Big Screen Vs Surround

Valken · Post by **Valken** » 23 Mar 2007, 05:30

Hi All,

I'm new here but mostly have been a lurker absorbing all the information in this forum between the pros and cons of widescreen and surround gaming.

My 4:3 LCD recently went out and I'm looking at a replacement unit sooner than I had planned.

My original plans were to save up for a WS LCD TV (too bad there are no more WS CRTs in production) for gaming and movie needs at the end of 2007. I was looking at the Sony 52" XBR LCD or Sony 50" SXRD rear projection TV or maybe bigger if prices goes down then.

But after seeing the surround screenshots, it just blew my mind! This is especially true for racing and flight sims!

Now I want to know from those of you who have had the chance to review a big widescreen and surround system, which is more "immersive" at the end of the day? Which system allowed you to play your games beyond your belief?

I know movies will be a pain with a multimon setup and I had though of the possibility of purchaseing cheaper smaller TVs (32" 720p), remove their casings and re-aligning it to remove the bezel, but don't know if I can truly get zero gap there. I've seen pictures from http://www.seamlessdisplay.com/products_horizon320.htm
which shows it may be feasible.

I'm sure many of you have gone through this excersize before your upgrade so I want to hear your opinions and experience before I jump in.

Thanks

Post by **BHawthorne** » 23 Mar 2007, 06:41

I think bigscreen might be a best bet for you vs. surround screen. You mentioned that you want to use it for movies too. I would propose that you get a HD projector versus a big screen tv though. You can get 1080i and 720p DLP projectors in the same price range as the ~50" big screen but you have the ability to have a larger more immersive wall sized picture with the projector. I'm thinking you want an immersive experience and I've found that using my projector on an 8ftx4ft area of wall is very immersive for both movies and gaming. I use an InFocus SP5000 which is LCD technology, but there are better and newer technology out there such as DLP projectors. Just a few thoughts to ponder.

Valken · Post by **Valken** » 23 Mar 2007, 07:00

Hi Ghimpi,

Thanks for the idea. I had looked into a few projectors before (one of my friends has one) but almost all were shown shot against a wall.

The colors were "washed out" in that aspect which didn't impress me color fidelity wise. This was the main reason for looking at larger LCD or multi panels.

I'll go checkout my friends when I can and see if his new screen has improved the experience.

There is one other point from a gaming perspective in that a big screen may not have enough "pixels" and I worry that I will have to trade that off for the bigger screen.

I noticed the TH2G can support a max of 3840x1024 and the screenshots show so much more on the sides. A 1920x1080P TV won't show enough and I wonder if that trade off is worth it.

What I think I really want is a large format, high megapixel density monitor for both movies and gaming. Too bad the technology is not out yet at an affordable price such as this:

http://ces.engadget.com/2006/01/07/westinghouses-56-inch-4x-1080p-lcd/

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 23 Mar 2007, 07:22

Hello Valken ... welcome to the WSGF ... 8)

You may want to read this thread ... http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9426

JohnnyWakko · Post by **JohnnyWakko** » 23 Mar 2007, 08:45

:welcome

Valken · Post by **Valken** » 26 Mar 2007, 04:25

Hi All,

Thanks for the welcome!

Paddy: I read through that thread and it seems there are others like me who are in the same bind.

Just for reference, I went window shopping yesterday to compare prices locally:

I can pickup 2 or more TN/MVA 6-bit panels at 20" - 22" x 1600x1050 (16:10) for less than a single 24" 1900x1200 panel.

If I go dual head, I can get close to the max res of the TH2G or DH2G but would have a border in the middle.

3 x 19" 1280x1024 actually cost more than the above, ~ same as the 24" 1900x1200 panel, and I would end up with 2 borders, but not in the middle.

----

After looking at my "big" tv budget, I was wondering if it was possible to use 2x DH2G for 4 panels total in a 2x2 matrix?

I think Windows will allow that with 2 video cards with 2 outputs, but I would like to have the option of using SLI (8800+) or CF (R600+) to 4 panels.

I think if I can remove the bezels, that would be my best choice - 4x 1600x1200 @ 3200 x 2400 max res or 4x 1900x1200 @ max usable res of 3840x2400.

Note this assumes the output card can SLI or CF both outputs.

Would this be possible?

Post by **BHawthorne** » 26 Mar 2007, 05:55

The unfortunate thing about SLI is it's designed for just a single output. That's one of the reasons the DH2G and TH2G exist.

2x2 19" would theoretically work with a single 8800 and 2 DH2G and vertical-span mode.

Valken · Post by **Valken** » 26 Mar 2007, 06:54

Ghimpy,

So an 8800 GTS or GTX would only support SLI output on one of the dual linked dvi ports. Thus in a 2x2 matrix, one "pair" of monitors would go out and not be in use when SLI is enabled for a game, correct?

If this is the case ,its too bad as I've seen games for Windows such as FSX or Dungeon Siege which can span multiple monitors so long as windows sets the spans correctly.

That is too bad.

Post by **BHawthorne** » 26 Mar 2007, 16:25

Ghimpy,

So an 8800 GTS or GTX would only support SLI output on one of the dual linked dvi ports. Thus in a 2x2 matrix, one "pair" of monitors would go out and not be in use when SLI is enabled for a game, correct?

If this is the case ,its too bad as I've seen games for Windows such as FSX or Dungeon Siege which can span multiple monitors so long as windows sets the spans correctly.

That is too bad.

Yep, that is how SLI has always worked so far. To get that 2x2 you have to use both outs on the same card to 2 DH2G, which kills SLI and even using a second card if you want to have functional 3D mode on the 2x2. A single 8800GTS or GTX should have no problem pushing the pixels on a 2x2 setup though. It sorta sounds cost prohivitive though to get 2x DH2G, but I've seen some pretty great deals on 19" LCDs lately that might offset that cost. 2x2 setup would be very destracting in a 3rd person view though with the bezels not only cutting your character in half, but in quarters. Main reason why people triple-screen game. The bezels are not as destracting with 3 screens as it is with 2 or 4.

JKeefe · Post by **JKeefe** » 26 Mar 2007, 16:44

2x2 would be a bad idea unless you can totally get rid of the bezels (which I've read isn't possible on most monitors). It would be like dual-head gaming with a bezel in the center, but instead your bezels form a cross directly in the center of your screen.

Besides, a 2x2 monitor matrix doesn't change the geometry any; you are still looking at a 4:3, 5:4, 16:9, or 16:10 display. If you're going to do that, then why not just game on a big TV?

Valken · Post by **Valken** » 27 Mar 2007, 07:05

Thanks for input everyone. If I go multimon with 2x or a 2x2, I would attempt to remove the bezels. There is no way I would leave it on for long. And yes, prices for 19,20 and even 22" 4:3 or 16:10/9 screens are actually quiet affordable now when compared to a Dell 30" 3007-HC monitor.

I was only thinking outloud as a replacement for a big screen tv in terms of size (bigger than 30" total) and getting more pixels with the multimon solution.

The SLI questions pretty much killed going forward with a 2x2 for me until we see the G8950GX2 (SLI on 1 card) series or a R600 Max card. I don't mind the aspect ratio too much so long as I can see HD/BD movies and games as it should appear.

One last question though:

On a single card with 2x Dual Link DVI outputs connected to whatever monitors (2 natively or 4 or even 6 with DH2G, TH2G), would hardware acceleration work in SPANNED mode?

If so, maybe waiting for a G8950GX2 would be enough to do it.

starfighter · Post by **starfighter** » 28 Mar 2007, 20:55

n a single card with 2x Dual Link DVI outputs connected to whatever monitors (2 natively or 4 or even 6 with DH2G, TH2G), would hardware acceleration work in SPANNED mode?

Yes is you use horizontal span than it is possible to connect to 2 1080p = 1920 displays with HW acceleration.

If you want to connect 1 TH2Go (= 3840 X 2) at every DVI you yre unable to span this horizontaly beacuse of the 4096 X 4096 DX limit.

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