous color system used for public broadcasting The NTSC standard is used by all government regulated broadcast color systems in the United States palette A collection of colors from which a single color or multiple colors may be chosen pixel The smallest segment of a raster line which can be discretely controlled by the display system SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL PRAM Abbreviation for Parameter RAM The Macintosh II provides the Direct Slot with a small amount of non volatile RAM to be used as a storage area for important information Because the RAM used for parameter RAM is non volatile data stored there will be retained even when the Macintosh II is turned off raster graphics Computer graphics in which a display image is composed of an array of pixels arranged in rows and columns Safe Place A special location used to store original software master disks as well as the small seldom used hardware b
16. re working with Spectrum 8 Series II will sequentially step through the various monitor possibilities When the screen appears clear and undistorted press the space bar to lock in the monitor settings and restart the Macintosh If the screen never clears you may have to install a TTL Clock Oscillator to accommodate your particular monitor Refer to Chapter 3 nstalling Spectrum 8 Series III 5 Copy the files from the SuperMac Graphics Software disk included in the Spectrum 8 Series II package into the System Folder on your startup disk 6 Restart the Macintosh so that all of the new files in the System Folder are loaded into memory At this point you can use the Monitors selection from the Control Panel to define the number of colors you want to work with And you can go ahead and work with your Macintosh system in the normal manner The Acceleration and the SuperVideo Control Panel devices offer a number of features which can make your work on the Macintosh faster easier and more convenient A complete description of these features can be found in Chapter 4 Using SuperVideo INTRODUCTION xiii xiv Monitors Supported by Spectrum 8 Series Ill The Spectrum 8 Series II card is equipped with four TTL Clock Oscillators a 64 MHz oscillator which accommodates the SuperMac 1024 x 768 19 and 16 60 Hz display systems an 80 MHz oscillator which controls the SuperMac 1024 x 768 19 and 16 75 Hz display systems and a
17. s scrollable list of selectable Control Panel devices color encoder A device which produces an encoded color signal from separate red green and blue color inputs Color Look Up Table A table used in an 8 bit video system whose entries specify the values of the red green and blue intensities used to drive a color monitor composite color signal A color display signal which includes blanking and synchronizing signals and color burst composite color syne A signal which includes all the sync signals plus the color burst reference signal in its proper time relationship composite display signal A blanked display signal combined with all of the appropriate synchronizing signals device driver The device dependent part of a host computer graphics software package The device driver generates a device dependent output and handles all device dependent interactions with the host computer software and hardware The Spectrum 8 Series III device driver is located in an EPROM on the Spectrum 8 Series III board The Spectrum 8 Series II device driver handles all interactions between QuickDraw the Macintosh graphics package and the monitor being used with the Spectrum 8 Series III board The Spectrum 8 Series III device driver tells QuickDraw where the video memory associated with its attached monitor is located and makes sure that all QuickDraw drawing which occurs in that video memory is properly displayed on the monitor display device
18. selected video card the icon for the utility will have a normal appearance If a utility cannot be used by the currently selected video card the icon for that utility will be dimmed When a particular utility is in use its icon will be blackened selected Normal available Dimmed unavailable Blackened in use Control Utility The SuperVideo Control Utility is a lot like Apple s Monitors cdev which is available from the Control Panel The SuperVideo Control Utility performs five functions on the Macintosh II Enables you to set which mode you want to use with each monitor you have connected to your system and the number of colors or shades of gray that are displayed Enables you to identify which slot s in your Macintosh are currently being used for video card s Allows you to perform a screen convergence test on your color monitor Lets you adjust the spatial alignment of the monitors if you are using a multi monitor Macintosh II system Enables you to select which monitor on a multi monitor system will display the Menu Bar Choosing the Number and Type of Display Colors While the Control Utility is selected highlighted in black a box appears that enables you to set the number colors or shades of gray that is displayed by the selected external monitor You can select either bit 2 bit 4 bit or 8 bit which corresponds to 2 4 16 or 256 colors or shades of gray USING SUPERVIDEO 35 36 Cl
19. the video connector on Spectrum 8 Series III It should be visible protruding from the back of the slot where you installed the Spectrum 8 Series II video card S x E a Video connector Back of Macintosh II showing the Spectrum 8 Series III video connector 16 Locate the video cable to link the SuperMac Spectrum 8 Series III video card with your monitor If you are using a SuperMac color monitor this cable is supplied with the monitor Connect the cable s 15 pin connector to the video connector protruding from the Spectrum 8 Series III video card 17 Place your monitor next to the Macintosh II If you want to place the monitor above the Macintosh II it must be placed on a support stand such as the SuperMac Tripod Stand You can purchase the SuperMac Tripod Stand part number STD 8405 from an Authorized SuperMac Dealer Warning Never place the monitor on top of your Macintosh II without a stand Monitors are big and heavy and can cause serious damage to your Macintosh the monitor or both units 18 Turn your display around so the back is facing you The SuperMac video cable s free end has three color coded connectors Plug each connector into its corresponding socket e g plug the blue connector into the socket labeled Blue on the back of the monitor INSTALLING SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III 21 22 Video connector 15 pin connector Color coded connectors SuperMac Video Cable Back of Macinto
20. to solve a problem yourself contact your authorized SuperMac dealer or call SuperMac Technical Support at 408 245 0646 for assistance You can call Monday through Friday from 7 00 a m to 5 00 p m Pacific time SuperMac also maintains a bulletin board with the latest information about SuperMac products and the latest software updates You are invited to post questions about SuperMac software and hardware products and pass along tips and shortcuts you ve found while using our products The bulletin board supports 300 1200 2400 baud and is on line 24 hours a day The number to call is 408 773 4500 Your modem should be set to 8 data bits no parity stop bit and full duplex 8 N 1 FULL Federal Communications Commission Notice Warning This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and if not installed and used properly that is in strict accordance with the manufacturer s instructions may cause interference to radio communications It has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A computing device pursuant to the specifications in Subpart J of Part 15 of FCC Rules which are designed to provide reasonable protection against such interference when operated in a commercial environment Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause interference in which case the user at his own expense will be required to take whatever measures may be required to correct the interference
21. two displays connected to your system the Control Utility also enables you to choose which monitor will display the Apple menu bar and to adjust the spatial alignment of the two monitor screens Options Utility The Options utility enables you to choose a Virtual Desktop size for your display as well as enable or disable the Zoom In Home Cursor Dialog Centering Hand Panning and Menu Bar Lock utilities You can also modify the special key sequences that are used to activate these utilities Monitor Configuration Utility This utility enables you to use SuperVideo to configure the older series of SuperMac Spectrum video cards such as Spectrum 8 Series II For complete information about using the Monitor Configuration Utility refer to the owner s manual supplied with that video card About Utility This utility is equivalent to the About option normally found under the Apple menu By clicking on this button a description of SuperVideo appears in addition to information about the version of SuperVideo you are using and pertinent copyright information Note If you are using a brand other than a genuine SuperMac video card you won t be able to take advantage of all four of the SuperVideo monitor utilities These utilities are designed specifically to control functions of SuperMac video cards such as Spectrum 8 Series III SPECTRUM 8 SERIES II USER S MANUAL If a SuperVideo monitor utility is available for the currently
22. 30 24 MHz oscillator to accommodate the Apple 12 Monochrome and 13 AppleColor monitors With the addition of a low cost TTL Clock Oscillator Spectrum 8 Series II will support additional monitor systems The table below lists popular monitor systems which are compatible with Spectrum 8 Series III and the oscillators required for the various systems SuperMac High Res Analog 60 H4 1024x768 pixels 64 00 MHz SuperMac High Res Analog 75 H4 1024x768 pixels 80 00 MHz cer oil 13 AppleColor 640x480 pixels 30 24 MHz Spectrum 8 12 Apple Monochrome 640x480 pixels 30 24 MHz Series Ill 57 28 MHz 17 73 MHz 14 31818 MHz 15 Apple Portrait Display PAL RGB NTSC RGB 640x870 pixels 640x480 pixels 640x480 pixels Display systems supported by Spectrum 8 Series III with the appropriate oscillator SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Chapter 1 What is Color This chapter offers a gentle introduction into the physics of color how color is perceived by the eye the differences between additive and subtractive color and how the behavior of color relates to the work you do on the Macintosh computer The color theory presented in this chapter will help you get the most out of your Spectrum 8 Series III video card by enabling you to precisely manipulate color to take advantage of the color graphics available on the Macintosh II However this chapter is not required reading if you wa
23. 8 Series III and how the Spectrum 8 Series III adapter interacts with the NuBus slots of the Macintosh II How Color Monitors Create Color The image on the monitor screen is composed of pixels the individual dots which create the image The larger the monitor the more pixels that the video card has to keep under control For example the standard AppleColor 13 monitor displays an image which is 640 pixels wide and 480 pixels tall for a total of 307 200 pixels SuperMac s 19 Spectrum monitor displays 1 024 pixels horizontally and 768 pixels vertically for a total of 786 432 pixels more than twice the number of pixels displayed by the AppleColor monitor For standard monochrome video systems working with the individual pixels is a simple matter the pixel is either turned on white or turned off black This all or nothing approach is how computers such as the Macintosh Plus and Macintosh SE create their screen images Color is another matter altogether Since the monitor itself acts as a light source it creates color using the Additive Primaries described in Chapter 1 For a color monitor each pixel is comprised of three small dots of color red green and blue as shown in the diagram on the next page MACINTOSH COLOR 9 10 Individual Pixels which create the screen image Each Pixel comprised of Red Green and Blue dots Deep inside the monitor are three separate electron guns which illuminate the r
24. CO Okerra sanear S ea AAAS AREA EN ARNS 1 Transmitted Light Additive Colors sscscssscascnsssissocaneusawessevoraaysussenes 2 Reflected Light Subtractive Colors scscsscccsovsssowsavesvssssssuivnsnveven 2 PEEN 60 Fo Te hc N AA IEEE ED ESTER 4 Controlling Color porrer rn 6 Chapter 2 Macintoshi Color 22k 9 How Color Monitors Create Color oss grenene 9 How the Macintosh Dofines Clr cvcccuscimsrsenecuscnvocemvnsisonesnationns 10 Se Dit COME aars EN ESAERA 11 About the Look Up Table ciscescusteovs yess iccascesunsacscacvaanesrascsuiastviavene 13 Chapter 3 Installing Spectrum 8 Series Hun 15 Unpacking rererere EORR 15 Spectrum 8 Series M Hardware Overview essscassaveasnaronse 16 Installing Spectrum 8 Series II in a Macintosh He Ly Using Spectrum 8 Series II with Multiple WUD TERS porerne x cos carcornnmnositanstrarimnsceiputstbesie ies talent soli pisaieta 24 Installing Spectrum 8 Series III to Drive an Aitemate MODON cs oe aE anA DENE SODE 26 CONTENTS v Parameter RAM and NuBus SlOtS ussensseranersasrsiescsssesescoserr snonaasi 28 Chapter 4 Using Super Video isscsississssersscsroonsceanceinrnnmaanwars 31 Installing Super Video sssscsssssapsssacnnsnenenoneamncemmennnmvennes 31 USDE SUDEV IIE ics les in eee EAR SEES 33 Monitor UKEN ovre 33 Conor CNOA as sess aac AEA S EAE RENEA NNA 35 Options Uimesin A ERA 40 REEL DESKED SZS marrida nan 40 Fee Panitera aa TERE 42 Locking the Menu Bar to the top of the SOTO
25. FIC LEGAL RIGHTS THERE MAY BE OTHER RIGHTS THAT YOU MAY HAVE WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE The Apple System software included on the SuperMac Graphics Software disk is copyrighted by Apple Computer Inc licensed to SuperMac Technology to distribute for use only in combination with the Spectrum 8 Series III Apple software shall not be copied onto another diskette except for archive purposes or into memory unless as part of the normal use of Spectrum 8 Series III SuperMac Technology Limited Warranty SuperMac Technology SuperMac warrants this hardware product against defects in material and workmanship for a period of one 1 year from the date of original retail purchase This Warranty includes all parts and labor Should the product fail SuperMac will at its option repair or replace this product provided you return it during the warranty period to the Authorized SuperMac Reseller within the country of original retail purchase For the name of the nearest Authorized SuperMac Reseller call 408 245 2202 A copy of this Warranty and the original bill of sale must accompany product returned for warranty service SUPERMAC IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR SPECIAL INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM ANY BREACH OF WARRANTY OR UNDER ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY INCLUDING LOST PROFITS DOWNTIME GOODWILL DAMAGE TO OR REPLACEMENT OF EQUIPMENT AND PROPERTY OR ANY COSTS OF RECOVERING REPROGRAMMING OR REPRODUCING ANY PROGRAM O
26. M a number of settings will change when the Macintosh is re started Most important is it will clear the information about what kind of external monitor is attached to your system Certain types of program crashes can damage the information stored in the parameter RAM This is particularly true of untested beta software and of Public Domain software which may be outdated or wasn t designed to be compatible with the high speed processor of the Macintosh II If for any reason the information stored in the parameter RAM is damaged modified or deleted Spectrum 8 Series III will again cycle through the various monitor configurations when the Macintosh is restarted If this happens simply press the space bar when the screen clears to re configure the monitor setting for Spectrum 8 Series III INSTALLING SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III 29 Super Yideo Using SuperVideo This chapter explains how to use the SuperVideo Control Panel Device how to adjust the settings for the Virtual Desktop and how to control the panning and zooming features incorporated in Spectrum 24 Series III Installing SuperVideo In order to use SuperVideo it must be installed in the System Folder of your startup disk Use the following procedure to install SuperVideo l 2 USING SUPERVIDEO Start your Macintosh II system from your regular hard disk drive When the Finder appears insert the SuperMac Graphics Software disk into the drive Dou
27. OT popia EErEE ORSENT 43 FANPA E aoe AE A e AA 44 Edge PANU rr ONE UREE 45 TE GID SEE a EN PET E E P E E ETE 45 Homing the GUSO sresranasenisanei ea 46 Dialog Mata ment esserne grene 46 ESS REY ania 47 Monitor Configuration UNY sccreseisaseccscssnessscavvascicpevicouevneccns 49 AB O ae se dentine E este 50 Chapter SR ori eniT rE ERNE 51 SERRE SANTI Ery a a re 51 TIL Clock Ca GO ss ar 53 NISCand PAL EncodefS srce 53 The Spectrum 8 Series III Color Display Signal 54 Monitor Types Compatible with Spectrum 8 Series Ti ER SEERE SEE EET rr 54 Display aE COnVer O Deaan ir a i 55 Where to Find More Help osse 56 Federal Communications Commission Notice 56 SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Appendix A Video Port Specifications ssevssessrsessserrseresee 57 GION Y ssciccumncanemnacninnn AAO 59 CONTENTS vii troduction Spectrum 8 Series III is a video card video graphics adapter for the Macintosh II family of computers and may be installed in any of the NuBus slots within the computer You can use multiple Spectrum 8 Series III cards up to six in the Macintosh II and IIx and up to three in the Macintosh IIcx and Ici to drive multiple monitors attached to a single computer Spectrum 8 Series II is fully compatible with the Modular Macintosh family of computers such as the Macintosh II IIx and IIcx Throughout this manual any reference to the Macintosh II refers to the complete li
28. R DATA STORED IN OR USED WITH SUPERMAC PRODUCTS EVEN IF SUPERMAC OR AN AUTHORIZED SUPERMAC RESELLER HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES YOUR SOLE REMEDY UNDER THIS WARRANTY WILL BE SUPERMAC S OR AN AUTHORIZED SUPERMAC RESELLER S PERFORMANCE OF THE REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT REFERRED TO ABOVE SUPERMAC S LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF THIS WARRANTY OR FOR ANY OTHER CLAIM DIRECTLY RELATED TO THIS PRODUCT SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID FOR THIS PRODUCT AT THE TIME OF ORIGINAL PURCHASE At the time of purchase fill out the warranty card and your Authorized SuperMac Reseller will forward it to SuperMac Or complete and return this Warranty to SuperMac within 10 days of purchase EXCEPT AS SPECIFIED ABOVE SUPERMAC MAKES NO WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WITH RESPECT TO PERFORMANCE MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE This Warranty gives you specific legal rights You may also have other rights which vary from state to state Purchase Date Ser No SuperMac Technology 485 Potrero Avenue Sunnyvale CA 94086 Telephone 408 245 2202 Fax 408 735 7250 Technical Support 408 245 0646 I Fate gro 71 FI 111 cae oO E nee SEES SEE Ty Penal eM errr ES er ix A Dout ETMS Mantal rriren ieies NN xii Quick Start For Experienced Users Only xiii Monitors Supported by Spectrum 8 Series I xiv Chapter 1 What is COON mccain 1 ADO E
29. TTL Clock Oscillator are seated in the socket on Spectrum 8 Series II that one of the pins isn t bent out and not seated in 51 52 the socket Finally the TTL Clock Oscillator may be defective or it may not be the correct frequency for the monitor you re working with Problem After installing Spectrum 8 Series III and trying the installation procedure nothing appears on the monitor Solution Check to make sure that Spectrum 8 Series III is firmly seated in its NuBus slot within the Macintosh If so remove Spectrum 8 Series III and inspect the pin connectors on the bottom of the NuBus connector one or more of the pins may be bent or otherwise damaged If any of the pins are damaged Spectrum 8 Series III must be returned to SuperMac for repair Contact SuperMac Technical Support at 408 245 0646 for information about returning the card and having it repaired If all the pins on the NuBus connector are okay check to see that the video cable is firmly seated in both the port on the back of Spectrum 8 Series III and on the back of the monitor If the cable is properly connected it could be that the cable itself is defective SPECTRUM 8 SERIES II USER S MANUAL TTL Clock Oscillators TTL Clock Oscillators are available from a variety of sources and will cost about 5 00 with shipping and handling Be sure to specify the exact frequency and be sure to make it clear that you need a TTL Clock Oscillator Module rather tha
30. ace of the object If an object appears to be pure white it appears that way because the object reflects all colors of light waves equally Likewise if an object appears to be pure black it looks that way because it absorbs all colors of light waves Objects appear to be certain colors because they reflect the waves of energy which correspond to those colors For example the diagram below illustrates white light comprised of red green and blue light waves reflecting off the surface of a red apple Red Light Waves Green Light Waves Red light is reflected the apple appears red Blue Light Waves Green light is absorbed Blue light is absorbed In this case the apple appears red because the surface of the apple absorbs blue and green light waves while it reflects red light waves Likewise a blueberry appears blue because it absorbs red and green light and reflects blue light Unlike transmitted light which is an additive process reflected light is a subtractive process When light is reflected off an object colors are subtracted and the colors we perceive are the result of the colors which are not absorbed by the object Therefore objects which do not generate their own light are described by a different set of primary colors the Subtractive Primaries Cyan Yellow and Magenta WHAT IS COLOR 3 The diagram below shows how the three Subtractive Primaries can work together to create intermediate col
31. ble click on the disk SuperMac Graphics Software icon to open the disk window Copy SuperVideo file into the System Folder of the hard disk or startup disk as shown in the diagram on the next page 31 r File Edit View Special 33 items 171 070K in disk 150 805K ava 20S superMac Graphics Software S 0 8 4 7 items 420K in disk 366K available P pa PN 32 Bit QuickDraw Acceleration Laser Prep LaserWriter 5 Restart your Macintosh II 6 Store the SuperMac Graphics Software disk in a Safe Place in case you need it for a future installation Note Some color graphics applications such as SuperMac s PixelPaint Professional are designed for 24 bit Macintosh systems but can also be used in 8 bit mode on Spectrum 8 Series III For these applications you must also install the 32 bit QuickDraw file into your System Folder Consult the user s manual supplied with the application to see if the 32 bit QuickDraw file is necessary SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL About the Finder Calculator Chooser Control Panel Find File Key Caps Scrapbook Using SuperVideo In order to use SuperVideo choose Control Panel from the Apple menu and select the SuperVideo icon by clicking on it Control Panel Devices are listed alphabetically Therefore SuperVideo will be located near the bottom of the list similar to the diagram below Control Panel O 8 Black amp White Gra
32. ed green and blue color dots Each gun only fires electrons at its corresponding color dots These guns can vary in intensity if more electrons are directed at a particular color dot in a pixel that color dot glows more brightly Colors are created by adjusting the intensity of the three guns on a single pixel Obviously if just one of the color dots of a pixel is illuminated the pixel will glow in that single color If all three guns hit the color dots of a single pixel at full intensity the three Additive Primaries blend to make the pixel appear white If none of the color dots are hit the pixel remains black Colors are produced by varying the intensity of the three guns Since the intensity of the three electron guns can be so precisely tuned color monitors have the ability to display millions of different colors The important concept is that color monitors stand ready to produce any color of the rainbow they simply must be instructed by the computer as to which pixel of the screen is to display which color How the Macintosh Defines Color Since the monitor is capable of displaying such a wide range of color it is the design of the video adapter and how much RAM memory it has which dictates how many colors can be displayed on the screen at one time Macintosh color systems are based on binary numbers the bigger the binary number the more colors it can describe The first Macintosh computers were based on 1 bit binary nu
33. ed green and blue monitor inputs Note that the presence of sync information in the green display signal will not disturb your monitor All of SuperMac s color monitors are non composite RGB monitors Non Composite Monochrome Monitor Use the SuperVideo or Apple Monitors control panel device to select black and white output Attach either the red green or blue connector from the Spectrum 8 Series III SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL color video cable to the monitor display input connector Attach the Spectrum 8 Series II video sync connector to the monitor sync input connector Composite Monochrome Monitor Use the SuperVideo or Apple Monitors control panel device to select black and white output Attach the green connector from the Spectrum 8 Series III video cable to the monitor signal input connector The Apple Monochrome monitor is a composite monochrome monitor you can also connect the cable provided with the Apple monitor directly to the Spectrum 8 Series II Non Composite NTSC RGB Color Monitor Install a NTSC oscillator in your Spectrum 8 Series III color video card Connect the red green and blue connectors on the Spectrum 8 Series III video cable to the corresponding red green and blue inputs on the monitor Display Signal Conversion The section below describes how to convert a Spectrum 8 Series III color display signal to a signal which is appropriate for monitors receivers which are not compatible wit
34. election for the Spectrum 8 Series III that is the Panning feature which is activated when no other Panning options are selected With Free Panning is selected when the mouse cursor reaches the edge of the screen the image on the screen scrolls to reflect the movement of the mouse The diagram below illustrates the Free Panning feature for a Virtual Desktop of 1000 x 768 viewed on a standard Apple 640 x 480 monitor The image that would appear on the Apple display is contained within the black box in the upper right hand side of the diagram The rest of the screen is the area corresponds to the Virtual Desktop The icons for the hard disk drive and the Trash will be off in the corners of the Virtual Desktop as shown in the diagram on the next page SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Area Visible on Standard Pan across to see Apple Monitor 640 x 480 Hard Disk upper right and Trash lower right Total Area of Virtual Desktop 1000 x 768 In the example illustrated above by moving the mouse to the right and down using Free Panning you will be able to scroll across the screen to reveal those areas of the Virtual Desktop that were previously hidden Free Panning feature works with all Macintosh applications which recognize a large screen Using a graphics application for example you can define a large drawing area begin drawing a line and have that line continue across the document into other areas of the Virtual Desktop
35. er The hardware panning described above works in conjunction with the zooming it allows you to quickly navigate to the section of the screen you want to zoom in and examine SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Control Utilities A Macintosh II equipped with a large external monitor can provide an enormous viewing area The software supplied with Spectrum 8 Series III includes three utilities which makes it much easier to deal with the screen territory afforded by such a system A keyboard activated Home Cursor Utility allows you to move the cursor to the upper left corner of either the internal or external monitor The cursor can also be enlarged or set to flash to make it easier to find A Dialog Control Utility enables you to have dialog boxes appear in a convenient location You can center all dialogs to the visible portion of your display which is very useful if you are using a virtual display which is larger than your monitor screen You can also specify to have the dialogs center on the current cursor location which eliminates having to drag the cursor to the upper middle of your display to work with each dialog Finally when you need to quickly shift a portion of the virtual display a keyboard activated Hand Panning Utility similar to the hand tool used in MacPaint can be used to reposition the screen display As the screen is repositioned the menu bar at the top of the screen can be locked so the me
36. er is equipped with 1024K of video RAM This is sufficient memory to drive a 1024 x 768 pixel display with each pixel displaying any 256 colors from the 16 8 million colors available on the Macintosh II TTL Oscillator Module Spectrum 8 Series III is equipped with four TTL Oscillator Modules which are set to support the SuperMac 1024 x 768 pixel 16 and 19 color monitors and the Apple 13 color and 12 monochrome monitors An empty socket is provided for a fifth oscillator which enables Spectrum 8 Series III to accommodate several other monitor configurations SPECTRUM 8 SERIES II USER S MANUAL Connectors NuBus Connector The NuBus connector is used to connect the Spectrum 8 Series II to the Macintosh II Video Port The Video Port is used to link the Spectrum 8 Series III with an external monitor A description of the pin outputs for this Port may be found in Appendix A Video Connector Specifications Installing Spectrum 8 Series III in a Macintosh Il Spectrum 8 Series III is designed to be used on a Macintosh II system and is compatible with three families of monitors SuperMac 1024 by 768 pixel 16 and 19 Displays running at 75Hz e SuperMac 1024 by 768 pixel 16 and 19 Displays running at 60Hz 13 AppleColor monitor With the addition of a low cost TTL Clock Oscillator Spectrum 8 Series III can also operate The Apple Portrait Display Any NTSC specification color monitor Any PAL specification color monit
37. f colors displayed by the monitor to see the resulting colors defined by the System s Look Up table Applications and the Look Up Table In addition to the Macintosh System individual applications can define which 256 colors are displayed by an 8 bit Macintosh system For example PixelPaint is an 8 bit color graphics program which allows the Look Up table to be completely customized With PixelPaint each file can have its own unique Look Up Table using the 256 colors which best flatter the image displayed in the file If a custom Look Up table is defined using PixelPaint it will be displayed in the Monitors Control Panel except when running under MultiFinder SPECTRUM 8 SERIES II USER S MANUAL Chapter 3 Installing Spectrum 8 Series III This chapter explains how to install the Spectrum 8 Series III video card in your Macintosh II and how to configure the card to accommodate the monitor you are using with your system Unpacking The packing box for Spectrum 8 Series III should contain e a packing slip which lists the contents of the box e the Spectrum 8 Series III video card e a disk labeled SuperMac Graphics Software e this manual If any of these parts are missing contact your authorized SuperMac dealer Important The warranty registration card appears in the center of this manual Detach the warranty registration card from this manual fill it out and mail it to SuperMac immediately to validate your wa
38. h a single Macintosh II If you have more than one Spectrum 8 Series III video card installed in a single Macintosh II then the configuration procedure must be run for each of the cards The Configuration Sequence When the Macintosh is first started the configuration sequence will begin with the video card in NuBus slot 1 For the Macintosh II and IIx this is the NuBus slot which is closest to the power supply as illustrated by the diagram below Top View of Macintosh Il Macintosh IIx Slot 1234 5 6 ae a gt 35 rn z o 2 S a Front Configuration happens sequentially beginning with the card in this slot For the Macintosh IIcx and IIci this is the NuBus slot which is farthest from the power supply as illustrated by the diagram on the next page SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Top View of Macintosh Ilcx Macintosh lici Slot 1 2 3 Configuration happens sequentially beginning with the card in this slot Use the following procedure to configure multiple Spectrum 8 Series III video cards which will be used with your system 1 Install the first Spectrum 8 Series III in NuBus slot 1 and connect the monitor using the installation procedure detailed earlier in this chapter 2 Turn on your Macintosh At this point Spectrum 8 Series III will sequentially step through the monitor possibilities 3 Ina few seconds the screen will clear and prompt you to press the space bar to lock i
39. h the standard output signal Non Composite NTSC Color Monitor Attach the three Spectrum 8 Series III video display connectors to the corresponding color input connectors of an NTSC color encoder If the encoder output is a composite signal connect the output cable directly to the monitor signal input connector Otherwise use a hybrid coupler or mixer to connect the color encoder display and sync output cables to the monitor signal input connector Monochrome Receiver Use the SuperVideo or Apple Monitors control panel device to select black and white output Attach the green display connector on the Spectrum 8 Series III color video cable to the input connector of an RF modulator for the selected TV channel Connect the RF modulator output cable to the receiver signal input connector NTSC Color Receiver Attach the three input signal connectors on the Spectrum 8 Series III color video cable to the corresponding color input connectors of an NTSC color encoder If the encoder output is a composite signal connect directly to an RF modulator input connector for the selected TV channel Otherwise use a hybrid coupler or mixer to connect the color encoder display and sync output cables to the input connector of an RF modulator for the selected TV channel Attach the Spectrum 8 Series III color video outputs to the inputs of the corresponding color drive amplifiers REFERENCE 55 56 Where to Find More Help If you are unable
40. he Macintosh are given a special area of memory parameter RAM where information is stored about what kind of monitor is attached to the video port This parameter RAM is powered by a battery on the main circuit board of the Macintosh and is therefore permanent non volatile memory In other words the information stored in this memory is retained even if the Macintosh II is turned off or unplugged After you have selected the configuration which matches your monitor the information is transferred to the parameter RAM of the Macintosh During subsequent start ups the Macintosh will check this parameter RAM to determine what kind of monitor is connected and will address the monitor appropriately Here are some considerations for how parameter RAM can effect the behavior of the Macintosh e You can change the contents of Spectrum 8 Series III s parameter RAM by using the SuperVideo Control Panel device described in the following chapter e You can clear the parameter RAM for the NuBus Slot by holding down the Command Shift Option keys while selecting Control Panel from the Apple menu A dialog box will appear similar to the diagram on the next page SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL You are about to zap the O PRam Most parameters such as the default boot device will be changed when the system is re started Do you want to do this PRam zap alert box As stated in the dialog box if you zap the PRam parameter RA
41. how to use the software which controls the advanced features of the Spectrum 8 Series III video board CHAPLET Fonran Reference includes additional information including specifications for unusual monitors which might be used with the Spectrum 8 Series III Words or phrases printed in bold face are explained further in the glossary SPECTRUM 8 SERIES II USER S MANUAL Quick Start For Experienced Users Only This section offers an abbreviated set of instructions for getting a Spectrum 8 Series III up and running This section is only for those who are already familiar with the Macintosh II that is those who have installed video cards in other Macintosh II systems and are experienced in working with those systems This section is not for beginners If you are new to the Macintosh and have just acquired your system take the time to read this manual in its entirety There are many tips hints and shortcuts described in this manual which will enable you to work easier and faster on your Macintosh system 1 Install the Spectrum 8 Series II video card in any of the NuBus slots within the Macintosh II 2 Using a video cable which is appropriate for the monitor you re working with connect the video port on the back of the Spectrum 8 Series III to the video input socket s on the back of the monitor 3 Start the Macintosh II system 4 At this point you need to configure Spectrum 8 Series III to accommodate the monitor you
42. iagram on the next page depicts selecting the Hot Key which is used to enable the Zooming utility Box indicates Hot Key combination can be changed KN Enable Zooming md Option Up Arrow Zooms in Cmd Option DownArrow Zooms out 4 Press the combination of keys you want to use to activate the feature on the keyboard While Holding down the desired Hot Key combination hit the space bar to lock in your selection When the new Hot Key combination is locked in a description of your new Hot Key will appear in the box For example if you re assigned the Zooming feature to be activated by pressing the Command Shift Option Control and Up Arrow keys the box would show Cmd Shift Option Ctrl Up Arrow Zooms in Important If you re using an Apple Extended Keyboard with your Macintosh be aware that the Function keys the row of keys at the top of the keyboard can t be used to define Hot key combinations SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Monitor Configuration Utility The Monitor Configuration Utility is provided so that SuperVideo can be used to configure previous versions of SuperMac Spectrum video cards When you click on the Monitor Configuration Utility the Monitor Configuration Window will appear similar to the diagram below gt Control Panel ES SE Click on list item to select monitor SuperMac Hi Res RGB Monitor 1024 x 768 pixels 64 00 MHz oscillator required 30 24 M lator requi
43. ick Here to Set Number of Colors SuperVideo control screen To change these settings first click on the image of the monitor you want to set in the SuperVideo screen then set the number of colors and or grays from the top of the Monitor Utility display area These changes will take effect immediately Convergence Test The Convergence Test button is used to check the internal alignment settings on color monitors When you select the Convergence Test button the screen will appear black with a grid of fine white lines If the convergence is correct the lines on the screen should appear to be pure white If they aren t pure white or if there s a color fringing at the edges of the lines the monitor should be aligned by your dealer Click Here for Convergence Test SuperVideo control screen SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Choosing a Monitor with SuperVideo The center of the Control Utility contains a scaled down icon of the each display connected to your system If more than one video card and monitor are connected an icon representing the size and location of the display will appear in the center of the SuperVideo control screen Each miniature screen icon is numbered beginning with 1 The number in the screen corresponds to the location of the video card in the Macintosh II The Macintosh numbers video cards from left to right from slot 1 to slot 6 therefore screen number 1 corresponds to the video card that is the close
44. intosh for the change to take effect The monitor with the menu bar will automatically become the startup screen that is the screen which will display the smiling Macintosh face and the Welcome to Macintosh message when the computer is first started Important With a color Macintosh system most color software requires that the menu bar be assigned to a color monitor For example SuperMac s PixelPaint 2 0 requires that the screen with the menu bar be a color monitor and that the monitor be set for 256 colors If a monochrome monitor is set for the menu bar PixelPaint will refuse to launch displaying a dialog box similar to the diagram below Quickdraw be set to 256 colors O PixelPaint requires that Color USING SUPERVIDEO 39 40 Options Utility The Options Utility is only available when a display which corresponds to a Spectrum 8 Series III video card has been selected highlighted in the SuperVideo control screen Select the Options Utility button from the bottom of the SuperVideo control screen You should see a screen similar to the illustration below Control Panel ESS Q 1024 x 768 2000 x 1500 1000 x 1500 4000 x 1500 HQ Enable Zooming Cmd Option UpArrow Zooms in Cmd Option DownArrow Zooms out DT Enable Home Crnd Option 0 9 Homes to selected monitor i K Enable centering of dialogs i Center to screen O Center to cursor 4 lt Enable Hand Panning to edge
45. its supplied with computer products A Safe Place must be a good distance away from the computer system itself and should never used to store disks and other stuff associated with day to day work Finally a Safe Place never gets hot or humid is far away from all magnetic things cannot be reached by small children and is impervious to spilled coffee software A program which resides on floppy disk or hard disk media Software can be modified damaged discarded by the user sync signal A signal that synchronizes the scanning operation of a raster scan monitor May also include a phase reference for an encoded color monitor vertical retrace The return of the electron beam to the top of the CRT screen at the start of each field or frame interval Virtual Desktop The desktop workspace stored in the memory of Spectrum 8 Series III The Macintosh II addresses the Virtual Desktop as though it were a huge monitor and enables the Macintosh monitor to act as a window into the area of the Virtual Desktop GLOSSARY 61 INDEX 8 bit Color 11 A About Utility 50 Additive Colors 2 C cdev 59 Centering of Dialogs 46 Changing Hot Keys 48 Color 11 Color Look Up Table 11 13 Colors setting monitor 35 Configuring alternate monitor 26 multiple monitors 24 Control Utilities xi Convergence Test 36 D D A Convertors 12 Display Signal 54 E Edge Panning 45 F FCC Notices 22 56 Free Panning 42 G Genlock 60 H Hand Panning
46. mbers each pixel on the monitor screen was either black or white Grays were simulated by using a checkerboard pattern of black and white pixels SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Two bit binary numbers can define four colors to be displayed black white and two shades of gray Four bit binary numbers can define 16 colors and an 8 bit number allows a color system to display up to 256 different colors on the screen at one time On a grander scale the Macintosh thinks about a screen pixel using a much bigger binary number in fact it uses three 8 bit numbers one number for red one for green and one for blue Since an 8 bit number can define 256 intensities each for red green and blue 256 x 256 x 256 16 777 216 different colors on the Macintosh 8 bit color With an 8 bit video system the Macintosh itself stands ready to deliver any of those 16 8 million colors but the video adapter is designed to display 256 colors at any one time To determine which 256 colors the Macintosh II brings into play what s known as a Color Look Up Table To understand how the Look Up Table works imagine that you re a painter and that your stock room has a very large selection of paint colors for you to work with in fact 16 8 million different colors This is an unusual paint in that the colors can t be mixed Instead each color can only be its own individual color To stretch the imagination a bit further su
47. n a simple crystal oscillator such as those used in CB radios and police scanners If you can t locate the TTL Oscillator Module you need locally try it from one of the following sources Fry s Electronics Halted Specialties 541 Lakeside Drive 3500 Ryder St Sunnyvale CA 94086 Santa Clara CA 95051 408 733 1770 408 732 1573 Quement s Electronics Cal Crystal Labs 1000 S Bascom 1 800 333 9825 San Jose CA 95128 408 998 5900 NTSC and PAL Encoders Using Spectrum 8 Series III to output NTSC signals for devices such as video cassette recorders requires the appropriate oscillator and an NTSC encoder which converts RGB output into composite video signal If single monitor operation with just NTSC or PAL output is desired then no additional cable should be required Important Be aware that the Spectrum 8 Series III video card does not produce pure broadcast standard output but does produce high quality NTSC compatible output which should be suitable for most applications REFERENCE 53 54 The Spectrum 8 Series Ill Color Display Signal When the SuperVideo or Apple Monitors control panel device has been set for color output Spectrum 8 Series III will produce four signals red display signal blue display signal green display signal mixed with a sync signal and a sync signal The red blue and sync signals are output on the red blue and sync pins of the video card connector The green
48. n the Command and Option keys while clicking the mouse button The cursor will change into a miniature hand symbol which enables you to reposition the screen With the Command and Option keys depressed hold down the mouse button and drag the mouse to reposition the screen Hand Panning can be used to reposition the screen view anywhere within the limits defined by the Virtual Desktop SPECTRUM 8 SERIES II USER S MANUAL Edge Panning Edge Panning works exactly like the standard Free Panning mode of the Spectrum 8 Series III except that it can be activated when the Menu Bar is locked to the top of the screen With the Menu Bar locked Edge Panning is activated by holding down the Command Option tilde keys at the same time the tilde key is to the left of the space bar on the Apple Standard Keyboard and in the upper left corner of the Extended Keyboard With these three keys held down you will be able to pan freely across the entire Virtual Desktop when the mouse cursor nears the edge of the screen Tip When activating Edge Panning be sure to hold down the Command and Option keys first and then hold down the tilde key if the tilde key is hit first Edge Panning may not be activated Zooming When the monitor is set to 256 colors Spectrum 8 Series III s zooming feature allows a close up view of any portion of the screen or Virtual Desktop This feature is similar to the Fat Bits view offered by several
49. n the screen configuration This screen will appear similar to the diagram below Keyboard Prompt Screen 4 When this screen appears immediately press the space bar on the keyboard and the Macintosh will restart to lock in in the configuration 5 When the familiar Macintosh Finder appears choose Shut Down from the Special menu INSTALLING SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III 25 26 6 Install the second Spectrum 8 Series III in NuBus slot 2 and connect the second monitor to that card 7 Restart the Macintosh 8 Since the first Spectrum 8 Series III has been configured the configuration screen will be skipped for that card In a moment the monitor which corresponds to the second Spectrum 8 Series III video card will prompt you to press the space bar to lock in the screen configuration 9 Immediately press the space bar on the keyboard and the Macintosh will restart to lock in the configuration At this point you can use the above procedure to install additional Spectrum 8 Series IM video cards in your Macintosh system Each card should be installed in the next higher slot number to insure that it will be addressed by the monitor configuration sequence When you have finished installing video cards in your system you will need to use SuperVideo to set the spatial alignment for all of the monitors This procedure is described in detail in Chapter 4 Using SuperVideo Installing Spectrum 8 Series Ill to Drive an Alternate Mo
50. ne of Modular Macintosh computers Spectrum 8 Series III will drive a color monitor at 8 bits per pixel which means that 256 different colors can be displayed on screen at any instant and those 256 can be selected from a palette of over 16 million available colors For software compatibility Spectrum 8 Series III can also operate in 4 bit 16 colors 2 bit four colors and 1 bit black and white modes As shipped Spectrum 8 Series III supports four types of monitors 19 SuperMac 75Hz Color Display 1024 x 768 pixels e 19 SuperMac 60Hz Color Display 1024 x 768 pixels 16 SuperMac 75Hz Color Display 832 x 624 pixels Apple 13 High Resolution RGB and 12 monochrome monitors 640 x 480 pixels With the addition of a low cost crystal oscillator Spectrum 8 Series III can also support three more types of monitor systems Apple Portrait Display 640 x 870 pixels Any NTSC specification RGB monitor 640 x 480 pixels INTRODUCTION ix e Any PAL specification RGB monitor 768 x 576 pixels Spectrum 8 Series III is capable of driving the above monitors at a r 75Hz for a stable flicker free screen image Specirum 8 Series Ill Features In addition to full capability with 8 bit Macintosh software Spectrum 8 Series III offers a variety of unique capabilities to give you control of your monitor s Multiple screen sizes Spectrum 8 Series III has 1024K 1mb of video RAM and will drive a 1024 x 768 19 di
51. nitor In addition to the standard monitors supported by Spectrum 8 Series III you can add a low cost TTL Clock Oscillator to work with the Apple Portrait Display any NTSC RGB specification monitor or any PAL RGB specification monitor The table below lists the frequency of the oscillator required for these monitors Monitor Oscillator Frequency Apple Portrait Display 57 28 MHz NTSC RGB color 14 31818 MHz PAL RGB color 17 73 MHz To obtain these oscillators contact your authorized SuperMac dealer or one of the sources listed in the Reference section near the end of this manual Installing the Oscillator Use the following procedure to install the TTL Clock oscillator on the Spectrum 8 Series III video card SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL 1 Shut down the Macintosh II unplug its power cord and unplug the power cord for the monitor 2 If Spectrum 8 Series III is installed in your Macintosh remove it gently pulling upward lifting the board up and off the NuBus connector 3 Set Spectrum 8 Series IM down gently on a flat surface so that the side with the chips are facing up Position the board so that the NuBus connector is pointing toward you Locate the TTL Clock Oscillators on Spectrum 8 Series III they are near the top of the video card above the NuBus connector as shown in the diagram below Alternate oscillator socket i CC Coco Center area of EES Ba re S Square corner of oscillator p gt
52. nning feature will be disabled In order to move across a large Virtual Desktop activate the Edge Panning feature by holding down the Command Option keys to pan to other regions while you are in the zoomed in view Homing the Cursor With a multi monitor Macintosh system it is sometimes difficult to keep track of the cursor Spectrum 8 Series II s cursor Homing feature enables you to instantly locate the cursor to the upper left corner of the viewable area on any active screen In order to keep from moving the cursor to a corner of the screen that is not visible the Homing feature positions the cursor at the upper left corner of the screen not at the upper left corner of the Virtual Desktop To Home the cursor to a particular screen hold down the Command and Option keys and use the numeric keypad to select a screen number for more information about screen numbering please refer to the beginning of this section For example to Home the cursor on screen number 1 press Command Option Note that the numbers used for the Homing feature correspond to the screen numbers rather than slot number where a particular card is installed The screen numbers are those displayed in SuperVideo s Control screen Utility Dialog Management The Enable Centering of Dialogs feature is designed to make it easier to deal with dialog boxes for both large screen monitors and for large Virtual Desktops Dialog boxes such as the boxes which a
53. nt to get right to work with your Spectrum 8 Series III skip ahead to Chapter 3 nstalling Spectrum 8 Series III Fe About Color Simply stated light is the source of color This was first demonstrated in 1666 by Isaac Newton who experimented with passing a beam of sunlight through a glass prism The light which came out of the prism was divided into the rainbow array of the colors which make up sunlight Of course the effect of a prism had been noted well before Newton s time but it had always been attributed to some sort of latent color embedded in the glass of the prism Newton s breakthrough came by taking the experiment a step further he passed the resulting rainbow of light through a second prism and found that the rainbow was re assembled into white light as shown in the diagram below Rainbow of Second prism visible light reconstitutes white light from the rainbow Sunlight enters first prism X The key concept here is that what appears to be white light is actually a blending of colored light Conversely a rainbow of colored light can be blended back together to create white light WHAT IS COLOR 1 Transmitted Light Additive Colors In color theory the process of blending colored light is referred to as Additive Color It s been found that just three colors red green and blue are required to create white light In other words if you take equal amounts of red light green light and
54. nu selections are always conveniently available INTRODUCTION xi xii About This Manual This manual provides information for installing configuring and using a Spectrum 8 Series III video card The first chapter explains the physics of color how the eye perceives color and how that relates to the work you do on your Macintosh Chapter two explains how color images are created on a computer monitor and how Spectrum 8 Series III controls the Macintosh II s video system Read these chapters to get an understanding of how color is specified and manipulated in the Macintosh environment The remainder of this manual explains how to install and use your Spectrum 8 Series III card This manual is divided into six chapters It also includes an appendix describing Spectrum s cable requirements a glossary of terms which relate to Macintosh video and an index Chapter I ssssccssssasavsvesvaneness What is Color This chapter provides information about the nature of color how colors are created and how we perceive color Chapter sirener Introduction to 8 bit color explains 8 bit color theory and how it is implemented in Spectrum 8 Series III This chapter also includes an overview of the hardware components of Spectrum 8 Series III EITTEA nie EOE T Installing Spectrum 8 Series III describes unpacking installing and configuring your Spectrum 8 Series III video board Chaps A ocscscczascesscicvasnses Using SuperVideo shows you
55. o create the four image plates required by the four color printing process With PixelPaint you can make fine adjustments to each of the image plates giving you control over the appearance of the final printed image For example if you were creating a color poster you could specify different color adjustments depending on whether the poster were to be displayed in sunlight or under fluorescent light SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Film recorders create images on photographic film by exposing the film to very fine beams of red green and blue light the Additive Primary colors With the right software you could make very fine adjustments to the red green and blue output of Spectrum 8 Series III and control the overall color balance of the finished image Finally the color monitor that you use with Spectrum 8 Series III is itself a light source As explained in the next chapter color monitors create color using the Additive Primary colors If your color images are to be presented directly on the monitor screen understanding and controlling the three Additive Primary colors will enable you to very precisely control the colors which appear on the screen WHAT IS COLOR R Macintosh Color This chapter explains the theory behind how color is created on a computer monitor and how Spectrum 8 Series III operates with the Macintosh II This chapter also gives an overview of the hardware components of Spectrum
56. o have the screen alignment in SuperVideo match the physical position of your monitors When the displays are correctly aligned the cursor will make a smooth transition when it moves between monitors For a multiple monitor Macintosh II system you can use any other video card along with your Spectrum 8 Series III 24 bit cards monochrome cards or any combination of these cards The color monitor connected to Spectrum 8 Series III will always be able to display up to 256 colors To align the screens connected to your system using SuperVideo click on the image of the screen you want to adjust and drag it to the desired height position Screens can be positioned beside one another or above and below one another as shown in the diagram on the next page SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Screens can be aligned left and right or up and down with respect to other screens At some point you may run out of room to reposition a screen within the Monitor Utility display area Hold down the option key while you drag a particular monitor icon and all the screens will move as a group Moving the Menu Bar For a multi monitor Macintosh system you can assign the Menu Bar to appear at the top of any monitor To move the Menu Bar to a different display click precisely on the image of the Menu Bar and drag it to the new location When you release the mouse button the menu bar will snap to the upper edge of the new screen Restart your Mac
57. or Note Spectrum 8 Series II can be installed in the any of the Modular Macintosh computers the Macintosh II IIx cx or Ici However for clarity the remainder of this manual will refer to this family of computers as the Macintosh II Use the following procedure to install Spectrum 8 Series IM in a Macintosh II 1 Shut down your Macintosh II and unplug its power cord Also unplug the power cord for the monitor INSTALLING SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III 17 Expansion slot covers Security screw Monitor power output switch Latch Printer port Power switch Audio jack Apple Deskto Bus Ports R Main Power Modem port 2 Using a Phillips screwdriver loosen and remove the security screw from the back of the Macintosh II case 3 Press the two latches on the back of the Macintosh II and gently lift the cover up and away from the main computer unit Be careful to disengage the three clips located on the front lower half of the case 4 Touch the power supply located inside the Macintosh to discharge any static electricity that might be on your clothes or body Expansion cover shield Floppy Drive Inside the Macintosh II 5 Select the NuBus expansion slots you want to use for Spectrum 8 Series III The Expansion slots are narrow plastic strips that run along the bottom on the main SPECTRUM 8 SERIES II USER S MANUAL Cl AW UL Clip slot Pin Slot computer unit You may use any of the six slot
58. ors Yellow Red Green Magenta Cyan Blue Note that the center of this diagram where all three colors overlap in equal amounts the result is black In other words the three Subtractive Primaries work together to subtract all colors of light and the result is the absence of light Pure black Perceiving Colors All of the above describes how colors are transmitted and reflected but overlooks a basic element of color perception the nature of the light source Using the example from earlier in this chapter suppose a red apple were illuminated by a light bulb which gives off only pure blue light as shown in the diagram on the next page SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL No light is reflected the apple appears black Blue Light Waves In this case the red skin of the apple absorbs all of the blue light making the apple appear to be black Conversely if the apple were illuminated with a pure red light all of the light would be reflected making the apple appear bright red It s easy to take for granted that all the light sources of day to day life are basically the same Not so Sunlight candlelight incandescent light bulbs and fluorescent lights put out distinctly different colors and characteristics of light In other words while these light sources look white they are actually made up of slightly different mixes of colored light Even though the human eye is sensitive to these differences the
59. oth settings to see which method of centering is easiest for the kind of Macintosh applications you use Note The Enable Centering of Dialogs feature works with most dialog boxes Certain software applications can bypass Spectrum 8 Series III s centering commands forcing the dialog boxes to appear at some specific location Changing the Hot Keys Many of the features in the Options Utility screen are activated with a combination of keystrokes or Hot Keys These Hot Keys have been carefully chosen so that they don t conflict with shortcut keys most commonly used by most Macintosh applications such as Command P to activate printing USING SUPERVIDEO 47 48 A However it s inevitable that at some point with some application a conflict will occur In other words when you don t expect it the Hot Keys that are used to activate a Spectrum 8 Series III feature will perform some other function in a particular application Therefore SuperVideo enables you to re define the keys which activate the features in the Options Utility screen To change the Hot Key definition for any Options Utility use the following procedure 1 Select SuperVideo from the Control Panel 2 Click on the Options Utility button from the Monitor Utility selection screen 3 Click on the definition the actual words of the Hot Key for a particular feature A box will appear around the definition indicating it s selected to be changed The d
60. pan 1 Cmd Option Drag Pans screen i O Lock menubar to top of visible area FSlot 1 SuperMac Spectrum 8 Series III The SuperVideo Options Utility screen The Options Utility enables you to control the special display features available with Spectrum 8 Series I particularly how the Virtual Desktop is addressed The following section describes these features and how to make the most of these features while you are using various applications Virtual Desktop Size The Spectrum 8 Series III is capable of generating a workspace much larger than the actual dimensions of the display Ordinary video cards that are available for the Macintosh II operate monitors on a 1 1 basis In other words if the external monitor displays 640 by 480 pixels AppleColor monitor the video card will generate a 640 by 480 pixel workspace Spectrum 8 Series III differs in that a large workspace the Virtual Desktop can be created and stored in video memory on the video card A portion of the Virtual Desktop is sent to the display making the monitor a window into the larger workspace SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL At the top of the Options Utility screen there are a series of control buttons which correspond to the Virtual Desktop sizes that are available 1024 x 768 2000 x 1500 1000 x 1500 4000 x 1500 Virtual Desktop sizes The smallest size 1024 by 768 corresponds to the display area of the SuperMac 19
61. ppear to select print options search for a word etc are usually designed to appear in a specific area of the Macintosh screen When working with a large Virtual Desktop this can be particularly annoying dialog boxes SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL may appear up near the menu bar while you re working in the lower right corner of the Virtual Desktop With the Enable Centering of Dialogs feature selected in the Options Utility screen you can select where the dialog boxes will appear in the center of the screen or centered around the current cursor position If you have chosen to have dialog boxes centered on the screen they will appear in the center of your monitor screen not in the center of the area defined by the Virtual Desktop If you have chosen to have dialog boxes centered around the cursor position they will appear with the center of the dialog box around the present location of the mouse cursor This is usually the more convenient arrangement since dialog boxes always require clicking on check boxes or buttons Having these boxes centered on the cursor location means the mouse is already in position to select options Cursor Position to Cancer er Feed utomatic Manual C Print Hidden Text Print Back To Front Cover Page A Fractional Widths Smoothing Oferi substitution Reduce Enlarge The Print Dialog Box centered on the cursor position Experiment with b
62. ppose that as you re working with a painting you have a palette which can hold dabs of 256 different colors of paint So for this example you can choose any 256 colors from the 16 8 million available in your stock room as shown in the diagram below Color Stock Room Palette of 256 million available colors selected S from stock of w E 16 8 million N Each part of your artwork may be any Am of the 256 colors This is exactly how an 8 bit Macintosh video system works Of course instead of dabbing paint on a canvas the colors are defined electronically From the 16 8 million color possibilities 256 colors are chosen to be on the screen at any one time and each pixel on the screen can be any of the 256 colors When the Macintosh calls for a specific MACINTOSH COLOR 11 12 color say for example color number 112 the video adapter goes to the Look Up table to see which of the 16 8 million colors exactly corresponds to that color number The diagram below shows how the Macintosh circuitry uses the Look Up Table with an 8 bit system For this example the Macintosh has determined that a particular pixel must display color number 112 from the Look Up Table Color Look Up Table Hexidecimal digital stored in memory of numbers which represent video adapter the 256 levels of intensity for each primary color Macintosh assigns color 112 to a pixel from an index of 256 colors Index Number Red Green
63. pt you to press the space bar to lock in the screen configuration This screen will appear similar to the diagram below 4 When this screen appears immediately press the space bar on the keyboard and the Macintosh will restart to lock in in the configuration This configuration will automatically be used every time you start your Macintosh Note If you do not press the space bar Spectrum 8 Series III will continuously cycle through all the possible monitor configurations Each configuration will be displayed on the screen for approximately 5 seconds You can press the space bar any time the screen is clear to lock in the correct monitor configuration Resetting the Configuration Sequence If you accidentally hit the space bar before the Macintosh desktop is visible an incorrect monitor configuration will be locked in and used by Spectrum 8 Series III For this sad INSTALLING SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III 23 24 option circumstance you must instruct Spectrum 8 Series III to re run the configuration sequence To do this restart the Macintosh while holding down the Option key This will force Spectrum 8 Series III to run the configuration sequence again enabling you to select the correct configuration Using Spectrum 8 Series III with Multiple Monitors Each Spectrum 8 Series III video card is designed to operate a single monitor However you can use multiple Spectrum 8 Series III video cards to drive multiple monitors wit
64. red NTSC RGB Monitor 640 x 480 pixels 14 32 MHz oscillator required I Oscillator MHz 64 00 Monitor selection incompatible w card oscillator Use INSTALL to save Insta your monitor selection Slot 1 SuperMac Spectrum 8 Series III For complete information about using the Monitor Configuration Utility refer to the owner s manual which was supplied with your SuperMac Spectrum video card USING SUPERVIDEO 50 About Utility The About Utility displays information about the revision level of SuperVideo Activating the About Utility will show which video cards are compatible with SuperVideo the version number of SuperVideo and in the future other information which may pertain to configuring the Spectrum 8 Series III for a particular monitor This SuperVideo Control Panel device allows you to configure and control your SuperMac Macintosh II color video cards Spectrum 24 Series III Spectrum 8 Series III ColorCard 24 Spectrum 24 Spectrum 8 Series II Spectrum 8 ColorCard 1989 SuperMac Technology Inc perMac Spectrum 8 Series Ill The SuperVideo Control Panel Device About Screen SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Problem Solution Problem Solution REFERENCE Chapter 5 Reference This chapter contains additional technical information which relates to your Spectrum 8 Series III It begins with a troubleshooting section followed b
65. rranty Equally Important A copy of SuperMac s Limited Warranty appears on page 3 of this manual just before the Table of Contents Near the bottom of this page there are spaces for you to fill in the date that you purchased Spectrum 8 Series III and the serial number which appears on the back of your Spectrum 8 Series III video card Take a moment to fill in this information so that you can refer to it if you have any questions about this product Save all packing materials for transporting or mailing the video card in the future INSTALLING SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III 15 Spectrum 8 Series III Hardware Overview Throughout the rest of this manual references will be made to several of the key components on the Spectrum 8 Series III video card The diagram below shows where these components are located and the following paragraphs describe the purpose of each component Video RAM TTL Clock Oscillators Video Port ROM NuBus Connector Overview of the Spectrum 8 Series IHH Card Components ROM ROM stands for Read Only Memory The ROM chip contains the firmware the built in instructions which make the Spectrum 8 Series III hardware work with the Macintosh II Firmware like software will be periodically updated to add new features to Spectrum 8 Series III A label on top of the PROM identifies the version number of the ROM installed on your Spectrum 8 Series III card Video RAM The Spectrum 8 Series III adapt
66. s three on the Macintosh IIcx and IIci for the Spectrum 8 Series MI video card Remove the expansion cover shield which corresponds to the expansion slot you want to use for Spectrum 8 Series III The cover shield is a bright metal bracket and is located inside the main computer unit along the back of the case Lift the shield gently up and out of the computer freeing it from the clip and the pin that hold it in place Save the shield you will need to replace it if you remove Spectrum 8 Series II from it s slot Push out the plastic expansion slot cover located on the outside of the Macintosh cabinet Be sure to push out the cover which corresponds to the slot where you ll be installing the video card Grasp the cover from inside the computer with your thumb inside and your fingers outside Push the cover out with your thumb and put it in a Safe Place Expansion slot covers oO O8 Back of Macintosh II Grasp the Spectrum 8 Series III video card and lift it into place over the NuBus slot The side of the board with the chips should be facing the floppy disk drive and the NuBus connector should be pointed down Spectrum 8 Series III 9 The end of the Spectrum 8 Series III card which is equipped with the video connector socket has a metal shield This shield fits into the metal chassis of the INSTALLING SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III 19 20 Macintosh II just like the shield you previously removed Align the shield so that
67. sh II and SuperMac Trinitron monitor 19 Plug in both your Macintosh II and the monitor into a three pronged live grounded outlet Important The video cable must be shielded in order for Spectrum 8 Series III to comply with the specification for an FCC Class A computing device All genuine SuperMac monitor cables are shielded for full compliance as well as to minimize the chance of any radio interference If you have any questions about the cable you intend to use for your particular installation check with your Authorized SuperMac dealer SPECTRUM 8 SERIES III USER S MANUAL Selecting a Monitor Configuration After you have set up your system you need to tell the Spectrum 8 Series III video card which type of monitor is connected to your system Spectrum 8 Series III supports a variety of monitors therefore each time you use it with a different type monitor or remove and install Spectrum 8 Series II in a different NuBus slot you must configure your system Use the following procedure to configure your system 1 Turn on any devices you have connected to your system such as hard disk drives scanners etc and turn on your monitor 2 Turn on your Macintosh At this point Spectrum 8 Series III will begin cycling through the various monitor possibilities Each possibility will appear on the screen for a few seconds 3 When the correct monitor configuration appears on the screen the screen will clear and prom
68. signal is mixed with the sync signal and output on the green pin Mixing the green and sync signals allows Spectrum 8 Series III to be used with a wider variety of monitors When the SuperVideo or Apple Monitors control panel device has been used to select black and white output the video card will produce two signals a luminance display signal and a sync signal The luminance signal specifies which shade of gray best represents a color as shown on a color display The luminance signal is output on the red and blue pins The sync signal is output on the sync pin and is also mixed with the luminance signal and output on the green pin Monitor Types Compatible with Spectrum 8 Series III The following monitor types are directly compatible with the display signal generated by the Spectrum 8 Series III video card Non Composite RGB Color Monitor Non Composite NTSC RGB Color Monitor Non Composite PAL RGB Color Monitor Composite Monochrome Monitor Non Composite Monochrome Monitor The following paragraphs describe how a Spectrum 8 Series III color video card may be used with these various monitor types Note Although the Spectrum 8 Series III color display signal is directly compatible with the input signal required by these monitors special video cables and oscillators may be required Non Composite RGB Monitor Attach the red green and blue connectors on the Spectrum 8 Series III color video cable to the corresponding r
69. splay with 256 colors This is also enough RAM to create a Virtual Desktop of 4000 x 2000 pixels in 2 colors 1 bit or black and white Hardware panning With the special circuitry incorporated in Spectrum 8 Series III the SuperMac monitors can be used to simulate a display which is much larger than the actual monitor screen Spectrum 8 Series III enables you to set the size of this simulated screen in a variety of sizes for example you can set a the standard 1024 x 768 pixel monitor to behave as though it were a full 4000 x 1500 pixel display To maneuver across this large area hardware panning can be activated on all monitors and in all Virtual Desktop resolutions to combine the advantages of a large workspace and a large Virtual Desktop It s important to note that this feature is implemented in hardware and as hardware the screen response is lightning fast The area of the screen simulation is stored completely in the Spectrum 8 Series III s memory Software programs which simulate this effect are very slow by comparison Zooming features Shortcut keys are available to magnify the screen display by 200 which is handy for checking out small details of complex diagrams This Spectrum 8 Series III Zooming feature is also implemented in hardware so it s fast and smooth While zoomed in you still have full control of your Macintosh you can type text work with graphics tools or activate pull down menus in the usual mann
70. st to the power supply which may or may not be in slot number one For example the diagram below illustrates a top view of a Macintosh II with three video cards installed in slots 1 4 and 6 The video card in slot 1 would become screen 1 the card in slot 4 would become screen 2 and the card in slot 6 would become screen 3 Power Supply Slot 1 234 5 6 Front v Screen 1 Screen 2 Screen 3 Screen numbers for video cards in slots 1 4 and 6 Using the above example when the Macintosh II was started and SuperVideo selected from the Control Panel a screen similar to the diagram on the next page would appear USING SUPERVIDEO 37 38 SSS Control Panel B Click here to select screen 3 Screen 3 is controlled by Spectrum 8 Series Ill card in slot 6 Using the Control Utility to select Screen 3 installed in slot 6 the farthest right To change the location or number of colors levels of gray for a particular video card click on the icon that represents the screen you want in the SuperVideo control screen The diagram above depicts selecting screen 3 When a screen is selected its outline will be framed with a thick black border The card s slot position and type of video card will be listed immediately below the Monitor Utility display area Setting Spatial Alignment SuperVideo makes it easy to adjust the spatial alignment for all monitors connected to your Spectrum 8 Series IH system It is desirable t
71. tilities 33 using 33 T Technical Support 51 56 Transmitted Light 2 Troubleshooting 51 TTL Clock Oscillator installing 26 requirements xiv TTL Clock Oscillators sources 53 INDEX y Virtual Desktop 61 colors 41 panning 42 size 40 W Warranty 15 Z Zooming 45 65 SUPERMAC TECHNOLOGY SuperMac Technology 485 Potrero Ave Sunnyvale CA 94086 408 245 2202 3002157 0001 Rev A
72. y sections which contain information about TTL Clock Oscillators and cabling considerations for the various monitors which can be used with Spectrum 8 Series III Troubleshooting This section discusses some common problems encountered when using Spectrum 8 Series III If you are unable to solve a problem yourself contact your authorized SuperMac dealer or call SuperMac Technical Support at 408 245 0646 for assistance The screen image flickers and is unreadable However every few seconds the screen becomes clear and an image of a keyboard appears Either Spectrum 8 Series III was never configured for the monitor that it s trying to work with or the information about the monitor stored in the Macintosh s parameter RAM has been damaged Either way Spectrum 8 Series III must be configured for the monitor you re working with Press the space bar when the image of the keyboard appears If you re unsure about the configuration procedure refer to Chapter 3 Installing Spectrum 8 Series III I ve installed the TTL Clock Oscillator to use Spectrum 8 Series III with the NTSC RGB or PAL RGB monitor but the screen never becomes clear and readable during the installation procedure The TTL Clock Oscillator may be installed upside down Check to make sure that the square corner of the oscillator is installed with its square corner pointing down toward the NuBus connector Also check to make sure that all four of the pins for the
73. ys oO Color Convergence Test Drag monitors and menu bar to rearrange SuperVideo selected in the Control Panel When you select the SuperVideo icon a screen will appear on the right side of the Control Panel window This screen is very similar to the screen you see when you select the Monitors Control Panel Device However the difference between the two is that the SuperVideo screen includes a series of utility buttons that control the special features available with Spectrum 8 Series III video card Monitor Utilities The SuperVideo Control Panel Device cdev operates like a miniature Control Panel The lower portion of the SuperVideo screen has a Utility selection box with a series of icon buttons that enable you to select various special utilities SuperVideo contains four utilities which are described in the following section USING SUPERVIDEO 33 34 8 Black amp White Grays O Color Utility display area Convergence Test Name and location of currently selected video Slot 1 SuperMac Spectrum 8 Series III card Utility selection box Control areas of the SuperVideo screen Control Utility Enables you to select parameters for the display that is connected to the Spectrum 8 Series III The Control Utility enables you to choose between black and white and color output choose the number of colors that are displayed and perform a convergence test if you have a color display If you have

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