The Lair

Having a bad case of the byzantines this week. First it was the bi-annual allergy flareup which left me with bloodshot red eyes and horrible cold/flu symptoms. Now, my beloved Philips LCD is having a bad case of the shimmies.

My LCD suddenly started to behave like the graphics were being rendered through a heat haze. I initially suspected some magnetic interference but it appears that LCDs are (supposedly?) immune to this problem. So, the technician shows up with a spare LCD and the fun and games begin. I don’t want to send my PC to the “workshop” to have it checked out; so I’m trying to get the problem fixed then and there. Only …

Spare LCD also shimmers. So, it must be the VGA card then. Right? Er. But the “other” (as in, third) LCD doesn’t shimmer. So, maybe it’s a Philips LCD thing? Lots of head scratching ensues. There is some experimentation with resolutions. There is shimmer at 1280×1024 but no shimmer at 1024×768. So, the obvious recommendation is: run at the lower resolution. Umm. No. I hate those large fonts. I is teh picky.

Lower the refresh rate then? That worked. So, running at the lowest possible refresh rate for this LCD fixes the problem (for now). The technician can’t explain what the hell the problem was and neither can I. But at least I don’t get a headache staring at the LCD anymore, so that much is good.