I got it all figured out! (surround gaming)

[Helevitia]

I've been trying to figure out a way to make surround gaming workable within the confines of the space we call a desk. This is assuming that you don't already have a better solution because most of us don't. The way I see it, there are two problems:

1. Only supports analog with 3 monitors for surround gaming.

2. Not enough Real Estate to put 3 monitors on your desk.

Before today, I have never really looked at LCD flat panels. I made the wrong assumption that they are all DIGITAL. This proved to be false. This is good news because now i cna buy 3 15 or 17" LCD Analog Flat Panels strictly for gaming, hang them on the wall and still keep my 21" monitor as my primary monitor with the option of connecting the others for dual or triple mode Maybe I'm just too excited but I like the idea. NowI gotta figure out where to come up with lots of money I can atleast dream for now Feel free and tell me other ways I might accomplish this.

Dave

[Helevitia]

btw, I guess this might be more game related but I didn't mention any games really, more of how to possibly use the Matrox card to my advantage. Feel free and move it though.

Dave

[runderwo]

I wonder if it would be possible to configure the surround options for custom setups.

Like, if desk space were prohibitive, instead of having monitors like this:
[ ] [ ] [ ]

set them up like this:
[ ]
[ ] [ ]

or something similar. I dunno. I don't have a big desk so can't imagine putting 3 monitors laterally on it.

Well, that was supposed to look like a pyramid. Oh well, you get the idea.

[Fat Tone]

Well I could squeeze a third 17" monitor on my desk, but then the rest of my shit would be homeless. All the piles of CDs, paperwork, the telephone, cable modem, router, pda+cradle, large mugs of tea, an electronic toy dog, spare ram, scotchtape, digital camera etc etc would have to be found somewhere else!

Sounds like a plan I'm glad this desk has a steel frame!

T.

[MikkoJ]

I wonder if any of the really rich MURCers are already thinking of three data projectors projecting to three curved big screens in a large dark room with some virtual input gear, turning a room into a real room inside the game

Mikko

btw, as the chip diagram seems to suggest that the tv-out is separate from the monitor output, I wonder if it's now possible to have the dualhead configuration as I like and put DVDMAX and/or DH clone out to the TV without disconnecting anything?

[runderwo]

I wonder if any of the really rich MURCers are already thinking of three data projectors projecting to three curved big screens in a large dark room with some virtual input gear, turning a room into a real room inside the game

OMG. If somebody did that, I'd be buying a plane ticket just to go see it.

[Pace]

3 projectors? Well, I can get hold of 1, maybe 2 - somebody post me the third one and I'll buy your plane ticket

(oh, and send me a Parhelia too )

As for the non-[][][] monitor config, I doubt it - the external RAMDAC seems to have some limitations - plus you'd have a funny res running like that (unless you put the top one at 1600x1200 and the base 2 screens at 800x600).

Also, think about where the middle of the FOV is - having that in the middle of a monitor is easiest. I played UT across 2 monitors last night - I was shooting people between my monitors

P.

[Muad'Dib]

I wonder how people who have those glass desks will manage with 3 monitors....

-D

[impact]

bulletproof glass that can hold a bullet can definitely hold three monitors, too...

[Cheesekeeper]

One of the sites I work at occasionaly is Main Roads in Western Australia. The traffic branch has a monitoring/operations room, one wall of which is made up of several hi-res rear projection monitors. They're attached seamlessly, and the result is a single screen, about the size of a proper cinema prjection screen. With VGA inputs. And expensive leather charis. If you'll excuse me, I need to take a cold shower now........

[ChronosZero]

When I worked at @Home-Australia, our network operations center was equiped with Sun workstations that were each dual head (19" monitors), plus one that powered dual projectors that displayed all the critical monitoring tools up on the wall. It was a pretty sweet setup even though we didn't have the expensive leather chairs though.

[wazoo]

Originally posted by MikkoJ
I wonder if any of the really rich MURCers are already thinking of three data projectors projecting to three curved big screens in a large dark room with some virtual input gear, turning a room into a real room inside the game

Mikko

btw, as the chip diagram seems to suggest that the tv-out is separate from the monitor output, I wonder if it's now possible to have the dualhead configuration as I like and put DVDMAX and/or DH clone out to the TV without disconnecting anything?

Well... I dunno about "rich", but because of this video card and the Parhelia SurroundGaming option, I've moved from a plasma display option to a multi-monitor solution that is all LCD. I've found four companies that make these monitors:

http://www.9xmedia.com/pages-Build_a_system/X-Top_Expert---3_across.html

http://www.massmultiples.com/

http://www.panoramtech.com/products/desktop.html

http://www.donz.com

Currently, I'm leaning towards the 9Xmedia products as them seem to have the best specs.

However, from what I've learned here, I guess I'll focus on analog input only as I can't do three DVIs....

Any thoughts?

Wazoo

[Greebe]

Parhelia can only supports 2 DVI's.

Three Samsung 181T's appear to be the best bet atm for surround gaming... if you have ~$2800 to drop on them!

At least that's alot less than 9x tri display setups which are scary priced for doing not much more than changing the bezel and giving you a nifty patchbay

[wazoo]

Originally posted by Greebe
Parhelia can only supports 2 DVI's.

Three Samsung 181T's appear to be the best bet atm for surround gaming... if you have ~$2800 to drop on them!

At least that's alot less than 9x tri display setups which are scary priced for doing not much more than changing the bezel and giving you a nifty patchbay

True... but I'm an anal little neat freak...

So... it still seems that the 9x solution *would* work.... but only two of the panels would be DVI.... is that correct?

Also.... is there a perceptible difference between an LCD connected via DVI and one via Analog?

[blacklotus]

Yup the 9x are very sweet indeed. But I'll settle for a "cheap" Samsung 241MP to go with my current Samsung 240T.

Yup, only 2 of the panels would be DVI.


Whether digital or analog is better, it depends.

A poor digital connector is still lousier than a very good analogue connector. (Compare the lousy R8500 digital connector to a analogue G400). But if both are equally of high quality, the digital one is definitely better, especially at higher resolutions of 1600x1200 and above.

To test this, try the pastel pink, green, blue and grey test patterns of the old nokia LCD monitor test program. Good digital and analog signals will not give you flickering effects when displaying these patterns. Poor ones will.

Originally posted by wazoo


True... but I'm an anal little neat freak...

So... it still seems that the 9x solution *would* work.... but only two of the panels would be DVI.... is that correct?

Also.... is there a perceptible difference between an LCD connected via DVI and one via Analog?