Ken Moiarty wrote:

My 19" Viewsonic A90's vertical refresh rate peaks out@ 100 Hz for a
resolution of 1024 x 728. For stereo 3-D video viewing purposes, I need
it to display at this resolution at a bare minimum vertical refresh rate
of approximately 120 Hz (though preferabley when I get another monitor, at
about 170 Hz). I could go out and buy another 19" monitor which purports
to be able to achieve the former for only about $250 (CAD) right now; in
which
case the current CRT monitor will be gently laid to rest. So since it no
longer matters what happens to my present CRT monitor since I'm going to
replace it anyway, can I ask: Is there any way to over-ride the monitor's
built in refresh rate limitations (e.g. by tweaking some knobs at the
back, or even inside, or by making simple modifications to a component(s)
-only of course with the guidance and asistance of a licensed monitor
technician due
to obvious safety reasons)? Aside from the risk of electrocution to those
who'd be foolhardy enough to attempt such an undertaking on their own
without the proper training and qualifications to go inside a monitor, is
it in any way technically feasible, given the right personnel, and done
cautiously and gradually (much like a CPU overclocker takes a high risk
gamble with the investment in his PC) to raise the monitor's refresh rate
a little beyond factory default and (say, if given extra cooling) be able
to keep it there indefinitely?

Sorry if my words above haven't come out quite right. It's late and I'm a
little punchy at the moment.

I'm assuming that you have a modern CRT with microprocessor controls that
displays "signal out of range" or words to that effect when it gets a
signal that is beyond its rated capabilities and your intent is to alter
the limit beyond which that signal appears.

To do that you'd have to reprogram the control processor, which means
identifying it, finding the firmware ROM, pulling the program off of it,
disassembling it, analyzing it, and then figuring out how to tweak it to
make the change you want.

This would be weeks or months of work for a professional programmer familiar
with that particular processor's assembly language--coming in cold you're
going to have to learn that before you can do anything, and if you have no
programming experience assembler is generally not the best place to start
learning. You'll also need equipment that costs about the same as a new
monitor to be able to read and reprogram the ROM.

And once you've done that the analog components that actually do the work
are not going to be up to the task of handling that bandwidth--you'll get
any of several kinds of image degradation.

If you are _paying_ somebody to do this then the cost is going to be
enormous. By the time you're done you'll likely have paid enough to get a
containerload of new CRTs.

If you've got a hundred thousand machines out in the field all with the same
monitor and you want to try working up a mod for the monitor rather than
replacing them all then this _might_ be worth trying with the understanding
that there is no guarantee of a successful outcome, but even if the mod
itself is completely successful there opening each monitor and replacing
the ROM is likely to come perilously close to the cost of a new monitor.

For just one monitor, the only justifications I can think of for doing it
are that you want to learn something for your own satisfaction, you just
plain enjoy dinking around with such things, and neither of these is a
sound business reason.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)