Widescreen / Multi-monitor set up

[Baff1 0]

Or be the UBERLORD and use projectors for bezel free madness!

[bushlurker 45]

or 3x curved screens and a matrox ??? :D

[funnyguy1 0]

Kinda ot, but there's no better topic to ask. Has anyone tried ArmA 2 with 3d Vision yet? I might consider purchasing it just for ArmA 2.

[thales100 10]

Or be the UBERLORD and use projectors for bezel free madness!

:D

or 3x curved screens and a matrox ??? :D

:eek::icon_hm:

Kinda ot, but there's no better topic to ask. Has anyone tried ArmA 2 with 3d Vision yet? I might consider purchasing it just for ArmA 2.

Arma (the original) is rated as having "good" support for 3D Vision, dont know about Arma 2 but should be interesting, youll need a special monitor too, that supports 120Hz.

Edited July 18, 2009 by thales100

[scorpio17523 10]

I dont have the nvidia 3D glasses but I've tried it with the old school red and blue ones. ArmA 2 isn't currently supported but you can still do it. Doesn't work as well but if you want to give it a try you might like it. Yea I'm saving up to get the Samsung 120Hz monitor and the nVidia 3D glasses :P

[atledreier 10]

I tried Arma with eDimensional shutter glasses on a CRT, and it worked fine. Noe reason Arma2 shouln't? Looked cool as heck, but I think I'll go TH2g this time.

[Yapab 10]

I wonder if it would be possible to bring up the Map on the 2nd monitor? This would be so handy for commanding units etc?

[bushlurker 45]

Sadly I doubt thats possible Yapab... that kindof multi monitor usage has to be programmed into the game from the start... I think Microsoft Flight does it, but not Arma...

B

[Yapab 10]

Hmm yeh I guess it would require changes to the engine for dual display output... it was good in Supreme Commander.

Yapa

[Baff1 0]

I tried Arma with eDimensional shutter glasses on a CRT, and it worked fine. Noe reason Arma2 shouln't? Looked cool as heck, but I think I'll go TH2g this time.

I tried ArmA on my VR glasses for the stereovision, but it was not supported either. I keep petitioning them...

I would very much like to be in a forest with stereovision.

[thales100 10]

I think I'll go TH2g this time.

You'll love it. :cool:

[atledreier 10]

Yeah, I ordered it last night. Three 24" BenQ screens and the TH2G unit.. :D

[thales100 10]

Yeah, I ordered it last night. Three 24" BenQ screens and the TH2G unit.. :D

Cool, any tip or help on how to set the triplehead just let me know. :cool:

[atledreier 10]

Sweet, thanks!

I'm going to build a cockpit of sorts as well. I race a lot, and also do flightsims in addition to ARMA2. I know the ergonomics will be a challenge as the best position for driving is quite different from flying and ARMA.

[The Kentucky Kid 0]

Yeah, I ordered it last night. Three 24" BenQ screens and the TH2G unit.. :D

Th2g only supports 3*1680/1050 maximum resolution and the monitors must be able to do 57HZ.

Edited August 5, 2009 by The Kentucky Kid

[thales100 10]

Sweet, thanks!

I'm going to build a cockpit of sorts as well. I race a lot, and also do flightsims in addition to ARMA2. I know the ergonomics will be a challenge as the best position for driving is quite different from flying and ARMA.

Sounds good, hehe flight / race sims on triplehead are nothing but awesome. :cool:

Th2g only supports 3*1680/1050 maximum resolution and the monitors must be able to do 57HZ.

Yes, you can run the 24" at 1680x1050 of course, and there is a list of "known working monitors 5040x1050 57Hz" here :

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14461&start=0

[SFG 1]

Is it possible to use only two monitors? Hmm I guess that would put the aim right in the middle. Maybe not a good idea after all.

[bushlurker 45]

there used to be a "DualHead2Go" for 2 monitors... aim in the middle would be a definite bummer though...

SoftTH isn't fussy about monitor sizes and refresh rates... the downside being, as I said earlier in the thread... you need a nominal second G card plus theres a performance hit...

B

[Trracer 10]

Let's say I'm using SoftTH and have 3 different monitors. Left is 1680x1050, middle (primary) is 1920x1200, right is 1280x1024. How would I configure SoftTH the best way?

[bushlurker 45]

tricky one Trracer - when I said SoftTH was more forgiving about monitors I really meant they don't have to be an exact set of three identical 57hz monitors, or whatever TH2G demands - your main monitor and even a couple of old CRT's would do as side screens - however - both the sidescreens have to be the same resolution, if not exactly the same physical size...

I'd try 1920x1200 native for the middlescreen and say 1280x1024 for your sidescreens...

That should work fine, although it might not look totally pretty on 3 different monitors...

B

Edited August 6, 2009 by Bushlurker

[Trracer 10]

Thanks for your comments, Bushlurker. Another reason why I should replace the aging 4:3 screen to my right. :)

[thales100 10]

Three identical 22" monitors or even 24" will result in a much better surround effect, running matrox or softth.

[bushlurker 45]

Thales100 is right, though there are limits to how far you can take the FOV...

Arma/2 is great - inbuilt triplehead FOV right in the video options - select 12:3 and away you go...

With 3 x widescreens, I feel things get a little "overstretched" by the time you get to the extreme edges of the screen... (an inevitibility given the fact that essentially you're viewing the scene with "one eye")...

SoftTH WILL handle different sized side monitors - like my portrait oriented 4:3 side monitors matched to a 16:10 centre widescreen... However, having mentioned the "performance hit" with softTH theres one other aspect to consider.

"usemultihead=1" - uses the multihead capabilities of your graphics cards to blit screen sections around... SERIOUS speed increase - but ONLY WORKS with 3 x identical monitors... (they don't need to be a special Hz tho)...

I had my 26" widescreen anyway - but there was no way I could afford another two... crying "increased productivity" to my Uni boss got me a pair of 19" 4:3's for under £200, and the portrait orientation IS pretty handy for work, actually... hehe

Undoubtedly, if you have the cash, 3 x identical whatevers IS the way to go... if not - and you're likely to have one decent "main" monitor already, then try to roughly physically match sizes so it looks like a single sweep of screen...

26" widescreen centre and 19" 4:3 portraits match well, as do 24" widescreen and 17" 4:3's...

They don't HAVE to be portrait - a 24" widescreen with 2x landscape cheapo 19" widescreens WILL work fine (with SoftTH anyway), and is a common, if fractionally odd-looking solution...

Also take "bezel size" into consideration... both TH2G and SoftTH have bezel management, but obviously the thinner the bezels on the monitors the better...

(I bought Fujitsu sidemonitors coz the bezels were tiny)...

Theres a lot to consider - and a lot of it will be dictated by budget... Th2G and 3 suitable matching megamonitors is obviously the weapon of choice, but if you can muster just about any 2 additional old monitors and cram an old second graphics card in a spare slot, then you can at least have a go fairly cheaply with SoftTH...

Once you DO have a go, you WON'T wanna go back! It's like the entire time you've played you were actually looking thru blinkers - suddenly you can SEE!

The "whassat movin in the corner of my eye?" peripheral vision factor kicks in... most of the time you're not looking directly at the sidescreens (and softTH therefore allows you to drop the quality slightly on those screens, saving FPS), but any movement there registers INSTANTLY...

Like headtracking, it's hard to describe... you have to try it, then your very first thought will be "OK - I need a pair of monitors NOW!"...

Both TH2G and SoftTH have pretty good websites and forums - plenty of advice on monitor arrangement and setups...

B

Edited August 7, 2009 by Bushlurker

[The Kentucky Kid 0]

There's something about the new matrox firmware in the new boxes (as if in you buy one now) that requires monitors to be able to do 55HZ. Or is that just for the matrox software to "test" them at 55HZ?

Anybody knows the details on this? Can it still be used with monitors that do 57HZ? If not can the firmware be reversed?

[Baff1 0]

It's the bandwidth limit of a standard monitor cable plug mate. The bit that connects to your GFX card.

5040x1050 @57mhz maxes it.

If you were to run 4800x900 or 3840x1024 you could run at a higher/more regular Mhz.

I don't have widescreens so I run at 3840x1024@60mhz

57mhz is an odd value so some monitors don't support it.

GFX cards are coming out with a newer connection cable in their next models. Matrox Th2go is bringing out a new version to support them too. Hopefully the bandwidth will be improved.

A Matrox Triplehead To Go runs off one monitor cable from your GFX card. Hence it's total bandwidth is limited by that one connection. This cable goes into a splitter box and then runs 3 different cables from that box, one to each monitor.

Softhead 2 go, runs 3 cables from 3 different GFX card outputs, one to each monitor directly. Hence it has more bandwidth available to it and is not limited to 5040x1050@57mhz like the current versions of Matrox TH2go are.

Aside from the possible compatability problems with a few specific monitors this is not going to be an issue for you. ArmA and ArmA 2 are not going to run at >57 fps at 5040x1050 resolution. Nowhere near. Not now, and not after any future upgrade either.

Until they atart making games and GFX cards that can run at 5040x1050 at higher than 57 fps, this is a non issue in terms of performance and a only a bugbear to avoid when buying your monitors.

Edited August 7, 2009 by Baff1