Displaying 3D data is one of the most intensive operations your computer performs. With Solid Edge you can find the optimum balance among the factors that influence display speed and display quality, based on your computer's capabilities.
Solid Edge is designed to use OpenGL(r) for displaying 3D data. Most graphics cards are designed to accelerate OpenGL(r) based applications with little or no intervention from the application or user. You should use as much graphics card functionality and acceleration as possible to optimize both display speed and display quality. As display technologies and rendering techniques advance, most graphics card vendors take advantage of them. However it is not always possible for older graphics cards to support new functionality efficiently.
To accommodate legacy configurations, Solid Edge provides several options to control the application display methods for 3D data. To modify the method Solid Edge uses to display graphics, choose Solid Edge Options on the Application menu, and from the following options on the View tab of the Options dialog box:
This option provides full acceleration for all 3D displays and should provide the smoothest display possible for manipulating graphical objects or editing profiles and sketches. To achieve this higher quality display, Solid Edge requires a higher level of graphics card support. Such support may not exist for older graphics cards. This option is designed specifically for use with the latest mid-range and high-end graphics cards.
This option provides full acceleration for all 3D displays and should provide a stable display across a wide variety of midrange to high-end graphics cards. While all displays are hardware accelerated, this option avoids accessing graphics requests that may not be widely supported. Choose this option if Solid Edge is unable to generate consistent displays when using the Graphics Card Driven (Advanced) option.
This option is available for the Windows Vista operating system only. This option is intended for Windows Vista users who are unable to generate consistent displays using one of the other graphics card driven options.
This option provides a mixture of graphics card and software generated displays. When you manipulate a view, Solid Edge directs all display requests to the graphics accelerator to provide the fastest frame rate possible. When the view manipulations are completed, the final display is generated using a slower, more stable software method to provide a consistent display for all possible configurations. Choose this option for older, legacy configurations, especially when working with graphics cards that are not designed to support CAD applications (gaming or consumer-level graphics cards), or if Solid Edge is unable to generate consistent displays using one of the graphics card driven options.
This option is provided for diagnostic purposes and should not be used for normal displays. The primary reason for this option is to isolate the source of any graphic anomaly that might occur. In most cases, the graphics driver contains a flaw or is out-of-date. This option should only be selected if directed by support to verify such a condition.
A display list is an OpenGL(r) capability that allows the CAD application to load geometry to the graphics card memory. This off-loads that data from the system memory. Using the dedicated resource on the graphics card is much faster than using shared system memory. This option is set by default for most midrange to high-end cards. A display list increases the performance of the Graphics Card (Advanced) method so that the display rate approaches and sometimes matches the display rate of the Graphics Card (Basic) option.
If available, the Graphics Card (Advanced) option provides the best quality display, but the Graphics Card (Basic) option provides the fastest display. The Use Display List option increases the performance of the Graphics Card (Advanced) option so that the display rate approaches and sometimes matches the display rate of the Graphics Card (Basic) option.
You can improve system display by allowing Solid Edge to automatically select the appropriate graphics card setting during startup.
Solid Edge delivers the AutoConfigure.txt file to the Solid Edge Program folder. This file contains information about widely used graphics cards such as the vendor, card name, driver version, default application display, and maximum application display. When the Automatic Selection option on the View tab is set, Solid Edge uses the information in the AutoConfigure.txt file to build the list of display options. For example, if the default setting in the AutoConfigure.txt file for your installed graphics card is Graphics Card (Advanced), then the Graphics Card Driven (Advanced) is automatically set.
If your graphics card is not in the list in the AutoConfigure.txt file and the Automatic Selection option is set, the graphics card setting defaults to Backing Store. If your graphics card is not in the list in the AutoConfigure.txt file and the Automatic Selection option is cleared, the graphics card setting list on the View tab contains all available settings.
If your graphics card is in the list in the AutoConfigure.txt file and the Automatic Selection option is cleared, the graphics card setting list on the View tab contains all settings up to the maximum value for your card. For example, suppose the maximum value for you graphics card is Backing Store, the list on the View tab contains Backing Store and Software Driven.
Note:
For more information on the contents of the AutoConfigure.txt file, you can use a text editor to open the AutoConfigure.txt file. However, the settings in this file are very sensitive and you should not edit them. You should report any graphics card related problems to Solid Edge Support.
If you are dissatisfied with Solid Edge graphics display, do the following:
Insure that you have the most recent graphics card driver from the manufacturer.
If display is still not optimal, choose a lower Application Display option from the list above.
If the display is still not optimal, use the Windows display troubleshooting control to lessen hardware acceleration. On the Start menu, choose Settings, and then Display. On the Display Properties dialog box Settings tab, click Advanced. On the dialog box that is displayed for your graphics card, on the Troubleshooting tab, set the Hardware Acceleration slider one or two notches less than Full. Setting the acceleration lower than this places essentially all of the burden of display on the central processing unit. This slows overall performance substantially.