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1991-12-22
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Author's Documentation: 12/10/91
QCRT 2.1: Glenn K. Smith
RADON Software
Command: QCRT [1 optional command]
[?] <-- Information about QCRT
[K] <-- Remove QCRT from memory
[S] <-- Enable CGA snow checking
[X] <-- Enable XTRA-CGA snow checking
[V] <-- Display current version of QCRT
QCRT is a small TSR program that speeds up certain BIOS INT
10h functions dealing with text modes. The actual increase varies
according to your computer speed, video card, and video mode.
Speed increases vary from 10 to 80 percent (40x25 and 80x25
average 20%, extended text modes such as 80x50 and 132x44 average
60%). See the chart below for more information.
QCRT will only enhance the video display of the computer it
is installed on. If you want to use it on a network system,
you'll have to install the program on each computer.
QCRT has been extensively tested and found to be compatible
with all software and video cards (I hope). Version 2.1 has been
enhanced to support the extended text modes of EGA and VGA cards.
These extended modes really benefit from QCRT.
QCRT is also compatible with memory management program such
as QRAM, QEMM, 386MAX. You may load QCRT into high memory using
any of these programs. QCRT can be removed from this high memory
if needed. It is also compatible with DR. DOS 4.0-6.0, and MS.
DOS 3.2-5.0 (also PC-DOS).
To install QCRT, type QCRT at the DOS prompt. To check to
see if QCRT is helping your video display, try copying a text file
to the CON: device. It should scroll by at a rate faster than
before QCRT was installed.
If you own a CGA card, you may notice some little white
lines appearing on the screen (called snow). These are harmless,
but may be annoying. You may be able to get rid of them by using
the S option. This will enable basic flicker elimination. This
option should take care of most flicker on all CGA cards. If you
have an older card or the S option didn't work, use the X option.
Using this feature will slow down QCRT somewhat (actually, quite a
bit!), but it will still be faster than not using QCRT at all.
Most newer CGA cards, all MDA, EGA and VGA cards don't need either
option and will benefit greatly from QCRT. The S and X options
are ignored on systems equipped with MDA, EGA and VGA cards. If
QCRT is already installed, you'll need to remove it from memory
first then re-install it.
To remove QCRT, just type QCRT K. If you have trouble with
QCRT, typing QCRT ? will display a small help screen, along with a
begging for money screen!
If you need to determine what version of QCRT is installed in
memory, type QCRT V. Current versions are 1.2 (old) and 2.1
(new). If any other versions appear, it's not my program and you
should get rid of it!
If you own a VGA card or dual video card system, don't switch
back and forth between monochrome and color modes. QCRT does not
recognize the change and won't work correctly. If you are using a
memory manager, you probably can't switch modes anyway. Switching
between CGA, EGA, or VGA text modes is ok since they all use the
same video display memory.
If you have any compatibility problems with QCRT, please
contact me and let me know what's going on. Due to the variety of
computers and programs out there, it's hard to make sure a program
works with everything. I've tried, but I'm sure somebody
somewhere will find a problem.
For those of you interested in what kind of speed increase
you might get from QCRT, I've included the following chart showing
benchmark times from the program VBENCH, which I wrote to see if
QCRT was really worth all the trouble.
VBENCH tests the three most common video display methods and
reports how long it takes your video card to complete the tests.
All times are reported in seconds. I've included results from
several different systems. I recommend trying the program on your
system to see how it performs. Depending on your system, you may
see a drastic increase in video text display speed.
256 Screen Fills
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| BIOS QCRT % increase |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 10 Mhz XT with MDA 31.75 3.24 89.8 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 8 Mhz 286 with CGA 2.42 2.03 16.1 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| PS/2 model 25 with MCGA 3.25 2.36 27.4 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 12 Mhz 286 with VGA 2.31 0.66 71.4 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 25 Mhz 386 with SVGA 0.83 0.55 33.7 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
256 strings using TTY write w/o scrolling
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| BIOS QCRT % increase |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 10 Mhz XT with MDA 12.41 3.08 75.2 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 8 Mhz 286 with CGA 3.90 2.20 43.6 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| PS/2 model 25 with MCGA 8.07 2.04 74.7 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 12 Mhz 286 with VGA 4.29 0.66 84.6 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 25 Mhz 386 with SVGA 1.15 0.82 28.7 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
256 strings using TTY write with scrolling
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| BIOS QCRT % increase |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 10 Mhz XT with MDA 16.15 6.59 59.2 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 8 Mhz 286 with CGA 8.84 4.07 53.9 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| PS/2 model 25 with MCGA 10.76 4.56 57.6 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 12 Mhz 286 with VGA 5.32 1.49 71.9 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 25 Mhz 386 with SVGA 1.70 1.38 18.8 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
If you find QCRT 2.1 a worthwhile program, a $5.00
registration fee would be greatly appreciated! Sending $10.00 or
more will ensure that you will receive (when available) the next
version of QCRT. Be sure to include your version number so I can
send you the next upgrade.
If you are registering more than one copy, use the following
guidelines: $15.00 registers 5 copies. $25.00 registers 10
copies, and $50.00 registers 30 copies, and more than $50.00 gives
you all the copies you want. The next version (when available)
will be sent to you.
Revision History:
-----------------
1.0 -- 08/01/88 First attempt. 30% increase over normal
BIOS. Never released due to major bugs.
1.1 -- 12/20/88 Second attempt. 10% increase over version 1.0
Released on several BBSs for testing. Still
had a few bugs when working with programs
that used internal cursors or directly
modified 0040:0050. Didn't work without
ANSI.SYS.
1.2 -- 05/28/89 General release. Fixed several bugs dealing
with TTY output, cursor positioning and
set-cursor routine. Did not work correctly
when writing to a text page other than the
active one.
1.3 -- 1.9 Never released. These versions were used to
test various EGA/VGA functions. I wanted to
make QCRT compatible with all extended text
modes.
2.0 -- 12/10/91 Newest version. Support for extended text
modes. Support for writing data to other
text pages that the current one are now
supported. Also, a couple of new functions
were added to make sure QCRT is aware of what
the video card is doing. QCRT version is now
returned as part of the identity check.
2.1 -- 12/21/91 Minor bug fix concerning TTY Bell. May
cause computer lock-ups or other odd
things to occur. I never noticed this
because nothing I have sounds the BELL.
QCRT Registration Form
Name:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Company:
--------------------------------------------------------
Address:
--------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
City: State:
---------------------------- -----
Zip:
-----------------
Phone: ( )
------- -------------------
Country:
--------------------------
Electronic
Mail:
--------------------------------------------------------
Where did you get your copy of QCRT from:
-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
QCRT version:
----------
QCRT registration: $5.00 for each copy (up to 4).
$15.00 -- 5 copies
$25.00 -- 10 copies
$50.00 -- 30 copies
$50.00+ -- 30+ copies $
-----------
Checks must be drawn on a US bank, and payable in US funds.
Please make checks payable to:
Glenn K. Smith
RADON Software
809 South Missouri
Weslaco, Texas 78596
-- or --
Glenn K. Smith
RADON Software
1068 East Carolina
Fruita, Colorado 81521