My Idea - And what about yours?

[Anprionsa]

Well, I love my u2410's... BUT I think that this idea is just to good to pass up.

I plan on selling my u2410's for about 450 each on Ebay. That will net me 1350. With that I would buy the P2210H (from dell) for about 200-210 on Ebay, but not just one... 5.

Time for 5x1 mode people. Triple-Wide will not be enough! Ibrin, gonna need a new color award for the 5x1!

So what do you think? Doing this will also net me around 350 in profit. Good no?

Edited: I find myself with some more money than expected AND now am somewhat conflicted. I would like to try PLP but 5x1 sounds cool, I will still go with whatever I decide, but it's cool to know what the community thinks as well.

Specify as well which version of the 3x1, 5x1, or 6x1 you would choose AND WHY.



The 5x1 option seems to have a 24" in the middle? Would that work?

[CY:G]

i havent had the chance to see a setup like that in real life but wouldnt that be too many bezels?

And do games or Eyefinity actually support this?, you will have to play games in Windowed mode until they fix it.

Tall + widescreen at the same time sounds awesome though. i think my main problem would be having bezels so close to the next set of bezels.

But really, ignore my comments as i have yet to see this :P

[Anprionsa]

I know Ibrin is doing it cause I saw his u2410's on ebay :^)

[duniek]

i havent had the chance to see a setup like that in real life but wouldnt that be too many bezels?

And do games or Eyefinity actually support this?

check my sig :wink:

eyefinity not support it but you can make it easy with SoftTH in games (but only single gpu @ dx9)

[Sideeffect]

Good luck. Driver might not be out till June though :doh

Do you really want to go from IPS to TN? I thought those TN panels really sucked in portrait.

[skipclarke]

I know Ibrin is doing it cause I saw his u2410's on ebay :^)

I do. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150434124487#ht_1095wt_993

A few points:
* You do probably want to consider an IPS panel. I didn't see any real issues with the TN panel in landscape. I do see some in portrait. If I was sitting a bit further away from them it would be less. I'm sitting less than 24" at this point (working to fix that). Sitting at 32" - 36" makes a big difference.
* HP just came out with the ZR22w. I am not advocating any particular brand or model, but this is the first 22" 1080p monitor I've seen that is IPS and has DP. Dell has the 2209, but no DP. I haven't seen any reviews of the ZR22w yet, as they've just started shipping. HP has them for $289, not too much more than the Dell panels.
* ATI working on 5x1-P. I know they have a working internal driver. It is currently going through testing. My contact tried to get me a pre-beta build, but they wouldn't release it.

[Anprionsa]

Hmm, didn't consider the TN. Will have to rethink that.

[Hydralisk_X]

Isn't performance going to be an issue?

[Anprionsa]

Ok, so I am going with the HP's that you talked about Ibrin, getting all 5 for about 1350 on Amazon.

And I don't believe I will see a huge performance issue Hydralisk, and besides for games that are more intense I can either scale back or switch to a 3x1 Landscape, having more monitors just gives me more versatility in how I can play and perform!

[Anprionsa]

ALSO!

Question: What type of mount would be best for putting 5 of these in Portrait? I know DoubleJJ has something like that, but I want some versatility as well (IE easy change from taking 3 monitors and going Landscape) Any suggestions?

[suiken_2mieu]

I'm doing 5x1 Portrait with 5 Dell S2309w's, I'm about $260 Away from finishing the setup (Gotta get new stands, a DP->VGA Adapter, and a 5870 Eyefinity 6 [my next purchase])

[skipclarke]

ALSO!

Question: What type of mount would be best for putting 5 of these in Portrait? I know DoubleJJ has something like that, but I want some versatility as well (IE easy change from taking 3 monitors and going Landscape) Any suggestions?

I am working with Ergotech on a WSGF branded mount for 5x1-P. I've been using the first prototype since just after my E6 review. It runs 5x1-P with 22" great. Our SKU will offer a few neat tricks to it with regards to angles between the panels.

I was looking to move to the HP ZR22w so that I could get IPS. I can't sell the 2210's as they were given by ATI. Was working a way to sell my U2410's, and then go to the ZR22w. Was having a tough time with selling them at a price I wanted since Dell keeps putting the new ones at $100 off. Talked with the wife and she said I could just get two more U2410s. So, my goal will be to go 5x1-P with 24" IPS panels.

Will help me test the WSGF Ergotech 5x1-P stand with the heaver and slightly bigger 24" IPS panels anyway.

[skipclarke]

Specify as well which version of the 3x1, 5x1, or 6x1 you would choose AND WHY.

...

The 5x1 option seems to have a 24" in the middle? Would that work?

Go with 5x1-P. A driver is coming. There won't be a driver for for PLP, so you'll be stuck with SoftTH, or Windowed mode and no chance at CrossFireX. I've shown my setup to a number of people (who have no experience with Eyefinity) over the last few days. About half were geeks. Only one person asked about the bezels. I had the Heaven DX10 demo running in Windowed mode across the five. I said they seemed to "fade away." After a few minutes he responded, "You're right."

5x1-L won't work natively due to the 8k pixel limit. I don't like 3x2 because of the center bezel. I find 5x1-P to be the best compromise of aspect, phyiscal size and bezels - and I've tried all variations. I need to post the pics I took of 3x2, 3x1-P and 3x1-L.

[Anprionsa]

That would be great Ibrin! I am pretty solid now on the 5x1. It will be amazing to see a 5x1 setup (and I could always scale back if I needed on the screens. Also, how far off are we on the Mount you think?

[skipclarke]

Couple weeks, maybe. The Ergotech stuff is made so that the different components can easily be swapped in and out. The one piece we're working on now is the length of the center bar. The standard bar for a 3x1 setup was a hair to small to get three screens in the middle. They send me another bar (from one of their other standard offerings), which was a bit longer. It works great, and I've been using for a while.

It's hard to explain through text (and I'm going to try and get a preview video up), but a longer middle bar would allow me to pull the wings in a bit and reduce the width of the stand's "footprint." At this point it's all working perfect. I just want to make it "that much better" to fit more options and environments.

Now that I'm going to work on keeping the 24" panels, I want to work out a bar that is wide enough to fit that option. They are supposed to send me a couple of bars this week that are from another standard offering that are longer than what I have. I've done some measurements and think I know what I need to fit the 24's. They get the bar for the arms in something like 8-10' pieces, so they can cut one to custom length and one-off me one to test.

From there it's just getting it all set up and making sure everything fits. Right now the 22's fit on that "slightly" longer bar with the standard wings. I'm sure the 24's would fit with something a few inches wider, and either the standard or telescoping wings.

I'm not sure how long it will take Ergotech to get everything squared away on their end. I know they will have to do some weight testing. The good thing is that they don't have to fab a completely new kit. It's just a matter of taking their existing Heavy Duty desk stand, swapping out the middle arm piece and adding two more adjustable pivots.

One of the design features of the standard 3x1 stand is that it won't tip if only hang a monitor in the outer positions. With the longer arm, that changes the weight distribution. Ergotech wants to make sure the stand won't tip with the longer arm, and only one monitor installed. If it does have the potential to tip, they would need to make changes to their documentation to include the proper warnings.

I hope all of this makes sense.

[Anprionsa]

Would it be possible to take off the two side monitors and go with a 3x1 if I wanted to do that in landscape? Also will the price increase dramatically? I know that some other types of stand that go from 3x1 to 5x1 are insanely different in their price.

[skipclarke]

Would it be possible to take off the two side monitors and go with a 3x1 if I wanted to do that in landscape? Also will the price increase dramatically? I know that some other types of stand that go from 3x1 to 5x1 are insanely different in their price.

Yes, with the quick release pivots, you can easily remove two monitors. That is another thing I will be testing - to make sure that everything still lines up (i.e., the pivot doesn't hit the "hinge" between the center bar and the wings) and there are no bezel gaps.

I don't know about final pricing, however (these are my thoughts alone, and do not necessarily represent Ergotech)..

I don't think you will see a huge jump. There will be a small loss in the economies of scale for cutting those center bars unique to this SKU. That is stock that will probably have a longer shelf life. But I doubt that would be enough to make a big difference alone. You will need to pay for the two extra pivots and the extra material in the center bar. If we decide that the telescoping wings would need to be standard, that would add to the cost as well.

However, they were saying they would probably start with something like 10 pieces so they could assemble those SKUs and ship as needed. They retain the economies of scale on the rest of the parts (base, pole, pivots) as they are the same across the whole line. Again, a plus from the modular design of the product and the fact you don't have to craft a whole new product that will be an even more unique niche.

[Sservis]

It's great news that you're working on a mount. I look forward to the result as I'm still using the "good enough" solution of original stands.

Can the surface be flush or will I need to tuck the edges behind each other? It's possible to tilt two monitors on the same bar to make the edges mate smoothly, but not three unless they are mounted at different depths. A short center bar with longer arms (2 on each side) would in some ways seem to work better than a long center (3 on the same bar).

Then again, I'm speculating without hardware in front of me. It may work, or a only small sliver of the tiny 5x1 P market segment might prefer things flush. I'm glad you're working with them as I'm confident you'll find a very good solution.

Hopefully you can play some games at some point. First the great 5xxx reviews, now this. I look forward to something just as amazing.

[suiken_2mieu]

5x1 gives you (for one) driver compatibility in the short future, It give you a nice 1920 pixel height and it's still wider than 16x9. No it's not as wide as 3x1, but you get a crisper picture, and more of the users view is taken up. I also like the idea of PLP (I nearly did it a while ago instead of doing 3x1), But the lack of drivers and the need for windowed mode or softTH is too much of a hassle. 3x1 is the entry level surround gaming experience, but I think 5x1P will be the sweet spot for Surround Gamers in the future.

EDIT: Just to touch on 5x1L it's WAY too wide, it's fairly obnoxious (something I'd never thought I'd say).

[skipclarke]

Can the surface be flush or will I need to tuck the edges behind each other? It's possible to tilt two monitors on the same bar to make the edges mate smoothly, but not three unless they are mounted at different depths. A short center bar with longer arms (2 on each side) would in some ways seem to work better than a long center (3 on the same bar).

I thought about the 2-1-2 option for bar placement. However, that would tend to give you a fairly big "V" effect, and the long arms would be unwieldy and have a high risk to throw the unit off balance.

We are working on a kit that will give you two options for the "middle three". I'll look to see if we can "tuck the bezels" to help hide them. However, because the panels are rotated portrait, you have a much narrower width on the horizontal and the angle needed to "tuck" would be pretty harsh.

The two options will allow you to either have the three middle monitors completely flat to each other (and then the outer monitors at and angle to that set), or put a small amount of angle between the middle three (so the angle on the outside monitors doesn't have to be so harsh).

Ergotech has two types of pivots - regular duty and heavy duty. The heavy duty are about an inch shallower that the regular duty. We are set to include one fixed HD for the center, then two HD adjustable pivots and two regular pivots.

If you arrange the pivots as such (on my 5x22"): HD-R-HD-R-HD, the center monitor sits about an inch behind the monitors in the #2 and #4 position. You then angle the 2 & 4 to meet the center monitor, producing an angle of about 12 degrees. I then set my outer monitors with about 25 degrees, giving me an overall angle between the center and outer of around 37 degrees. However, this produces a more gradual parabolic arc that I find pleasing.

If you arrange the pivots as such: R-HD-HD-HD-R, all three middle monitors are completely flat to each other and provide a very large SLS. You can then angle the outer monitors to your liking. You could end up with the same 37 degrees, but the outer monitors would be at a much "stronger" angle.

I also find the smoother arc in option 1 to help offset the issues from the TN panels. That slight 12 degrees takes away much of the wash-out in the #2 & #4 panels.