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XFree86 Video Timings HOWTO

Eric S. Raymond <esr@thyrsus.com>

Version 4.4, 13 Mar 2000

How to compose a mode line for your card/monitor combination under XFree86. The XFree86 distribution now includes good facilities for configuring most standard combinations; this document is mainly useful if you are tuning a custom mode line for a high-performance monitor or very unusual hardware. It may also help you in using kvideogen to generate mode lines, or xvidtune to tweak a standard mode that is not quite right for your monitor.

1. Disclaimer

2. Introduction

3. Tools for Automatic Computation

4. How Video Displays Work

5. Basic Things to Know about your Display and Adapter

6. Interpreting the Basic Specifications

7. Tradeoffs in Configuring your System

8. Memory Requirements

9. Computing Frame Sizes

10. Black Magic and Sync Pulses

11. Putting it All Together

12. Overdriving Your Monitor

13. Using Interlaced Modes

14. Questions and Answers

15. Fixing Problems with the Image.

16. Plotting Monitor Capabilities

17. Credits

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