Triplehead connected to projectors feasible?

p2987 · Post by **p2987** » 24 Jun 2006, 09:13

I am new to this forum and hope that I am posting in the correct place.

I am thinking of this hardware setup and wish to have some feedback, especially if you have similar setup or experience.

Hardware plan: one piece of 7950GX2 connected to Matrox Triplehead 2Go which then outputs to 3 projectors, each with 1024 x 768 resolution, to one single screen (or 3 screens)

OS: WinXP Pro SP2

Game: MS FlightSim 2004 (and hopefully FSX)

Any comments are welcome. Thanks!
:D

ajg · Post by **ajg** » 24 Jun 2006, 13:29

why such a low resolution mate? now triplehead supports widescreen i would go home cinema priojector route and get 3x widescreen ones :) and the 7950 is still not as good hardware wise as two 7900gtx cards, which would allow you to max the resolution. no real experience of this setup, but have seem triplehead in action

p2987 · Post by **p2987** » 24 Jun 2006, 13:53

I just found out that the max resolution of the Triplehead is "1280 x 1024
" times three. But at 3840 x 1024, it is at 60Hz. But if at "1024 x 768" times three, it is at 75Hz.

So my question still remains: use the Triplehead to connect to 3 projectors, each having 1280 x 1024. Is this feasible?

Can one 7950GX2 or two 7900GTXs (in SLi arrangement) handle such setup for FlightSim FS2004?

Thanks. :D

JKeefe · Post by **JKeefe** » 24 Jun 2006, 16:31

Perfectly feasible. The refresh rate will not matter for LCD projectors, so 60Hz is fine.

As for the framerate, you'll need to find someone that has tested the TripleHEad2Go with MSFS2004. But if that hardware can't handle it, nothing can, so I say go for it.

Post by **BHawthorne** » 24 Jun 2006, 18:29

I just found out that the max resolution of the Triplehead is "1280 x 1024
" times three. But at 3840 x 1024, it is at 60Hz. But if at "1024 x 768" times three, it is at 75Hz.

So my question still remains: use the Triplehead to connect to 3 projectors, each having 1280 x 1024. Is this feasible?

Can one 7950GX2 or two 7900GTXs (in SLi arrangement) handle such setup for FlightSim FS2004?

Thanks. :D

7950GX2 drivers are not yet ready for 4x GPU SLI. ATM, only 1x 7950GX2 is advisable. The resolutions you are wanting will work just fine on the TH2G regardless or LCD, CRT or projector. Regular 2x GPU SLI will push pixels just fine for TH2G resolutions. No need for 4x GPUs.

Post by **Gilly** » 24 Jun 2006, 21:52

no borders... nice :)

ajg · Post by **ajg** » 24 Jun 2006, 23:07

do you have a barn to set this lot up in? lol...

Violent Ken · Post by **Violent Ken** » 24 Jun 2006, 23:28

this is a great idea. a better solution to 3 LCDs since there would be no bezel between screens. i want to see screenshots when this is running :shock:

Post by **maherie** » 24 Jun 2006, 23:45

I thought I heard about someone else doing this?

p2987 · Post by **p2987** » 25 Jun 2006, 00:18

Seems all of you guys give positive comment on the proposed setup.

Yes, a main idea is no border between the projected images. If I use LCDs or CRTs, I hate having monitor borders. Room space is a problem...I can buy the screens but I cant buy a bigger house....lol

Yes, thanks for reminding me that the drivers for Quad SLi is not ready and I am aware of that. I am hoping to run with just 1 x 7950GX2 or two 7900GTX in SLi.

Any of you are using Triplehead? Even if you are not using it with projectors but with LCDs or CRTs, I like to know what game software and hardware you are running with. Thanks.

Post by **BHawthorne** » 25 Jun 2006, 02:22

Seems all of you guys give positive comment on the proposed setup.

Yes, a main idea is no border between the projected images. If I use LCDs or CRTs, I hate having monitor borders. Room space is a problem...I can buy the screens but I cant buy a bigger house....lol

Yes, thanks for reminding me that the drivers for Quad SLi is not ready and I am aware of that. I am hoping to run with just 1 x 7950GX2 or two 7900GTX in SLi.

Any of you are using Triplehead? Even if you are not using it with projectors but with LCDs or CRTs, I like to know what game software and hardware you are running with. Thanks.

I use the TH2G with 3x Samsung 740N 17" LCDs. My main gaming rig is an ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe, AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice @ 2.4Ghz, 2GB of OCZ ram, and an eVGA 7800GTXKO 256MB card. I'm a real MMORPG fanatic, so I play it with DAoC, Eve-Online and WoW. As far as 3x projectors, I'm actually planning this out for my Fighter Ops gaming simpit. I'm wanting to do 3 ceiling mounted projectors with a half-circle screen. Each projector doing 60 degrees FOV. I'll work something out on the projector mounts so I can adjust FOV to various games.

Post by **BHawthorne** » 25 Jun 2006, 04:30

BTW, I ran into some pretty crazy examples of surround projection in the link below. Interesting stuff. :shock:

http://www.simhq.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=30;t=004894;p=0

ajg · Post by **ajg** » 25 Jun 2006, 07:39

Paddy, the guy who did the THTG review for WSGF uses the fx55 coupled with two 7900gtx cards. i have used his system and can say at max res it is still a flying machine. fear, oblivion etc all ran fine. NFSMW was a little choppy, but i am sure for the flight sim stuff it would be overkill. never see much benchtesting of flight sim stuff :) i know me a Paddy joked before about setting up 3 projector sin his studio, but never happened. maybe when he comes back from the states with a big cash advance on orders he will think about setting this up again, lol...

Ice[DDZ] · Post by **Ice[DDZ]** » 26 Jun 2006, 05:42

Dude I wanna see this idea happen. I also would love to know the $$$ it would take to do it! Cause I planned on buying a nice projector myself someday, but NOBODY (retail stores) will demo them so I cannot see what the HELL a consumer model projector can do. I love harassing Best Buy, along with other retailers, for selling projectors and NOT having a way to show the customer how they look. It's like trying to sell a big screen TV and being asked to turn it on to showoff the picture and being like "No I can't do that". :roll:

Anyways... I'd also love to see Paddy do this setup as well. Would make for some crazy gaming experiences. I played a VR game up in Canada back a long time ago that did a BIG very wide screen (It was maybe like a 130 degree view) Flight Sim of sorts. It had you sit in a chair and everything, it was kinda cool but very badly done. If done right I know it could be amazing :)

JKeefe · Post by **JKeefe** » 26 Jun 2006, 23:48

Any of you are using Triplehead? Even if you are not using it with projectors but with LCDs or CRTs, I like to know what game software and hardware you are running with. Thanks.

I use the TripleHead2Go with a 2.85 GHz Opteron, a 256MB 6800GT, 2048MB DDR400 RAM, and 3 P1110 21" Trinitron CRTs. Even on CRTs with big bezels it's great. I play flight sims and racing sims.

Over at RaceSimCentral I announced my TripleHead2Go SimHQ review in the GPL forum (I used GPL in the review). At the end of the thread a Parhelia owner posted some pics of GPL with 3 projectors projecting onto a single curved screen.
http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=251408

Tucson · Post by **Tucson** » 16 Aug 2006, 04:18

I dont think most games can render 180' FOV.

At least source crashes when I try it.

Post by **skipclarke** » 16 Aug 2006, 05:15

Try checking out the FOV Calc tool we host. The widest TH2Go setup provides a viewing ratio of 16:3 (3x16:9). Painkiller has a default FOV of 95 degrees (the widest in our list). The 16:3 setup only pushes it to 154 and change. "Regular" Surround of 16:4 pushes the FOV to 146.

Tucson · Post by **Tucson** » 17 Aug 2006, 00:58

Yeah I was actually surprised when my calculations using ratios came up with the same FOV as the calc. Guess college is working, eh?

Widescreen Gaming Forum