dual head question

[crayfish]

I'm thinking about having a dual monitor setup for my PC now but I was wondering about the Marvel G400 TV's dual head capabilities.

Matrox.com says you can have dual head with either:

RGB monitor and TV
RGB monitor and digi flat panel
Analogue flat panel and digi flat panel
Analogue flat panel and TV

What I require from the Marvel G400 is 2 RGB monitors.

Is this possible?

[Dr Mordrid]

Nope.

To get another VGA you could install another PCI display. I'd recommend the G450 PCI. That would give you the potential for 3 VGA's and the Marvels analog out.

Dr. Mordrid

[crayfish]

dual head

I read an article on microsoft.com about Win98's dual head support and only a few cards were suitable for the secondary display. Matrox cards were not in this list.

My requirement is a 21 inch RGB monitor primarily for more resolution when I'm using Photoshop but the size difference is obviously better for TV/DVD viewing and capture. I'd then use the secondary display for all the crappy windows that get in the way of the main photoshop window.

So you reckon it has a good chance of working more or less straight away? It's quite an expensive test if it deosn't!

[Dr Mordrid]

Win98 or Win98SE? It matters. Also; not everything is on Microcraps website.

Dr. Mordrid

[crayfish]

dual head

I'm using Win98 SE.

The G450 seems a little overkill to me. All I need is the ability to have a second display. Somewhere to keep random stuff such as having Outlook express permanently open ect. Nothing flashy is required coz I don't use this machine for games.

Thanks for the replies even though this seems no longer Matrox related : )

[morse]

RE: dual head question

I have been a multi-monitor advocate, and user, for many years, on many different setups. Windows 98SE, NT4, 2000, XP and Linux will support up to nine plus video cards and monitors. I have never had any problem, using any PCI card, for multi-monitor setups. I have used 2 MB video cards many times. Even a 1/2 meg ISA card will work. The the lower the chip speed, and the less installed video RAM the card has, the more limiting it will be with resolutions, colors and refresh rates...just like with a single monitor setup.

RAMDAC = Random Access Memory Digital Analog Converter , is measured in megahertz, and is the speed that the graphics chip can convert the computers digital video signal to the analog signal.

A 60 MHz RAMDAC video card with 2 megs of RAM will be fine for 15 inch monitors 800 X 600 32 bit colors at 85Hz

A 100 MHz RAMDAC video card with 4 megs of RAM will be fine for 17 inch monitors 1024 X 768 32 bit colors at 85Hz

A 200 MHz RAMDAC video card with 8 megs of RAM will be fine for 19 inch monitors 1280 X 1024 32 bit colors at 85Hz

When you start working with 21 and 22 inch monitors at 1600 X 1200 32 bit color at 85Hz you really need video cards with 16 megs or RAM and 350 MHz RAMDAC. A Matrox G200 PCI with 16 megs of RAM will max out at 1600 X 1200 32 bit color at 75 Hz. And it runs kind of slow at that resolution.

Right now I am using a G450eTV Marvel 32 meg Dual head on a very high end 22 inch monitor and a Matrox PCI G200 16 megs on a second average 21 inch monitor. I started out using just a G450 millennium dual head on two 17 inch monitors. For this purpose the G450 is the same card as the G550. The G550 just adds some kind of "video conferencing " support, that I don't think anybody uses.

With just the G450 dual head, when your computer POSTs, and boots, both displays will show the identical post and boot screens.
Using two cards only the primary display will show the POST and boot screens.

Once on the desktop, the G450 will drive two 17 inch monitors at 1028 X 768 32bit color at 85 Hz no problems. A single dual head will allocate out video memory and chip Mhz as required. On 21 inch monitors at 1600 X 1200 the refresh rate drops to 75 Hz and when running a really intensive graphic type program....like say the XP Serenity screen saver....you will notice a performance degradation when using the G450 dual head. But with 17 inch monitors at a lower resolution it works great.

When using two separate video cards, the second head on the G450 Millennium can either be used for an additional SVGA monitor, or for TV out, and or special DVD features, on your primary monitor.

Using Matrox Powerdesk and two separate video cards, you also have the advantage of being able to use the Powerdesk utilities separately. For example, with a single dual head...when you hot key the Zoom feature both monitors will Zoom. But on a two card system only the monitor where the cursor is located will Zoom. This is not a big deal for most people. I rarely run into anybody who uses a lot of the Matrox power tools the way I do, ... but I prefer this approach.

From my perspective, what it comes down to is that with two Matrox cards in the G450 caliber, you will have the advantage of supporting bigger monitors at higher resolutions without any kind of performance hit, like you would have with a single G450 dual head.... and you will be able to use some of the PowerDesk utilities differently, and in my experience, for the better. Note, to fully take advantage of the Matrox PowerDesk tools, on all monitors, you need to be using all Matrox Video cards.

However, with 17 inch monitors ( and probably a 19s although I haven't tried this...ask in the Matrox support forums) The G550 and G450 work great all by themselves. But when you get up in the 21 inch monitions using a G450 you will probably want two cards if you desire higher resolutions with 85Hz refresh rates.

Or you can use the new Matrox Parhelia which has a much faster chip, 64 to 128 megs of RAM, and supports 3 monitors. From what I have read it easily handles large monitors at very high resolutions and refresh rates. It also has it's own special tools.

As has been widely discussed in this forum, Matrox has been falling behind the curve in the last few years. I would also take a good long look at the high end Nvidia G4s that support Dual monitors. While Parhelia may have the top end G4s beat in 2D,... when it comes to 3D, Matrox isn't even in the ball game

m

[K6-III]

It is in the ballgame....depending on what you want....

And in no way is NVidia's multimonitor implementation as good as Matrox's....

[Dr Mordrid]

AMEN to that!!

Dr. Mordrid

[crayfish]

Wow Morse, That reply was above and beyond. Thanks dude!

It seems like any two GFX cards will work so I might as well stick with Matrox : )

[morse]

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It is in the ballgame....depending on what you want....
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Well, by any third party professional industry standard, Matrox has a tenacious grip on last place. And with new chips coming down the pike by Nvidia and Radeon, the Parhelia will soon be in the second tier. But don't get me wrong, I have been a big Matrox user for a decade and have considered a Parhelia. I would probably get one regardless of game performance issues, if I didn't think they were overpriced, and if I didn't have grave concerns about the viability of Matrox as a company.

It is not just that they have let themselves get so far behind in the chip war that bothers me,... it's the loss of the OEM market share, which of course is the result of getting so far behind the curve. When is the last time you saw Dell advertising that it comes with Matrox products?

Matrox have abandoned their consumer TV and capture line, they are no longer considered a serious contender in the gaming market, and they have lost their OEM share of the market. Big retailers like CompUSA use to sell Matrox products in store....but no more.

Without the OEM market they don't have the funds that it takes for R&D. Matrox has managed to buy some time, and survive the last few years on it's sterling reputation,... anticipated vaporware that became the Parhelia, and which then disappointed a lot of reviewers,... a highly respected commercial line,... and the financial spike it got from dual head multi-monitor technology. But they have apparently wasted this time. I see no increase in OEM or retail market share, nor new exciting products coming soon. What I do read about is a lot of layoffs and dissension at Matrox.

I really hope I am wrong here but right now things don't look too bright for Matrox.

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And in no way is NVidia's multimonitor implementation as good as Matrox's
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Well I only use Matrox products exclusively, so I can't comment. However, I have been told by a friend of mine who is a Micron engineer, ..as well as others I know.... that use both Matrox and Nvidia....that the Nvidia GeForce 4 T4200 and above have very good 2D now, and very good tools. They tell me that 2D and tools are still not as good as Matrox, but very close now.