Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hi folks,

I have been following the forum with interest for some time now and have been gradually building up my set-up. Firstly let me apologise for the length of this post in advance.

Over the past couple of years I have been building a Simpit. I have built myself a Block 52 F-16 cockpit and have been running a Epson TW1000 projector (1080p) and 100” flat screen. After reading the forum and doing a bit of research I have become inspired to increase the immersive experience of my cockpit.

From the discussions and recommendations from this and the NTHUSIM forums I purchased 2 x BenQ W-1080ST short throw projectors and built myself a curved screen from PVC and MDF. (1.35m radius). I also purchased a Zotac Display Port to Dual HDMI splitter to connect to the display port on my ASUS Nvidia GTX 680. I am running Windows 7 64bit. As a trial I downloaded Immersive Display Pro and NTHUSIM Plus 10 minute trial to get set-up.

As is the norm with changing any new hardware or software, it takes a while to sort out the bugs and to get up and running again. I have had three weeks at it now and don’t seem to be any closer to sorting it out than where I was at the start.

Here is my progress so far:

My system recognises the Zotac adapter as Dual HDMI outputs to the 2 x W-1080ST projectors. Plugged into my GTX 680 display port this configuration loses sync every 5 seconds, searches, finds the projectors on HDMI 1 (on both projectors) and re-synchronises. It then does the same thing every 5 seconds. The screen is effectively blank for 5 seconds out of every 10. I have a Corsair HX-850 power supply and the 2 x 6pin power cables attached so I don’t think it is a power issue. If I connect straight to the display port on the motherboard (ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3) (Intel® HD Graphics 3000) it works just fine with now dropouts at all. I have also tried a number of different HMDI cables of differing lengths with no change. I am currently going through the HD3000 chip set so there is nothing connected to the GTX 680 although I have tried connecting to the 2 x DVI ports and a 3rd connection to a Samsung monitor in order to enable Nvidia 2D surround. In this configuration it includes the 2 x W1080ST’s as well as the monitor and attempts to combine all three displays at the lower 1280 x 1024 resolution but still won’t calibrate.

Running off the motherboard display port, Windows recognises this configuration as a spanned display. In Immersive Display PRO I am able to change the screen alignment, save it, but when I ESC back to my desktop nothing changes at all. (It is still the unwarped windows with the overlap of the two projectors) On the reset of the computer it is still the same and it refers to the .DAT file I have saved for the configuration. I have also tried the auto calibration under the Align TAB and Automap but it still doesn’t change my desktop appearance. I have followed the instructions in the user guide to the letter but I must be doing something fundamentally wrong or it is a hardware issue. I have also looked at the videos on YouTube, but the couple I have seen are from a different version of Immersive Display PRO.

I have also loaded the NTHUSIM Plus trial version and gone through the same configuration process including edge blending with the same result. A non-warped screen with overlapping displays. Because of the same result with NTHUSIM I am beginning to think this is a hardware issue.

My trail for Immersive Display Pro has now expired so I have come to the crossroads of what to do. I have not had a good run configuring either software package and cannot seem to calibrate the desktop warping let alone try it in DSC World or Falcon BMS.

Do I bite the bullet and purchase Immersive Display PRO and because of my calibration issues also purchase Immersive Calibration PRO. From the demos on YouTube it seems to take some of the frustration out of the calibration process or do I purchase some other software?

Any advice or comments appreciated.

Thanks…Wayne

You cloud try email the support of these Programs, tell them your situation, and ask for an extended trial period.
Might help to give you more time.

_________________
We gonna send it to outa space!

Thanks Haldi, Yes I have sent Fly Elise-ng an email explaining the issue. Just awaiting a reply.

Tonight I tried ditching the Zotac adapter and running direct off the Nvidia GTX 680 from the 2 x DVI ports to the projectors and a 3rd connection from the HDMI to a Samsung monitor in order to enable Nvidia 2D surround. As my Immersive Display Pro has expired I tried NTHUSIM Plus trial and tried to configure all three displays at the lower 1280 x 1024 resolution of the monitor but it still won’t calibrate.

Do you know if it is possible to include only the two projectors in the configuration for 2D surround or do you have to have 3 display attached for it to work? It seems if I disconnect the monitor afterwards it still thinks it is connected. I definitely think it is some kind of hardware issue. Maybe I save my pennies for a Matrox Dual Head 2 Go.

Thanks...Wayne