ATI Catalyst
Encyclopedia
AMD Catalyst is a device driver
and utility software
package for ATI
line of video card
s. It runs on Microsoft Windows and Linux, on 32- and 64-bit x86 processors.
, Windows 2000
and Windows Me
, with support for Windows 98
via the Windows Me driver. The first number in a release version denotes the year, the second the release within that year, starting at x.1 for all years other than 2003 when there was a 3.0 release.
The original Catalyst consisted of these elements:
Key features promised by ATI include frequent driver updates with performance enhancements, bug fixes, and new features.
Starting with version 4.9 released on 4 September 2004, the Catalyst driver package included the ATI Catalyst Control Center, a new software application for manipulating many of the hardware's functions, such as 3D settings, monitor controls and video options. It shows a small 3D preview and allows the user to see how changes to the graphics settings affects the quality of the rendered image. It also shows information about the card itself and the software data. This application requires Microsoft .NET Framework
.
display driver used for ATI Radeon and ATI FireGL
family of video adapters and stands for "FireGL and Radeon for X
". It contains both free and open-source and proprietary
parts. Starting from Catalyst 11.7, the ATI Proprietary Linux driver was renamed ATI Catalyst Linux, and was moved to the same release dates and version numbering as the versions for Microsoft Windows.
Linux version has been criticized for its stability and performance issues as well as lack of options. The state of the driver has improved over time with AMD trying to work in concert with application developers, although for most instances the drivers are considered to be solid enough for most tasks and functional for most users.
HydraVision was originally developed in late 90s by Appian Graphics
for their multi-head display solutions. ATI acquired HydraVision in July 2001 along with Appian's HydraVision team to join its then-new dual-head Radeon 7500 and 8500 series.
Currently it is an optional component of the Catalyst software suite.
on GNU/Linux.
, a number of open source drivers are available. In general, AMD/ATI has also been praised for its Linux graphics work outside of its Catalyst driver support, including providing documentation and limited support, as well as some actual active development, to various free software drivers. This is in direct contrast to AMD's main competitor in the graphics field NVIDIA
, which does offer its own proprietary driver similar to Catalyst, but does not provide any support or assistance to any free graphics initiatives.
Related technologies
Related topics
Device driver
In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
and utility software
Utility software
Utility software is system software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize or maintain a computer. A single piece of utility software is usually called a utility or tool....
package for ATI
Ati
As a word, Ati may refer to:* Ati, a town in Chad* Ati, a Negrito ethnic group in the Philippines* Ati-Atihan Festival, an annual celebration held in the Philippines* Ati, a queen of the fabled Land of Punt in Africa...
line of video card
Video card
A video card, Graphics Card, or Graphics adapter is an expansion card which generates output images to a display. Most video cards offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or the ability to connect multiple monitors...
s. It runs on Microsoft Windows and Linux, on 32- and 64-bit x86 processors.
History
Catalyst was instituted on 13 June 2002 with version 02.1 after the release of the Radeon 8500, as "a software suite that includes unified driver and software applications to enable [ATI's] Radeon family of graphics products" for Windows XPWindows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, Windows 2000
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
and Windows Me
Windows Me
Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows Me , is a graphical operating system released on September 14, 2000 by Microsoft, and was the last operating system released in the Windows 9x series. Support for Windows Me ended on July 11, 2006....
, with support for Windows 98
Windows 98
Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
via the Windows Me driver. The first number in a release version denotes the year, the second the release within that year, starting at x.1 for all years other than 2003 when there was a 3.0 release.
The original Catalyst consisted of these elements:
- A new, unified driver for ATI Radeon graphics cards
- Hydravision, ATI's proprietary desktop management software
- An ATI "Multimedia Center"
- ATI's Remote Wonder software
- A new AGP diagnostic and stability tool
- A newly redesigned control panel
Key features promised by ATI include frequent driver updates with performance enhancements, bug fixes, and new features.
| Windows support | From version | To version | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 9x Windows 9x Windows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced since 1995, which were based on the original and later modified Windows 95 kernel... |
4.4 | There were some later releases for these operating systems, including and up to a Windows Me build of Catalyst 6.2 released on Feb 9, 2006. | |
| Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... |
6.5 | ||
| Windows XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... |
|||
| Windows Vista Windows Vista Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs... |
7.2 | ||
| Windows XP x64 | 7.11 | ||
| Windows 7 | 9.7 |
Starting with version 4.9 released on 4 September 2004, the Catalyst driver package included the ATI Catalyst Control Center, a new software application for manipulating many of the hardware's functions, such as 3D settings, monitor controls and video options. It shows a small 3D preview and allows the user to see how changes to the graphics settings affects the quality of the rendered image. It also shows information about the card itself and the software data. This application requires Microsoft .NET Framework
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...
.
Linux
fglrx is the name of the LinuxLinux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
display driver used for ATI Radeon and ATI FireGL
ATI FireGL
The ATI FireGL range of video cards, renamed to FirePro 3D in late 2008, is the series specifically for CAD and DCC software, usually found in workstations.-History:...
family of video adapters and stands for "FireGL and Radeon for X
X Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
". It contains both free and open-source and proprietary
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
parts. Starting from Catalyst 11.7, the ATI Proprietary Linux driver was renamed ATI Catalyst Linux, and was moved to the same release dates and version numbering as the versions for Microsoft Windows.
Linux version has been criticized for its stability and performance issues as well as lack of options. The state of the driver has improved over time with AMD trying to work in concert with application developers, although for most instances the drivers are considered to be solid enough for most tasks and functional for most users.
HydraVision
HydraVision is a desktop/screen management software mostly providing multi-monitor and virtual-screen management. Besides screen management, it includes hardware-accelerated eyefinity and has extensive hot-key support.HydraVision was originally developed in late 90s by Appian Graphics
Appian Graphics
Founded in 1994, Appian Graphics was one of the leading suppliers of multi-monitor graphics accelerators.The company was famous for its Jeronimo and Gemini product lines, and for the HydraVision display management software....
for their multi-head display solutions. ATI acquired HydraVision in July 2001 along with Appian's HydraVision team to join its then-new dual-head Radeon 7500 and 8500 series.
Currently it is an optional component of the Catalyst software suite.
Supported products
Not all platforms have an equal level of support. For example, recent versions do not support cards older than R600Radeon R600
The graphics processing unit codenamed the Radeon R600 is the foundation of the Radeon HD 2000/3000 series and the FireGL 2007 series video cards developed by ATI Technologies...
on GNU/Linux.
- ATI RadeonRadeonRadeon is a brand of graphics processing units and random access memory produced by Advanced Micro Devices , first launched in 2000 by ATI Technologies, which was acquired by AMD in 2006. Radeon is the successor to the Rage line. There are four different groups, which can be differentiated by...
graphics cards- Monthly updated:
- Radeon HD 2XXX/3XXX seriesRadeon R600The graphics processing unit codenamed the Radeon R600 is the foundation of the Radeon HD 2000/3000 series and the FireGL 2007 series video cards developed by ATI Technologies...
- Radeon HD 4XXX seriesRadeon R700The Radeon R700 is the engineering codename for a graphics processing unit series developed by Advanced Micro Devices under the ATI brand name. The foundation chip, codenamed RV770, was announced and demonstrated on June 16, 2008 as part of the FireStream 9250 and Cinema 2.0 initiative launch media...
- Radeon HD 5XXX series
- Radeon HD 6XXX seriesNorthern Islands (GPU family)The Northern Islands series is a family of GPUs developed by Advanced Micro Devices for its Radeon line, based on the 40 nm process.Starting with this family, the former ATI brand was officially discontinued in favor of making a correlation between the graphics products and the AMD branding for...
- Radeon HD 2XXX/3XXX series
- Periodically updated: - With no Official Windows 7 Support
- Radeon 9500/9550/9600/9700/9800/X300/X500/X600Radeon R300The Radeon R300 is the third generation of Radeon graphics chips from ATI Technologies. The line features 3D acceleration based upon Direct3D 9.0 and OpenGL 2.0, a major improvement in features and performance compared to the preceding Radeon R200 design. R300 was the first fully Direct3D...
/X700/X800Radeon R420The Radeon R420 core from ATI Technologies was the company's basis for its 3rd-generation DirectX 9.0/OpenGL 2.0-capable graphics cards. Used first on the Radeon X800, R420 was produced on a 0.13 micrometer low-K process and used GDDR-3 memory...
series - Radeon X1500/X1600/X1800/X1900 seriesRadeon R520ATI's "R520" core is the foundation for a line of DirectX 9.0c and OpenGL 2.0 3D accelerator X1000 video cards. It is ATI's first major architectural overhaul since the "R300" core and is highly optimized for Shader Model 3.0. The Radeon X1000 series using the core was introduced on October 5,...
- Radeon 9500/9550/9600/9700/9800/X300/X500/X600
- Monthly updated:
- ATI multimedia products
- All-in-WonderAll-in-WonderThe All-in-Wonder was a combination graphics card/TV tuner card designed by ATI Technologies. It was introduced on November 11, 1996. ATI had previously used the Wonder trademark on other graphics cards, however, they were not full TV/graphics combo cards...
multimedia cards- All-in-Wonder HD
- All-in-Wonder 2006 Edition
- All-in-Wonder X1800/X1900 series
- All-in-Wonder X800 series
- All-in-Wonder X600 series
- All-in-Wonder 9600/9800 series
- Theater HDTV decoders
- Theater 600
- Theater HD 750
- Theater 550 PRO
- Theater 650
- All-in-Wonder
- AMD FireStreamAMD FireStreamThe AMD FireStream is a stream processor produced by Advanced Micro Devices to utilize the stream processing/GPGPU concept for heavy floating-point computations to target various industries, such as the High Performance Computing , scientific, and financial sectors...
products- FireStream 9270
- FireStream 9170
- FireStream 9250
- AMD integrated graphics processors
- Radeon HD 4200/3000 series
- 690 chipset series/Radeon X1200 series/Radeon Xpress 1200 seriesAMD 690 chipset seriesThe AMD 690 chipset series is an integrated graphics chipset family which was developed and manufactured by AMD subsidiary ATI for both AMD and Intel platforms focusing on both desktop and mobile computing markets...
- 580X chipset series
- Radeon Xpress 3200 CrossFireXpress 3200The Xpress 3200 is a new revision of the Xpress 200 computer chipset released by ATI. The chipset supports AMD64 processors of the Socket 939 and also of the Socket AM2.-History of the Xpress 3200 chipset:...
- Radeon Xpress 200/1100/1150 seriesXpress 200The Radeon Xpress 200 is a computer chipset released by ATI. The chipset supports AMD 64-bit processors as well as supporting Intel Pentium 4, Pentium D and Celeron processors...
Alternatives
For ATI cards and the X.Org ServerX.Org Server
X.Org Server refers to the X server release packages stewarded by the X.Org Foundation,which is hosted by freedesktop.org, and grants...
, a number of open source drivers are available. In general, AMD/ATI has also been praised for its Linux graphics work outside of its Catalyst driver support, including providing documentation and limited support, as well as some actual active development, to various free software drivers. This is in direct contrast to AMD's main competitor in the graphics field NVIDIA
NVIDIA
Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
, which does offer its own proprietary driver similar to Catalyst, but does not provide any support or assistance to any free graphics initiatives.
See also
ATI video adapters- All-in-WonderAll-in-WonderThe All-in-Wonder was a combination graphics card/TV tuner card designed by ATI Technologies. It was introduced on November 11, 1996. ATI had previously used the Wonder trademark on other graphics cards, however, they were not full TV/graphics combo cards...
- RadeonRadeonRadeon is a brand of graphics processing units and random access memory produced by Advanced Micro Devices , first launched in 2000 by ATI Technologies, which was acquired by AMD in 2006. Radeon is the successor to the Rage line. There are four different groups, which can be differentiated by...
- Comparison of ATI chipsetsComparison of ATI chipsets-Comparison of Northbridges:Note 1: A-Link Express and A-Link Express II is essentially PCI-Express x4 lanes, so that any PCI Express capable southbridge can be used ....
- Comparison of AMD chipsetsComparison of AMD chipsetsThis is a comparison of chipsets sold under the brand AMD, manufactured before May 2004 by the company itself, before the adoption of open platform approach as well as chipsets manufactured by ATI Technologies after July 2006 as the completion of the ATI acquisition.- AMD-xxx :- A-Link Express II...
Related technologies
- ATI Avivo
- ATI CrossFireATI CrossFireAMD CrossFireX is a brand name for the multi-GPU solution by Advanced Micro Devices, originally developed by ATI Technologies. The technology allows up to four GPUs to be used in a single computer to improve graphics performance.-First-generation:CrossFire was first made available to the public...
- ATI PowerPlayATI PowerPlayATI PowerPlay is a collective name for a set of technologies implemented in a series of graphics adapters manufactured by ATI, including the Mobility Radeon, the Imageon handheld chipset, and the Radeon family of desktop GPUs...
Related topics
- Graphics hardware and FOSS