[svlug] (forw) Re: [conspire] could Linux desktop go reasonably any faster?

[Akkana Peck]

Steve Litt writes:
> How do you know the projector will like 1024x768? Everywhere you go,
> they have a different projector or giant TV screen, and they all have
> their own favorite geometry.

Really? I've given talks in lots of places, and at conferences and
LUGs, the projector can almost always display 1024x768 sharply.
Once or twice I've had to deal with ancient projectors that can
only do 800x600; if that happens, I adjust the xrandr command to the
best size for the projector and use a scaling factor for my slides.

I've only had to use TV/monitor screens at talks a couple of times.
The xrandr command still works the same way, but the aspect ratio
might be a little off if the monitor takes the 1024x768 signal and
displays it at the monitor's physical aspect ratio. So far it's
been close enough to look okay, but if I saw an aspect that was
way off I'd probably fiddle with either xrandr size or slide scaling.

> Will the preceding commands give you video on both the laptop and the
> projector? If so, will either one have its screen truncated?

That xrandr command mirrors the upper left 1024x768 of the laptop's
screen to the projector. Most of my laptops are 1366x768 (who ever
came up with 1366? Bizarre) so that leaves me with a 331-pixel area
at the right side of my laptop screen that I can see but the
audience can't. So I put my presenter notes there, and maybe a
dclock window if there's no clock in the room.

> It's been
> years since I could get a good, solid picture on both my laptop and the
> projector.

The above xrandr command uses the same resolution on both laptop
and projector, so there's no interpolation and should be no loss
of sharpness. (Assuming the projector projects that resolution
sharply, which most projectors under 10 years old can.)

> In my typical presentation at Bar Camp Orlando, the guy before me runs
> late, consumes all the 10 minute guardband between our talks, and 2
> minutes before I'm scheduled to talk, I walk up, apologize, switch our
> computers, run my lxrandr, and start my presentation while he's still
> talking. LOL, within 2 minutes of the start of the guardband after my
> talk, I'm torn down, ready for the next guy to hook up, I've

Xrandr is SO much faster than fiddling with display configuration
GUIs, like you see in Windows or Mac or Gnome or KDE. I'm amazed at
how long it takes some presenters to set their resolution -- those
GUIs are definitely not designed for being used on projectors with
an audience watching. It looks a lot more professional if you
already know the resolution so you can just walk up and plug in.
(Having, of course, already tested it earlier in the day with no
audience watching.)

        ...Akkana