Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hi all

After a few days I am beginning to get use to TH2Go.
I have found a few things about it that I wasn't expecting. In videos I watched before I had it, I saw most everyone had the monitors setup with the outer two at an angle. I fully expected to set mine up like that too.
Having the 3 lcd's here, but not yet having the unit, I began to design my stand for them. One important consideration at this point was having my center monitor about arms lengths away, where my extended finger tip was about an inch from touching the screen. I had my outer two setup where with my arm and fingers extended, pointing directly at the outer side bezel, it was 6 inches from my finger tip.
This appeared all well and good, and in fact I used one of the two side monitors a little before I got TH2Go. I used them in FSX, but the second was only used for ATC, GPS, Radios, etc. I had the 3D displaying only in the monitor in front of me.
I also used Windows some in the the two. I found this to be very useful and the angles I had the side monitors set to, seemed to be perfect.

I had gotten a sheet of 1/2" plywood and some 2x2's to build a stand to mount the 3 monitors on. That would hard mount them at the angle I thought would be ideal. I drew out the lines on the wood, but thought, 'No, I'm not going to cut this until I actually see TH2Go running'. Very wise move, I must say.

Okay, 5 days ago TH2Go came. After setup I thought it was perfect. My assumption about the correct angles seemed spot on. I launched FSX and was so impressed by seeing it across 3 big monitors, I jumped for joy. I had yet to really notice my flaw in thinking.
Tried other games and again, for the most part, very impressed. At first these were more of launch the game, see 3D in them and maybe play a few minutes at best, then close it. I was more trying to find out what was working and what wasn't. Just getting a hint by now that something wasn't right here.

2 Days ago after getting in some time in games, it was perfectly clear I had made a mistake thinking that my side monitors should be angled when gaming. In Windows, it was great. In games, it was a problem.
As I'm sure everyone has noticed (though I haven't read anything about it), the image in the side screens are angled in games when the side monitors are angled. I know of no cure for this at all, but it would be possible during game development to implement a setting to angle the image in the side screens to compensate for it.
Currently, this isn't in games or in Matrox software (not sure it could be done from their end, or not). Or at least I haven't found any way to skew the image, so it properly matches the center. This really does spoil the overal effect, to have it angled, when what is displayed should be straight arcoss the screens.
Take for instance the Default flight in FSX. The hang glider. The control bar should be straight across. With the side monitors angled, the bar is angled. This is the case in all games, Roads, buildings, you name it, they angle, since the side monitors are setting at angles.

Well, here it is 5 days later and a lot of experiments on what is the best viewing range for this. I have found that only by placing all three screens in a straight line, does everything look correct in games. Having them straight and sitting 3 feet or more away is much more pleasent then sitting closer with the outer ones angled. However, this has drawbacks for normal Windows use. Having them angled some in Windows is very acceptable and, for me, actually preferred. I suppose that's why I saw so many setup at anlges. I guess that it's due to better use in Windows.
Anyway, thankfully I had not went ahead and built my stand before actually seeing it working. My original idea would have been unsatisfactory.

I have completely redesigned the stand where the side monitors will be on hinged sections. This will allow me to have them straight for games and then angle them in for Windows use. It'll be more complex than I had originally inteneded, but worth the effort for sure. Besides, I'm currently out of work, so it ain't like I don't have the time.

Is anyone else doing what I am describing? I mean, using your monitors in a straight line for gaming, and angled in for Windows. If so, what type of setup are using to accomplish this?

If you hinge the the monitors you are going to have a problem. When angled the monitors will touch each other but when put flat, you will have a gap between monitors. With bezel managment you well lose even more screen space.
When playing games your attention is focused on the center screen and the side monitors are more or less periferal vision. I fly the grand canyon alot with the ultralight plane in fsx and having my screens angled gives a nice being there type of feel. If you don't have trackir then try setting your mouse to mouse look to look around.

I agree with the above - that the side monitors are not meant to stared at directly, but rather to enhance your peripheral vision. Angling them makes this easier to occur.

However, each to his own. It would be best to minimize the gap created with a hinged system, which means placing the hinge point in a line that runs down the front of each side monitor's bezel where it touches the center monitor's bezel - or as close to this point as possible within reasonable tolerances.

thank you for the spell check, I should have looked it up. I hadn't thought about hinging the monitors from the front but that would close the gap when set to flat.

Yeah, the hing would be placed so as to pivet directly under where the bexels meet when bumped together in a straight line.

I again tried different angle vs straight, in Fallout 3, FSX and rFactor.
In these I much prefer having them straight. I notice the deflection of objects too much when the monitors have anymore that about 5 degrees, or so.
Like in rF, the dash just looks odd, even with focus on the center screen. When inline, it looks far more natural. And in a lot of cars, the rearview mirror is split between screens. That really looks odd when the side angles off. When straight, it looks correct.
FSX, the effect is the same. Cockpits look odd when they deflect, due to the angle. Even though not looking straight at them, I still see it and it bugs me, hehe.
In Fo3, I notice it most when inside, or in downtown areas. Walking along roads also looks odd. Then, when I line them up, it too appears more natural, even though my focus is always on the center screen where the crosshair is.

Actually for me, using TrackIR makes it stand out even more. It is like I am seeing the sides of the car or plane bend as I pan the view. I don't like that.

When lined up they total 72 inches. From 3-4 feet away, nearly all of my peripheral vision is filled. The more I look at it in games, the more I know for me, it needs them all lined up straight.

Thank you for the input.

Like in rF, the dash just looks odd, even with focus on the center screen. When inline, it looks far more natural. And in a lot of cars, the rearview mirror is split between screens. That really looks odd when the side angles off. When straight, it looks correct.

I often adjust my FOV in rFactor on a per-vehicle basis, making it so that that mirrors and/or wheels don't get split across monitors. It can be helpful to enable virtual mirrors as well; these always display on the center screen.