Widescreen Gaming Forum

So as a some of you have probably seen, I'm experimenting with setting up 6 headed display using two TH2G units...

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/9481

I'd like some recommendations on monitors...
Specifically I think I'd prefer to stick with 6 x 1680x1050 monitors, though is someone has a compelling argument for 6 x 1280x1024, I'm game.

I'll most likely be replacing all the monitors I have to do this...
right now I'm using 3 different 22" 1680x1050s and 3 different 19" 1280x1024s.

I'll consider different monitor sizes 19"/20"/21.6"/22"...
I'm not sure that a 19" 1680x1050 is big enough... I saw one at Costco and it seemed tiny to me... any opinions?


I'm thinking of doing 2 rows of 3 stacked vertically....
1680x1050 - 1680x1050 - 1680x1050
1680x1050 - 1680x1050 - 1680x1050

using an nvidia card set to vertical mirror.

Right now I only have an 8800GT but it seems to work "ok" in some basic LOTRO testing at 3840x2048. I'm also open to suggestions for new video cards. I'm willing to upgrade if someone can help me justify the cost (keep in mind I also have to buy 6 monitors and the mounting hardware).

So the questions:
1) What monitors do you recommend and why?
2) How would you mount this setup?
3) What video card(s) would you use

Some of my concerns:
* Monitor bezels both sides and top/bottom

* must support 57hz @ 1680x1050 (unless it's 1280x1024) without being annoying

* I'd prefer to have at least DVI and VGA (multiple inputs is a bonus) as I'll use some of them with a matrix KVM also.

* I'd prefer control over whether the monitor autosenses it's input or not (I have one monitor right now that senses no signal on DVI when the TH2G switches resolutions, so it flips over to the KVM that's on VGA... really annoying as I have to go manually switch it back)

* COST ... I'm not made of money, I'll probably have to sell my other monitors to get this rig up.

* I am somewhat space constrained.

Thoughts?

whoa sick Oo

well i dont think that you could run any game with a 10.584000pixel screen setup because dx10 is limited to 8.192000pixel, so you will be forced to reduce the resolution of your screens to 1440x900

becuase of that i would prefer to use 5:4 screens with 1280x1024 which would be 7.864320pixel

anyways for widescreen monitors i would choose these "HannsG HI221DP" its quite cheap but rather good

22", 0,28 mm x 0,28 mm, 5 ms (b/w/b), 1000 : 1, 300 cd/m², 1 x VGA, 1 x DVI-D, (on of the inputs with 1 x mit HDCP), 1 x 3,5 mm Audio, small Bezel,

and i think they run @57hz

price(in germany - shop alternate.de) : 169€
http://www.alternate.de/html/product/TFT-Monitore_22_Zoll/HannsG/HI221DP/226767/?tn=HARDWARE&l1=Monitore&l2=22+Zoll


well there are some stands from ergotron which can mount 4 monitors 2x2
but maybe use 2 ds100 triplemounts and 2 wallmounts http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/index.php/Ergotron_Neo-Flex_HD_%26_DS100_Triple-Monitor_Stand_%28Featured_Review%29


for what ive seen in the benchmarks i would go for nVidia gfxcards like 2x9800 gx2 (because of the widescreen support)
but with 5:4 screens maybe the new ATI 4870x2 is the better choice (no widescreen resolution support yet)

Playing devil's advocate, you realise a 2x3 monitor array won't give you much of an enhanced field of vision over a standard widescreen, merely an increased pixel density? Further, for the price of 6 cheap screens you could have a single large widescreen, say a 40-46" 1080p HDTV or HD projector. I assume I'm patronising you with those comments, but it's worth checking you know what you're in for.

I'm messing around with the idea of 2x3 screens myself, but it's a bit of a logistical nightmare getting the higher row of screens mounted, especially if your desk is infront of the window like mine. I'd be just using the 17" screens left over from before I went to 21.6"ers, and 2 graphics cards instead of a 2nd triplehead2go (so that probably precludes gaming in that configuration).

Playing devil's advocate, you realise a 2x3 monitor array won't give you much of an enhanced field of vision over a standard widescreen, merely an increased pixel density? Further, for the price of 6 cheap screens you could have a single large widescreen, say a 40-46" 1080p HDTV or HD projector. I assume I'm patronising you with those comments, but it's worth checking you know what you're in for.

Yup, I know, I already own a 47" 1080p set. But there's times I'll also want to use the monitors for other things, and I do more then just game. So I can use the other pixels for other things.

Now for gaming specifically... shouldn't a game thats both vert+ and hor+ be ideal for a 2x3 matrix of monitors? Especially if you can either pull the camera back a bit, or better yet change the viewpoint (ie, put the camera higher for more of an overhead view or closer to the ground.)

Heck, i'm still learning some of this stuff and deciding as I go (basically I just realized I had a ton of monitors and hardware, so I figured I'd try out some new stuff) ... I have to think about it, what would the aspect ratio be for ( I think my math is right, but double check it):


I'm still trying to wrap my head around what that actually means for my FOV and in generally what I see when I'm in a game (vs using the pixels to display a lot of data/edit photos/and other tasks)... maybe it makes sense to try to create some more sample images for these more exotic resolutions?

Worst case, more pixels means more detail, right? (assuming the hardware can handle rendering it)

I'm messing around with the idea of 2x3 screens myself, but it's a bit of a logistical nightmare getting the higher row of screens mounted, especially if your desk is infront of the window like mine. I'd be just using the 17" screens left over from before I went to 21.6"ers, and 2 graphics cards instead of a 2nd triplehead2go (so that probably precludes gaming in that configuration).

I've got a similar problem, but I also realized ,I don't use the windows anyway (there's a ton of monitors and other stuff in front of them), so i'm thinking about just mounting 2 of those three monitor arms on a sheet of plywood and mounting it over the windows. (or I may just rotate my desk 90 degrees and use the other wall that has nothing on it to mount them all.) But I'm still looking for other/creative suggestions.

Well I have a setup similar to this (but only one TH2G) but with 8 screens 3 top 5 bottom. No special mounting is used, they are CRT and stacked on top of each other using Duplo and plywood. For LCD a more intricate setup is needed. you could go to a company like Donz, I have seen their setups and they know wht they re doing, and not too expensive either. If you are on aa budget the I suggest making your own.

For that you should use some 2X4 wood, wood screws and these the should be able to handle 22in widescreens.

Finally I want you to note two things about 16:10 vs 5:4 screens, your games should run in either re setup but you should have more luck with the latter. Second there re 5:4 LCDs designed for multi monitor arrays (all four sides of the bezel re the same thickness even the bottom with th controls on it.but I don't know if that is the same for 16:10. This problem could be aliviated by inverting the top row and using the nvidia drivers or the irotate application to do the same.

Your math looks fine. I'll hasten to point out I'm currently on 48:10 and it fills my vision (horizontally). Further, whilst games are single frustum rendered the barrel distortion makes any wider seem pointless. I'd go for a second row before I started making it wider.

I think a fundamental issue with 2 rows is that it is somewhat akin to having 2 screens side-by-side...the logical centre of your focus becomes a bezel. For a single row of screens the correct height for decent ergonomics is the top bezel at eye-height (according to HP anyway), which means with 2 rows you'll be accepting bad ergonomics either when using both rows or just one row. For something like a 3rd person game if you can't tilt the camera as you describe to centre the character on the bottom-middle screen then the horizontal bezel between the screens could be a real problem. Likewise anything first person, the area of action is the most compromised area in all the screen real-estate. The lack of vertical bezel management would peeve me also.

I guess the conclusion is what you really need is 3x3 screens!! :P

I guess the conclusion is what you really need is 3x3 screens!! :P

For absolutely no change in aspect Ratio? Why not 3X9? Could be done with softTH?

[quote]I guess the conclusion is what you really need is 3x3 screens!! :P

For absolutely no change in aspect Ratio? Why not 3X9? Could be done with softTH?

Yeah, 3x3 holds no change in aspect ratio, but then again 3x5:2x4 is only 15:8 which is approximately standard widescreen anyhow. I was kidding somewhat, though the additional pixel density does seem to be what tivotechie is striving for here.

I know very little of softTH I'm afraid.

If you are on aa budget the I suggest making your own.

For that you should use some 2X4 wood, wood screws and these the should be able to handle 22in widescreens.

Yes, I was thinking something along those lines would work too. I'd probably want to angle the right and left monitors a bit. I'm definitely leaning toward something home built, maybe a sheet of plywood with some hinges and some 2x4s to set a small frame off the wall that I could swing out to get at cables and mount things like the TH2G and maybe some Ethernet controlled power switches and KVMs.

Finally I want you to note two things about 16:10 vs 5:4 screens, your games should run in either re setup but you should have more luck with the latter.

Do you mean 3x5:4 seems more supported by the games (15:4)? I'm willing to be on the bleeding edge a bit since mostly I've been playing LOTRO which seems to support it fine and i'd guess newer games "should" have less issues... but honestly, I've only had the TH2G setup for 3 days... so I'm still learning.

Second there re 5:4 LCDs designed for multi monitor arrays (all four sides of the bezel re the same thickness even the bottom with the controls on it.but I don't know if that is the same for 16:10.

Agreed, i've definitely seen that, but there do seem to be smaller bezel 16:10 monitors with the same size bezel all around... this one might have worked if it didn't have the built in camera... (ASUS VK222H)...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?nm_mc=AFC-SlickDeals&cm_mmc=AFC-SlickDeals-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&Item=N82E16824236043

(any opinion on that monitor btw?)

This problem could be aliviated by inverting the top row and using the nvidia drivers or the irotate application to do the same.

I'm not sure that would work in this case... to get games to recognize the larger resolutions, I needed to configure the 8800GT with vertical spanning... which makes windows only see one monitor... do the nvidia drivers support flipping one of the video ports and not the other while in vertical (or horizontal) span?

Hmm I don't know, they should. Perhaps I will get the chance to test that later today or another member?