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                        QuickColor 2.5 README
                          February 20, 1997            
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                (c) Copyright EnTech Taiwan, 1996-97


HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT
========================
To view readme.txt on screen in Notepad, maximize the Notepad 
window. To print readme.txt, open it in Notepad or another word 
processor, and then on the File menu, click Print.


CONTENTS
========

LICENSE AND REGISTRATION
SUPPORT
QUICKCOLOR FUNCTIONALITY UNDER WINDOWS NT 4.0
QUICKCOLOR FUNCTIONALITY UNDER WINDOWS 95
INSTALLING QUICKCOLOR
NOTES ON SPECIFIC CHIPSETS UNDER WINDOWS 95
TIPS AND TRICKS
KNOWN LIMITATIONS
RELEASE NOTES


LICENSE AND REGISTRATION
========================
QuickColor is shareware. You must read and accept the terms 
detailed in the license.txt file before you can use QuickColor. 
An order form is provided in the file order.txt for the purpose of 
registering this software.


SUPPORT
=======
QuickColor support is available from EnTech Taiwan via Internet 
e-mail addressed to entechtaiwan@msn.com. Program updates are made 
available over the Internet at http://www.entechtaiwan.com. 
Registration keys which are issued apply to all future releases of 
QuickColor.


QUICKCOLOR FUNCTIONALITY UNDER WINDOWS NT 4.0
=============================================
QuickColor is designed primarily for use with Windows NT 4.0, and 
has been tested successfully with most of the drivers bundled by 
Microsoft with the retail release of NT, as well as with a handful
of drivers recently released by various chiphouses.

Since NT 4.0 supports refresh rate settings, and can change 
resolution and color depth on-the-fly, the main advantage of 
QuickColor is a more logical and convenient approach to exploiting 
these inherent features, combined with support for over 500 monitors
and the potential to associate programs and shortcuts with specific
display settings. While not particularly elegant and certainly not
intended as a Windows shell program, QuickColor associations provide
additional flexibility to your Windows desktop that can be hooked 
into by other programs, or linked directly to standard Windows 
shortcuts and/or Task Bar Start menu items.

Like Microsoft's QuickRes utility, QuickColor is implemented as an
icon with a popup menu on the system tray. But instead of offering
a menu listing all possible resolution and color depth options, 
QuickColor features a configuration dialog box, where you can select
a monitor type, and define five prime "presets" and up to twenty 
shortcut associations, which consist of resolution, color depth and 
refresh rate settings. The configuration dialog box is also, 
arguably, better organized than the native NT Display Properties 
sheet: with a certain monitor and at a certain color depth only some
resolutions are supported, and at these color depths and resolutions
only some refresh rates are supported. An optional floating toolbar,
amongst other options, is also available.


QUICKCOLOR FUNCTIONALITY UNDER WINDOWS 95
=========================================
Except for monitor type, which QuickColor reads from the Windows 95
system registry, QuickColor functionality under Windows 95 is 
identical to NT 4.0, provided your graphics card is implemented 
with a standard BIOS and you are using a driver which has been 
certified by Microsoft for use with DirectX under Windows 95. 
QuickColor has been successfully tested with the following types of
graphics cards, using standard BIOS and driver releases from the 
chiphouse, as well as drivers written by Microsoft and included with
the retail release of Windows 95, the OEM release of OSR2, and 
DirectX 2.0 and 3.0:

* 3Dlabs - Permedia/Permedia NT
* Alliance ProMotion - 3210/6410/6422/AT24
* Avance Logic - 2228/2301/2302
* Cirrus Logic - 542x/543x/544x/546x/548x
* S3/2d - 911/924/801/805/928/864/964/732/764/765/775/785/868/968
* S3/3d - 325/375/385/988
* Trident - 8900,9440,9660,9680 
* Tseng Labs - ET4000/W32i/W32p/ET6000

Refer to the section on specific chipsets below for any further 
information and caveats.

NB: Under Windows 95, if you receive an "Error starting program" 
    message which says that "A required .DLL file, DDRAW.DLL, was 
    not found." then you need, at a minimum, to download and 
    install the DDRAW20.ZIP file from the QuickColor page of our
    web site at http://www.entechtaiwan.com. (The error message 
    also suggests that your display driver is badly outdated...)


INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING QUICKCOLOR
=====================================
QuickColor software consists of just two files - QCOLOR.EXE and
QCOLOR.DAT - and features what we hope is a reasonably intuitive 
drag-and-drop interface, with hints. The QCOLOR.DAT file is a
simple ASCII text file, which contains monitor definitions for NT
and default refresh rate settings for Windows 95 which you should
feel free to edit.

To install QuickColor, you must have a PC running Windows NT 4.0 or
Windows 95. These instructions assume that you have already 
successfully installed the very latest display drivers provided by 
your graphics card manufacturer or by Microsoft with DirectX (for 
Windows 95). 

To install QuickColor software, carry out the following steps: 

1. Right-click the file QColor.Inf using the Windows Explorer, and 
   then click Install.
2. Restart your computer.
3. Double-click the QuickColor icon on the system tray, or select
   QuickColor configuration... from the QuickColor popup menu or 
   toolbar.
4. Select color depth, resolution and refresh rate combinations of
   your choice and drag-and-drop on Preset button to save setting, 
   or on monitor image to preview setting.

NB: Out of consideration for parents with home PCs, QuickColor 
    accepts an optional command line switch which instructs the 
    program to automatically switch to one of the five presets on 
    start-up, e.g., qcolor.exe /x, where x is 1 to 5. Note that 
    QuickColor's default "Safe Mode" of 640x480 in 256 colors at
    60Hz also happens to be the optimal display settings for 
    running DirectX games and many multimedia titles. (You can
    change the default setting if desired.) Parents can also create
    shortcuts to children's programs using QuickColor associations
    and standard Windows shortcuts (see "Tips and Tricks" below).

To remove QuickColor from your computer, select the Add/Remove
option from the Control Panel, and select "QuickColor (remove
only)" from the list.  


NOTES ON SPECIFIC CHIPSETS UNDER WINDOWS 95
===========================================
Cirrus Logic - If QuickColor is unable to change the refresh rate 
and a Cirrus Monitor Refresh property sheet is available, ensure 
that the "Auto Detect Use DDC" option is checked. (This is 
especially important with the new Laguna/3D series of chipsets and 
drivers.)

3Dlabs - If QuickColor is unable to reach refresh rates above 75 or
85Hz, ensure that the refresh rate property under the Permedia 
device configuration setting box or 3Dlabs Setup property sheet
is set to "Max". 

Ark Logic - Recent Ark Logic drivers which attempt to implement a
"virtual desktop" are neither certified by Microsoft for use with
Windows 95 nor compatible with QuickColor.


TIPS AND TRICKS
===============
* To add a program or shortcut to the QuickColor menu, either
select a file using the QuickColor browse button or drag and drop
the file on the QuickColor dialog box from the Windows Explorer.

* To select an associated program or shortcut from the QuickColor
toolbar, right click on the QuickColor toolbar icon.

* Shortcuts to programs are preferable to programs themselves for
associations because QuickColor can read additional startup 
information from them (working directory, parameters, etc.); only
executable programs and shortcuts to them are acceptable.

* Dragging and dropping display settings on the monitor image is
equivalent to pressing the Ok button in the QuickColor dialog box.

* Associations can be deleted by right clicking on the shortcut/
program name in the QuickColor dialog box.

* Display settings associated with a specific shortcut/program can
be reset to current defaults by right clicking on the display
setting description in the QuickColor dialog box.

* The list of DirectX capabilities in the "Graphics system 
information" dialog box is intended to help you select combinations
of resolution and color depth which do not *detract* from optimal 
performance when running a DirectX program. As a general rule, the 
lower the resolution, color depth and refresh rate, the less 
graphics processing overhead and the better the performance.

* Adding the command line parameter /x, where x is the number 1-5,
instructs QuickColor to automatically switch to the display
settings assigned to that Preset button on startup or if QuickColor
is already running. "DirectX mode" is /x and "Safe mode" is /s.

* Shortcuts to QuickColor associations can be created anywhere
or by any program that can launch another program. The syntax for
starting a QuickColor association is to add the command line 
parameter /x, where x is the number 101-120. For example, if
Microsoft Excel has been assigned to QuickColor association #7
with display settings of 1024x768 in HiColor, and you create a
shortcut on the Windows desktop specifying "qcolor.exe /107" as the
target, launching the shortcut will cause QuickColor to first
switch display settings and then launch Excel.

* Changes to display settings assigned to QuickColor associations
are temporary, while changes to display settings assigned to 
QuickColor preset buttons are permanent.

* Configuring a screen saver with password protection enabled, in
combination with QuickColor's "Activate screen saver" option, 
provides instant protection without resort to a seperate utility

* QuickColor's default "Safe mode" is, of course, different from
both Windows 95's Safe Mode and NT's VGA Mode; the latter load a
standard, generic VGA driver, while the former simply sets display
settings to the lowest resolution, color depth and refresh rate
supported by all graphics cards and display drivers

* As a general rule, QuickColor's default "safe mode" of 
640x480x8bpp at 60Hz is likely to be the optimal mode for running
DirectX applications as well (higher refresh rates necessarily 
impose a performance penalty, however slight); nevertheless, both
"Safe mode" and "DirectX mode" are implemented as user-defined
presets, so you can change these settings

* Screen saving is now optionally monitored by QuickColor, 
allowing you to define specific display settings for this also 
(e.g., an OpenGL screen saver under NT may look best at 640x480 
in TrueColor, and so on)

* In QuickColor's DirectX mode, the Windows screen saver is 
effectively disabled because screen savers tend to interfere with 
full screen DirectX apps. If, for some reason, this is not 
desireable, use a Preset button instead.


KNOWN LIMITATIONS
=================

Proprietary Windows 95 Drivers
------------------------------
Many first-tier board manufacturers bundle proprietary display
drivers which may not be compatible with QuickColor. In the event
you encounter a compatibility problem, you do have the option of 
using a standard "generic" driver from the chip vendor or Microsoft
which is compatible with QuickColor.

Refresh Rates under Windows 95
------------------------------
The latest drivers from chip vendors include refresh rate information
which QuickColor will read and respect. However, in the absence of
this information and because QuickColor is designed to work with the 
widest possible range of graphics cards, an extensive list of refresh 
rate options is provided by default. For example, although virtually 
all graphics cards support VESA standards of 60, 72 and 75Hz, some 
cards also support 85Hz (e.g., S3 and Cirrus Logic), while others 
support 90Hz (e.g., Tseng Labs); very few support the default maximum 
of 200Hz which QuickColor provides. If you select a refresh rate 
which is not supported by your graphics card, the next highest 
available refresh rate will typically be activated. Note that in 
order for a refresh rate to be supported by QuickColor, it must be 
implemented in your graphics card's BIOS refresh table. Refresh rates 
available for your graphics card that rely on special CRTC register 
programming are unlikely to be supported by QuickColor, and may in
fact interfere with the program.

You can also modify the list of supported refresh rates, by opening
the QCOLOR.DAT file in Notepad and editing the [Win95-Refresh] 
section. Examples for generic Tseng ET6000, S3d ViRGE (325), and 
Cirrus Laguna/3d chipsets are provided. Note that this information is
only read by QuickColor in the absense of a vendor-supplied refresh
rate table.

Font and Driver Changes
-----------------------
Because QuickColor is designed for dynamic mode switching, 
combinations of display settings which require restarting Windows 
are always cancelled or ignored. For this reason, QuickColor does
not support different font size settings, since changes to system 
font size always require restarting Windows.

Screen Saver
------------
Returning from a screen saver activated by QuickColor may require
two key presses or extended mouse movement, because QuickColor
includes an internal, simple "screen saver" which blanks the screen

Graphics System Information
---------------------------
Video memory information is calculated and rounded, and therefore
may be inexact (in particular, graphics cards which use multi-bank
MDRAM are likely to be misreported); however, the information
presented in the QuickColor "Graphics system information" screen 
is a more or less accurate representation of what Windows, and 
Windows/DirectX applications, actually "see". 


RELEASE NOTES
=============
2.50 - 20/02/97
       Fixed compatibility problem with Matrox 3.0 NT driver
       Added registry search for Win95/OSR2 refresh table
       Revised Graphics system info dialog
       Safe mode hotkey is now on by default
       Sync'd code with initial 3D PowerStrip release

2.40 - internal

2.30 - 14/02/97
       Revised system info, adding version information
       Minor UI changes
       Associated apps can now be tested by clicking icon
       Added screen saver preprocessor
       Improved toolbar docking
       Removed redundant registration reminders

2.21 - 06/02/97
       Fixed OpenGL screen saver bug under NT
       Minor UI fixes and enhancements

2.20 - 05/02/97
       Added additional system-wide hotkey support
       Move DirectX caps to new SysInfo dialog box
       Added screen saver support
       Improved safe mode/added DirectX mode presets
       Added Permedia NT and Cirrus 548x support

2.10 - 26/01/97
       Added DirectX (DirectDraw) querying capabilities
       Added fast screen blanking to QuickColor menu
       Added "safe mode" setting with system-wide hotkey
       Improved monitor calc routine to support fH up to 115kHz
       Added additional flexibility to QC associations
       Updated compilation from DirectX 2 to DirectX 3 headers
       Updated exe and docs for credit card ordering

2.02 - 09/01/97
       Fixed startup parameters bug under Win95
       Removed redundant safety check 

2.01 - 05/01/97
       Fixed Confirmation DlgBox size conflict w. MSOffice toolbar

2.00 - 01/01/97
       Enhanced interface
       Optimized dynamic color-depth switching under Windows 95
       Added "always-on-top", minimize, close switches to toolbar
       Rewrote tray notification code to handle double clicks
       Added basic virus protection to main EXE
       Added OEM support (custom bitmaps, etc.) for commercial use
       Confirmed Win95 OSR2 and DirectX 3.0 support
       Imported VCP monitor support; updated to sync with OSR2
       Added more flexible refresh rate support
       Added support for up to 20 program/shortcut associations
       Added support for preset startup parameter

1.14 - 29/11/96
       Fixed About/Reg DlgBox scaling problem
       Added support for 1152x882 (Matrox) and 1152x870 (3Dlabs)

1.13 - 28/11/96
       Sync'd QuickColor Win95 optimizations with VCP+ 4.0B10
       Added refresh desktop option (primarily for Win95)
       Fixed media player link under NT

1.12 - 14/11/96
       Sync'd QuickColor Win95 optimizations with VCP+ 4.0

1.11 - 13/11/96
       Fixed preset bug

1.10 - 10/11/96
       Added roll-up feature to toolbar
       Added timed cancellation to changes in display settings
       Added incremental enlargement/reduction of desktop size
       Added user-configurable refresh rate support for Win95

1.07 - 6/11/96
       Fixed repititous enumeration of refresh rates under NT

1.06 - 14/10/96
       Changed icons in an attempt to make them more intuitive

1.05 - 13/10/96
       Added optional toolbar and easier registration facilities

1.04 - 03/10/96
       Minor interface change to configuration box
       Added additional safety checks
       Maximum refresh rate set to 90Hz (for TLI etc.)
       Added link to media player to menu

1.03 - internal

1.02 - 01/10/96 
       Added additional warnings to the program and docs

1.01 - 30/09/96 
       Fixed ET6000 bug with RLE-encoded bitmaps
       Added check for sub-VGA resolutions (e.g., 320x200) under NT
       Added Win95 check for DirectDraw

1.00 - 23/09/96 
       Initial release
