miro Computer Products AG                                 02.12.1996

                                                          Version 2.00
Card support:

miroMEDIA 3D
miroMEDIA 3D/SI
miroCRYSTAL 3D
miroCRYSTAL VR 2000/4000

miroMEDIA 3D fanatix


The miroMEDIA 3D-GAMES Set and miroMEDIA 3D-ADVENTURE Set also contain the 
miroMEDIA 3D fanatix package, which includes the 3D Shutter Glasses
based on modern liquid chrystal technology.

Thanks to the new technology and specially adapted software, 
miroMEDIA 3D fanatix takes you to a world of astounding 3D effects. 
Two different images are displayed on the monitor as alternating frames, 
together these form the 3D image. The lenses of the glasses, which are 
controlled by the graphics board in the PC, are switched from transparent 
to opaque and back again for each image. This happens too quickly to be 
perceived by the eye, depending on the refresh rate of the image 
displayed. Thus, for the person wearing the glasses, the images appear to 
be a single, three dimensional image. A new driver makes it possible, to 
attain refresh rates of up to 150Hz (i.e., the entire image for each eye 
is refreshed 75 times per second) in conjunction with miroMEDIA graphics 
boards.


Important Hints to the Usage of the 3D Shutter Glasses


ͻ
                               WARNING                                   
ͼ
Ŀ
 Although the miroMEDIA 3D fanatix was designed to minimize the          
 possibility of nausea and disorders of balance through a flicker-       
 reducing high refresh rate, symptoms may still appear. If these effects 
 occur with certain software programs, stop using the application        
 immediately and wait until the effects have stopped. Persons suffering  
 from epilepsy should consult a physician before using                   
 miroMEDIA 3D fanatix. If symptoms such as muscle twitching,             
 uncoordinated movements, disorientation, cramps, dizziness, or reduced  
 perception of surroundings occur, take off the glasses immediately.     



Installing 3D Shutter Glasses


Turn off the computer. Remove the monitor cable from the VGA connector of
miroMEDIA 3D. Plug in the connection adaptor of the 3D shutter glasses. 
Stick up the monitor cable to the connection adaptor.


Installing Software Drivers for miroMEDIA 3D fanatix


ͻ
                               WARNING                                   
ͼ
Ŀ
                                                                         
 Please, read this file carefully! Otherwise, your monitor could be      
 damaged if the configuration is used in a wrong way.                        
 Keep attention that the maximum horizontal frequency and the maximum    
 vertical frequency of your monitor is not exceeded.                     


On the enclosed Diskette

miroMEDIA 3D fantix - Software-Drivers for 3D Shutter Glasses

you will find the following files:
INSTALL.BAT  - Install Software for miroMEDIA fanatix 3D Shutter Glasses.
FANATIX.BAT  - calls FANATTSR.COM and if neccessary the configuration.
               This batch should be called before the action game, to enable
               the high refresh graphics modes.
LCDBIOS.EXE  - Software neccessary for using the glasses with some games.
               This program should be called before the game ist started or
               the game can be started with this program. The enclosed 
               Descent II do not need this program.

LIESMICH.TXT - German version of this help file.
README.TXT   - This help file.
LISEZMOI.TXT - French version of this help file.

The following files must not be called by the user!

FANATCFG.EXE - Configuration program, will be called by FANATIX.BAT.
FANATCFG.INI - Data file for FANATIX, must not be changed!
FANATTSR.COM - TSR to overlay the BIOS video modes.


Change to the miroMEDIA 3D fanatix software diskette drive and start 
INSTALL.BAT. INSTALL.BAT tries to detect automatically the installation 
directory. If this is not possible an error message is printed. Please type 
in the installation path as parameter for INSTALL.BAT.
For example:

        INSTALL C:

The software will be then installed to C:\FANATIX.


The required files will be copied to the displayed directory, after a key
has been pressed.

The configuration program will be started automatically.



Configuring miroMEDIA 3D fanatix


The configuration software shows a list with the following
items:
1) Select Monitor
2) Max. refresh rate of the monitor
3) Screen adjustment
4) 3D Test                                        
5) Save and quit
0) Cancel

Using the cursor keys you may select the desired menu item and change to 
the submenu by pressing the enter key. From the submenu you can return by 
pressing the ESC key.

Start menu item 1 to select the maximum horizontal frequency your monitor
is able to display. Refer to your monitor manual for the maximum horizontal 
frequency. 
See also Tips & Tricks: "How can I determine the refresh rate of my 
monitor?"

At the moment DDC monitor detection is not supported.

Menu item 2 is used to select the maximum refresh rate of your monitor.
Refer to your monitors manual for information on the maximum vertical 
frequency. Also read the Tips & Tricks section: "How can I check the 
maximum refresh rate of my monitor?"

Because the screen adjustment can be very different between monitors using
high refresh rates you may adjust the screen with menu point 3 for the
different video modes. For DESCENT II which was supplied with the
glasses we recommend to adapt the image position of the 320 x 200 x 15 
(mode 10D) and the 640 x 480 x 15 (mode 110) modes for your monitor.

To check the function of the 3D Shutter glasses, you may select menu point 4.
Please set up the 3D Shutter glasses.

All settings will be saved selecting menu point 5.

If you want to discard all changes, select menu point 0.


Subsequent Configuration Changes for miroMEDIA 3D fanatix


To make any changes in configuration start FANATIX with the option -c:

        FANATIX -c

Proceed in the same way as under "Configure miroMEDIA 3D fanatix".

FANATIX has an integrated online help you may call with

        FANATIX -?


Deactivate miroMEDIA 3D fanatix Software Driver


Start FANATIX with option -D to deactivate the function, this means the 
normal BIOS graphics modes are used again. Use option -U to remove the
TSR (see glossary) from memory.


Deinstall Software for miroMEDIA 3D fanatix


Delete all files unter the FANATIX directory and remove the directory FANATIX.


Preparation to start DESCENT II


Proceed in the following manner:

   -  Install Descent II from the CD. 

   -  The SETUP.EXE program can also configure the 3D Shutter glasses 
      under Descent. 
      Select the "Select VR Device" menu item and choose "SimulEyes". 
      Now a list of possible resolutions appears which you can use 
      to play Descent II together with the 3D Shutter glasses. 
      We recommended the 320 x 200 resolution for a slow PC  
      (Pentium 100 or smaller) and the 640 x 480 resolution for
      a fast PC.

  - Start FANATIX.BAT from the FANATIX directory.

  - Change to the Descent II directory and start Descent II (DESCENT2.EXE).

Usage of the program LCDBIOS.EXE


LCDBIOS.EXE is a BIOS extension which is necessary for some 3D games to use
miroMEDIA fanatix 3D Shutter Glasses. For Descent II LCDBIOS.EXE 
is not required.

      - Call

                LCDBIOS /LCDrun:game.exe 

        to start the game GAME.EXE.


You can also enable LCDBIOS.EXE bofore starting the game. Afterwards you 
can remove the game with "exit" from the memory.


The permissible LCBBIOS parameters are:

        LCDBIOS [/LCDRun:program arguments]

        program   = program to be started by LCDBIOS and all parameters.

        arguments = Parameters for the program to be started.




LIMITATIONS

FANATTSR.COM is a TSR program (terminate and stay resident) which disconnects
the video modes from the graphic board BIOS and instead uses own video modes
with higher refresh rates. In this way, nearly every computer game which uses
one of the following video modes, may use this program.

Only the following video modes will be supported:

 320 x 200 x  4 (Mode  0Dh)
 320 x 200 x  8 (Mode  13h)
 320 x 200 x 16 (Mode 10Eh)
 320 x 200 x 32 (Mode 10Fh)
 640 x 400 x  8 (Mode 100h)
 640 x 480 x  4 (Mode  12h)
 640 x 480 x  8 (Mode 101h)
 640 x 480 x 16 (Mode 111h)
 640 x 480 x 32 (Mode 112h)
 800 x 600 x  4 (Mode 102h)
 800 x 600 x  8 (Mode 103h)
 800 x 600 x 16 (Mode 114h)
 800 x 600 x 32 (Mode 115h)
1024 x 768 x  8 (Mode 105h)
1024 x 768 x 16 (Mode 117h)


Some computer games do not support 3D shutter glasses. Pay attention when 
buying a new computer game that the miroMEDIA 3D Shutter Glasses are 
supported. Please consult your computer game dealer.


Tips & Tricks



"How can I determine the maximum refresh rate of my monitor?"


Often the technical data for monitors only include the resolutions
and the maximum refresh rates. From the table you can deduce the 
horizontal frequency required for a certain resolution.  
You can also check which minimum line frequency a monitor has to offer
to enable a certain resolution.

X      Y      Refresh rate                Minimum refresh rate
              [Hz]                        [kHz]

320    200    120                         58
320    240    100                         
640    480    100                         

1024   768    80                          64
1024   768    75                          
320    200    150                        
320    240    120                        
640    480    120                        
1280   1024   60                         

1024   768    85                          68

320    240    150                         78
640    480    150                        
800    600    120                        
 
1024   768    100                         82
1280   1024   75                                 

1280   1024   80                          85



"How can I check the maximum line frequency of my monitor?"


If the techninal data in your monitors manual do not include the maximum 
refresh rates the monitor can display make the following settings:

Maximum                Maximum 
line frequency of      refresh rate
of your monitor[kHz]   of your monitor [Hz]

58                     100
64                     120
68                     120
71                     120
78                     120
85                     150

In the FANATIX.BAT configuration program you can select different resolutions
by selecting the "Adjust the screen" menu item and check if the monitor
is capable to display this image. If this is not the case, press the 
ESC key immediately and reduce the refresh rate using the "Select the max. 
refresh rate for your monitor.." menu item. 
Check again if the monitor is capable to display the images for different
resolutions.


"Can I use FANATIX.BAT only for the 3D Shutter glasses?"


No. You can also use other DOS games by using FANATIX.BAT with a 
higher (ergonomic) image refresh rate. This, however, will not necessarily
result in an acceleration of the game.


"For which DOS games can I achieve a higher refresh rate using FANATIX.BAT?"


Each DOS game which initialises the graphics mode via the graphics board
BIOS can select a higher refresh rate with the FANATIX.BAT file. 
The following resolutions and graphics board modes are supported 
by FANATIX:

 320 x 200 x  4 (Mode  0Dh)
 320 x 200 x  8 (Mode  13h)
 320 x 200 x 16 (Mode 10Eh)
 320 x 200 x 32 (Mode 10Fh)
 640 x 400 x  8 (Mode 100h)
 640 x 480 x  4 (Mode  12h)
 640 x 480 x  8 (Mode 101h)
 640 x 480 x 16 (Mode 111h)
 640 x 480 x 32 (Mode 112h)
 800 x 600 x  4 (Mode 102h)
 800 x 600 x  8 (Mode 103h)
 800 x 600 x 16 (Mode 114h)
 800 x 600 x 32 (Mode 115h)
1024 x 768 x  8 (Mode 105h)
1024 x 768 x 16 (Mode 117h)


"What do I have to observe when using the 3D Shutter glasses?"


When buying a game please check if the 3D Shutter glasses are supported. 
The 3D Shutter glasses are also sold under the name "SimulEyes". 
During the installation or the configuration of the game please select the 
game "SimulEyes". Start FANATIX.BAT before starting the game.


"How can I change the settings after the installation?"

You do not have to install the software again! Please enter 

   FANATIX -c 

in the FANATIX directory. The configuration program starts. 
Like in the description of the installation you can change the settings.


GLOSSARY


refresh rate
        See vertical frequency. Same as vertical refresh rate.

DDC
        Display Data Channel. Communication channel between monitor and
        graphics board. Important monitor parameters can be read from the
        monitor. For this, the monitor has to support DDC.

horizontal frequency
        
        Count of horizontal scans of the electron beam per second to display
        one line. The higher the resolution, the higher the required 
        horizontal frequency is.

interrupt
        The running program is interrupted and the related interrupt service 
        function is called. At the end it will return to the last step in the
        running program. There is a difference between hardware interrupts 
        triggered by hardware and software interrupts, trapped by program
        instructions.

TSR
        means terminate and stay resident. Program that remains in memory once
        been started. Typically these are drivers which are called by
        software interrupts, e.g. by INT 10h to set a video mode.

vertical frequency
        Count of screen refreshes per second, measured in Hertz (Hz). The
        higher the vertical frequency is, the more flicker-reduced the screen
        appears.
