VIDEOGEN(1)VIDEOGEN(1)NAMEvideogen - generate Modelines for XFree86 servers
SYNOPSISvideogen [-v|-q] [-fb|-nfb] [-nv|-nnv] [-f=<file|->] [-m=<mode>]
[-mdc=<n>] [-mhf=<n>] [-mvf=<n>] [-dvf=<n>] [-hv=<n>] [-vv=<n>]
[-hfp=<n>] [-hbp=<n>] [-hsp=<n>] [-vfp=<n>] [-vbp=<n>] [-vsp=<n>]
DESCRIPTIONvideogen can be used to generate Modelines for XFree86 servers to reach
the highest possible vertical refresh (screen update) rate at all reso‐
lutions, or to match the refresh rate you desire. As a new feature, it
can obey the non-free NVidia driver's timing constraints. It can print
the calculated results in the Linux framebuffer device format as well.
ATTENTION! You only have to specify the maximum dot clock, the maximum
horizontal frequency, the maximum vertical refresh, and of course the
modes (resolutions) to generate the appropriate Modelines. The other
options are only there for tweaking or solving special problems, there
are hardcoded defaults for them which are suitable for the vast major‐
ity of cases.
CONFIGURATION FILE
A configuration file can be used to specify all or part of the parame‐
ters needed by videogen to perform its calculations. This can be very
comfortable in many cases. You can also specify a configuration file
path on the command line other than the default (~/.videogen) or read
from stdin which might be helpful if you want to call videogen from
another program or from a script.
The general syntax rules are the following: the parameters can be spec‐
ified using name=value pairs. The parameter names are matched in a case
insensitive manner. Blanks are optional. More name=value pairs can be
specified on a single line separated by ";" characters. Any string
after a "#" character is treated as a comment up to the end of the
line.
COMMAND LINE
The command line options always override the parameters set in the con‐
figuration file. This also applies to the mode list, so when one or
more modes are specified on the command line, the entire list of modes
read from the configuration file is replaced by these.
OPTIONS
The command line options are described below together with their con‐
figuration file variable counterparts (if present).
-v
-q
verbose=on|off
Turn on/off verbose output. FYI -q stands for quiet ;)
(default=on)
-fb
-nfb
fbset=on|off
Turn on/off fbset (Linux framebuffer timings) mode. In this mode
fbset timings are printed instead of Modelines.
(default=off)
-nv
-nnv
nvidia=on|off
Turn on/off non-free NVidia Linux driver compatibility mode.
(default=on)
-f=filespec
Use filespec as the configuration file. This accepts - to read
the options from the standard input. The "~" character gets
expanded to the home directory of the user running videogen.
(default=~/.videogen)
-m=modespec
mode=modespec
Adds modespec to the list of modes to calculate a Modeline for.
This must be in the form 800x600 (width x height) and it can be
specified more than once to add several modes.
-mdc=freq
Set freq to the maximum dot clock rate of your video card or the
bandwidth of your monitor, whichever is lower, in MHz.
-mhf=freq
Set freq to the maximum horizontal refresh frequency of your
monitor in kHz.
-mvf=freq
Set freq to the maximum vertical refresh frequency of your moni‐
tor in Hz.
-dvf=freq
Set freq to the vertical refresh frequency which you think it
would be optimal for you, in Hz. The program will try to match
this frequency at all resolutions, instead of the maximum fre‐
quency that would be technically possible. (optional)
-hv=percent
Set percent to the percentage of the horizontal frame length you
want the visible resolution to be. (optional)
-vv=percent
Set percent to the percentage of the vertical frame length you
want the visible resolution to be. (optional)
-hfp=duration
Set duration to the horizontal front porch duration of your mon‐
itor in clock ticks. (optional)
-hbp=duration
Set duration to the horizontal back porch duration of your moni‐
tor in clock ticks. (optional)
-hsp=duration
Set duration to the minimum horizontal sync pulse duration of
your monitor. (optional)
-vfp=duration
Set duration to the vertical front porch duration of your moni‐
tor in clock ticks. (optional)
-vbp=duration
Set duration to the vertical back porch duration of your monitor
in clock ticks. (optional)
-vsp=duration
Set duration to the minimum vertical sync pulse duration of your
monitor. (optional)
ERRORS
You can expect the following error codes to be returned by videogen:
100 system error (memory allocation problems, or other)
101 command line option error
102 configuration file error
103 bad resolution error, currently returned when no (valid) modes
have been specified anywhere
104 bad maximum dot clock rate, currently returned when a proper
value has not been specified anywhere
105 bad maximum horizontal refresh, currently returned when a proper
value has not been specified anywhere
106 bad maximum vertical refresh, currently returned when a proper
value has not been specified anywhere
FIXED DOT CLOCKS
If your display adapter does not have a programmable clockchip then you
will need to get a list of available clocks somehow and enter these as
the maximum dot clock frequency. This way videogen will have to adjust
(decrease) the horizontal refresh frequency to get exactly the given
dot clock rate. A similar method can be used to match the proper fre‐
quencies of a fixed frequency monitor.
FILES
~/.videogen
This is the default location for the videogen configuration
file.
/usr/X11/lib/X11/XF86Config
This is the common Xserver configuration file where the Mode‐
lines generated with videogen can be used. Currently this must
be done by hand.
SEE ALSOX(1), XF86Setup(1), xvidtune(1), kvideogen(1)AUTHOR
Szabolcs Rumi <rumi_at_rtfm_dot_hu>
COPYING
GNU General Public License Version 2
Szabolcs RumivideogenVIDEOGEN(1)
