Difference between revisions of "XorgConfMonitorSectionForTV"

Revision as of 17:06, 20 November 2006

To use a TV screen as monitor, the 'Monitor' section in xorg.conf (usually in /etc/X11) should be adapted to allow refresh rates that can be understand by the TV encoder chip of your videocard. Normally this will be 60.0 Hz, also in Europe for the PAL TV-standard! I repeat, you need the value for the TV-encoder on the videocard.

As sample I provide you with the 'Monitor' section of my xorg.conf:

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier   "Generic Monitor"
        HorizSync    30 - 50
        VertRefresh  60.0
        DisplaySize  200 150
EndSection

The DisplaySize is an optional parameter. Its value should be conform aspect ratio for the resolution you are going to use, normally using a 4x3 aspect ratio. The value given for this option is used to compute the font size (DPI) for your display. In a 'normal' configuration (where people use a computer monitor) the values are read from the monitor itself, but S-Video and Composite cables do not provide this information.

It is advised to play with the value, as the result may vary from unreadable fonts to fonts that are big enough to support your grandmother without wearing glasses ;-)

My favourite values so far:
- On a 53cm 4x3 aspect PAL TV: DisplaySize 180 135
- On a 91cm 16x9 aspect PAL TV: DisplaySize 200 150