Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!ptimtc!nntp-server.caltech.edu!antonyc From: antonyc@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Antony Chan) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware Subject: Re: QUESTION: Using a VGA monitor on its side? Message-ID: <1991Mar31.052527.9958@nntp-server.caltech.edu> Date: 31 Mar 91 05:25:27 GMT References: <91087.155337REIDMP@MAINE.BITNET> Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Lines: 49 iisakkil@vipunen.hut.fi (Mika R Iisakkila) writes: >REIDMP@MAINE.BITNET (Reid M. Pinchback) writes: >> When I set the VGA monitor on its side, there is a strange distortion of >> colour. >> 1. What causes the colour distortion? > It's the magnetic field of the Earth. The VGA pixels are so >close to each other, that this weak magnetic field is enough to make >electron beams to land on wrong pixels (=phosphor dots of wrong >colour). The monitor contains numerous magnets, which are adjusted >to compensate for the magnetic field. The calibration has of course >been made to work in the normal position of the monitor. Actually, if >you took your monitor to somewhere on the southern hemiglobe (sp?), >say Australia, the colours would be distorted while the monitor is >standing normally on the table! this explaination doesnt quite sound right to me. please dont flame, 'cause im not claiming to be an authority or anything, but... unless you're real close to the earth's magnetic poles, the magnetic field lines are close to parallel to the surface of the earth (running north to south). what this would imply is that the earth's magnetic field would affect the monitor based on whether the screen is facing north, south, east, or west, as opposed to which side it is resting on. to corroborate this, i cite the following: we had a big screen tv that had buttons in it that you were supposed to change if you ever rotated the tv (they were labelled N,NE,E,SE i believe) and i just turned my monitor (nec 3d) sideways and didnt notice a color distortion. as to why the color *does* distort: perhaps something in the monitor is loose (unlikely) maybe something nearby has a significant magnetic field that causes the distortion maybe gravity is pulling the electrons down to hit the wrong dots :) >> 2. Is there a way to fix it? > You might recalibrate the monitor to work correctly while on >its side, but then the picture would be equally distorted when you >turn the monitor standing upright. Hardly useful... >> 3. Is it harmful to the monitor to use it on its side? > I don't think so. There are no moving parts inside it. The >ventilation of the monitor may not work at its best, though. Don't let >it get abnormally warm.