Versavision is ATI's proprietary technology that allows screen rotation. It is currently the only screen rotation solution for OS X, and as of right now it requires a retail Radeon 9800 -- it won't even work with the OEM Radeon 9800 which is a BTO option on the G5s.
It is absolutely overkill for a non-gamer to go out and spend $400 on a video card if all they want is screen rotation. I understand ATI wants to sell as many 9800's as possible, but they should sell it to those who actually need that kind of horsepower for 3D games -- not those who merely want to take advantage of Versavision so they can have a portrait-oriented display. And it really sucks if you shelled out for a 9800 with your G5, only to discover that ATI has deliberately disabled this feature for OEM cards.
There is certainly no technical reason why Versavision wouldn't work on an OEM 9800 -- so I wonder if anyone has tried to hack the ATI Displays preference pane (à la PCI Extreme... )? Anyone got Versavision working on an OEM Radeon 9800? Or (better yet) some other video card?
I do wish Apple would implement display rotation as a core part of the OS. But until they do, Versavision is the only solution, and it's a real shame to see ATI limiting this feature to retail 9800's -- for non-technical reasons.
It is absolutely overkill for a non-gamer to go out and spend $400 on a video card if all they want is screen rotation. I understand ATI wants to sell as many 9800's as possible, but they should sell it to those who actually need that kind of horsepower for 3D games -- not those who merely want to take advantage of Versavision so they can have a portrait-oriented display. And it really sucks if you shelled out for a 9800 with your G5, only to discover that ATI has deliberately disabled this feature for OEM cards.
There is certainly no technical reason why Versavision wouldn't work on an OEM 9800 -- so I wonder if anyone has tried to hack the ATI Displays preference pane (à la PCI Extreme... )? Anyone got Versavision working on an OEM Radeon 9800? Or (better yet) some other video card?
I do wish Apple would implement display rotation as a core part of the OS. But until they do, Versavision is the only solution, and it's a real shame to see ATI limiting this feature to retail 9800's -- for non-technical reasons.