InfoWorld
Lead with Knowledge
HOME/ SITEMAP
SUBJECT INDEXES
App Development
Broadband
Business Intell.
Business News
Business Strategies
Careers & Mgmt
Collab. Software
Content Mgmt
CRM
Database
E-Business
End-User Apps
End-User Hardware
Enterprise Apps
Ethics
Government
Licensing
Middleware
Mobile Computing
Networking
Online Community
Operating Systems
Processors
Security
Servers
Storage
Telecomm.
Web Services
Web Technologies
Wireless
XSPs
NEWS
CTO ZONE
TEST CENTER
FEATURES
COMMUNITY
OPINIONS
RESEARCH
EVENT
WEBCASTS
ABOUT InfoWorld
ABOUT US
About InfoWorld
Services
Advertise
Contact us
Employment
WHITE PAPERS

Learn to secure your PCs from new and unknown hacker attacks.

Free IDC White Paper - Discover Secure File Sharing for the Enterpriseattacks.
SEARCH:  
Home  //  Article
Print Article    Email Article
Window Manager
Brian Livingston
A sharper-image catalog

THIS WEEK I conclude my series on fine-tuning the flat-panel displays that Windows users are buying in droves. As usual, my readers have the last word, with a litany of tips they share for a sharper image.

Donald Tsao reports on the dangers he found when connecting his LCD through other gizmos. "The images had a ghost around them, like those on TV," he writes. "Finally, it was determined that sharing the LCD through a mechanical switch box was the problem. The ghost disappeared after I connected the LCD directly to my video card."

A Web designer who goes by the name Serenata says a 17-inch LCD he purchased was driving him crazy with its flickering at the cursor point upon every keystroke. "Finally, a technician explained that it refreshed differently than CRTs, in that it only refreshed at the point on the screen where changes occurred, hence the flicker with every letter typed," he says. "He also acknowledged that they had an entire order from a large investment firm (over 500 units) returned because their users were complaining about it." Buying a different brand corrected the problem.

I ran this past Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies, maker of the utility I used for testing purposes that I've mentioned in previous columns. "Blinking that's correlated with screen changes is often a driver issue," he opines. "There might be problems with the blink-rate beating with the panel's internal refresh rate. Substitute a CRT, and if the problem goes away it's an LCD artifact; otherwise it's a video board, driver, or application program artifact."

Speaking of DisplayMate, some readers questioned the $495 cost of the advanced Multimedia Edition I used for my tests. Soneira assures me that the basic product, which can be downloaded from www.displaymate.com for $69, is all that most end-users need to tune LCDs, particularly the included Sharpness and Resolution tests.

Other readers, however -- always keen on a bargain -- praised freebies that meet their needs.

Mark Latham likes Nokia Test -- freeware from the company of the same name -- that helps you adjust any monitor. The 455KB file is downloadable from freepctech.com/rode/004.shtml.

Barry Watzman is partial to CRTAT (CRT Alignment Tests), an oldie but goodie available at www.winsite.com/bin/Info?500000030936.

And for an ideal (cheapo) test pattern, you can click Start, Shut Down and use Windows' dim checkerboard pattern to adjust your LCD's phase settings. Courtney Goodin was the first to suggest this, and says a light, solid background works best. You simply cancel out of Shut Down when done.

Readers Tsao, Serenata, Latham, Watzman, and Goodin will receive a free gift certificate good for any book, CD, or DVD of their choice for being the first to send me tips I printed.


Send tips to brian@brianlivingston.com. He regrets that he cannot answer individual questions. Go to www.iwsubscribe.com/newsletters to get his Window Manager column and E-Business Secrets e-zine free via e-mail.


MORE >
SUBSCRIBE TO:    E-mail Newsletters  InfoWorld Mobile InfoWorld Magazine
Home  //  Article Print Article    Email Article
Back to Top
 ADVERTISEMENT
 

SPONSORED LINKS

Learn to secure your PCs from new and unknown hacker attacks.
Get FREE Hurwitz Report: Control Your App Dev Costs with TogetherSoft!
Click here to receive a FREE Success Kit from Oracle.
SPEED, PERSONALIZATION AND INTEGRATION: THE KEY TO E-COMMERCE SUCCESS.
Protect Your Data: Get your FREE Enterprise Backup Intelligence Kit from ADIC.

SUBSCRIBE
E-mail Newsletters
InfoWorld Mobile
Print Magazine

Web-based training
ABOUT INFOWORLD  |  SITE MAP  |  EMPLOYMENT  |  PRIVACY  |   CONTACT US

Copyright 2001 InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.