Benjimoron's noob questions!

[benjimoron]

Hi guys,

I'm new round here so hopefully I'm posting in the right place, looking to build a projector based system soon so thought I'd post in here although my current questions could apply to several different areas of the forum.

I'll likely add to the questions as I think of them and come across problems, any advice you can give would be awesome. Thankyou for your time.

1. I want to get 3 projectors all lined up nicely and I assume I want Nthusim or Immersive Display Lite for that? Maybe Soft TH would do it? I'll probably try all the demos I can but was wondering if people had some experience and could help with which ones to rule out? Soft TH needs 2 gfx cards I assume? That might be a problem for me.

2. The system I want needs 3 x VGA outputs, so for that I assume I need a card like the 6870 which has 2 mini DP and an analog DVI? I have a 6850 (doh!), but I assume i can only do 2 vga ports from that because of the limit on digital ports?

3. I could use a TH2G analog (although they're expensive!) but would that cause problems in lining up the screens, or is Nthusim able to recognise that even though there's a TH2G appearing as one monitor there's actually 3 monitors (or PJ's!).

Thanks,
Ben.

[benjimoron]

I also want to be able to connect my exercise bike up to the pc so that I can exercise while driving round in a game, kinda like GTA or Just Cause for example. I would've thought loads of people would have done this by now but I can't find anything solid.

What I'm thinking is something like the wiimote attached to one of the poles that connect to the pedals, so it would basically do a complete 360 everytime I turn the pedals. I could then have glovepie look out for a certain value and press the accelerate key every time it gets there, so basically the faster I pedal the more times the accelerate button is pushed, so I go faster! Not sure about how best to put that in Glovepie, I'm not sure if I was going faster it might skip past numbers which means no movement would happen in game. I'm wondering whether I could have it so that it detects a large range, say upside down vs right way up, so it wouldn't miss any movements.

I know that's not as clear as it could be, hopefully someone knows what I means and has some experience with glovepie.

[Delphium]

:welcome

2. The system I want needs 3 x VGA outputs, so for that I assume I need a card like the 6870 which has 2 mini DP and an analog DVI? I have a 6850 (doh!), but I assume i can only do 2 vga ports from that because of the limit on digital ports?

I can't offer much help with regards to the projector softwares like nthusim, however your 6850 will indeed handle 3 vga outputs.
You would use the 2 dvi outputs with vga adaptors, then use a mini-dp to vga adaptor which are cheap enough, this would give you the 3 displays you require off a single card, same applies for the 6870.

This would also solve the problem that you may have, raised in point 3.

[BHawthorne]

1. Yes, pre-warping software is used to properly align the multi-projector setup to the screen geometry and also to add in edge blending between the projectors. You don't need SoftTH for anything if you have a 6850. In fact, the way it works, you'll not be able to use pre-warping utilities and SoftTH together, so you definitely don't want to use SoftTH in your build.

2. It's just a matter of using the right adapters. The Eyefinity sub-forum here has a lot of information relating to how to get it properly working with your 6850.

3. Pre-warping software like NTHUSIM Plus specialize in this sort of thing. An analog TH2G would work just fine if you have one. It does not matter how triple-screen is accomplished as long as it's either AMD Eyefinity, Matrox TH2G or NVIDIA Surround.

[benjimoron]

:welcome [quote]2. The system I want needs 3 x VGA outputs, so for that I assume I need a card like the 6870 which has 2 mini DP and an analog DVI? I have a 6850 (doh!), but I assume i can only do 2 vga ports from that because of the limit on digital ports?

I can't offer much help with regards to the projector softwares like nthusim, however your 6850 will indeed handle 3 vga outputs.
You would use the 2 dvi outputs with vga adaptors, then use a mini-dp to vga adaptor which are cheap enough, this would give you the 3 displays you require off a single card, same applies for the 6870.

This would also solve the problem that you may have, raised in point 3.

Thanks for the reply.

I thought that only 1 of the DVI's supported analog to be able to run a vga port? Maybe I've read that wrong somewhere.

It's a full size DP on the 6850 anyway, so I'd use a full size adapter.

The 6870 has 2 mini DP's.

This is all from what I've see/read, apologies if any of it is wrong.

[benjimoron]

1. Yes, pre-warping software is used to properly align the multi-projector setup to the screen geometry and also to add in edge blending between the projectors. You don't need SoftTH for anything if you have a 6850. In fact, the way it works, you'll not be able to use pre-warping utilities and SoftTH together, so you definitely don't want to use SoftTH in your build.

2. It's just a matter of using the right adapters. The Eyefinity sub-forum here has a lot of information relating to how to get it properly working with your 6850.

3. Pre-warping software like NTHUSIM Plus specialize in this sort of thing. An analog TH2G would work just fine if you have one. It does not matter how triple-screen is accomplished as long as it's either AMD Eyefinity, Matrox TH2G or NVIDIA Surround.

Ah the legend has arrived lol!! Been reading your threads with interest. I've included one of your builds so far in my project thread. Take a look at my other posts to see the thread I mean. Would appreciate your input on it if you have some time.

1. Cool, thanks.

2. I'll try dp -> vga and 2 x dvi -> vga, as above, I thought that it wouldn't work. But not going to cost alot to try it out. Cheaper than getting a 6870!!!

3. Awesome, thanks. I'm mainly thinking for if I use the system with a laptop, I would need a gaming laptop and a TH2G. I wasn't sure if I could align well using the TH2G, but I think I read somewhere that you can still identify the different screens in Nthusim even though they appear as one screen to Windows. If I'm using the desktop then Eyefinity is sooo much cheaper than the TH2G, I don't get why it's so expensive, surely it's just taking a big signal and breaking it into smaller bits, my 6850 is doing waayyyy more stuff than that but is half the price!

[BHawthorne]

Ah the legend has arrived lol!! Been reading your threads with interest. I've included one of your builds so far in my project thread. Take a look at my other posts to see the thread I mean. Would appreciate your input on it if you have some time.

1. Cool, thanks.

2. I'll try dp -> vga and 2 x dvi -> vga, as above, I thought that it wouldn't work. But not going to cost alot to try it out. Cheaper than getting a 6870!!!

3. Awesome, thanks. I'm mainly thinking for if I use the system with a laptop, I would need a gaming laptop and a TH2G. I wasn't sure if I could align well using the TH2G, but I think I read somewhere that you can still identify the different screens in Nthusim even though they appear as one screen to Windows. If I'm using the desktop then Eyefinity is sooo much cheaper than the TH2G, I don't get why it's so expensive, surely it's just taking a big signal and breaking it into smaller bits, my 6850 is doing waayyyy more stuff than that but is half the price!

*chuckle* Donno about legend, I just like to help out people and have fun with crazy basement projects.

2. My knowledge on the AMD side is strictly limited to the 6870 and the 5870 E6 cards. The 6950 is hardware I've not had a chance to play with before. It's attractive though because a few of the ASUS ones can do 5x1. Not sure on the standard port out ones, but I believe they were capable of a maximum of 4x1, with 3x1 being typical Eyefinity.

3. Just be mindful that laptop GPUs are somewhat a different animal as far as specs. Be sure it can push the resolution you require. Typically it would be 3072x768, 3840x800 or 5040x1050 for TH2G box depending upon the projectors picked. The TH2G was so expensive because it was a niche product that not many people used when they were developed. When NVIDIA and AMD both got into the triple-screen gaming market that pretty much rained on Matrox's parade where they no longer set the price point for that gaming tech. TH2G is 2005-2007 tech depending upon of it's analog or digital version. At that time Matrox had a monopoly on this type of thing and could name their own price. With the big players ( AMD and NVIDIA) now going at each other in the market, prices have significantly dropped and more casual users can now afford it. It also helps that in the last 5 years both projector and LCD pricing has really gone down. The hidden thing in all of this is projector bulbs need to be thought of as a consumable. Every 4000-5000 hours you need to buy new ones. For me that means about every two years or so with my use. Really depends upon how hard you game, but thinking of it purely at $/hour it turns out to be rather cheap.

[benjimoron]

[quote]
Ah the legend has arrived lol!! Been reading your threads with interest. I've included one of your builds so far in my project thread. Take a look at my other posts to see the thread I mean. Would appreciate your input on it if you have some time.

1. Cool, thanks.

2. I'll try dp -> vga and 2 x dvi -> vga, as above, I thought that it wouldn't work. But not going to cost alot to try it out. Cheaper than getting a 6870!!!

3. Awesome, thanks. I'm mainly thinking for if I use the system with a laptop, I would need a gaming laptop and a TH2G. I wasn't sure if I could align well using the TH2G, but I think I read somewhere that you can still identify the different screens in Nthusim even though they appear as one screen to Windows. If I'm using the desktop then Eyefinity is sooo much cheaper than the TH2G, I don't get why it's so expensive, surely it's just taking a big signal and breaking it into smaller bits, my 6850 is doing waayyyy more stuff than that but is half the price!

*chuckle* Donno about legend, I just like to help out people and have fun with crazy basement projects.

2. My knowledge on the AMD side is strictly limited to the 6870 and the 5870 E6 cards. The 6950 is hardware I've not had a chance to play with before. It's attractive though because a few of the ASUS ones can do 5x1. Not sure on the standard port out ones, but I believe they were capable of a maximum of 4x1, with 3x1 being typical Eyefinity.

3. Just be mindful that laptop GPUs are somewhat a different animal as far as specs. Be sure it can push the resolution you require. Typically it would be 3072x768, 3840x800 or 5040x1050 for TH2G box depending upon the projectors picked. The TH2G was so expensive because it was a niche product that not many people used when they were developed. When NVIDIA and AMD both got into the triple-screen gaming market that pretty much rained on Matrox's parade where they no longer set the price point for that gaming tech. TH2G is 2005-2007 tech depending upon of it's analog or digital version. At that time Matrox had a monopoly on this type of thing and could name their own price. With the big players ( AMD and NVIDIA) now going at each other in the market, prices have significantly dropped and more casual users can now afford it. It also helps that in the last 5 years both projector and LCD pricing has really gone down. The hidden thing in all of this is projector bulbs need to be thought of as a consumable. Every 4000-5000 hours you need to buy new ones. For me that means about every two years or so with my use. Really depends upon how hard you game, but thinking of it purely at $/hour it turns out to be rather cheap.

I've read loads more threads from people saying they can't get vga from one of the dvi's on the 6850 (and presumably the other cards too), this is because one of them is digital only. I'm pretty sure of it. So I would need a 6870 or a card with 2 DP's (or mini DP's) to be able to acheive 3 x vga from one card.

I'm not going to be pushing a large res out of a laptop, they're not really designed for it. I'm just thinking about a future improvement to my project, but not something I'd do yet anyway.

Did you check my thread out??

[BHawthorne]

I don't recall, yesterday was a bit of a crazy day running around. I'll check for the thread in a bit. :)

[benjimoron]

I don't recall, yesterday was a bit of a crazy day running around. I'll check for the thread in a bit. :)

Not alot in there at the moment, but I'll be adding more as time goes on and people come up with more builds. Getting them all in one place and nicely organised!

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=23591

[BHawthorne]

[quote]I don't recall, yesterday was a bit of a crazy day running around. I'll check for the thread in a bit. :)

Not alot in there at the moment, but I'll be adding more as time goes on and people come up with more builds. Getting them all in one place and nicely organised!

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=23591

Ah cool thread. :)

I tend to keep to the Surround subforums and a bit of the S3D subforums only lately.

[benjimoron]

[quote][quote]I don't recall, yesterday was a bit of a crazy day running around. I'll check for the thread in a bit. :)

Not alot in there at the moment, but I'll be adding more as time goes on and people come up with more builds. Getting them all in one place and nicely organised!

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=23591

Ah cool thread. :)

I tend to keep to the Surround subforums and a bit of the S3D subforums only lately.

Cheers, will look better when there's more content.

That's the problem, all these cool builds are spread on different sections/forums etc all over the web. I'd like to be able to see them all in one place to make things easier for everybody.

[benjimoron]

Another noob question coming up...

Is it possible to use something like Nthusim to line up 3 irregular size monitors so that your monitors will line up? ie if I put a 24" monitor in the middle with a couple of 19" monitors by the sides it would look awful right? But if I used Nthusim and reduced the amount of vertical height that the big screen was using would it then look right??

Thanks!

[BHawthorne]

Yes, as long as the resolutions you are pushing to the displays are symmetrical using AMD Eyefinity, Matrox TH2G or NVIDIA Surround. You could then line up where the visuals match up between the displays. At issue is, it would just be cheaper to buy two more 24" than to buy NTHUSIM Plus. NTHUSIM Plus is about $500USD. Makes more sense just to budget for two more 24" LCDs at up to $250 each.

[benjimoron]

Yes, as long as the resolutions you are pushing to the displays are symmetrical using AMD Eyefinity, Matrox TH2G or NVIDIA Surround. You could then line up where the visuals match up between the displays. At issue is, it would just be cheaper to buy two more 24" than to buy NTHUSIM Plus. NTHUSIM Plus is about $500USD. Makes more sense just to budget for two more 24" LCDs at up to $250 each.

Yeah, fair point about the price, but I was looking to get Nthusim plus anyway, or maybe Immersive Display Lite to try it out as it's alot cheaper. Just seemed like a simple way to line up odd screens rather than chuck them away and buy more!

[BHawthorne]

It would be an unorthodox use, but it would work no problem. NTHUSIM Plus is freely downloadable and can be used in time limited demo mode. It's just a minor bit annoying resetting every 10 minutes though.