Monitor Problem w/PB 12inch Rev B

[newbie17]

Hello-
My PB and my CRT monitor (Syncmaster 957MB) work great together in Panther at 1024x768 at 100hz, but when I load games, even old undemanding ones, the screen starts flickering like crazy. I don't notice a flicker when I'm doing anything else, dvds etc. (although it drives me crazy at less than 90Hhz).

Is this a problem with my computer or the monitor? Or, are games meant to scale down the refresh rate when you play them (it does it not matter what resolution I put it on)? It gives me headaches, but I can't afford a LCD right now.


Thanks for any advice,
N17

 

[admiraldennis]

What games?

 

[mikeyredk]

have you tried to play the game just with the powerbook w/o the external monitor attached?

 

[Raziel]

Monitor Problem

Hey guy, you may just find that when a external monitor is used the PB is not able to refresh as quick as the built in TFT screen. Most laptops have a 75Hz limit for external. Also if your external monitor is much larger that the TFT screen which is normally the case, then even though you may have the same 1024 x 768 on the TFT as well as or just only on the monitor you are still using more video ram since the PB is trying to fill and mask an image on a monitor of 1600 x 1200 pixels even though your image maybe 1024 x 768 so it will stretch that image to fit in the space of 1600 x 1200 to use the whole screen but with a view res of 1024 x 768. This requires alot of bandwidth and the PB is just not up to it. If your reduce the res or monitor size you may find that the flicker goes away. Just a thought !!!

 

[Abstract]

Really? Isn't that the job of the video card? Can the 12" PB's video card (Geforce 5200 32MB) be used in a regular desktop, because if it can, then its probably not that the video card can't handle it.

 

[MoparShaha]

It's probably the games switching resolutions. I've seen many games switch down to 800x600 or even 640x480 (old ones). They probably just use a default of 60Hz for the refresh rate, as not to cause any problems with the monitor. That would explain why you don't notice the flicker when not using the game. Perhaps theres an option in the game somewhere to control resolution/refresh?

On a side note, I run my 12" PB at 1600x1200 at 85Hz on a 21" screen, so I know it can handle high resolutions and refresh rates.

 

[newbie17]

Thanks for the comments-
Seems like the Video card can handle it-- probably just the games switching down. Its games like Geneforge2 and Jedi Knight2 shareware, but also Warcraft III and Ghost Recon. In these latter games, the flickering isn't as bad.