Consoles and displays

["TSD::AIP1::\"Len%HEART-OF-GOLD\"%atc.bendix.com %RELAY.CS.NET"@WARBUCKS.AI.SRI.COM]

Date: Wed, 10 May 89 14:07 EDT
From: Len Moskowitz <Len@HEART-OF-GOLD>
Subject: Consoles and displays
To: "3077::IN%\"Slug@warbucks.ai.sri.com\""@TSD1
Message-ID: <19890510180751.4.LEN@HEART-OF-GOLD>
 
Our consoles seem to be the weakest links in our systems.  A majority of
our service calls are console-related.  Is this true for anyone else?
 
Even when they're working well electrically, the displays distort at the
corners and suffer all kinds of non-linearities that vary from console
to console.  These seem to be the kind of ills that all CRTs are heir
to.  For graphics work this can get is disconcerting.  We've attempted
to relieve the edge/corner distortion by having our field service tech
shrink the display size down just a bit, so that there is a black
surround (ala Sun).  For a typical Genera screen (like a Dynamic Lisp
Listener), this gives us a black surround outside of a white surround
outside of the border for the screen.
 
This is a bit busy.  We tried to get rid of the inner white surround by
entering Function-C followed by Function-c-C.  This looks better, but
the same sequence doesn't seem to work quite right for other windows.
In ZMACS windows, new input causes the current input line and all
subsequent input lines to revert to black background/white type.
Scrolling and refresh too.  In Document Examiner and Terminal windows
similar things occur.
 
Being curious, I tried the Function commands under release 6.1.  They
seem to work fine except that in the Document Examiner, Terminal, and
ZMAIL only certain panes obey the Function-c-C command.  There's no
reversion upon input, scrolling, or refresh.
 
This is hardly a barn-burner of a problem -- we can live with
less-than-perfect displays.  But being as we sit in front of these
things for hours at a stretch, even a simple thing like this can make
the difference between comfort and irritation.  Is there any consistent
way to make the inner surround always appear black while keeping the
display black-on-white?
 
Len Moskowitz
                                                   Allied-Signal Aerospace
moskowitz@bendix.com (CSnet)                       Test Systems Division
moskowitz%bendix.com@relay.cs.net (ARPAnet)        Mail code 4/8
arpa!relay.cs.net!bendix.com!moskowitz (uucp)      Teterboro, NJ 07608