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From: urban@eecae.uucp (Mark Urban-Lurain)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: Screen Photography
Message-ID: <1990Aug23.151023.22700@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu>
Date: 23 Aug 90 15:10:23 GMT
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Organization: Michigan State University, East Lansing
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In article <9034@ur-cc.UUCP> bfag@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Meneldur) writes:
>A question for those of you who have taken pictures of your VGA screens.
>What exposure time is most appropriate?  I know it needs to be long enough
>to avoid the screen retrace, but what is optimal?

I've not yet tried my (new) VGA with NEC 3d monitor.  However, I've
taken slides of a Zenith RGB monitor.  I found that Ektachrome film
produced more accurate color than Kodachrome, plus it has the advantage
of being able to develop it locally, rather than sending it to the great
Yellow Father.  

I've always bracketed exposures, around 15 seconds +/- 2-3 secs at F8 so
that the retraces average out.  On my (not flat) RGB monitor, I found
that using a 135 mm lens helped reduce the keystone effect from the
curved monitor screen.  I put the camera on a tripod in a dark room to
avoid reflections/glare on the CRT.  Getting the camera/tripod "square"
with the CRT is a  bit of a chore.

I found that different images required different exposures, so you wind
up wasting several shots per roll.  
--
Mark Urban-Lurain                        urban@cpswh.cps.msu.edu
Computer Science Dept.                   urbanluraimg@clvax1.cl.msu.edu
Michigan State University                (517) 353-0682   
A-714 Wells Hall, East Lansing, MI  48824