[geeks] LCD monitors, Linux, X, et al.

[Tim Harrison]

John Duksta wrote:

> I've got a couple of Princeton SENergy panels here at home.
> The 15" panel (SENergy 560) is on my wife's Windows box, and
> the 17" panel (750) is connected to my machines via the KVM
> switch. I've had no problems using it under either Windows
> or Linux.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the 15" thing, or the 17".  It all came
down to the fact that a 17" CRT is really only 16" viewable, so in going
for the 15" LCD, I'm not really losing all that much.
 
> - Dual inputs, both VGA and DVI-I. While I don't have any
>    video cards that support DVI-I right now, It's good to
>    have the option for the future.

I figure, by the time I have a DVI card, panel monitors will be $150 a
piece. :)

> While they'll take a wide range of refresh rates, LCD panels
> actually prefer to be fed a 60Hz signal when dealing with analog.
> Because it's not a tube, you don't get the 60Hz flicker that
> you would with a CRT, and 60Hz is the native refresh rate that
> they work with internally.

That's the main reason I'm getting one.  To remove the flicker.  It
seems that my eyes are very sensitive (well, I've known this for
years).  I can see the reflection of the scan lines in my glasses, even
at high refresh rates.  It irritates me.  The only monitor that doesn't
really bother me that much is the NeXTcube's 17" monochrome. :)
 
> Setting up X wasn't a big deal. I run SuSE, and the SaX config
> util had an option for a LCD panel. Simply selected the right
> resolution and off it goes, no problems whatsoever.

I'm a SuSE fan as well. :)  Just pre-ordered 7.2 Professional.  I've
always done installs from the "evaluation" CD, and downloaded whatever
else I needed.  But, with the 7.x versions, they've released the "live
evaluation" CDs.  A pain.  So, I figured, it's time I actually
contributed to the cause. :)

Thanks for the info, John.

-- 


Tim Harrison
Network Engineer
harrison at timharrison.com
http://www.networklevel.com/