Calibrating an LCD monitor
I got an LCD monitor yesterday, an LG L1919S, as my old ones were becoming inadequate and unhealthy. The 17" one I was using started changing overlay screen color randomly and was changing screen size every now and then too. No wonder, as it's from 1996 and it's time is passing. The second one I have can't do anything above 60Hz and is quite blurry, very bad for the eyes and head.
I decided to get a new one which is good and yet not *too* expensive, and this LG seems to fit the bill. It has a high contrast, 8ms refresh, 19 inch very big screen and with a native 1024x1280@75Hz resolution. So much more space and yet the monitor itself takes so much less real space and energy! 
However, it is kind of bright, and screen being so big even looking at it straight on you don't usually see full color on the edges and corners. I know it's an old issue with LCDs which people rarely mind. I don't either, but I am wondering if there are ways to calibrate this?
Also, are there any programs for GNU/Linux which can be used to calibrate X or monitor itself to work optimally with an LCD?
Thanks
On an LCD you can make fonts look very sharp by enabling subpixel hinting.
Xfce: xfce-setting-show -> user interface -> use hinting + use sub-pixel hinting
KDE: control center -> appearance & themes -> fonts -> use anti-aliasing -> configure -> use sub-pixel hinting
Gnome: control center -> font -> subpixel smoothing
Don't forget to enable antialiasing too.
AFAIK the optimal viewpoint for LCDs can't be configured.
Note that 60Hz is just fine as a refresh rate for an LCD, it won't flicker. I don't know if that will save energy, I guess it might.
Thanks for good info. Subpixel hinting is enabled as well as antialiasing and fonts are quite sharp, just slightly blocky, or at least they appear so to me. Might be just the way this monitor works, having a dot pitch of 0.29 so I'll probably get used to it soon (already am beginning to).
Thanks
What type of font are you using? You could try the DejaVu fonts, I know for sure those shouldn't look blocky. If they do, your monitor has too big pixels
. I used DejaVu Sans Condensed for everything for a long time, it's a good screen space saver because it's quite readable even at size 8. Now I use Andika DesRev B 10, it has more character (no pun intended).
That reminds me, you should use the highest resolution your monitor can handle, anything else looks ugly on an LCD.
Oooh you have the 19 inch version of my 17 inch monitor
. I found it to be a really nice screen.
There is a little auto adjust button next to the power button, press that, and it auto-calibrates the screen. This can help with clarity.
I'm trying DejaVu Sans Condensed now. It seems a bit better I guess. Anyway, even if there is a little blocky-ness I'm getting used to it. It's not worse than having a half-anti-aliased fonts or something. They still look better than they would in Windows XP I think.
Cool onlinebacon, it is a very nice screen indeed. The biggest thing about it for me is the screen size and yet how thin (and futuristic looking) it is.
I pressed auto-adjust, but I don't see a big difference. It's fine now anyway.
Thanks
Not sure if I'm imagining it or is it real, but after having it on for a while, the picture on this LCD seems to get better. Things look a bit sharper and colors more lively. I've read in the manual that it needs to be left on for around 30 minutes for picture to stabilize before making adjustments (if you really want them precise). I guess that's it.
Anyway, it looks pretty cool.
xvidtuneis the tool to adjust where the image is, and probably a few other options...Yeah, I doubt it can adjust the details I was thinking of adjusting. But I'm pretty much fine with it as it is now, and overall quite satisfied.
Thanks everyone for the help!