I want matrix so what screens do I use?

[GazAce]

Hey good Pilots,

I'm currently using my 55" UHD Samsung TV and yea it's a beautiful picture with nice res and I'm very happy with it but eventually I would like to free up my living room. I'm interested in having 3 screens so I can get nice left and right views from my cockpit but I'm not well versed in this setup and I don't want to be easy prey for some over zealous salesmen. I'm seeing a lot of curved monitors on the market but haven't seen one being used for flight sims. I've seen a 3 monitor setup on utube and it looks great so that's what I'm after. I'm wondering if the curved monitor produces the same effect as 3 monitors or is it possible to mix and match them? If anyone out there has this matrix set up or some tips about this I would be much appreciated. I'm thinking of 32 or 34" screens. And I wonder if any distributor sells them as a matrix set up?

Cheers, G :helpsmilie:

[cichlidfan]

A single curved screen does not come close to the coverage you get from three screens. It only adds about 15% to each side of a standard display of similar height. Three screens will only give you good side views if you use a three camera lua (which renders the view three times) but that will kill your frame rates since the video card is doing three times as much work.

[GazAce]

Thank you and I've heard 3 screens is quite demanding on graphics card but what if graphics or frame rate weren't an issue, what is this 3 cam lua you mentioned?

[GazAce]

Oh I forgot to mention, this is my next PC and I'm sure it would be more than capable of handling 3 screens. I'm really serious about this Hawg thing, I'm totally wrapped and want to enhance my experience in this amazing AC.

MSI AEGIS TI3 I7-7700K 512GB 2TB GTX1080 SLI WIFI DVD-RW VR GAMING PC

• Intel Core i7-7700K Processor (8MB Cache, up to 4.5GHz)

• NVIDIA GeForce GTX1080 8GB 2-Way SLI Graphics

• 32GB RAM, 512GB Solid State Drive, 2TB Hard Drive

• Wireless AC, Bluetooth, USB3.1, Slim DVD Super Multi

• 850W 80PLUS Platium Certified Power Supply

• Windows 10 64bit

[cichlidfan]

The lua files are what you are selecting when you change the 'Monitors' option in Options>System. There is a three camera lua which creates three separate camera views (one for each monitor). Most people use the 1 screen lua and let it stretch across all three screens because the performance hit from three cameras is too great for all but the most powerful systems and even then you will probably have to turn down the eye candy a bit.

 

As for your new build, you are aware that SLI is still not effectively supported in DCS.

 

I can't recommend a good monitor choice as I have decided that a single large 4k display is preferable. Three screens is fine for racing sims where all of the action is in one plane but having a short and wide display for an environment requiring situational awareness in both the horizontal and vertical views makes no sense to me.

Edited May 6, 2017 by cichlidfan

[GazAce]

Hmm you got me thinking now, thank you cichlidfan. I think I may just stay with my 55" Samsung 4K tv and forget about the 3 screen setup. I'm happy with res and settings but that SLI is a concern, why is this so? And does that mean SLI won't run in DCS?

[cichlidfan]

Some people have claimed good results with SLI but most have not found that to be the case. ED had indicated the multi-gpu support would be part of v2.5 (actually v2.0 when they stated it) but I would not spend the money on a second video card now for a feature that may not exist until this time next year, if then.

 

I am running a 40" 4k and and quite happy with it.

[GazAce]

Food for thought, PC wise.. think I'll go the next model down. Thanks cichlidfan, appreciate your help.