Okay, so things are never quite as simple as they "should" be...
After getting all the new cabling done, and posting the entry, I decided to up the refresh rate on my work notebook, an IBM T-30 from 85Hz to 100Hz.
Unfortunately, after upping the refresh rate, the refresh rate appeared to actually decrease. The properties said that the refresh rate was 100Hz, but it appeared to my ultra flicker sensitive eyes to be more like 60Hz. I fiddled and fiddled, reset this, reset that, rebooted, blah, blah, no luck. In fact, no matter what rate I configured, it looked to my eye to be "stuck" on 60Hz.
People look at me strangely when I tell them that I can see flicker at 60Hz, but, I have yet to be wrong when I see a screen flickering, say that the refresh rate is too slow, and then check the refresh rate. As an interesting little trick, if you want to "see" flicker, try setting your screen to 60Hz, and then "look" at the screen indirectly. By this I mean, rather than focusing on the screen with the central portion of your vision, look off slightly to the side or edge of the screen, and then "view" the screen with your peripheral vision.
Anyway, after doing some Googling, I found the answer...
It appears that if the notebook is connected to a KVM when you go to reconfigure the refresh rate, Windows (for some reason) decides that the monitor can only support 60Hz, and that's as fast as it will drive the video, regardless of what it says the refresh rate is configured at.
The resolution involved connecting the monitor directly to the video port on the T-30, reconfiguring the refresh rate to 100Hz, then rebooting the system. After Windows restarted, things looked right.
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Posted by David at December 19, 2005 04:29 PM