Does anyone know what this is?
Posted by Deep_Cut_320@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 57 comments
I have these vague memories of playing games on my parents’ computer in the early 2010s, and there was this thing on the bottom of the monitor that I could spin around with my finger. I remember really enjoying doing that, but I still don’t know what the thing was called, or what it was supposed to actually do. Could anyone fill me in about it?
norweeg@reddit
It was how you accessed and navigated the monitor settings menu. Press to open the menu, spinn to select options which were presented as a wheel. Press again to select options
Zottobyte@reddit
Wow... I'm that old, huh?
Mindless_Answer_9928@reddit
old monitors had to be hand cranked to turn on
CaptainSlow913@reddit
I had a rather nice 17" Gateway monitor that had one of these jog wheels.
3zxcv@reddit
Yes, it's called a "control knob".
Several brands have used them in place of a group of buttons.
Press and hold it to open the OSD menu, dial to select an action from the menu, then click it to perform the action.
Schlitz-Drinker@reddit
The one I had in the '90s had two dials that directly adjust the contrast and brightness. No menu.
Jose_A_Montero_Lopez@reddit
In the early 90s it was like that, then between the analog control knobs and the on-screen menus (OSD), semi-digital controls were introduced. For example, the IBM 2124 monitor (included in Aptiva in 1997) had on the front a row of icons (brightness, contrast, position...) with an LED under each one, two selection buttons < > and two adjustment buttons + -.
Malefectra@reddit
I'd say that's more of a jog wheel than a control knob. Knobs, need the bit that sticks out. Jog wheels also usually push in to act as a button.
TechCF@reddit
Worked really great for contrast and brightness
Fl1pp3d0ff@reddit
It was the controls for the monitor... Menu functions for display options, degauss, trapezoid, etc.
wootybooty@reddit
It’s just for Tempest
National_Clerk_2879@reddit
And TRON! (everyone forgets Tron).
National_Clerk_2879@reddit
Monitor Belly Button. That one's an, "outie." Tickle it, give it a spin and the monitor will roll over and do tricks for you like, adjust brightness or contrast.
AmoreLucky@reddit
That thing is for navigating the monitor's settings menu. My parents had a monitor just like this hooked up back in the day
Practical-Appeal267@reddit
Technically it's called a ROTARY ENCODER. But for the idiocracy, yes, control knob.
Nolon@reddit
Dats ya settings Sha
Deep_Cut_320@reddit (OP)
Alright! Thanks to your helpful responses, I now know vaguely what to call it (probably a jog dial?) and what it does, and that's good enough for me. Thanks, everyone!
RO4DHOG@reddit
Female monitors have a clitoris stimulator.
Male monitors have floppy dongles.
MWink64@reddit
Maybe yours. My monitor's was quite hard.
satsugene@reddit
Reminds me of the relevant xkcd.
CoffeeSmore@reddit
Blessed monitors have neither
UnderstandingFlat407@reddit
I believe they were like the original iPod wheel. It would click and then you would rotate and choose the menu option you wanted to adjust.
tpimh@reddit
Calling a rotary encoder "the original iPod wheel" 💀
ziggster_@reddit
But what’s it encoding? 🤷🤔
WorkAggravating3217@reddit
Dumbass
Hurricane_32@reddit
The relative direction in which the wheel is rotating
Mynameismikek@reddit
I mean, the G1 iPod did use a rotary encoder...
PPEytDaCookie@reddit
Lmao
Cwc2413@reddit
Basically. Menu selection when. Was nice to use when adjusting the image.
couchmaster518@reddit
I seem to recall having to move the screen image horizontally by different amounts depending on what program was running
Cwc2413@reddit
It seems like that was early on. When applications would change screen resolutions.
Majestic-Tart8912@reddit
probably the best physical Interface I have ever seen on a monitor.
EskildDood@reddit
It's called a jog shuttle, I thought it was just a thing on VCRs
486Junkie@reddit
I remember Gateway monitors having that as a thing in high school.
satsugene@reddit
Yeah, I supported a lot that looked just like this (but with English branding but probably made in the same factory).
It was kind of nice to not have to press a button potentially 100 or so times depending on the setting, or buttons match the UI, at least in number of choices, but that don’t actually line up with the on-screen interface, especially when they are just close enough to lined up you confidently press the wrong one almost every time without thinking.
Fart_Bargo@reddit
This is correct. Scrolling menus.
NevynPA@reddit
It was just a rotary encoder used to access the monitor settings for brightness, contrast, etc.
micksterminator3@reddit
My mag monitor has one. I don't like a singular control knob. It's really inaccurate with movement and I always overshoot what I'm trying to do. Maybe mine is just temperamental.
flatfinger@reddit
They're generally programmed in such a manner that when moved above a certain speed, each click will adjust a setting by an amount roughly proportional to speed. Trying to manipulate a setting in a single motion will be futile, but if one does a quick flick to get in the vague ballpark, and then turns the knob fairly quickly until one is within about 5 or so clicks, and then turns it slowly to dial in the exact value, it's possible to dial in an exact number that might be 80 clicks away much faster than one could rotate the wheel by 80 clicks.
Odyssey113@reddit
Was going to mention these as well. I have one in my stash.
Gamer7928@reddit
My dad once had a monitor with one of those knobs. I'm unsure, but I think such a monitor knob was used for brightness/darkness and contrast adjustment.
ReceptionFriendly663@reddit
It increase the Hz of the CPU’s flux capacitor. When you turn it to 11, the pc becomes a Cray super computing machine.
ris8_allo_zen0@reddit
As others said, it's a jog dial. I had this on the monitor (AOC brand) I used during my uni times between 2002 and 2010-ish. It could be pushed and rotated to show the monitor menu and change brightness, contrast and other image properties.
I found it mildly more convenient than the usual bunch of buttons. I guess it was also cheaper for them to produce and a distinctive feature to make themselves stand out from the rest.
Before then, I saw it on some VCRs: it was used to move forward and backward frame-by-frame if you want to edit or take still images.
WretchedGibbon@reddit
Yeah AOC really loved these. I had a rebranded AOC monitor from Dell a while ago. Dell had swapped the jog wheel for left and right buttons, but the interface remained as icons around a square, so when you got to the bottom side, the left button made the selection go right and so on. Didn't work out the reason for this and thought it was just crappy design on Dell's part until I saw the original AOC version with the jog wheel, and suddenly it made sense.
Accurate-Campaign821@reddit
Control wheel/knob. Press to bring up menu, turn to select, press again, turn to adjust.
maokaby@reddit
Rotary encoder? It's used to adjust settings when you turn it and press.
I remember that monitor, had it so many years ago.
officialigamer@reddit
Lmao
FeistyDay5172@reddit
A friend had one on a monitor he had. Fascinating way to select configuration items. Just don't get cheap ones, they get wonky as hell after a lot of use.
Hondahobbit50@reddit
That's a knob....a design choice by the manufacturer
JustHereForMiatas@reddit
We had one on a MAG monitor back in the day. We always called it a "jog wheel."
It worked sort of like an ipod click wheel, which you may also be too young to remember. You spin it to position the cursor in the monitor menu and press in to make a selection.
slicktromboner21@reddit
It’s the Telly Toggle for the Cinco MIDI Organizer
techika@reddit
On screed display button , the navigating and set params of monotor
Alexencandar@reddit
Monitor menu selection when you pressed it, and 99% sure the one I had worked as a volume control if the monitor menu was not active.
Bourriks@reddit
A wheel for selecting the screen options ?
digitalante@reddit
on my vcr that was called a jog dial
eletriodgenesis@reddit
jog wheel that clicked when pressed. brightness/contrast/ etc were controlled with it. Havrnt thought about one in 20+ years wow
DrFrylock@reddit
I recall these being called "jog controls" and they were a way to navigate the menus and settings of the monitor (supposedly quicker/easier than buttons). I believe Mag InnoVision (and possibly other brands) specifically used these controls to distinguish themselves from other brands that used buttons.