LCD monitor questions

[spodosaurus]

Hi all,

Even at 85hz I can still see the flicker in this monitor and I dont want
to put up with it anymore. So, I'm thinking of going to a 17" LCD. I've
only just started looking into these, and two concerns have already
cropped up:

1. I use a two port KVM switch for my WinXP and Fedora systems on my
desktop. This switch uses standard VGA ports. Are LCD monitors with a
standard VGA port compatible with KVMs? Are there any downsides to using
the standard VGA port for an LCD (one graphics card has a DVI port as
well, but the other does not)?

2. Are there configuration issues with LCD monitors and Linux?

Cheers,

Ari


--
spammage trappage: replace fishies_ with yahoo

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. To jump to the end
of the story, as a result of this I need a bone marrow transplant. Many
people around the world are waiting for a marrow transplant, too. Please
volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

 

[Conor]

Hi all,

Even at 85hz I can still see the flicker in this monitor and I dont want
to put up with it anymore. So, I'm thinking of going to a 17" LCD. I've
only just started looking into these, and two concerns have already
cropped up:

1. I use a two port KVM switch for my WinXP and Fedora systems on my
desktop. This switch uses standard VGA ports. Are LCD monitors with a
standard VGA port compatible with KVMs? Are there any downsides to using
the standard VGA port for an LCD (one graphics card has a DVI port as
well, but the other does not)?

2. Are there configuration issues with LCD monitors and Linux?

1) Yes it'll work - Apparently some degredation using VGA instead of
DVI - not that I've noticed.
2) Not at all. All Linux distros I've tried have LCD panels as an
option.

 

[Dave C.]

1) Yes it'll work - Apparently some degredation using VGA instead of
DVI - not that I've noticed.
2) Not at all. All Linux distros I've tried have LCD panels as an
option.

Yes, there is some degradation. To limit this somewhat, get really HIGH-END
VGA cables, and keep them as short as possible. If you are used to a really
good LCD monitor, hooking it up through a KVM will make it look like a CRT.
(and no, that is not good) Basically, what you will notice is that your
picture goes from super sharp to kinda dull, but still very much usable.
Maybe the difference wouldn't be noticeable on a low-end LCD, but you'll
definitely see a difference if you are using a good LCD monitor. -Dave

 

[spodosaurus]

Yes, there is some degradation. To limit this somewhat, get really HIGH-END
VGA cables, and keep them as short as possible. If you are used to a really
good LCD monitor, hooking it up through a KVM will make it look like a CRT.
(and no, that is not good) Basically, what you will notice is that your
picture goes from super sharp to kinda dull, but still very much usable.
Maybe the difference wouldn't be noticeable on a low-end LCD, but you'll
definitely see a difference if you are using a good LCD monitor. -Dave

What about with a KVM that uses DVI? I've seen one or two recently but
haven't looked into them. Is there a converter so that the Linux box
with the old VGA card can be used?

Cheers,

Ari

--
spammage trappage: replace fishies_ with yahoo

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. To jump to the end
of the story, as a result of this I need a bone marrow transplant. Many
people around the world are waiting for a marrow transplant, too. Please
volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

 

[spodosaurus]

What about with a KVM that uses DVI? I've seen one or two recently but
haven't looked into them. Is there a converter so that the Linux box
with the old VGA card can be used?

Cheers,

Ari

Hmmm...just rechecked the monitors I'm looking at...most of them seem to
only list "1 x VGA" as their connection type...



--
spammage trappage: replace fishies_ with yahoo

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. To jump to the end
of the story, as a result of this I need a bone marrow transplant. Many
people around the world are waiting for a marrow transplant, too. Please
volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

 

[Andy]

Hmmm...just rechecked the monitors I'm looking at...most of them seem to
only list "1 x VGA" as their connection type...

I spent a lot of cash getting a pair of top quality DVI cables to replace
my already good quality analogue cables.

This was off a Matrox P650 to a pair of IIyama Prolite E481S LCDs.

In every way including running one screen from DVI and one from analogue I
could not see any difference between DVI or analogue.

Could be that a DVI is better than a cheap Analogue cable which would not
really surprise me but like for like IMHO there is nothing in it.

Andy

 

[Paul]

Yes, there is some degradation. To limit this somewhat, get really HIGH-END
VGA cables, and keep them as short as possible. If you are used to a really
good LCD monitor, hooking it up through a KVM will make it look like a CRT.
(and no, that is not good) Basically, what you will notice is that your
picture goes from super sharp to kinda dull, but still very much usable.
Maybe the difference wouldn't be noticeable on a low-end LCD, but you'll
definitely see a difference if you are using a good LCD monitor. -Dave

Or you could plug the DVI into the Windows box & VGA into the Linux box
(or vice-versa) and ditch the KVM. Assumes you have a card with DVI
output of course.

 

[spodosaurus]

Or you could plug the DVI into the Windows box & VGA into the Linux box
(or vice-versa) and ditch the KVM. Assumes you have a card with DVI
output of course.

Wouldn't that mean having two keyboards and two mice on my already
crowded (2 PCs) desktop?



--
spammage trappage: replace fishies_ with yahoo

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. To jump to the end
of the story, as a result of this I need a bone marrow transplant. Many
people around the world are waiting for a marrow transplant, too. Please
volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

 

[Paul]

Wouldn't that mean having two keyboards and two mice on my already
crowded (2 PCs) desktop?

Yes. Didn't think of that. Keep the KVM then - for keyboard and mouse
only ;-)

 

[David Maynard]

Wouldn't that mean having two keyboards and two mice on my already
crowded (2 PCs) desktop?

Don't have to. This little program

http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/

lets you share the mouse and keyboard among multiple computers, each with
their own screen so it's sorta like a 'multi-monitor' setup.

Instead of 'stopping' at the edge of the screen the mouse 'continues' on
over to the adjacent computer's screen (which can be oriented 'to the
left', 'to the right', 'above', or 'below' relative to the current monitor)
and whichever screen it's on is the one the keyboard 'operates' in (I.E.
hitting the Windows key will get you the menu on whichever computer the
mouse located).

You can't drag windows across machines, though, it's just a keyboard/mouse
sharing thing.

I've only been using it for a few days but it works and I haven't noticed
any problems. Best of all, it's free.

 

[spodosaurus]

Don't have to. This little program

http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/

lets you share the mouse and keyboard among multiple computers, each
with their own screen so it's sorta like a 'multi-monitor' setup.

Instead of 'stopping' at the edge of the screen the mouse 'continues' on
over to the adjacent computer's screen (which can be oriented 'to the
left', 'to the right', 'above', or 'below' relative to the current
monitor) and whichever screen it's on is the one the keyboard 'operates'
in (I.E. hitting the Windows key will get you the menu on whichever
computer the mouse located).

You can't drag windows across machines, though, it's just a
keyboard/mouse sharing thing.

I've only been using it for a few days but it works and I haven't
noticed any problems. Best of all, it's free.

I've recently read something about that program. A good first effort,
but IIRC there were a few bugs that still have to be worked around,
assuming they can be within the limits of the hardware/software
environments. I might have a further look into it, but I've used VNC in
the past and there were still some issues with it that the KVM
eliminates, especially in terms of troubleshooting, configuration, and
reboots.


--
spammage trappage: replace fishies_ with yahoo

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. To jump to the end
of the story, as a result of this I need a bone marrow transplant. Many
people around the world are waiting for a marrow transplant, too. Please
volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

 

[David Maynard]

I've recently read something about that program. A good first effort,
but IIRC there were a few bugs that still have to be worked around,
assuming they can be within the limits of the hardware/software
environments.

I'd love to hear what the bugs are.

The only 'oddity' I've noticed is that one of the machines no longer blanks
the screen (power timeout).

I might have a further look into it, but I've used VNC in
the past and there were still some issues with it that the KVM
eliminates, especially in terms of troubleshooting, configuration, and
reboots.

Well, VNC is a different animal that's remoting the whole GUI. This thing
just shares the keyboard and mouse.

But yes, for troubleshooting you'd want to put a real keyboard on it.