general questions about triple screen gaming

[peppergomez]

hi folks,

so i am seriously considering whether to go the huge 30"lcd route or the triple screen route, say with 3 22"lcds and the matrox triple head system. i guess the following are my main questions:

-roughly how much would i be spending if i got 3 22"lcds and the matrox system? i am hoping that it wouldn't be too much more expensive than buying a premium 30"lcd.

-do you have any specific monitor recommendations for me? i would want them to be able to do 1600x1200 resolution and with a fast response time.

-do you know if there are plans to make 4800x3600 res avaiable for the matrox triple head2go system sometimes, and would it be via a patch or would matrox have to introduce an entirely new hardware component capable of this resolution? i really don't want to game below 1600x1200 per screen, and so the max of 1280x1024 is holding me back from considering it. also, 60hz refresh rate is pretty low- won't that cause some eye fatigue or screen flickering? in the past when my eyes have started huring after awhile on a computer, i've checked the refresh rate and found it usually to be low, around 60hz.

-how well does the matrox system work, and how much fussing and tweaking is needed? i realized about myself that i am no longer the pc gamer who has the patience for endless tweaks, etc, which is partially why i have ditched the old falcon and procrastinated for so long the oblivion tweaking session to integrate the best community mods. i would hope that the matrox would essentially be plug and play.

-would i need to get a 2nd 8800gtx to maintain good frame rates? obviously, that would add a very hefty amount to the price. i wouldn't mind doing this in say a year or two when the 8800gtx is a dirt cheap card, but not before then. also, adding another might necessitate a different case for my system to avoid overheating, which would lead to more time and cash than i'd want to invest. i have no need to crank AA and AF, since 1600x1200 at high settings is plenty.

-what has your experience been with triple screen gaming, both matrox and anything else relevant? warts and all...

-if i were to get one large 30"lcd monitor, would i be able to change the FOV in games such that i could have a widened screen on the one monitor, giving me more peripheral vision on the left and right, akin to if i had 3 monitors? since having an expanded FOV is my goal, if it can be achieved w.out oddness or distortion on one huge monitor, that might be prefferable to stretching it out over 3 monitors.


gotta say that the idea of flying fsx, lomac, x3, and playing oblivion, bf2, etc. on 3 screens is just an awesome notion. if i can do this for a comparable price to getting one huge lcd, i am definately inclined to do so.


ps- what's the difference between surround and widescreen gaming?
thanks.
_________________________

[Paddy the Wak]

-do you know if there are plans to make 4800x3600 res avaiable for the matrox triple head2go system sometimes, and would it be via a patch or would matrox have to introduce an entirely new hardware component capable of this resolution? i really don't want to game below 1600x1200 per screen, and so the max of 1280x1024 is holding me back from considering it. also, 60hz refresh rate is pretty low- won't that cause some eye fatigue or screen flickering? in the past when my eyes have started huring after awhile on a computer, i've checked the refresh rate and found it usually to be low, around 60hz.

Refresh rate is not a big issue on tft's as it was on CRT's ... you should have no problems at 60hz
As far as we know there are no plans to make higher resolutions available in the TH2G ... softTH can do higher resolutions but with a frame rate hit ... look here ... http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/7651

-how well does the matrox system work, and how much fussing and tweaking is needed? i realized about myself that i am no longer the pc gamer who has the patience for endless tweaks, etc, which is partially why i have ditched the old falcon and procrastinated for so long the oblivion tweaking session to integrate the best community mods. i would hope that the matrox would essentially be plug and play.

No great fussing for the games in the "Surround Gaming Utility" (a piece of software that come with the unit) ... other games require some ini or config tweaks/changes and sometimes third party hacks/utilities.
Most tweaks etc. are no big deal.

-what has your experience been with triple screen gaming, both matrox and anything else relevant? warts and all...

It is THE best most immersive way to game ... even at 3 x 1280x1024.
Most new games would struggle with any higher TripleHead resolution even with the latest systems.
I would never go back to single 4:3 and only go back to widescreen if a game can't do TripleHead.

-if i were to get one large 30"lcd monitor, would i be able to change the FOV in games such that i could have a widened screen on the one monitor, giving me more peripheral vision on the left and right, akin to if i had 3 monitors? since having an expanded FOV is my goal, if it can be achieved w.out oddness or distortion on one huge monitor, that might be prefferable to stretching it out over 3 monitors.

Yes you can fake it .... look here ... http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/6771

ps- what's the difference between surround and widescreen gaming?
thanks.

Surround is TripleHead ... three monitors ...
Widescreen is one wider screen.


Did you see my review ?
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/index.php?title=Matrox_TripleHead2Go_%28Featured_Review%29

[peppergomez]

thanks!

what sort of price diff would there be btwn triplehead on 3 20-22"lcd and the matrox vs a 30"lcd?

[Paddy the Wak]

I think you can google for some prices.
I'm not going to do it for you... :wink:

BTW ... from your screenshot/video request thread ...

Hello ... welcome to the forum ...

Your signature/system specs are too long ...
Read the profile page rules and change it ....
Thank you ... 8)

[peppergomez]

this okay?

[peppergomez]

finally, about whether i'd need another 8800gtx for triple screen gaming?

[Paddy the Wak]

Your sig is much better ... :D

finally, about whether i'd need another 8800gtx for triple screen gaming?

It depends on the game and/or the drivers from nVidia ...

I am not sure the current drivers are utilizing the SLi too well but that could change with driver updated.

I have 2 but still some games struggle ... it could be they are more cpu dependent ... it could be drivers ...
Some games work just as good with only one card ...

Some games fly because of the SLi.

3840x1024 is a lot of pixels ... there are not many if any current/top games that you will be able to run with AA and AF cranked up even with 2 8800GTX's

BTW ...
I have 3 x 20" Dell's with a native res of 1600x1200 ... they look great running 3 x 1280x1024 ... not all screens will scale resolutions well so it is worth checking them out before you buy.

[peppergomez]

thanks again paddy


a basic question i might not have asked very clearly--

if i were to buy a widescreen lcd btwn 24-30", how closely would the widescreen stretching of the fov/picture approximate the increased peripheral vision from 3 19-20" lcd screens?

i am curious to know what sort of difference there would be in extra peripheral vision between widescreen gaming on say a 30"lcd versus triplehead gaming on 3 20" monitors. would it literally be 30" worth, ie the difference between 60 and 30?

[peppergomez]

also, would triplehead2go work well with differently sized monitors? if i got a large lcd, say between 24-30", and later two smaller lcd monitors for the side, say 20", would this work properly? i was hoping this might be possible, especially if the monitors had the same vertical height.

incidentally, i read this on bit-tech, which explains the limitations of matrox's triplehead2go max resolution:

"it’d be nice if we could get even higher resolutions, but the limitation isn’t Matrox’s. The maximum resolution supported by DirectX 9 is 4096 x 4096 pixels (DX10 quadruples this to 8192x8192) and obviously three lots of 1600 pix. (4800 pixels wide) is more than 4096 pixels."


i think i am going to wait for the next generation of triplehead2go, one that i hope would be designed with the capabilties of vista/dx10, offering 4800x3600 (or higher) resolution and hopefully 75hz refresh rate. i just emailed matrox about this to see if this is something they are or will be working on.

so, within the next year, i will likely buy a widescreen lcd between 24-30", and would like to add 2 20"lcds after that once the above generation of matrox's triplehead2go is out.

i am wondering i would need to get monitors that had the same same native resolution, or at least that could work at a common one such as 1600x1200. at present i use a 22"crt, and have never used an lcd, so i don't have much experience with them.

thanks.

[pholt]

also, would triplehead2go work well with differently sized monitors? if i got a large lcd, say between 24-30", and later two smaller lcd monitors for the side, say 20", would this work properly? i was hoping this might be possible, especially if the monitors had the same vertical height.

The TH2G works by appearing to the computer as one big monitor, say 3840x1024, and then dividing that image into 3 equal parts, one part for each monitor. As such it would not work with different sized monitors. All three monitors would have to operate at the same resolution, in this case 1280x1024. If it did work, your largest monitor would have to operate at a resolution that was supported by your smallest monitor.

i think i am going to wait for the next generation of triplehead2go, one that i hope would be designed with the capabilties of vista/dx10, offering 4800x3600 (or higher) resolution and hopefully 75hz refresh rate.

Refresh rate is a concern with CRT monitors, not with LCDs. All LCD monitors work at 60hz, there is no other rate.

[Paddy the Wak]

if i were to buy a widescreen lcd btwn 24-30", how closely would the widescreen stretching of the fov/picture approximate the increased peripheral vision from 3 19-20" lcd screens?

i am curious to know what sort of difference there would be in extra peripheral vision between widescreen gaming on say a 30"lcd versus triplehead gaming on 3 20" monitors. would it literally be 30" worth, ie the difference between 60 and 30?

Widescreen is widescreen ... whatever size screen ... for instance a 16:10 30" has no more peripheral vision than a 24" or even an 15" 16:10 widescreen.

also, would triplehead2go work well with differently sized monitors? if i got a large lcd, say between 24-30", and later two smaller lcd monitors for the side, say 20", would this work properly? i was hoping this might be possible, especially if the monitors had the same vertical height.

...As such it would not work with different sized monitors.

Incorrect ... different sized monitors can work together but it isn't ideal as pholt says the TH2G sees the three as one big monitor and all three monitors need to be able to do the resolutions the TH2G requires but there is no reason why that isn't possible.
I have done it and it actually isn't as bad as it sounds ... :wink:

"it’d be nice if we could get even higher resolutions, but the limitation isn’t Matrox’s. The maximum resolution supported by DirectX 9 is 4096 x 4096 pixels (DX10 quadruples this to 8192x8192) and obviously three lots of 1600 pix. (4800 pixels wide) is more than 4096 pixels."


i think i am going to wait for the next generation of triplehead2go, one that i hope would be designed with the capabilties of vista/dx10, offering 4800x3600 (or higher) resolution and hopefully 75hz refresh rate. i just emailed matrox about this to see if this is something they are or will be working on.

As I said earlier it is a bit academic as there are no cards even 2x8800GTS's that would cope with a resolution much higher than 3840x1024 even if they could do it. Many new games struggle at 3840x1024 with everything tuner up high with 2 8800's.
It is something for the future .... may be ... but as games get more demanding the cards too will have to get soooo much better and then better still if you want to run games at even higher resolutions as well.

[peppergomez]

thanks again

might be interested to read the response i got from matrox re: the higher res of 1600x1200 per monitor in vista/dx10:

"The setup you are looking to achieve will hopefully be possible in the coming year. With the advent of DX10, as you mentioned, the capabilities of graphics cards will enable a higher resolution output for our GXM modules (http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/products/home.php).



Although, there are continuous works for newer products, there is no news of any new GXM modules in the works. Until the graphics cards manufacturers take advantage of the new technology that is present with DX10, we are unable to provide with a definite answer as to when or how the new GXM modules would perform. I will definitely put your request in our feature request form for our product managers to see. They continuously evaluate customer’s requests for future product designs that might come out in the future.



As for the setup you were requesting concerning different sized monitors, although physically it is possible, the resolution of all 3 monitors would need to be the same. If you plan on having 2 set of different sized monitors, note that once you stretch the image over the 3 screens, you will have misaligned lines since the size of the screens will not be the same. The GXM modules are viewed by the operating system as one large widescreen. This is why we strongly recommend getting 3 identical monitors to get the optimal setup.

At this point, until the graphics cards manufacturers take advantage of the new DX10 capabilities, we are unable to confirm if our present GXM modules will be able to be upgraded by a simple firmware upgrade or will have to be redesigned with a newer model."

[Paddy the Wak]

Thanks for that ... interesting ... :D