CGXMode Information Page

CGXMode

CGraphX Mode

Main Window - Pick your Card, (make/delete/edit) Screen mode and Monitor config file

Monitor Specification - Enter all of your monitors settings

Edit Mode - Edit the details of a specific screen mode

Edit Mode Real Time - Edit a specific screen mode in "real time"

Tooltypes - CGXMode Tooltypes

Error - Error messages from CGXMode

OVERVIEW- You should read this complete page so that you have a good understanding on how CGXMode works, what number it wants and how it reacts with your monitor. It does not get to heavy into tecnobabble as most all the other monitor pages do and it is geared around CGXMode and the terms it uses vs what your monitor manual migiht use. The AA(AGA) and A2410 drivers will not use CGXMode. If you have any questions let us know at cgxmode@vgr.com.
Interface

Board List: This is the current graphic card(s) that you will be using CGXMode with.
- If you are not using CGXMode 2.6 then you need to upgrade. You can get it from the latest CGX archive or you can get it here: 2.6 - 2.7
- CGXMode 2.6 (or 2.5beta1) and later version will now scan the list of CyberGraphX cards that are are installed and add them into the listview... thus giving you multi-board support directly in CGXMode
- CGXMode before 2.6 (or 2.5beta1) you must set a tooltype to the board you wish to edit modes on and can only edit i at a time. NOTE: You can ONLY use the following with the older CGXModes: CVision64, Piccolo, PicassoII, PicassoIV, Spectrum, RetinaZ3, PiccoSD64, CVision3D. EXAMPLE: if you have a Picasso II graphics card you need to set the tooltype like this: BOARD=PicassoII You need to set this to the card you use with one of the options above.
Monitor Specification: This is the config file that CGXMode will use and save change to.
- CGXMode will read the BOARD tooltype (with pre 2.6 CGXModes), in this example PicassoII, will look for ENV:CyberGraphX/PicassoIIMonitor. It will then read the config file that is set in ENV:CyberGraphX/PicassoIIMonitor. ENV:CyberGraphX/{board}Monitor, where {board} is what is set in the tooltype BOARD.
- First Time Usage If you are using CGXMode for the first time you NEED to find the MAX KHZ value your monitor will support. Once you do this you can use the built in DEFAULT values by using the pulldown menus (Settings) and selecting the value your monitor supports. Once you do this you will see a bunch of default screenmodes that you can customize for your personal taste and monitor.
- First Time Usage - EDIT BUTTON: Pressing this will allow you to enter your monitor values. This will let you set the all the MIN and MAX values for your make and model. You need to do this first before you start editing screenmodes. See the Monitor Specification section below.
Mode List: This shows all of the available modes that are available for this config file. The little box to the right shows the current selected mode information. It shows Resolution, Max Colors, and Horz and Vert values.
- Buttons
- New: This will make a new entry at the bottom of the screenmode listview. You then can select it, and then edit it. NOTE: If you are going to make a brand new mode then you can use the NEW button and then use EDIT to config the mode for your monitor.
- Edit: You can select a screenmode in the listview then hit edit to goto the edit window for that mode. See the Edit Mode section below
- /\: When you have a screen mode selected in the listview you can use the {up arrow} key to move up the list to the next screenmode. You also can use the "/" key.
- \/: When you have a screen mode selected in the listview you can use the {down arrow} key to move down the list to the next screenmode. You also can use the "\" key.
- Clone: This will take the current selected screen mode and make a copy of it and place the new mode at the bottom of the listview. NOTE: If you want to make a new mode that is very close to a mode that you are already using use CLONE. Example: You want to make a 640x400 mode... just select the 640x480 mode from the screenmode listview and hit CLONE.. then you can edit the new mode to the specs you want.
- Delete: This will take the current selected screenmode and delete it from the modes that are available. It will remove it from the listview. If you save & quit it will be gone.

Monitor Specification

This is where you can tell CGXMode the display specifications for your monitor. The manual for your monitor should have most of these numbers in the back. If it does not then you should contact the MFG of your monitor (or check their web site) to get the correct numbers. The more numbers you can feed into the Monitor Specification settings the more you can get out of your monitor with CGX. If you plug a few numbers in and guess others it _will_ be a pain to edit screen modes and you will not get the results you need or want. MAKE SURE you input the correct numbers, if you guess and you are wrong you might damage your monitor: You will see this everytime you edit your monitors specification:
MC1

This is window where you can enter all of your monitors display specifications:
MC2

Name: This is the file name for this monitors config file that is stored in sys:prefs/presets/monitors
Bandwidth [MHz]: This is the maximum dots per second that your monitor can do. This is sometimes called dot clock or driving clock frequency. This is measured in Megahertz (MHz). This is the number of signal periods per seconds. 1 time per second = 1 Hz. 1kHz = 1000Hz (One thousand Hz), 1MHz=1000000Hz (One million Hz). If you set the bandwidth to high then the display may become fuzzy or blurry.
Horizontal Frequency [kHz]:
- Min - This is the minimum number of times that your monitor can write a horizontal scan line (left to right) in a second. This is one of the number you must enter correctly and should not guess! Underdriving your monitor could damage it. Older and 'cheaper' monitors do not have any protection against this. Some newer and 'better' monitors have protection against underdriving.. but you should never count on that. It is best to use the correct number for your monitor! This number is measured in Kilohertz (kHz).
- Max - This is the maximum number of times that your monitor can write a horizontal scan line (left to right) in a second. Overdriving your monitor could damage it. Older and 'cheaper' monitors do not have any protection against this. Some newer and 'better' monitors have protection against overdriving.. but you should never count on that. It is best to use the correct number for your monitor! This number is measured in Kilohertz (kHz).
Horizontal Synchronization [盜]:
- Min Time - This the minimum time for the horizintal Blanking Period (Sync Length) that the monitor can handle. The horizontal Blanking period (Sync Length) is how long it takes the monitor to move the beam from the end of one scan line to the next and start 'drawing' again on the next scan line. Some monitors have a minimum limit on how short this time may be. The number is in Microseconds (not Dot(s)). If your monitor's manual only has numbers for Dot(s) for Vertical Synchronization use this formula to convert it:
```
盜 = ( 1 / (Vertical Resolution in seconds + blanking period)) * Line(s) * 1000000
```
- Min Pulse - This is the minimum time for the Pulse Length (Sync Period). This is the minimum time window that the monitor can be triggered to move the beam to the next line. If its too small the monitor can't detect the Pulse to move the beam to the next scan line. If your monitor's manual only has numbers for Line(s) for Vertical Synchronization use this formula to convert it:
```
盜 = ( 1 / (Vertical Resolution in seconds + blanking period)) * Line(s) * 1000000
```
Vertical Frequency [Hz]:
- Min - This is the minimum number of times that your monitor can write vertical lines (top to bottom).in a second. This is one of the number you must enter correctly and should not guess! Underdriving your monitor could damage it. Older and 'cheaper' monitors do not have any protection against this. Some newer and 'better' monitors have protection against underdriving.. but you should never count on that. It is best to use the correct number for your monitor! This number is measured in Hertz (Hz).
- Max - This is the maximum number of times that your monitor can write vertical lines (top to bottom) in a second. Overclocking your monitor could damage it. Older and 'cheaper' monitors do not have any protection against this. Some newer and 'better' monitors have protection against underclocking.. but you should never count on that. It is best to use the correct number for your monitor! This number is measured in Hertz (Hz).
Vertical Synchronization [ms]:
- Min Time - This the minimum time for the vertical Blanking Period (Sync Length) that the monitor can handle. The vertical Blanking period (Sync Length) is how long it takes the monitor to move the beam from the bottom of the screen to the top of the screen and start 'drawing' again. Some monitors have a minimum limit on how short this time may be. The number is in Milliseconds (not Line(s)). If your monitor's manual only has numbers for Line(s) for Vertical Synchronization use this formula to convert it:
```
ms = ( 1 / (Vertical Resolution in seconds + blanking period)) * Line(s) * 1000
```
- Min Pulse - This is the minimum time for the Pulse Length (Sync Period). This is the minimum time window that the monitor can be triggered to move the beam from the bottom of the screen to the top. If its too small the monitor can't detect the Pulse to move the beam to the top of the screen. If your monitor's manual only has numbers for Line(s) for Vertical Synchronization use this formula to convert it:
```
ms = ( 1 / (Vertical Resolution in seconds + blanking period)) * Line(s) * 1000
```

Edit Mode

To use the Edit Mode and get the most out of it would be best to understand some of the terms that are used. The problem is that many times there are 4 or 5 different terms that could mean the same thing. This makes it hard to take your monitors information and move it into what CGXMode wants. Below is a generic timing example from the back of a Nanao Flexscan F560iW manual. These terms seem to be used alot for different monitor mfgs and seems to be a good middle ground to match upto CGXMode's terms. You should see something like the timing layout below for your monitor. If it does not then you should contact the MFG of your monitor (or check their web site) to get the correct numbers.

A: Front Porch
B: Sync Period
C: Back Porch
D: Blanking Period
E: Display Period
F: Total Cycle
S: Sync Singal Level
V: Video Signal Level

Here is the same basic timing layout with the numbers that CGXMode wants in bold-bigger text and what same thing in the Nanao manual refers to them as. This should help you take the numbers and terms from your monitor's manual and compare them to both of these charts to figure out what numbers from your monitor's manual and where to plug them into CGXMode.
Time

You should check to see if ADVANCED tooltype is there before you start editing screenmodes if you wish CGXMode to check for overdriving your monitor! See the Tooltype section.
Name: This is the name of the mode that you will be editing. It has the color depth in Bits and the horizontal and vertical resolution in the screen name.
Hidden: If this is selected for this screen mode then that mode will be hidden in the display database. You may make a few test modes and not want them to clutter up the scren mode list in Prefs/ScreenMode or any other program that uses the display database for its screen. This will work for any screen mode.
Type: This is the number of bit planes that will be used for this screen mode. Your options are: 8Bit (256 Colors), 16Bit (65.536 Colors) and 24Bit (16,777,216 Colors). You can not edit 15bit screen modes. What CGX does is copy the 16Bit modes and makes entries in the display database with the same number of 15bit modes with the same specs. What is different is a different pixel layout. 15Bit has 5 5 5 (5bits Red, 5Bits Green, 5Bits Blue). 16Bit has 5 6 5 (5bits Red, 6Bits Green, 5Bits Blue). Both modes use 2bytes/pixel, 15bit has one bit unused.

Scan Mode:

Normal - Every scanline is displayed, one after another.
Interlace - Every other scanline is displayed this allowing for a larger resolution screen to be displayed. The first pass lines 1-3-5-7-9-etc are displayed, the next pass line 2-4-6-8-10-ect are displayed. This generates flicker when updating between odd and even fields.
Doublescan - Draws every line 2 times. It will draw line 1 then draw line 1 again.. then move on to line 2 and draw that 2 times and then line 3 etc.. If you want to use doublescan with a mode that has a horizontal refresh frequency of 35khz in normal scan mode, your monitors needs to support 70khz. It is only used for small vertical resolutions like 320x200 or 640x200

Pixel Clock: This is the total number of pixels that can be displayed in one second. Value is in MHz ie. 85 [Mhz] -> 85 million pixels / second. Also sometimes called dotclock. If this number to high you will get a bad or no display. The value you enter here is limited by the bandwidth of the graphics card and the mode type that is selected. For most cards maximum graphics card bandwidth varies depending on the depth. Anything beyond 100MHz Pixel Clock will make the pointer flicker because it uses a software cursor insted of having the gfx card use its hardware cursor.

Horizontal Timing

Resolution: This is the horizontal resolution for this screen mode. The value is in dots. Make this bigger will give a wider screen. Less will get a skinner screen.
Sync Length: Horizontal Sync Length (Blanking Period) = Pulse Offset(Front Porch) + Pulse Length(Sync Pulse) + (Back Porch). The Sync Length (Blanking Period) is the total time that the monitor needs to move the beam from the end of one line and to the start of the next. This includes the Front/Back Porches that surround the actual Sync Pulse that tells the monitor to move the beam to the next frame. Sync Length is use to change the size of the viewing area. When the Sync Length is made smaller the Horizontal size of the display is increased. This is becase you are making the borders smaller making more room for more viewable screen area. Reducing the sync length, increases horizontal refresh rate and that is limited by the monitor. Just the opposite happens when you make the Sync Length larger. You make the borders bigger thus leaving less room for viewable display area. That is why monitors with low horizontal refresh rates often are not that flexible when it comes to border sizes. The number is in 盜 (microseconds)
Pulse Offset: Pulse Offset(Front Porch) is the window in time just before the the monitor gets the Sync Pulse to tell it to move the beam to the next scan line. This can be used to to center the screen. When you change the pulse offset you are moving the starting horizontal position of the border, thus moving the viewable area with it. Increasing the Pulse Offset 盜 will move the screen to the left. Decreasing the 盜 will move the screen to the right.
Pulse Length: Pulse Length(Sync Pulse) is the actual pulse that tells the monitor to move the beam to the next scan line. Pulse length specifies the duration of the pulse in 盜. You can't modify anything really by increasing or decreasing the Pulse Length it just needs to be over the minimum that the monitor can handle. If you change the value alot the monitor probably needs to resync and the scren may move in unpredictable ways. Its not real good for "editing" a mode.
Polarity: Specifies the polarity of the actual sync pulse.
- Negative - Sync Pulse is negative
- Positive - Sync Pulse is positive
Frequency [kHz] This is the final horizontal frequency in Kilohertz that will be used for that screen mode.

Vertical Timing

Resolution: This is the vertical resolution for this screen mode. The value is in lines. Make this bigger will give a taller screen. Less will get a shorter screen.
Sync Length: Vertical Sync Length (Blanking Period) = Pulse Offset(Front Porch) + Pulse Length(Sync Pulse) + (Back Porch). The Sync Length (Blanking Period) is the total time that the monitor needs to move the beam from the bottom of the screen to the top of the screen. This includes the Front/Back Porches that surround the actual Sync Pulse that tells the monitor to move the beam to the next line. Sync Length is use to change the size of the viewing area. When the Sync Length is made smaller the vertical size of the display is increased. This is becase you are making the borders smaller making more room for more viewable screen area. Reducing the sync length, increases vertical refresh rate and that is limited by the monitor. Just the opposite happens when you make the Sync Length larger. You make the borders bigger thus leaving less room for viewable display area. The number is in ms (milliseconds)
Pulse Offset: Pulse Offset(Front Porch) is the window in time just before the the monitor gets the Sync Pulse to tell it to move the beam from the top of the screen from the bottom. This can be used to to center the screen. When you change the pulse offset you are moving the starting vertical position of the border, thus moving the viewable area with it. Increasing the Pulse Offset ms will move the screen up. Decreasing the ms will move the screen down.
Pulse Length: Pulse Length(Sync Pulse) is the actual pulse that tells the monitor to move the beam to the next scan line. Pulse length specifies the duration of the pulse in ms. You can't modify anything really by increasing or decreasing the Pulse Length it just needs to be over the minimum that the monitor can handle. If you change the value alot the monitor probably needs to resync and the scren may move in unpredictable ways. Its not real good for "editing" a mode.
Polarity: Specifies the polarity of the actual sync pulse.
- Negative - Sync Pulse is negative
- Positive - Sync Pulse is positive
Frequency [Hz] This is the final vertical frequency in Hertz that will be used for that screen mode.

Buttons
Ok: Accepts all values and returns to the Main config window
Test: This takes you to the Real time Edit Mode screen so you can see the screen change as you edit the numbers in "real time"
Cancle: Cancles and does not save the values if they were changed and returns to the Main config window

Edit Mode - "Real Time Mode"

When you click on the Test button from the Edit Mode window it opens a screen with a test pattern screen with the settings that are in the Edit Mode window and then puts the Edit Mode window on top of the test pattern screen. Doing this allows you to see the direct relationship between the numbers that you input and change to how it will effect editing the screen. The only difference from the normal Edit Mode window and Test-Edit Mode window is that the Hidden, Type, ScanMode, PixelClock and Resolution can not be changed and are ghosted out.

As with the normalEdit Mode window you can enter the number in directly or by using the up and down gads. With the Test-Edit Mode you can also use the keyboard to quickly edit the screen mode values. Here is a overview table as to what the keys do:

Key(s) Result

ESC Will exit the Test-Edit Mode and restore the values if you had changed any while editing on the test pattern screen

RETURN Will accept the values you have edited and take you back to the Edit Mode window and update the new number there

I Will inverse all the colors on the test pattern screen, ie black to white etc...

[UP-ARROW] This is used for centering the screen by moving the screen up. This key edits the Vertical Pulse Offset (It adds milliseconds (ms) to the current value).

[DOWN-ARROW] This is used for centering the screen by moving the screen down. This key edits the Vertical Pulse Offset (It subtracts milliseconds (ms) from the current value).

[LEFT-ARROW] This is used for centering the screen by moving the screen left. This key edits the Horizontal Pulse Offset (It adds microseconds (盜) to the current value).

[RIGHT-ARROW] This is used for centering the screen by moving the screen right. This key edits the Horizontal Pulse Offset (It subtracts microseconds (盜) from the current value).

[SHIFT]+[UP-ARROW] This is used for making the vertical height (tallness) of the screen bigger. This key edits the Vertical Sync Lenght (It subtracts milliseconds (ms) from the current value).

[SHIFT]+[DOWN-ARROW] This is used for making the vertical height (tallness) of the screen smaller. This key edits the Vertical Sync Lenght (It adds milliseconds (ms) to the current value).

[SHIFT]+[LEFT-ARROW] This is used for making the horizontal width (wideness) of the screen bigger. This key edits the Horizontal Sync Lenght (It subtracts milliseconds (ms) from the current value).

[SHIFT]+[RIGHT-ARROW] This is used for making the horizontal width (wideness) of the screen smaller. This key edits the Horizontal Sync Lenght (It adds milliseconds (ms) to the current value).

Sync Length: Horizontal Sync Length (Blanking Period) = Pulse Offset(Front Porch) + Pulse Length(Sync Pulse) + (Back Porch). The Sync Length (Blanking Period) is the total time that the monitor needs to move the beam from the end of one line and to the start of the next. This includes the Front/Back Porches that surround the actual Sync Pulse that tells the monitor to move the beam to the next frame. Sync Length is use to change the size of the viewing area. When the Sync Length is made smaller the Horizontal size of the display is increased. This is becase you are making the borders smaller making more room for more viewable screen area. Reducing the sync length, increases horizontal refresh rate and that is limited by the monitor. Just the opposite happens when you make the Sync Length larger. You make the borders bigger thus leaving less room for viewable display area. That is why monitors with low horizontal refresh rates often are not that flexible when it comes to border sizes. The number is in 盜 (microseconds)
Pulse Offset: Pulse Offset(Front Porch) is the window in time just before the the monitor gets the Sync Pulse to tell it to move the beam to the next scan line. This can be used to to center the screen. When you change the pulse offset you are moving the starting horizontal position of the border, thus moving the viewable area with it. Increasing the Pulse Offset 盜 will move the screen to the left. Decreasing the 盜 will move the screen to the right.
Pulse Length: Pulse Length(Sync Pulse) is the actual pulse that tells the monitor to move the beam to the next scan line. Pulse length specifies the duration of the pulse in 盜. You can't modify anything really by increasing or decreasing the Pulse Length it just needs to be over the minimum that the monitor can handle. If you change the value alot the monitor probably needs to resync and the scren may move in unpredictable ways. Its not real good for "editing" a mode.
Polarity: Specifies the polarity of the actual sync pulse.
- Negative - Sync Pulse is negative
- Positive - Sync Pulse is positive
Frequency [kHz] This is the final horizontal frequency in Kilohertz that will be used for that screen mode.

CGXMode Tooltypes

Below is a list of current tooltypes for CGXMode:

Tooltype OFF

Tooltype ON

(ADVANCED): If the ADVANCED tooltype is 'off' (ie not there or setup like '(ADVANCED)') then CGXMode will not be in the in ADVANCED mode. This means that CGXMode will do the math so that when you edit a screen it will not allow you to overdrive or push your monitor specs out side of the monitors range. This is more or less a safety check. You should check to see if ADVANCED tooltype is there before you start editing screenmodes if you wish CGXMode to check for overdriving your monitor!

ADVANCED: If the ADVANCED tooltype is there then CGXMode will NOT do 'the math', thus it will not do safety check on the numbers you input and if you overdriver your monitor (enter a number that is to high or to low) you could damage your monitor. Overdriving or underdriving your monitor could damage it. Older and 'cheaper' monitors do not have any protection against this. Some newer and 'better' monitors have protection against overdriving or underdriving.. but you should never count on that. If you do not understand what all the numbers you are editing for a screen in CGXMode do and how they related to the MAX and MIN for your monitor you should NOT USE the ADVANCED Mode.

CGXMode Error Messages

Below is a list of errors you might get from CGXMode:

Error Message	What it means
Can't update testmode definition:	You might have the wrong cgx library and monitor driver combination. Your libs/monitordirver/cgxmode are not current and you should try to update to the latest of everything.
Can't open test screen:	Can't open test screen happened with old cgxmode's when you wanted to modify a card displaymode although the driver was not installed. Also if you are low on fast memory with the old CGXMode you also might get this error. The new cgxmode versions use a new interface to update the test mode config. From r69a readme: "added 2 new LVOs to cgxsystem.library that handle communication with CGXMode" You should try to update to the latest CGX and latest CGXMode.

This page is �1997-1998 up the yang by RCR/FM. You may not use ANY of this page without direct permission!! As of November 20th, 1997 this is the 2,971st hit to this page. If you have any questions you can email vgr@best.com.

Key(s)	Result
ESC	Will exit the Test-Edit Mode and restore the values if you had changed any while editing on the test pattern screen
RETURN	Will accept the values you have edited and take you back to the Edit Mode window and update the new number there
I	Will inverse all the colors on the test pattern screen, ie black to white etc...
[UP-ARROW]	This is used for centering the screen by moving the screen up. This key edits the Vertical Pulse Offset (It adds milliseconds (ms) to the current value).
[DOWN-ARROW]	This is used for centering the screen by moving the screen down. This key edits the Vertical Pulse Offset (It subtracts milliseconds (ms) from the current value).
[LEFT-ARROW]	This is used for centering the screen by moving the screen left. This key edits the Horizontal Pulse Offset (It adds microseconds (盜) to the current value).
[RIGHT-ARROW]	This is used for centering the screen by moving the screen right. This key edits the Horizontal Pulse Offset (It subtracts microseconds (盜) from the current value).
[SHIFT]+[UP-ARROW]	This is used for making the vertical height (tallness) of the screen bigger. This key edits the Vertical Sync Lenght (It subtracts milliseconds (ms) from the current value).
[SHIFT]+[DOWN-ARROW]	This is used for making the vertical height (tallness) of the screen smaller. This key edits the Vertical Sync Lenght (It adds milliseconds (ms) to the current value).
[SHIFT]+[LEFT-ARROW]	This is used for making the horizontal width (wideness) of the screen bigger. This key edits the Horizontal Sync Lenght (It subtracts milliseconds (ms) from the current value).
[SHIFT]+[RIGHT-ARROW]	This is used for making the horizontal width (wideness) of the screen smaller. This key edits the Horizontal Sync Lenght (It adds milliseconds (ms) to the current value).