VNC Re: [plug] X over a Modem

[Matt Kemner]

On Wed, 21 Jun 2000, Mike Holland wrote:

> Faster?! How does it manage that, since VNC sends bitmaps, wheras X uses
> fonts on the server?

Because it is optimised for high latency/low bandwidth connections.
It only updates those areas of the screen that need updating, and if it
can break the screen into smaller blocks, some of which are identical, it
will only send one copy of that block, and use it to fill in the
appropriate places - which is why it helps to have your background (root
window) set to a solid colour.

Also, you can tell VNC to convert all pixels to 8 bit colour, which speeds
things up tremendously.  End result is VNC is _almost_ usable at 640x480
over a 14.4k connection displayed on a 8MB 486 console-only laptop, using
svga-vncviewer. (14.4 because the laptop's comport is an 8250, and it has
no PCMCIA)

I can't see you doing that with X.

btw I've run X on this laptop, and it aint pretty. :)
(and you don't want to know how long it took Netscape 2.X to load)

 - Matt