Requesting tips for One 16:10 with Two 4:3

SloppyApe · Post by **SloppyApe** » 02 Nov 2007, 07:20

Sup guys I'm new to the forum and I searched the history but didn't find anything about this.

I'm a bit limited on desk space. I have a 20.1" widescreen (1680x1050|16:10) LG 204WT LCD monitor with 5ms response time and 2000:1 contrast ratio I bought a year ago.

What I want is to have a 3 monitor setup that leaves my widescreen monitor at a *x1050 so that all my text is completely legable. I would just scrap it and go with 3 19" monitors, but I watch A LOT of shows/movies on my computer and widescreen is where its at for that.

I've found some 4:3 20" 1400x1050 LCDs out there, but they would be a lot taller than my widescreen (about 6" taller!), and the contrast ratio is a crappy 800:1. Not to mention that they would be too big for my desk, heh. Might as well go widescreen if I were to get these.

Am I wanting something that doesnt exist? Before one of u suggest 1 huge monitor, I'd like to say that I'm in need of the multiple desktops, along with gaming.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 02 Nov 2007, 08:40

Am I wanting something that doesnt exist? ...

Hello ... and welcome to the Forum ....... :D

With the TH2g all three monitor use the same resolution.
With SoftTH you can have different resolutions but SoftTH comes with a performance hit.

See this Sticky ... :wink:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10112

Tucson · Post by **Tucson** » 04 Nov 2007, 01:45

I sort of expect Matrox to support this at some point. In the meantime, SoftTH is the only way.

Post by **BHawthorne** » 04 Nov 2007, 02:36

I sort of expect Matrox to support this at some point. In the meantime, SoftTH is the only way.

Not unless they come out with a new box that allows for larger pixel widths and total pixel size, let alone the mix-matching of resolution sizes.

JKeefe · Post by **JKeefe** » 05 Nov 2007, 20:13

What it would require is a TripleHead2Go-type hardware device that allowed user-controlled image divisions. Basically you would need a GUI that allows some of the input parameters that you give to SoftTH, but they would govern how the hardware dices and rotates the image. New hardware would be needed that isn't hardwired to split the image 3 ways equally.

Tucson · Post by **Tucson** » 10 Nov 2007, 21:20

Yeah you can expect surround LCDs probably sooner than matrox to support it.

Magic Man · Post by **Magic Man** » 13 Nov 2007, 21:52

It's something really that I'm suprised nVidia hasn't already jumped on.

There's no real reason why they couldn't do triple head natively on their cards. You have two dual link dvi connectors, each capable of 2560x1600 or, split them into single link and have 4 outputs of up to 1920x1200.

The drivers could allow you to specify where you want the splits and how you want to divide the pixels over each display, i.e. different resolutions for each screen.

slideways666 · Post by **slideways666** » 24 Nov 2007, 12:23

With SoftTH you can have different resolutions but SoftTH comes with a performance hit.

My question is --- how big of a hit?... Are we talking just a little extra cpu work.. Or are we talking really making the cpu chug to keep up?

To me-- if its just a little hit on the cpu-- who cares.. With penylin(whatever they are called) coming up.. and some of the guys running 4ghtz on air with those things-- cpu hits arnt what they used to be...

Any thoughts on that paddy? anyone else?

Right now i just set up my th2g setup -- but the idea of a 1620x1050 and two 1280x1024s on the sides sounds really nice... or maybe even 3x1620x1050 and just ditch the 19s...

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 24 Nov 2007, 13:27

Dunno how much of a hit but why not try it and compare it to your TH2G ?

slideways666 · Post by **slideways666** » 25 Nov 2007, 10:43

Looks like I'm going to have to .... I was just curious before i jumped in.. I dont have a 2nd video card and before i went through the hassle of getting one just to try softTH i thought i would ask to see if anyone has and real world experience--- and able to inform the hit you take with softTH...

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 25 Nov 2007, 13:12

mbeede did some testing ... look here ...

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/7391

:D

Post by **Downtown1** » 26 Nov 2007, 07:50

This would be great if it was possible, I'm really interested in replacing my middle monitor with a widescreen.

JKeefe · Post by **JKeefe** » 26 Nov 2007, 17:46

[quote] With SoftTH you can have different resolutions but SoftTH comes with a performance hit.

My question is --- how big of a hit?... Are we talking just a little extra cpu work.. Or are we talking really making the cpu chug to keep up?

To me-- if its just a little hit on the cpu-- who cares.. With penylin(whatever they are called) coming up.. and some of the guys running 4ghtz on air with those things-- cpu hits arnt what they used to be...

Any thoughts on that paddy? anyone else?It's not a CPU hit at all. It's a GPU hit, and a hit across the PCI-Express bus as large amounts of graphical data get transferred from the rendering card to the card with the tertiary output, while the frame buffers stay synced. The hit is the overhead in using two cards to display what is really a single image. GPUs in SLI are directly linked and their is no frame buffer to sync, which is why they performs this task better (plus of course there are two GPUs rendering one scene).

Richy · Post by **Richy** » 30 Nov 2007, 00:04

hey buddy,

I actually do exactly what you are proposing to do;
I have a 20" w/s centre monitor with a 17" on either side. I actually have my monitors wall mounted on double arm brackets, which mean they can be moved all over the place.

To overcome the resolution problems I do the following:

Most of the time I have all 3 monitors connected to 2 graphics cards via DVI cable. the graphics cards are currently a 7800gtx and 7600gs. It stays in this mode whilst i'm working/browsing etc.

When i want to crack into a game, I use ultramon to change display profile so that these 3 dvi outputs are disabled, and the 2nd output on my faster card outputs via vga to the triplehead, and all screens change input. I've set up my middle screen so that when it has a vga input of 1280x1024 it doesn't stretch it out, and I then pull my side screens to cover the black gaps on the side.

I can't think of a better set up for myself, and if you want photos I'm happy to dig around for my digicam

Tucson · Post by **Tucson** » 30 Nov 2007, 02:52

Yeah, richy, bust out the photos. And you need atleast two for your little transformer you've got there.

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