RadeonHD.chip Supports Obtaining Modes Via DDC

Posted by Hans de Ruiter

A few days ago it was announced at Pianeta Amiga 2009 in Empoli, Italy, that Amiga OS 4.x will soon support obtaining monitor resolutions automatically via the Display Data Channel (DDC) (see this report on the show). Now that this has been made public, I can announce that the RadeonHD.chip driver has DDC support too. In fact, it has been supported since February of this year.

DDC support is a large step forward when it comes to setting up a monitor. It is a separate data channel that allows graphics cards to get information about the connected monitor's capabilities, and then build a list of supported resolutions automatically. Previously the user had to manually enter the monitor timing limits into the monitor icon's tooltypes, and also manually add the desired screenmodes (although the basic modes are automatically generated on OS installation). With the arrival of DVI monitors with their reduced-blanking modes, this situation was complicated further. With DDC support, no more manual entry is required, making setting up monitors much easier and more user-friendly. If a monitor is replaced with a new one, new modes will automatically be added to the list on start up.

Comments (0) | 27 September 2009