Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hello everybody,

this seems to be an awesome forum with lots of helpful information, so I figured maybe somebody could help me too.

I need to build an installation with six full-hd projectors merged together into a single display. The problem is, I need the projectors to be arranged in a 6x1 landscape configuration for a cumulative resolution of 11520x1080 pixels (minus 10% for edge blending).
The system will be used to display a web application which will mostly consist of a text, still images (11520x1080) as well as audio and full hd video streams. Since the app will never play more than one fullHD video stream at a time, I assume that a single decent PC should be able to handle the workload.
Now, I could distribute the whole app between multiple PCs, but I would rather not introduce any additional headache syncing between multiple instances. Thus the 6x1 requirement.

If I am not mistaken, Eyefinity 2.0 supports six monitors on some GPUs, namely the W9000
and W600.
[http://www.amd.com/Documents/AMD_FirePro_Digital_Signage_Solutions.pdf]

There are however some points I am not really sure about:

• Is the 6x1 configuration supported as an "extended desktop", i.e. would I be able to run a web browser in fullscreen mode spanning all six projectors? Or does it only support DX9/DX10 applications?
• I have heard several times about a so-called 8K limit for extended desktops in Windows 7, meaning that independent of the number of displays, the cumulative resolution must be in the 8000x8000 bounds. Is that true (also true for Win 8)? Does Eyefinity 2.0 somehow work around that limit?
• I have seen examples of the new Mac Pro driving six displays, however, these were in a 3x2 arrangement. Is there any known limit to the extended desktop in OS X? I have spent quite some time on the phone talking to Apples Service, but they were unable to come up with a definitive answer to that.
  https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.heise.de%2Fnewsticker%2Fmeldung%2FAusprobiert-Sechs-Monitore-am-Mac-Pro-2083221.html&edit-text=&act=url
• Does the D500 GPU in the new Mac Pro support Eyefinity in Bootcamp?
• My projectors have only VGA and HDMI inputs, am I correct, that I can use six (mini)DP to VGA or six active (mini)DP to HDMI adapters to connect them? Is the same true for the Mac Pro?

So basically I am looking at either a Mac Pro with 2xD500 or a PC with a W600 / W9000 GPU. One more alternative would be a Matrox m9188 (8x) with their PowerDesk software. Money does matter to an extent, but stability is even more important.

Is any of these a viable solution? Is there anything else you would suggest?

I would be very grateful for any information, ideas or pointers. Have been researching this topic for weeks now…

Thanks,

Nova

Hi,

I'm more from the Gaming side and don't really know about the professional sector. But as much as i know the 8k Limit was not by Windows but by DirectX10 and only hits in Eyefinity mode (might be wrong there) but DX11 supports 16k.
i also tought most new AMD GPU's support up to 6 Monitors in Extended mode. Only Eyefinity was limited to 5x1 Not sure if 6x1 also works now.

Is the 6x1 configuration supported as an "extended desktop", i.e. would I be able to run a web browser in fullscreen mode spanning all six projectors? Or does it only support DX9/DX10 applications?

Extended mode = you have more 1920x1080 Monitors and you can Maximize a windows onto each Monitor.
SLS (Single Lare Surface) aka AMD Eyefinity an Nvidia Surround = you have more 1920x1080 Monitors Spanned to one big resolution and maximize your window over 5760x1080 pixel.

NovaSoon wrote:If I am not mistaken, Eyefinity 2.0 supports six monitors on some GPUs, namely the W9000
and W600.
[http://www.amd.com/Documents/AMD_FirePro_Digital_Signage_Solutions.pdf]

This is correct, there are also a number of Eyefinity6 GPU's as well as 1in3out DP adpators that allow GPU's with 2 mini/full DP1.2 ports (AMD7xxx and above) then you may connect 6 displays using this method.
http://www.wsgf.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=24334

NovaSoon wrote:There are however some points I am not really sure about:

• Is the 6x1 configuration supported as an "extended desktop", i.e. would I be able to run a web browser in fullscreen mode spanning all six projectors? Or does it only support DX9/DX10 applications?

6x1 is supported in extended desktop mode without enabling Eyefinity SLS technology, this can be achieved by simply installing multiple 2-3 head low powered GPUs, a web broswer running in full screen mode will only maximize to a single monitor while running in extended mode, to run full screen to all 6 displays you would need to create a SLS be this with eyefinity or some other video wall controller.

NovaSoon wrote:

I have heard several times about a so-called 8K limit for extended desktops in Windows 7, meaning that independent of the number of displays, the cumulative resolution must be in the 8000x8000 bounds. Is that true (also true for Win 8)? Does Eyefinity 2.0 somehow work around that limit?

This was a limitation of DX10, as Haldi points points out DX11 supports up to 16kx16k, note this is a limitation of DirectX and not a limitation of Windows 7.

NovaSoon wrote:

I have seen examples of the new Mac Pro driving six displays, however, these were in a 3x2 arrangement. Is there any known limit to the extended desktop in OS X? I have spent quite some time on the phone talking to Apples Service, but they were unable to come up with a definitive answer to that.
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.heise.de%2Fnewsticker%2Fmeldung%2FAusprobiert-Sechs-Monitore-am-Mac-Pro-2083221.html&edit-text=&act=url

I have little experience with Mac's to be able to advise.

NovaSoon wrote:

Does the D500 GPU in the new Mac Pro support Eyefinity in Bootcamp?

The AMD D500 uses the Thati chipset, if I recall correctly, this is the same chipset used in the AMD 7970, R7 280 and R9 290 so in theory it should be able to support Eyefinity modes while in both Mac and Windows, although Windows offers more Eyefinity options.
What I am unsure of however is if there 6 Thunderbolt ports on the rear are connected to the D500 GPU of if just the HDMI output is connected to the GPU and the 6x thunderbolt ports to the Motherboard.
If the thunderbolt ports are connected to the GPU then it should be possible to run a 6x1 eyefinity configuration from this.

NovaSoon wrote:

My projectors have only VGA and HDMI inputs, am I correct, that I can use six (mini)DP to VGA or six active (mini)DP to HDMI adapters to connect them? Is the same true for the Mac Pro?

This is correct, although you may use 2x passive adapters before using active adapters for example 2x passive + 4x active, all vga adapters are considered to be active adapters.
Given that the GPU in the Mac uses the same chipset as that in other known cards I would expect it to be bound by the same limitations.

NovaSoon wrote: Money does matter to an extent, but stability is even more important.

Is any of these a viable solution? Is there anything else you would suggest?

I do wish to know if you require to run the source image at such a hi resolution, that is native to the projectors, would running at a lower resolution at the same aspect ratio and scaling up be acceptable?

If you are ultimately looking for reliability then I would suggest you take a look at the Datapath dL8 controller this is a set and leave bit of hardware, it is extremely robust (I use a dozen of these running 24x7 for 4 years and only 1 has had a failed psu, this being the only fault I have experienced, this is used to power a video wall located at the entrance to an enterprise IT company.)
It can be configured extremely easily via the Video wall designer software and a USB cable

NovaSoon wrote:I would be very grateful for any information, ideas or pointers. Have been researching this topic for weeks now…

Thanks,

Nova

Hope this helps.