'Resolution' thread

[Peter Whittaker]

On Wed, 2006-29-11 at 22:20 -0500, R. Wood wrote in the ubuntu-ca list:
> 
> got an older lap-top looking much better than the default configuration
> I changed
>   DefaultDepth  24
> to
>   DefaultDepth  16

I tried this, just for fun [1], and it made absolutely no difference on
my ThinkPad A20m. Now the n00b Q: I assume that, all else being equal,
it is better to run at lower default depth, because fewer system
resources are required?

I diff'd the Xorg logs, and the only appreciable [2][3] difference I
could find was a greater number of "tile and stipple" cache slots, and
larger slots as well. This is goodness, right?

pww

[1] OK, not quite fun: Way back, under Windows, it seemed that apps took
less screen real estate and were somehow crisper. This is a purely
qualitative inkling of memory, I have no data to back this up and no way
to verify it (since Windows will never come near this machine again...).
At any rate, "depth" stirred that inkling so I tried the change to learn
what difference it might make.

[2] Other differences in the Xorg logs concerned different reasons for
not supporting higher resolutions, e.g.,

	< (**) ATI(0): Depth 16, (--) framebuffer bpp 16
	< ...
	< (II) ATI(0): Not using default mode "1792x1344" (exceeds panel
	dimensions)
	---
	> (**) ATI(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
	> ...
	> (II) ATI(0): Not using default mode "1792x1344" (insufficient
	memory for mode)

    Immaterial, at least to me, in the end... ...other opinions...?

[3] The other difference was that when switched to defdepth 16 and
restarted X, a number of icons changed places on my top and bottom
panels: Trash went to the left of switcher (and I prefer it on the
right), and netmon, volmon, clock, and power switch went to the left of
the "divider"; battstat stayed to the right. Switching back to defdepth
24 had no effect.

   The only way I know of to change these back is to edit the gnome conf
files, which I really do not like doing. Any other suggestions?

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part
URL: <https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-ca/attachments/20061130/3b9f1cce/attachment.pgp>