LCD monitor viewing angle: Is it adjustable in xorg.conf?
Linux - HardwareThis forum is for Hardware issues.
Having trouble installing a piece of hardware? Want to know if that peripheral is compatible with Linux?
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
LCD monitor viewing angle: Is it adjustable in xorg.conf?
I'm trying to play around with the orientation of my monitors (portrait vs landscape), and it's now obvious to me that they are best viewed from a high angle when placed on their stands normally. As I change their orientation, it would be nice if I could manipulate what angle they are best viewed at. I doubt this is adjustable, but I thought I would come on here an ask since there are a myriad of configurations that I don't understand.
As I change their orientation, it would be nice if I could manipulate what angle they are best viewed at.
is based on the computer responding to a purely subjective human opinion of what looks best to the user. And if the monitor doesn't support it how can anything Xorg does change it ?
Is there a windows tool that guesses whether the user is satified with the appearance of the screen ?
Is there a windows tool that modifies the Z dimension of a monitor ?
I'm quite disappointed that what was meant to be a humorous response to a silly question has been turned into this.
FWIW, I took the question to mean something like, "can the video output (what the monitor displays) be adjusted so that, let's say, if I'm looking at it from too low an angle, lower than is recommended, the angle could be compensated for through software?".
To which, as we know, is not possible (at least AFAIK).
It's not entirely subjective; LCD screens are designed to be viewed from a certain angle, or range of angles; if you view them from outside this 'viewable angle' range, the picture looks crappy or different. So, I took the question to be looking for something that could be done to compensate for that situation.
We have to keep in mind, that a lot of people using this forum, have barely even done more than turn a computer ON before, or haven't used anything besides what's at their local library perhaps (making no inference to the OP here). While their questions might come across as totally inane to many of us, it isn't inane to them.
And, there's no rules or laws against humor -- I can see the humor in your first reply; but it would have been better if you had added something 'serious' along with the humor, so as to both give the OP a reasonable answer, AND to not remove his question from zero-replies for nothing.
The viewing angle is simply a physical property of the LCD screen, just like it's size and native resolution, so the idea of changing it in software is absurd.
It's not entirely subjective; LCD screens are designed to be viewed from a certain angle, or range of angles; if you view them from outside this 'viewable angle' range, the picture looks crappy or different. So, I took the question to be looking for something that could be done to compensate for that situation.
This is the correct interpretation. I probably should have tried to make myself more clear.
I didn't really mind the first reply, it's the continued insistence on the stupidity and absurdity of my question that's starting to make me think that there are a bunch of jerks up in this hizzy.
The viewing angle is simply a physical property of the LCD screen, just like it's size and native resolution
Well, with the introduction of TFT screens the 'adjust viewing angle' button seemed to become obsolete. However, the predecessor of the TFT (what was that name again? TN?) had to be adjusted for viewing angle. Now this was not usually something which could be done from the computer or the graphics driver, usually it was a turn or slide button which directly influenced a certain control voltage in the LCD hardware. Sometimes you still find this on monochrome displays, and in embedded systems often you can adjust the view angle in software. This is of course highly dependent on the design of the embedded system. As I don't see a reason why this voltage cannot be produced by the VGA card, the question is far from stupid. It is physically perfectly possible, it is just not in the VGA standard.
But reading this thread and the problem of the OP, I have another nagging question... there do exist rotatable LCD monitors which can be put in portrait or landscape position. Without question those monitors must show a perfect picture, certainly if used on a windows computer. If I turn my laptop 90 degrees, the picture quality is gone. How in the world can these rotatable monitors produce a good picture? Do they have a position sensor and adjust some voltage inside?
If I turn my laptop 90 degrees, the picture quality is gone.
Think of the viewing angle as a cone projected from the center of the screen. If your eyes stay in that cone, then you can view the screen, regardless of what orientation it is at, horizontal, vertical, or something in between.
@ jlinkels -- I have two rotating monitors as well; I use them in landscape for two or more reasons:
1) the included rotation software was for Windows.
2) the nVidia driver doesn't support dynamic RandR anyways.
3) they won't fit in my computer desk in portrait orientation.
I haven't really any idea what if anything, my monitor might do to itself internally (physically/electronically), if I am to rotate it. But: One thing (at the very least) that I am curious about, if someone were to rotate their monitor and use RandR to rotate the image, would be the anti-aliasing setting for fonts. Would it be different?
E.g.:
If I run the aliasing test(s) from one of those websites, it shows my setting should be "VRGB" which is what I use; however, if I rotate the monitor, and rotate the image accordingly, and look at the same anti-aliasing tests, would I be given the same result? I haven't tried it, but I suspect the result would be different.
Another thing: If I tilt my head, and look at my monitor (pretend it's portrait mode) right now, it is obvious to my eyes that the backlight is NOT ideally situated for the portrait mode; this is because, in landscape mode, I'm supposed to look at the screen from an angle of ever-so-slightly above centerline, which in portrait mode translates to "slightly-to-the-left" of centerline.
So, to comment on Quakeboy's post above (didn't see that there ) -- it doesn't seem like the "cone" in your analogy, is perfectly centered vertically AND horizontally.
Last edited by GrapefruiTgirl; 03-20-2010 at 09:18 PM.
One thing (at the very least) that I am curious about, if someone were to rotate their monitor and use RandR to rotate the image, would be the anti-aliasing setting for fonts. Would it be different?
Hmm, I hadn't considered that. I think you might have to change the "subpixel order". In Gnome, that would be System->Preferences->Appearance->Fonts->Details-> probably VRGB. However, I just tried that on my desktop and I can't say I noticed a difference. Maybe it would be different if I had actually rotated the display, as well.
Added
Quote:
So, to comment on Quakeboy's post above (didn't see that there ) -- it doesn't seem like the "cone" in your analogy, is perfectly centered vertically AND horizontally.
You are right. I'll just leave now.
Last edited by Quakeboy02; 03-20-2010 at 09:24 PM.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.