Advice needed

[hardcoreA100]

I've been going in circles for the past month basically, trying to figure out what to purchase to replace my aging 19" CRT.

I've decided I might want to go with the Triple head2go by starting to peice together some LCD monitors rather than shelling out 900 bucks for a 23/24 inch lcd that doesn't do very well in image tests and gaming.

Here are my questions to you guys:

1. Only analog inputs with triple head. Why? and is there a future version that will support DVI? Unlikely?

2. Being analog, picture quality is likely to suffer noticable except during gaming. The picture quality is likely to be soft and not as sharp as dvi, am I right?

3. What kind of monitor setup should I be going with? 3 19" or should I purchase a 20 inch widescreen monitor now in hopes it will work with future version and add 2 monitors on the side?

4. Is a thin bezel important? Is that something I should make a priority in my purchase?

I have lots more questions, but I'll start with these. Thx in advance.

[hardcoreA100]

Going to answer my some of my own questions after doing more research:

1. DVI is coming. Matrox started with analog because it is more widely available, but DVI version will be released.... GREAT NEWS!

2. Picture quality will suffer a bit, but DVI version will fix that once available.



What monitors to get now is going to be tough. I'm not buying them all at once, but it would be nice to know what direction to go. Buy a widescreen for the center and then 2 17" for the sides? Or should I stick with 19" for all 3.

Questions, questions...

[Paddy the Wak]

DVI thing sorted ... the answers to your other questions are in the review ... :wink:

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/reviews/matrox-triplehead/surround-p1.php

[JKeefe]

Everyone says DVI is coming. Do we have any proof of that? When I spoke to Matrox about this last month I was told there were no plans for a DVI product at that time. Reasons were cost, lack of dual-link DVI outputs on laptops, and the 400 MHz speed of analog RAMDACs.

#2 is answered in Paddy's review.

3. I would purchase 3 4:3 (or 5:4) monitors, without any being widescreen. Although it would be nice to have the option to use a widescreen center monitor in the future with the TripleHead2Go, I think the prospect of this becoming available is not something you should count on, and three 4:3 or 5:4 monitors will suit you nicely I'm sure.

4. The thinner the bezel the better, but even my giant 21" CRT frames aren't too annoying. Check out my discussion of this here:
http://www.simhq.com/_technology/technology_065l.html

[Tigertrash]

when I spoke with Matrox when I ordered mine last week I was told they are in the process of working on the DVI. Also when I received mine it does state Analog version on the box. So I "ASS U ME" that a DVI version is forthcoming.

[FrankB]

I wouldnt go with a widescreen in the middle, because you wont be able to use it in its native res.
The TH2GO only supports 3x4:3 (or 3x5:4) resolutions...

[JKeefe]

I wouldnt go with a widescreen in the middle, because you wont be able to use it in its native res.
The TH2GO only supports 3x4:3 (or 3x5:4) resolutions...

The hope is that in the future it will also support a widescreen aspect ratio on the center screen. Matrox has said that it is technically possible at some point in the future that the end user could modify the EDID data inside the TripleHead2Go for resolutions and refreshes other that 1920x480 @ 60 Hz, 2400x800 @ 60Hz, 1024x768 @ 75 Hz, and 3840x1024 @ 60 Hz.

Matrox has also said that they aren't working on this right now. I really hope that in the future the end users would gain this capability.

[hardcoreA100]

Yes, that is was I'm hoping for.. Widescreen in middle with 2 monitors on the side... but what size monitor would fit on the side of a 20.1 inch widescreen? 17"?

Would it match perfectly? I doubt it hey?

[FrankB]

well, I think a 19" ws is about the same height as a 17" 4:3 monitor.. not sure tho :?

[JKeefe]

If the 20.1" monitor is 16:10, a 18.5" 4:3 monitor would match, and a 17.8" 5:4 monitor would match.

If the 20.1" monitor is 16:9, a 16.4" 4:3 monitor would match, and a 15.8" 5:4 monitor would match.

Clearly things don't quite line up, but if you were going to do this I would go with a 17" 5:4, as it's not too far off and slight image misalignment doesn't affect the triplehead image too much IMO.