In today’s multitasking computing world, it’s not unusual to see people constantly switching from window to window trying to transfer data form one program to the other. I myself have gotten fairly adept at the Alt-Tab window-switching hotkey sequence. It is as a result of this that the popularity of multi-monitor computer setups has increased dramatically. Studies have shown a significant increase in employee productivity when a multiple monitor setup is used. There is less mental stress, less time spent on switching programs, and less eye strain. So how can you get multiple monitors? You have several different options.

Your first and probably most common option for a desktop system is to buy a multi-port video card. These cards generally have a DVI and a VGA port, both of which can be hooked to any monitor with the use of adapters. These cards can either be PCI, PCI-Express, or AGP-compatible. Generally speaking, the drivers for multi-monitor support come with the card.

Another desktop option is to buy multiple video cards and put them in your system. As far as we can tell, this only works so long as the chipsets are the same and each card uses a different type of slot (i.e., an ATi PCI card and an ATi AGP card.) Conceivably you could use two two-port cards, giving you a total of four monitors. This is a good way to go if you want to go to the trouble of matching everything up.

These solutions are all well and good for the desktop user, you say, but what about my laptop? Well, don’t worry, there are options for notebooks as well. Probably your best option is to spring for the VTBook DVI/VGA Dual Display Video PCMCIA Card. It’s a bit pricey, but it’s the only card like it on the market. The VTBook gives you an additional DVI-out port on your computer, which can be plugged into a high-def display. If you crave even more monitor madness, you can buy a VTBook Dualhead Cable, which splits the out port, giving you yet another monitor. With this setup, you could have up to four monitors (your laptop screen, the laptop out port, and the two VTBook ports).

The last, and probably most expensive method to add multiple monitors to your laptop is to buy a PCMCIA to PCI card. Realistically, this $1000-plus item is for more specialty PCI cards that aren’t available in PCMCIA version, but if you have an amazing and absolutely necessary PCI or PCI Express video card that you want to use with your laptop, this is the solution for you. As far as I can tell, I have only found one such adapter, made by Magma.

I’m sure that somewhere there is some engineer dreaming up other ways to add multiple monitors to computers, but for now, these are the most common and most feasible options I know of. Now go to, and enjoy the greater productivity of multiple monitors.

Nathan Kartchner works in Product Development for Sewell Direct, an online retailer of hard-to-find computer connectivity products like the VTBook DVI/VGA Dual Display Video PCMCIA Card, the Magma PCMCIA to PCI cardbus, and the USB to Serial Adapter.

Your monitor is the single most expensive component in your pc system. This means that a lot of money can be saved if you make the right decision and choose the right cheap computer monitor. There’s a lot more to computer monitors than just the size of the screen. Read on to find out what to look for when choosing cheap computer monitors.

The features of a computer monitor: A computer monitor is like a high quality TV set. The difference is that with a computer monitor you sit very close and try to make out fine details such as words.

This means that a computer monitor must have very fine definition and an image that is nice and stable on the screen so you do not get eye-strain. You will spend a great deal of time staring at a computer monitor so it is important that you get one that suits you perfectly.

When you are looking for cheap computer monitors you will be given different specifications. These numbers can be confusing so let us look at what the specifications mean when you are sitting in front of your monitor.

Resolution: This is the number of pixels on the screen. Say your screen is set to 1024 by 768 it means that there are 1024 along the top of the screen. This means that if you had a picture that was 1000 pixels wide you could see the whole picture without zooming out and losing details.

Monitors will be described as having a maximum resolution. This will be the highest setting possible. Usually the monitor will have an optimum setting slightly below this resolution.

High resolutions are great if you want to look at graphics because more of the picture will fit on the screen at once. However if you are looking at text a letter 5 pixels high will get smaller and smaller as the resolution increases. This means that if you are only going to surf the net and do email then you will be wasting money and straining your eyes with a high resolution monitor.

All new 15 inch monitors will do 1024 by 768. If you are looking for a cheap computer monitor then get one capable of this resolution.

If things are too small then you can always lower the resolution to 800 by 600. You may also be able to raise the resolution but doing this will lower the vertical refresh rate. Read on to find out why you must spend more to get a monitor to run high resolutions.

Vertical Refresh Rate: This is a very important specification. The speed that a monitor draws an entire screen, called the "vertical refresh rate" or "frequency," is measured in hertz (Hz).

To prevent eye-strain you want your monitor to be running the current resolution at around 85Hz. This will make the image stable. At lower refresh rates the screen will flicker and you may not notice it at first but you will notice the splitting headache you get after about an hour of use at a low refresh rate.

The vertical refresh rate dcreases as the resolution increases. In the monitor manual look for the resolution that has 85 vHz next to it. This will be the optimum resolution for the monitor. Setting the monitor any higher will damage both your eyes and your monitor over time.

Monitor size: This is easy to understand. Bigger monitors make the picture bigger so that you can have higher resolutions without text getting too small. This makes less work for your eyes. Buy as big as you can afford. Currently 17 inch monitors are great value. If your interested in having a look at some great prices for computer monitors then click the ad on both the right and left sidebar to find out the monitors that match your need.

Dot Pitch: In trying to evaluate a monitor’s quality, most people will usually talk about dot pitch. In general, the lower the dot pitch (measured in millimeters), the better the monitor. The problem is that dot pitch can be measured in many different ways, and therefore doesn’t necessarily mean much.

A low dot pitch will make text crisp but as I said there is no standard measurement to compare. Usually spending more money will increase the monitor quality.

I found the best way to ensure that a monitor has a nice crisp image is to buy a good brand. I found an excellent deal on Viewsonic 17" monitors. Viewsonic is a trustworthy brand.

Choosing cheap computer monitors should take time. There are some excellent bargains out there at the moment. Remember if you don’t have a huge demand for a high resolution monitor then get a 15 inch. It will still display sharp graphics at low resolutions and at these low resolutions things will be nice and big for your eyes.

I am David Au working part-time with my online business selling other people’s stuff … Selling * Computer Notebooks…. * Software and the *Ad Space for Google AdSense in my own websites http://www.clicksbucks.com/index.html and http://www.bestbuyguide.net/index.html

What is Video Encryption?

Video Encryption is an extremely useful method for the stopping unwanted interception and viewing of any transmitted video or other information, for example from a law enforcement video surveillance being relayed back to a central viewing centre.

The scrambling is the easy part. It is the un-encryption that’s hard, but there are several techniques that are available. However, the human eye is very good at, spotting distortions in pictures due to poor video decoding or poor choice of video scrambling hardware. Therefore, it is very important to choose the right hardware or else your video transmissions may be un-secure or your decoded video may not be watchable.

Some of the more popular techniques are detailed below:

Line Inversion:

Method: Whole or parts of the signal scan lines are inverted.
Advantages: Simple, cheap video encryption.
Disadvantages: Poor video decrypting quality, low obscurity, low security.

Sync Suppression:

Method: Hide/remove the horizontal/vertical line syncs.

Advantages: Provides a low cost solution to Encryption and provides good quality video decoding.

Disadvantages: This method is incompatible with some distribution equipment. Obscurity (i.e. how easy it is to visually decipher the image) is dependant on video content.

Line Shuffle:

Method: Each signal line is re-ordered on the screen.

Advantages: Provides a compatible video signal, a reasonable amount of obscurity, good decode quality.

Disadvantages: Requires a lot of digital storage space. There are potential issues with video stability. Less secure than the cut and rotate encryption method (see below)

Cut & Rotate:

Scrambling Method: Each scan line is cut into pieces and re-assembled in a different order.

Advantages: Provides a compatible video signal, gives an excellent amount of obscurity, as well as good decode quality and stability.

Disadvantages: Can have complex timing control and requires specialized scrambling equipment

The cut and rotate video encryption method is probably the best way of achieving reliable and good quality video encryption, an example of a good implementation of this system is in the Viewlock II

Implementing vice scrambling

The video scrambling hardware, in particular the decoder should function correctly even if there is a noisy (for example having what are commonly known as ’snow’ on the screen. ‘Snow’ is when there are flecks on your TV screen, often seen in poor reception areas) or unstable signal. If the link to the encrypted signal should stop working then this should not be a problem. The link between the video encoder and video decoder should be regained and the decryption quickly continued.

The very nature of security camera systems is that they are often outdoors as so must be able to withstand the rigours of the weather. The video encryption hardware should be stable under or protected from the effects of rain, sunlight, extreme heat and cold. It should not be damaged if there is a power spike in the supply. In these systems the video encoder emits a wireless signal to the video decoder unit before it is viewed, it obviously must be the case that the very act of broadcasting the signal does not effect the video encoding hardware and likewise the video encoding hardware should not effect the radio transmitter.

The most important item is that the video scrambling system should be secure, else why bother? It is amazing how some encryption methods can easily be cracked. For example certain cable television stations ‘encrypt’ their channel broadcasts via a relatively un complex method, which can easily be decoded using a number of cheap bits of electronics from radio shack. That would obviously be illegal! The cable TV’s method of encryption is very crude, they usually just dynamically alter the vertical sync signal so that your TV cannot get a proper lock on it and so it scrolls randomly.

The other extreme is to scramble the transmitted video signal too much so that it is costly both in equipment and time to the video at the receiver. Remember that this is a ‘live’ video scrambling broadcast followed by a ‘live’ video decryption display. ANY electronics can be copied, given enough money and time, but making this process as hard as possible is of benefit as it at least delays the time when illegal copies will be available.

Finally and most obviously each user must have a unique encryption key so that other users of the system cannot view the transmitted video by accident or purpose without the key owners knowledge. The total number of possible user keys must be such that it is highly unlikely for someone to guess the correct key.

Visit http://www.whatprice.co.uk for more helpful advice.

This article focuses on frequently asked questions by buyers of plasma and LCD televisions.

Q: Does the "plasma" in plasma televisions need to be recharged or replaced over time?

A: No. The plasma gases are sealed in individual cells when they are manufactured. There is no way to recharge or replace the gases. However, plasma TVs, when used normally, will last you many, many years (up to 20 years) so you don’t have to worry about the screen burning out for a long time.

Q: Are plasma and LCD TVs difficult to install?

A: While you may want to hire a professional electrician to help you with wiring if you are installing your plasma or LCD television on a wall, you can also easily place the television on a stand yourself and place it anywhere you like.

Q: Do plasma and LCD TVs give off radiation?

A: All electronic devices, including televisions, must comply with FDA guidelines (in the United States) and CSA guidelines (in Canada) on radiation emission before being permitted to be sold to the public. While there is radiation emission in the form of ultraviolet light, the amount is negligible and you are unlikely to be affected by it watching the television from normal distances.

Q: What are anamorphic widescreen DVD movies?

A: There are two common ways of recording wide format movies on a DVD: letterbox and anamorphic. Letterbox refers to a video played with horizontal black bars on the top and bottom of the picture. Anamorphic recordings are also commonly labeled “Enhanced for 16:9 TVs”. Anamorphic recordings have over 30% more vertical resolution than letterbox format and elimates or significantly reduces the black bars found in letterbox pictures in order to fit to the screen size of 16:9 televisions.

Q: Do LCD’s have a burn-in problem?

A: No. Unlike CRT and plasma TVs, liquid crystal displays do not use phosphor and thus have no problems with a still image becoming permanently stored on the screen. Instead, LCD TVs use a backlight on a colored, transluscent liquid crystal screen.

Q: Can I use a game console such as Sony Playstation 2, Nintendo Game Cube or Microsoft XBOX with my LCD TV?

A: Yes. If you intend to use a game console and/or watch standard TV broadcasts over cable, satellite or antenna, an LCD TV is a superior choice over plasma televisions. The repetitive image from games and unused black-filled borders will damage a plasma TV by burning a permanent image into the phosphor.

Q: Will leaving my LCD TV on cause the image to degrade?

A: No. Unlike plasma TV’s, this LCD TV does not exhibit aging over time. The brightness of the image remains the same because LCD televisions use a florescent backlight.

Q: Can I mount my LCD TV straight into drywall or plaster?

A: No, drywall or plaster alone will not offer enough support. A structural beam or stud must be used as the anchor for the wall mount.

(c) 2005 Philip Liu - All Worldwide Rights Reserved

Philip Liu is a freelance author and publisher currently based in New York City. Philip publishes regularly on his websites dealing with cell phone reviews and news and plasma, LCD TV reviews and news.

When purchasing a flat panel TV, there are a few things to keep in mind. Here, we’ve listed a number of considerations for you to evaluate.

High Definition Upgradeable or HDTV-Ready

If you see either of these terms used when deciding to purchase a flat screen TV, it means that the TV is capable of producing the highest resolutions possible for digital television today. “Upgradeable” means that you’ll need to first add a separate HDTV receiver before you can view the pictures in high definition mode (1080i or 720p). But, even if you don’t upgrade, the picture will still look fantastic. When watching regular DVDs or TV broadcasts, the picture will be almost as good as real HDTV because most have line-doublers to improve the picture.

16:9 Aspect Ratio

Unlike conventional televisions, new plasma, LCD and rear-projection televisions most likely have a wide, rectangular screen that is very similar to the shape of a movie screen. This is known as 16:9 aspect ratio—for every 16 inches wide, the screen is 9 inches high. Compared to conventional TVs, which are 4:3 in aspect ratio, the field of vision is wider for a new flat screen TV.

When watching DVDs at home on a 16:9 wide-screen television, you will be able to enjoy the full screen effect of the movie the way it was intended. On the other hand, when watching regular, standard definition television (like a news broadcast or talk show), you will need to either set the television to fill the screen entirely or watch with vertical black bars on either side of the picture.

Finally, remember that even though most television broadcasts are in 4:3 format, 16:9 widescreen format is the way of the future. Many events are shot in HDTV format (for example, the Olympics, special sporting events, nature documentaries, etc.) and as more and more people purchase high definition television, all broadcasts will be in high definition within the next few years.

Reverse 3:2 Pulldown

Television shows are usually shot on film at 24 frames per second. When transferred to video running at 30 frames per second, the picture quality is distorted in the translation. New televisions are able to correct those distortions through a series of reconversion techniques which reverse the distortions. The result is a smoother and cleaner picture.

When looking to buy a new plasma, LCD or rear-projection television, look for this feature.

3D Y/C Digital Comb Filter

The 3D Y/C digital comb filter’s job is to take the cable signal coming from the wall and separate the color, sound, brightness information into useable information. New plasma, LCD and rear-projection televisions have digital 3D Y/C comb filters that do a pretty good job of this so as to avoid what is know as “dot crawl” where the edges of objects appear rough. In addition, a good digital comb filter will also counter the effects of moiré, where still objects appear to move and ripple.

Most high end plasma, LCD and rear-projection televisions also have component inputs from video sources (such as a DVD player) that separate the signal before reaching the TV and bypass the digital comb filter. This results in an even clearer and brighter picture.

Picture-in-Picture

Picture-in-Picture (or PIP) allows you to watch two shows at once, with the second show in a box in a part of the screen. PIP is fairly common these days to all sorts of televisions. However, consider getting a dual tuner PIP plasma, LCD or projection television since that allows you to watch the second channel without needing an external tuner (for example, from a vcr). In addition, there are also TVs that will show different channels side by side—these are called twin view PIP TVs.

Inputs

“Inputs” refer to how related audio/visual components connect to your plasma, LCD or rear-projection television. The highest video quality input is known as “component video”. With component video inputs, the color and brightness information from the cable is separated into useable data before entering the television. The next best input is S-video input which give a picture almost as good as component video—whereas component video separates brightness, blue signal and red signal from each other, S-video just separates brightness from blue and red signals.

All new plasma, LCD and rear-projection televisions will also have inputs for various multimedia devices such as DVD players. In addition, some will allow you to connect a computer.

(c) 2005 Philip Liu - All Rights Reserved Worldwide

Philip Liu is a freelance author and publisher currently based in New York City. Philip publishes regularly on his websites dealing with cell phone reviews and news and plasma, LCD TV reviews and news.

Expansion Cards Part 2: AGP

The first in this series of Tech Tips on expansion cards took a look at the PCI slot, and the variety of devices that may find their home in one. Graphics cards are one of the many items that may be used in a PCI slot, but the demands of fast-paced video games require more speed and greater bandwidth than the PCI Bus can provide. Thus, the AGP slot was born, providing a dedicated interface to transfer graphics data only.

The letters ‘AGP’ stand for Accelerated Graphics Port, and it is the term used to describe a dedicated, point-to-point interface that connects a video card directly to the system’s memory and processor.

AGP was first introduced by Intel in 1996, and is based off of their previous work in developing the PCI bus. Despite being based on PCI technology, the AGP and PCI slots on a motherboard are not interchangeable, so an AGP card can not be installed into a PCI slot, and vice versa.

The initial release of AGP saw a sizeable performance boost over PCI, and the few revisions to the standard helped increase this even more as years went by. Other than having a dedicated path to the system’s memory and processor, several other design features help AGP outperform PCI when it comes to graphics performance. Three of the other advancements: pipelining, side band addressing and graphics address remapping table are described below.

Data transfer is improved through ‘pipelining’, a term used to describe the ability of an AGP graphics card to receive, and act upon, multiple instructions simultaneously. PCI data transfers require each piece of necessary information to be received separately before acting on any of it.

Something called ‘side band addressing’ also provides AGP with a performance boost. Basically, additional lines of data are included with each packet to instruct the system as to where this data is to be used. PCI data transfers do not have this addressing information, and the system must look at the data itself in order to determine its destination. This is an obvious time saver, as well as a resource saver since the processor doesn’t have to analyze all data just to determine the address.

AGP allows the operating system to store texture maps in the system’s memory which allows for more space, and perhaps faster access, rather than being limited to the use of graphics card memory only. Graphics art address remapping table, also known as GART, is a term used to describe a process that maps physical memory as virtual memory for the storage of texture maps. Basically, GART takes the system memory it is allowed to use to store texture maps and re-addresses it so that the system thinks these maps are now actually being stored in the frame buffer, or virtual memory. This might not sound like anything special, but this re-addressing requires that the texture map be written to memory only once and it is locked into place right where the AGP card can find it quickly.

AGP can be broken down into different groups based on revisions to the specification (AGP 1.0, AGP 2.0, and AGP 3.0), as well as by the general speeds (1x, 2x, 4x, and 8x). There is overlap between the various categories, with AGP 1.0 supporting 1x and 2x, AGP 2.0 supporting 1x,, 2x, and 4x, and AGP 3.0 supporting 4x and 8x. For a complete break down of all the combinations available, please visit this page.

Before taking a look at the specifications of AGP, let’s have a refresher as to what was available on PCI prior to the birth of AGP. The standard PCI bus has a width of 32-bit, operates at 33 MHz, provides a maximum bandwidth of 132 MB/s (which has to be shared by all devices connected), and operates on 3.3V (or 5V on the original standard).

The first version released was AGP 1.0 with a speed of 1x, which offered the following specifications: 32-bit bus width, operating at 66 MHz, providing a maximum bandwidth of 266 MB/s, and utilizing 3.3V. So, it can be seen that right out of the gate, AGP offered double the bandwidth of PCI.

Each speed increase over 1x provided double the bandwidth as well as double the clock speed through the use of special signaling. So, AGP 2x offers a maximum bandwidth of 533 MB/s at a speed of 133 MHz, AGP 4x offers a maximum bandwidth of 1066 MB/s at a speed of 266 MHz, and AGP 8x offers 2.1 GB/s at a speed of 533 MHz.

Given the timeline of the evolution of these cards, AGP 8x cards dominate today’s marketplace. Finding some cards that are backwards compatible is possible, but the tricky part may be ensuring that the slot on the motherboard will accept them. Comparing the connector on this 128MB Apollo GeForce FX6600 GT card, to the connector on this 64MB Hercules 3D Prophet Ultra II card, and to the connector on this 256MB Chaintech GeForce FX5200 card shows that the first one is obviously different than the second two. The Apollo card is 8x only, the Hercules card is 4x/2x compatible, and the Chaintech card is 8x/4x, which results in different notches in the connector.

AGP 1.0 only features a 3.3V connection, the release of AGP 2.0 saw the availability of both a 3.3V and 1.5V connector, and AGP 3.0 uses the same 1.5V, but only requires 0.8V for signaling. In order to protect cards of different voltages/formats, special keyed connectors were designed so that only the correct card could be installed on any motherboard. A universal connector was eventually released for AGP 1.0/2.0 which allowed cards of either voltage to be installed. For a schematic of the various connectors, please visit this page. Although AGP 3.0 can share in the use of a universal connection, many motherboards now only support 4x/8x cards based on the AGP 3.0 standard.

Another specification for AGP was released between 2.0 and 3.0, and was referred to as AGP Pro. AGP Pro was intended to be the new standard to meet the demands of high powered graphics workstations, but it never really garnered widespread acceptance. Speeds of 1x, 2x, and 4x were supported with AGP Pro, and it utilized either a 3.3V, 5V, or a universal connector, similar to AGP 2.0. But, the AGP Pro connector was not the same size as the ‘standard’ AGP connector (see schematic at link above), meaning there were now three more possible connections to consider. An AGP Pro connection is longer than a standard AGP connection, and depending on the connector type, it could accept AGP 1.0 and 2.0 cards.

Modern motherboards supporting AGP will specify what type of card is compatible with the board, so the guess work is eliminated when trying to match one with the other. For example, this Socket 754 Chaintech motherboard specifies that it has one AGP 4x/8x slot and this Biostar LGA 775 motherboard specifies that it has one 8x AGP slot.

Final Words

The AGP slot provided a much-needed boost to graphics cards as compared to the PCI slot, but game developers still managed to push the capabilities of this more powerful format to the edge. Something even faster was needed, and the next Tech Tip will take a look at that something in “PCI Express.” PCI Express is not only destined to be the successor to AGP 8x, but due to its flexibility, perhaps to PCI as well.

Computer tech tips and computer help

PCI

The expansion slots available on motherboards allow for a variety of upgrades in a computer system, but matching the appropriate card to an available slot needs to be addressed before making any purchasing decisions. The most common types of expansion cards for modern computer systems can be broken down into three formats: PCI, AGP, and PCI Express. Each of these formats will be addressed separately in this three part series of Tech Tips, starting with PCI.

The letters “PCI” stand for Peripheral Component Interconnect, and is the term used to describe a bus that connects components directly to the system’s memory and to the system’s processor through the “frontside bus.” When discussing communications on a motherboard, the term “bus” has nothing to do with the big yellow thing that takes the kids to school. There may be several buses in a computer, and like the PCI bus, they are all responsible for managing the communication “traffic” from different devices to the processor.

The frontside bus is a high speed connection that manages the processor’s communication with items such as hard drives, memory, and PCI devices, while not burdening the processor with all of the management responsibilities.

First developed by Intel in the early 1990s, PCI was spawned from even earlier (and slower) bus architectures such as ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) and VL-Bus (VESA Local), which were common back in the 1980s and 1990s.

The original specifications for the PCI Bus had a speed of 33 MHz, with a 32-bit bus width, and a maximum bandwidth of 132 MB per second. There have been a few revisions to the PCI standard which have significantly increased these specifications, taking it to 66 MHz, 64-bit, and 512 MB per second, respectively. The 32-bit and 64-bit versions have different physical features, and most motherboards only offer 32-bit connections. The original power specification had PCI devices operating on 5V DC, and with the revisions came the capability for devices to continue using 5V, as well as now being able to operate on 3.3V DC.

A simple explanation of 32-bit and 64-bit can be had by continuing the analogy of buses and traffic. Think of each bit as a lane of traffic on the communication path. Think of a 32-bit bus as having 32 lanes of traffic, and a 64-bit bus having 64 lanes of traffic. Just as a greater number of cars can travel simultaneously on a road with more lanes, more data can be transferred on a bus with a larger bit count.

Motherboards can support multiple slots sharing one PCI Bus, and although not particularly common, can include more than one PCI bus. Depending on the form factor size of the motherboard, and other features that may be taking up space on the board, one can expect to have one to six PCI slots on a typical motherboard. For example, the mATX format features just two 32-bit PCI slots, while the ATX format features six 32-bit PCI slots.

A 32-bit PCI card features 124 pins for mating with a slot on a system’s motherboard, and will fit into either a 32-bit or 64-bit slot (although data transfer will be 32-bit in either type of slot).

A 64-bit PCI card features 184 pins for mating with the appropriate slot on a system’s motherboard, but can generally fit into a 32-bit slot as well, as long as features on the motherboard do not interfere. When installed in a 32-bit slot, data transfer on a 64-bit card will be limited to 32-bit.

The Intel STL2 Dual Socket 370 Server Board w/VRM The Intel STL2 Dual Socket 370 Server Board is a good reference for comparing 32-bit and 64-bit PCI slots. Looking at the lower left corner of the motherboard shows four 32-bit PCI slots and two 64-bit PCI slots.

Subsequent installments in this series of Tech Tips will look at AGP and PCI Express, each of which has its own unique physical features. Although the different format PCI cards may be interchangeable, PCI, AGP, and PCI Express cards do not work (or fit) in any other type of slot.

Most PCI cards will be of the 32-bit variety, and the selection of items available is fairly extensive. Graphics cards, sound cards, network cards, RAID controllers, TV tuners, modems, and USB/Firewire controllers are all common items that may be added to a system through the use of a PCI card.

Many of the items listed in the previous paragraph can be found integrated on modern motherboards, but these onboard devices offer no upgrade ability. PCI devices provide plug and play installation, allowing a user to install (or remove) a device with ease. For example, an inexpensive 2-channel sound card may be good enough for someone initially, but down the road they may decide that something like the 7.1 channel Sound Blaster Audigy 2 offers the sound quality they really want. Upgrading is a matter of powering down the system, swapping the cards, rebooting, and installing the new software/drivers (OK, perhaps a bit over simplified). The good thing about PCI cards is that, even if you do have a board with built-in feature (such as built-in sound mentioned above), your motherboard’s BIOS will usually lets you disable that feature if you did want to add an upgraded card (such as the Audigy sound card mentioned in the example above), or the card can complement the feature already built-in (such as an IDE RAID card).

The one area that drove the development of AGP is the performance of PCI based graphics cards. The demands of fast-paced video games, and other graphically intensive applications, require a great deal of bandwidth, which just wasn’t available on the PCI Bus. Considering that all of the devices on the PCI Bus share the bandwidth available, an even faster, dedicated bus was required to handle just the graphics data. PCI graphics cards are still available though, and make for an easy way to add a second display to a system currently operating on an AGP or PCI Express graphics card.

Final Words

The PCI slot has been around for a while, and seems to have a place in at least the near future of computer architecture. AGP and PCI Express offer performance benefits that the PCI standard cannot match, but for many applications, the performance offered by PCI is more than adequate. Be sure to check out the next Tech Tips in this series for the basics of AGP.

Computer tech tips and computer help

In the first two installments of this series of Tech Tips, we took a look at PCI and AGP, undoubtedly the most common expansion slots in a computer today. With a few key improvements over both of these, PCI Express is destined to replace both and offer a whole new level of computer performance.

PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG)As with AGP and PCI, the development of PCI Express can be attributed to Intel. This time, however, they partnered with some other heavy hitters in the industry, such as Microsoft, IBM, and Dell. Although it is now known as PCI Express, that was not their initial choice for its name. If it wasn’t for PCI-SIG, the committee that oversees the PCI standard, we might be referring to this new format at 3GIO (Third GenerationInput / Output).

PCI Express development finds its roots in the PCI and AGP standards, but the physical connections are not interchangeable, and we will see that this is not the only difference. In the PCI standard, data from the various devices travels over a shared bus to the system. In the AGP standard, a dedicated, point-to-point interface transmits the data from the graphics card to the system. The PCI Express approach to data transfer involves a collection of two-way, serial connections that carries data in packets, similar to the way a network connection operates.

The data from a PCI Express device will no longer have to travel over a single bus, or a single dedicated connection, but can use a combination of these two-way serial connections to optimize throughput. The terms “lane” and “link” don’t sound like anything overly technical, but take on special meaning with PCI Express. A link is the physical connection between PCI Express devices, which can consist of multiple lanes that transmit and receive data independently. Links can be composed of 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, or 32 lanes, and the configuration allows flexibility in assigning just as many lanes as needed to any particular device. There are obvious benefits to this approach, and a few of the more significant include the following points…

Each lane of PCI Express communication is dedicated between two points, so there is no sharing of bandwidth. PCI’s main bottleneck was that all the devices were sharing the equivalent of one lane, and all of the available bandwidth also had to be shared.

Multiple lanes can be assigned to devices whose performance would benefit from the extra speed and bandwidth. A PCI Express graphics card might be assigned 16 lanes (also referred to as x16), while a network adaptor might be assigned just 1 lane. Each lane you make available to a device increases the potential for performance, as the data is sequenced up/down each available lane to optimize throughput. This process of sending the next byte of data down the next available lane is referred to as data striping, and obviously more lanes are better for instances where a good deal of data needs to be transmitted quickly.

Speaking of graphics cards, another benefit is that multiple high performance graphics cards can be installed on one motherboard. The flexibility of PCI Express allows for two x16 PCI Express slots to be included for dual graphics cards, something that in the past required one AGP slot and one PCI slot. And due to the performance limitations, the AGP and PCI combination could not really be considered high performance. In addition to two x16 slots allowing for dual display operation, when incorporating specific graphics cards on a motherboard supporting nVidia’s SLi technology, the resources of the two separate cards can be bridged together for even greater performance on one display. An example of such a motherboard can be seen in DFI’s LAN Party UT nF4 SLi-D.

Just as motherboards supported both AGP and PCI as a means of allowing dual displays, some motherboards offer both an AGP slot and a PCI Express slot. Not only does this allow the user the ability to run dual displays, it provides the added benefit of allowing an upgrade to be completed in stages. If a new PCI Express capable motherboard was just purchased, perhaps in addition to a new processor, the budget conscience user may not want to spring for a new graphics card right away. By making an AGP slot available on boards such as the ECS 915P-A, there is no reason to retire a perfectly good AGP card just because one bought a new motherboard supporting PCI Express.

PCI Express graphics cards are quite similar to AGP cards, except for the connector configuration. The physical size and layout are comparable, and even the prices are not that different. The current selection of graphics cards at Geeks.com doesn’t allow you to compare apples to apples in any one card, but one may find many of the same AGP cards available in PCI Express format for roughly the same price (or for even less money). For the time being, the markets seem to be running in parallel, but in time a shift will occur in favor of PCI Express dominating the market.

Minimizing the cost involved in motherboard fabrication could be another benefit. Let’s look at the example of a network adaptor requiring just 1 lane to operate. If this was a PCI based network adaptor, traces for the standard 32-bit bus would need to reach this device, instead of the four traces required for 1 PCI Express lane. Motherboard design will obviously weigh heavily on this benefit ever being realized, and it is possible that higher-end boards might actually require more traces.

Before taking a look at the ultimate benefit of PCI Express, the performance, let’s have a refresher on the capabilities of PCI and AGP. The standard PCI bus has a width of 32-bit, operates at 33 MHz, and provides a maximum bandwidth of 132 MB/s (which has to be shared by all devices connected). AGP 8x has a 32-bit bus width, operates at 533 MHz, and provides a maximum (dedicated) bandwidth of 2.1 GB/s.

Each PCI Express lane is capable of 250 MB/s in each direction, and as advances in the necessary silicon technologies are realized, that number can be expected to quadruple. Presently, a 164-pin x16 slot can be expected to provide around 4GB/s of usable bandwidth in either direction, which is almost double the 2.1GB/s bandwidth that AGP 8x could offer! Definitely an impressive increase, and as the technology is refined, it will be very interesting to see the performance scale up.

In the previous paragraph, I mentioned that the x16 slot features 164 pins. Each of the different lane configurations is accompanied by a different physical connector, and a sampling of an x16, x8, x4, and x1 can be seen here. For a real world example, the Chaintech VNF4 Ultra Athlon 64 Socket 939 motherboard shows an actual installation of one x16 slot and two x1 slots.

Graphics cards are obviously going to benefit the most from the power and performance available with PCI Express, but as mentioned, other devices will also be able to take advantage of this new standard. The example of a network adaptor is just one that not another benefit is that multiple high performance graphics cards can be installed on one motherboardonly can use PCI Express, but will also see performance benefits. A Gigabit Ethernet adaptor will be more likely to actually achieve its rated speed thanks to the main bottleneck being removed in the form of the slower, narrower PCI Bus. Other bandwidth intensive devices, such as RAID controllers, can also be expected to jump off of the slower PCI Bus and find a smoother ride on PCI Express. Although PCI devices requiring less bandwidth may not see any performance benefits from going to PCI Express, as the standard achieves greater mainstream acceptance, the cost implications may find these devices shifting over anyway, just as happened with the transition from ISA to PCI.

Final Words

The higher speeds and flexibility available from PCI Express have it destined to not only be the successor to AGP 8x, but to PCI as well. The immediate performance increase over the older technologies is quite impressive, and given time the benefits will be even greater. Only time will tell how long this transition will take, but somewhere in the not-too-distant future we will be talking about motherboards that only support PCI Express, and AGP and PCI will go the way of the lowly ISA slot.

Computer Geeks,tech tips,and computer help!

How does a video card work?

A video card basically converts the computer’s digital signals coming from the processor into a signal that the monitor is able to interpret. Hence, its basic function is to convert data. The main point of difference between an entry level video card and a state-of-the art one is that the latter’s conversion speed is much better.

The Chips

The chip is the heart of the video card. It is where all the processing is done. It also makes 3D acceleration possible. The chip is to the video card, what the processor is to the computer. Of the two major chip manufacturers, ATI and NVIDIA, the former is well known for high quality and great technology.

Pipes

The information must travel through tunnels called ‘pipes’, before it can be converted. On one end it starts as raw data and ends up at the opposite end in a format that is compatible with the monitor. On its way, the data undergoes the conversion process. The greater the number of pipes, the more data that can be converted simultaneously.

The amount of data that a pipe can hold is called its Memory Interface. A pipe with a 128 bit interface can process more data than one with a 64 bit interface.

Memory

The memory is used to store temporary or transient information. Video information, being very data heavy, needs more memory. The two main types of memory are SDRAM and DDR RAM. DDR is superior as it can transmit information faster.

ATI Technology

An ATI card will offer many technologies that will significantly enhance your video experience. ATI’s cards are fully compatible with all the latest 3D technologies and do not rely on your computer’s CPU to process information, as do some of the entry-level cards.

SmartShader™

This technology will unleash a new generation of visual effects on your computer. Realistic graphics with breathtaking 3D effects are possible with SmartShader™. DVD movies can be viewed to better effect with it too.

SmartVision®

SmartVision® has the effect of removing jagged edges, improving the image, bringing its finer details to light.

Fullstream™

This is the latest technology in video processing, which is particularly for the Internet and video playback processing. It greatly improves the quality and performance of streaming video.

Logan writes about various topics. This article is free to re-print as long as nothing is changed, the bio remains, all hyper links remain intacked and the rel="nofollow" tag isnt added to any links. Thank-You

As we study the issues associated with teaching kids in the classroom we find that fluorescent lighting can plague the learning abilities. A slight flicker from such a light can cause disruption in normal brain patterns. Flickering lights at discos and in psychotherapy are used for proper mood enhancement. At a disco it can loosen up a dancer and put the mind in a certain transient state allowing for the movements, mood and mind to flow in the desired pattern. For psychotherapy it can be used to put a subject in a theta state of mind to remember old memories through hypnotic states, relax a patient or even change behavior through the art of suggestion permanently by putting certain commands into the subconscious.

Many people starring at computer screens without proper lighting in the background or computer screens with inadequate pixel adjustment have admitted that they experienced nausea, eye irritation, severe loss of concentration, difficulty comprehending, hesitation and general disruption of the sense. Since the eyesight plays such an integral part in the brains functioning and biorhythms, pixel modification of a display screens is a quick and easy way to disrupt the command and control systems of an enemy in times of political posturing. In times of national crisis or when serving your political will against a foe is paramount it would behoove us to utilize a technique which will give us an edge.

Pixel disruption is not as hard as one might think. For instance a TV which is out of sync is hard to see and can cause dizziness and make someone fall asleep or burn up valuable RAM as the brain uses up 45% of it’s random access memory during processing of visual input. If you watch children with the TV set on late at night when they are tired you can see that if some lights in the house are off they get tired, perhaps you yourself have found it hard to concentrate on a movie when lighting is wrong? Sometimes the TV just needs a little fine-tuning or the screen is not working right due to a little weather disruption, either way it does take it’s toll on a human being. It effects their ability to process the information burning up more RAM and effecting other parts of the body. Disruptions from early radar screens in the US Navy caused these adverse effects requiring the operator to look past the disruptions on the screen. Eventually this was solved, but such problems render the operator less alert and also cause a decrease in concentration and more likelihood for error.

Corporations have done much study with proper lighting in the work place both to save energy and increase productivity or just decrease the loss of productivity. An increase of 20% productivity means you need 20% less people employed at 20% less workstations. This is a huge savings and ultimately a hot topic in University Studies and of course used by many a Light Fixture company to sell products as the brochures of some of the largest supplies of lighting products explain. As a matter of fact each year two very large lighting associations meet in Las Vegas for their annual conventions to pitch not only cost savings, but ergonomic advantages to the bio-system, eyesight and productivity increases. The human species has evolved to work best natural light due to the hundreds of millions of years of adaptation. Yet only in the last 200 years have we adapted to light other than that of the sun or flame, so it obviously stands to reason that our eyes and processing abilities and brain waves are interfered with to some degree with any type of artificial light from man-made devices.

What is the best way to cause lighting to interfere with the human bio-system? Well, from a war stand point several ways. One way is to devise methods of manufacturing, which can be easily altered by software code in the future, yet run perfectly optimum in the present before such conflict or need arising. Another way is to use directional frequency disruption of some type via satellite, LOS UAV apparatus or NLOS ionospheric bounce to an entire region affecting every human for several hundred square miles? Such methods could and will decrease the enemy’s productivity by the 20% or more indicated. Since discussing hacking is not something many like to think about, we should only use this method when other methods are not possible. It should be easy to subsidize computer-monitoring screens and help reduce the price and therefore all people of the planet would be using the same ones running on the same code. When a certain region was a war with other regions, the software could be activated to turn off a random set of number pixels in a symmetrical pattern. Thus you would be fooling the eyes and over taxing the visual processing of the brain during the time at war or directly leading up to war. Such patterns could be tested and be made to agitate the individual’s character, put them to sleep, allow them into a theta state of mind to accept information or question their own belief system and even make them sick. Enough studies exist to prove this point.

If you make the enemy hesitate, become less productive or make bad decisions based on incomplete or bad information from over taxed brains on their team, you can win a war before you start and spare many lives on both sides. This is best for all concerned as it leads to quicker ends to conflicts, less loss of life, quicker mending of parties and less animosity and revenge factor for subsequent future generations. We are condoning war, hacking or conflict amongst the species, we feel it is a given. We must secure our networks from such threats. Protect our team and use every possible options to quickly win and defeat the enemy when the need arises. Disrupting the enemy through computer pixel disruption is an easy way to help us achieve such goals. It is cheap, effective and easy to induce if and when it must be done.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/