Mulit Monitor

[G3]

Also very interesting in this context.

 

Matrox TripleHead2Go Technology:

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/offhome/th2go/gaming/lockon.cfm

this device looks to have the potential to really get 3 monitors working with little or no fuss, the pc sees the box as a single very wide res monitor and then does all the splitting up for you.

windows and your games are non the wiser, selecting the desired resolution and a simple change to the aspect ratio in a config file should be all thats required. (we know lockon likes to change it back to default )

one exiting bonus from 3 screens driven fron a single pc is that

trackir will work across all three in sync, oh yes that will be pretty to watch.

i would think due to the large res of say 3840x1024 ( 3x 19" ) it may put some extra strain on the videocard, but as we know, in lockon this is not the bottle neck, and who cares, your videocard is probably getting old anyway :)

 

as some of you already know,

i have been playing around with 3 monitors, with the same idea as Bflagg has in mind.

 

with some degree of success, but ultimately failed.

this is a shot of the desired result i achieved messing with view angles.

 

3x 19" 1280x1024 which equates to 3840x1024 with an aspect ratio of 3.75 to suit.

 

i tried it across 3 pc's via lan in multiplayer, also tried it with a 6800 ultra agp dual dvi output and a fx5200 pci card to provide the 3rd output.

 

running in spanned mode on 2 monitors was obviously a no brainer but view was split in the middle, which renders it useless.

 

the lan idea works on other games, basically spectating the middle screen player and looking to the left and right.

 

unfortunately i was unable to get into the cockpit view of another players aircraft and this is where my testing came to a halt, even in other views the lag i saw on the side views updating was somewhat discouraging.

 

at present i am in discussion with the good people at matrox to get a confirmation of what cards can deliver the big resolutions, as it seems the specs may be limited to the dual output max res, yet the cards may be capable of exceeding those figures.

 

its very exiting and i anxiously await the answers to my questions which i will share along with screen shots as soon as one of these boxes lands on my desk...

[bflagg]

When I posted this thread year back or so.. the matrox dodad thinggymabob wasn't out...

 

But I do have a concern at what vid card can operate at the 3840x1024 resolution and maintain good FPS in a flight sim.

My 1800XT is can easily do this resoltion in 2d mode.. but 3d? Dunno... and what performance hit can be expected....?

 

It would be great to know how you make out with this...

[Groove]

i have a Radeon X1800 XT 512 MB too. Using two screens i got decent fps without any stuttering or else...

[Joe]

A review of the Matrox TripleHead2Go, using Lock On, will be available at SimHQ in the coming weeks.

 

However, I am having serious problems getting this thing to work right with Lock On 1.12a, specifically with aspect ratios and view zoom angles. If anyone has triple monitor experience with Lock On, I would appreciate it if they can get in touch with me so that I can make this review as good as possible. I don't read this forum much but I will be keeping an eye on this thread. Thanks.

[Groove]

What problem do you have with the aspect ratio ?

[Joe]

I am seeing some serious squishing of the image in the vertical. Despite the fact that the resolution is set to 3072x768 (and confirmed 1024x768 on all three monitor OSDs), it appears as if the image is being stretched in the horizontal so that everything is squished in the vertical.

 

I'd show you pictures... but I can't.

[Groove]

Which Graphic Card do you use ?

 

Try the following in the graphic config in your lockon config folder:

 

   resolution = {3072, 768};
   bpp = 32;
   fullscreen = 1;
   aspect = 4.000;
   Interface
   {
       resolution = {3072, 768};
       bpp = 32;
       fullscreen = 1;
       aspect = 4.000;
   }
   Simulation
   {
       resolution = {3072, 768};
       bpp = 32;
       fullscreen = 1;
       aspect = 4.000;

 

So try like this :

 

change the cfg as i wrote above, than turn on your multimonitor support and then fire up lomac. the menu will be stretched too to all 3 Monitors...

[G3]

yes that should sort it out, good one groove.

as for turning it on i think its always on and if you want to play a single screen game it just goes to the middle screen at normal resolution.

 

and Joe, don't forget that once you modify the config file to then leave the in game graphics options well alone or it will revert back to the original aspect ratio i believe.

 

also you might try turning off the full screen option, seem to recall this may help with the menu stretch.

also in that config, you might want to first try just editing the 'simulator' values rather than all of them.

 

hey joe, please keep us posted and i for one will definately be checking out the up coming review with great anticipation and am sure anyone here will be more than happy to give any help we can.

many like minded people will be greatful to see some results before considering purchasing one of these little beauties.

 

as for the question as to what cards will support lockon with th2go, if spanning 2 screens from the ultra is any indication, i suffered very little performance loss going from a single monitor to running two from the 6800 ultra.

but yes three will be interesting to say the least.

something like trying to run one of those fancy big new dell lcd's.

 

hell i will gladly turn some candy off to get it running smooth :) the added periphial real estate will more than compensate...

and the good thing is future hardware won't care either, its just a monitor.

 

a slightly off topic question, you may wish to explore in your review is the allowance of the bezel edges between the screens, even thin 1/2" bezels like the lg L1950sq give you approximately an inch between screens once butted together and so far none of the solutions i have seen allow for this gap, let alone allow the user to adjust the display to hide the equivalent picture area that would normally be behind the bezel, from what i have seen the picture stops on one screen and continues on the next, look at the matrox th2go examples to see what i mean, for example diagonal lines do not line up between screens and basically this looks wrong.

currently to overcome this i adjust the monitors picture position so that i loose an inch of image at the two outer edges of the triple displays setup.

it would be a real bonus if the positioning was adjustable but breath should not be held in this case as i see several obsticles in achieving this, time will tell.

 

now, getting back to what groove was saying, heres some examples of single screen lockon with modified aspect ratios.

 

 

 

hope this helps a little.

 

Joe as a personal request, would you be kind enough to try this out with the th2go at the resolution of 3840x1024 with an aspect ratio of 3.75, ideal figure for 3x 19" (apparently only @ 60hz? )

as i think this will be the decider for me, if it can do that res count me in....

thankyou in advance, G3.

 

ps: did you catch what i was saying about the bezel edge issue?

[Joe]

ggg87,

 

Read you loud and clear on all points. I'd love to start a dialogue regarding all of these right now, but I'm sure you understand I'm under NDA and can't do that. Rest assured though that you have put some very good ideas in my head and I will be experimenting with them and reporting on them in my review. If you or anyone else wants to keep throwing them at me, please do so. After the NDA is lifted and the review published, I will be back to talk your head off.

 

I have a 6800GT. I will try your config suggestions and report back.

[Joe]

Ok, I tried those config settings. These give me the proper aspect ratio when in flight, but I am still having big problems with my view zoom. Despite the fact that my view.lua file says CameraViewAngleLimits[PlaneIndex.iSu_39] = {2.0, 120.0}, I can only zoom out so that the HUD combining glass fills my center monitor; I should be able to zoom out much further than that.

 

If I increase the max angle to rididculou numbers (180 or above), the max zoom out does not change and it just makes Lock On unstable.

[Groove]

If i would post a screenshot of your zoom problem maybe we could help you further. Glad we could help you on the aspect ratio !

 

ggg87 how can i get this aspect ratio:

 

[G3]

groove,

from memory, i did nothing more than use the full verticle resolution and then and devide the horizontal by 2 or 3 screens worth.

 

so if the monitor by default is 1280x1024

 

i used the 1024 vertical, and then just divided the horizontal by a factor of 2

 

something like 640x1024 aspect 0.625, yes that rings a bell.

 

i think its also imperative to set the fullscreen option to = 0

 

if it doesnt work for you let me know and i will set it up again myself.

you can also do this with 2 monitors in vertical span mode, its all in the aspect ratio, but i know you know that :)

 

joe,

i seem to recall to get the disired result in the f-15 i had to basically zoom fully out and this would provide the normal looking size view, i never did get any futher on the matter, sorry i cannot advise you more on this issue.

 

i am glad to hear you understand my previous points, and i will gladly have you talk my head off about it anytime, i have one head ready to be talked off :) as soon as the nda is over.

and i am open to some in house testing here if required :P, i wish, hehe.

 

overcoming the gap issue of the bezels and making the view appear to flow will be a great feature if it can be implemented, did i mention i am looking forward to this product :)

[G3]

I have no problems with SA........ :p

 

 

Nate

at work i failed to see what you were saying as the images in the posts do not appear, now i see exactly what you mean, looks like a sweet setup.

i seem to be turning a little green with envy :)

[Groove]

groove,

from memory, i did nothing more than use the full verticle resolution and then and devide the horizontal by 2 or 3 screens worth.

 

so if the monitor by default is 1280x1024

 

i used the 1024 vertical, and then just divided the horizontal by a factor of 2

 

something like 640x1024 aspect 0.625, yes that rings a bell.

 

i think its also imperative to set the fullscreen option to = 0

 

if it doesnt work for you let me know and i will set it up again myself.

you can also do this with 2 monitors in vertical span mode, its all in the aspect ratio, but i know you know that :)

 

joe,

i seem to recall to get the disired result in the f-15 i had to basically zoom fully out and this would provide the normal looking size view, i never did get any futher on the matter, sorry i cannot advise you more on this issue.

 

i am glad to hear you understand my previous points, and i will gladly have you talk my head off about it anytime, i have one head ready to be talked off :) as soon as the nda is over.

and i am open to some in house testing here if required :P, i wish, hehe.

 

overcoming the gap issue of the bezels and making the view appear to flow will be a great feature if it can be implemented, did i mention i am looking forward to this product :)

 

thx for info ggg

 

but i couldnt set my aspect ratio BELOW 1.0 in the graphic settings without making lock-on crashin immerdiately on startup.

 

Where is my error ? :D

[Joe]

If i would post a screenshot of your zoom problem maybe we could help you further. Glad we could help you on the aspect ratio !

Sorry, no can do until the NDA is lifted...

 

You guys have been very helpful so far, though. I think, since I am almost there, that I will continue this dicussion with the technical people at Matrox and see what they have to say.

[G3]

joe,

look foward to the review, best of luck and thanks for giving this product a run thru with lockon.

 

groove,

these may seem obvious but its offen something simple.

if i recall we were having trouble with this before, never solved it hey.

when attenpting the 0.625 are u including the 0 bfore the decimal point ?

are you setting the fullscreen to 0 in the config or in the game options?

what vid card and drivers, do you already have it spanned vertically in the driver?

 

is you ctd as you start the game or or as you try to fly?

 

i know it works, i had troubles with the game crashing to desktop and not even getting the yellow ended loading egg timer but i am fairly sure this was resolved thru setting the fullscreen option to 0 in the config.

 

once again if you have no joy i will be happy to set it up myself again and give a step by step in need be.

 

i want to help you get it going as much as you do, no use having that other monitor sitting around gathering dust...

[G3]

hey Groove, any luck

 

Groove,

how did you go with the vertical screen stack?

[Joe]

TripleHead2Go review now available

 

Here you go, guys.

http://www.simhq.com/_technology/technology_065a.html

[Groove]

@ggg87 i hadnt found anytime to test it out yet. easter and so on :)

 

@ Joe, wow i can see my "hint" to you in the review. Im proud :) Excellent article btw !

[Joe]

Thanks. Now that I can show you, here is my max view zoom out:

 

I've gotten some suggestions here about how to potentially fix them, but I'd like to here anything else you have. Lock On is not flyable like this; you can't see anything. If I can get this working, man would it be cool...

[G3]

great work joe, you have done a fine job of giving this product a good going over.

agree with groove, tis nice to get a mention.

upon release one of these units is as good as on my desk, that is now confirmed.

 

those lockon pics are somewhat pretty you'd have to agree.

as mentioned in the review, be ready to drop settings and resolutions to make it run nice,

that said you can keep the little box for years to come.

with ongoing video performance improvements every six months this will only get better,

its a bright future for th2go.

 

those gpl shots look good, everyone seems to mention the increased sensation of speed in the car sims, i hope this stays true to lockon also, i believe it will.

its certainly the case with nascar2003season, opponents also become visible at your rear guard, not your bonnet, and things just seem to zoom by, oh yeah :)

 

some nascar2003 pics would have been nice but i saw it as being supported in the sg software

so no worries there, good stuff. :)

 

xmas comes early this year.........

[Joe]

those lockon pics are somewhat pretty

An understatement, to be sure. Did you see the full-size (3072x768) shots?

 

 

Sorry, no Nascar2003 because I don't own it. :)

[G3]

yes i saw the full size shots, pretty exiting, imaging the black shark on all 3.

 

no big deal about the nascar, i have it set up in a lan with 3 pc's, one each screen, its such a chore to setup every race, this box will be a god sent.

 

unfortunate your screens were not all the same as the effect is much more impressive when they are matched, not to worry.

 

unable to help with the zoom out issue, is this on all planes that you tried?

 

and any inside info on a release, i read april, and thats nearly over :)

[Joe]

I checked the view zoom in-cockpit in the Su-25T and the F-15. They both behaved the same.

 

From feedback elsewhere I have learned that LOMAC 1.02 exhibited this same limited zoom with a Parhelia. This is contrary to what Matrox told me, but if so it appears that the issue may be persistent and will be harder to fix. Once I gather enough information I will start a new thread with the intent of bringing it to ED's attention in an organized manner.

 

 

All I know about release is that I was told the product should be available at the end of April.

[G3]

sounds good joe, it would be nice to get this zoom issue sorted.

lets hope its relatively simple to resolve.

 

i mentioned trying different planes as i had read somewhere that the new su-25 had some zoom issues, can't remember what exactly, someone else might recall the details. i thought that may have been a factor in the equation.

 

look forward to more.