Monitors or Projector?

[andarlite]

Hi all, just wondering, if you had a choice, what would you get for your outside visual: Matrox Triplehead2go with 3 22" LCD monitors or a projector? And don't suggest to me the Triplehead2go and 3 projectors.... that's definitely not in the budget unfortunately.

Regards,
Henry

[Matt Olieman]

Bottom line really is, what ever your budget allows. Projectors are obviously more costly :(

[Bob Reed]

Hi all, just wondering, if you had a choice, what would you get for your outside visual: Matrox Triplehead2go with 3 22" LCD monitors or a projector? And don't suggest to me the Triplehead2go and 3 projectors.... that's definitely not in the budget unfortunately.

Regards,
Henry

Well if I had to go with 3 22" monitors I would defiantly go projector. So 3 projectors is out of the question, what about 3 bigger monitors?

[andarlite]

I could get a reasonably decent XGA projector for the same cost as the Triplehead2go and 2 more 22" LCD (I already have one). That's about all that I'm allowed to spend.

Regards,
Henry

[Bob Reed]

I could get a reasonably decent XGA projector for the same cost as the Triplehead2go and 2 more 22" LCD (I already have one). That's about all that I'm allowed to spend.

Regards,
Henry

Then I would go with the projector... Just make sure it does 1024x768 native resolution!

[AndyT]

Personally I'd go with the 3 biggest monitors I could get and then I'd get 3 fresnel lenses. A lot of people think that the lenses are not very good but if installed correctly, they will give you an incredible view thats also collimated. If you install them together then you will have a HUGE field of view.

Check this out for an example;
http://www.rickleephoto.com/rlcoll.htm

[Kennair]

Hi Henry,

I am biased but I use the TH2GO with 3 monitors. I am only using 17" CRT's at the moment, but will upgrade soon to 3x20" LCD's. Even with the CRT's the experience is awesome! Remember the TH2GO is limited to 3840x768 in Widescreen mode, so bigger monitors won't necessarily allow you to see more, everything will just look bigger.

My experience with Fresnel lenses wasn't the greatest either. I used one in front of a 20" CRT and while it gives great depth perception it's at the expense of fine detail (everything is reasonably blurry) and you need to be sitting right in front or you can't see anything. This rules out any passengers enjoying the flight with you (that is if your cockpit is set up for two). In fact a gaming system called Bugeye was released a few years back using 3 monitors housed with fresnel lenses but it didn't take off. Partly due to the $2000USD price tag!

Obviously 3 projectors will give the best view, but you've got to have the money and room. Also I don't fancy having to turn the lights out every time I want to fly. With monitors I can fly in the dark for great atmos, or with the lights blazing simulating real daylight flight, doesn't matter.

That's just my two bobs worth, but no matter which way you go get the Triple Head 2 Go, it's a ripper with little impact on frame rates.

Ken

[ekezz]

I'll go TripleHead2Go Digital version and 3840 x 1024 resolution. First with CRT's and eventually with LCD's. Also I'm waiting a bit for the 8800GTS with 640 MB (required for the high resolution) price to drop to 250 Euro.

@Kennair: what native resolution do your widescreens have? 1280 x 768 ?

[mounty]

Hi guys,

I have a quaetion about using the TH2G with 3 24" widescreen LCD's. Any idea what the difference in "picture" quality is between the widescreens and "normal" screens. Seems most LCD's above 20" are all widescreen, so am a little bit concerned that all the o/s views will look stretched! Anything in Windows or MSFS to manage that?

Thanks

Rob

[dnoize]

Thats no problem at all. I use a 20"widescreen for my desktop, windows recognizes the native resolution of the screen (1600x1200) and the desktop has the same resolution. No stretching...just more space.


Stef





.

[ekezz]

In addition to that you need to check the total maximum resolution of TH2Go against 3 times the native resolution of your widescreens (using non-native resolutions on LCD's in some cases will result in blurred images)

If you look in the table below the 3840 width has 5 entries. So here we are looking at 3 screens with each 1280 width. Now for the height there are 720, 768, 800, 960, 1024 resolutions. i.e your three screens can be any combination of 1280 x (720, 768, 800, 960, 1024).
Maybe other combinations are possible as long as you don't exceed the max combined 3840 x 1024 res.

<TABLE class=Content6 borderColor=#d9e5ff cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=1><TBODY><TR bgColor=#d9e5ff><TD colSpan=2 height=25>
TripleHead display modes
</TD></TR><TR bgColor=#d9e5ff><TD height=25>
Resolution
</TD><TD height=25>
Refresh Rates
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=25>
1920 x 480
</TD><TD height=25>
60Hz
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=25>
2400 x 600
</TD><TD height=25>
60Hz
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=25>
3072 x 768
</TD><TD height=25>
60Hz
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=25>
3840 x 720<SUP>4</SUP>
</TD><TD height=25>
60Hz
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=25>
3840 x 768<SUP>4</SUP>
</TD><TD height=25>
60Hz
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=25>
3840 x 800<SUP>4</SUP>
</TD><TD height=25>
60Hz
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=25>
3840 x 960<SUP>4</SUP>
</TD><TD height=25>
60Hz
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=25>
3840 x 1024
</TD><TD height=25>
60Hz
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

A nice feature on the digital TH2Go is the Monitor Bezel Management

WITHOUT: http://www.matrox.com/graphics/media/common/th2go/Digital/TH2Go_ecransbezel_without.gif (http://www.matrox.com/graphics/media/common/th2go/Digital/media/TH2Go_ecransbezel_without.jpg)

WITH:http://www.matrox.com/graphics/media/common/th2go/Digital/TH2Go_ecransbezel_with.gif (http://www.matrox.com/graphics/media/common/th2go/Digital/media/TH2Go_ecransbezel_with.jpg)

So when you are banking to the left the horizon will not "jump" strangely at the combined edges of two screens (yellow dotted line)

Information source: http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/products/th2go/digital/home.php

[mounty]

Hi Stef,

Thanks, looks like 3x24" are a go!

Rob

[mounty]

Thanks for the info Kester. The new digital seems to be the way to go with the bezel ajustment. Not sure I understand the resolution table but it sounds like 3 x 24" widescreens will work ok.

Rob

[rrkiser2]

I have to ask are you using TrackIR?

Thanks
rrkiser2

[andarlite]

Thanks for all the great input so far guys.

Can the Triplehead2go be used with only 2 monitors (I have to slowly buy up the pieces.... can't afford to do it all at once)?

Since the digital version came out, there's some good deals for the analog version..... any good reason not to get the analog over the digital (I'm on a tight budget here)?

Regards,
Henry

[dnoize]

Hi Stef,

Thanks, looks like 3x24" are a go!

Rob

Rob,

I'm not sure if the TH2Go can support the native resolution of big wide screens. If the native horizontal resultion is 1600 pixels it will exceed the TH2go's posibilities by far according to Kesters table.
3 x 1600 = 4.800

Best consult Matrox before buying.

Stef

[dnoize]

Thanks for all the great input so far guys.

Can the Triplehead2go be used with only 2 monitors (I have to slowly buy up the pieces.... can't afford to do it all at once)?

Since the digital version came out, there's some good deals for the analog version..... any good reason not to get the analog over the digital (I'm on a tight budget here)?

Regards,
Henry

well the analog one doesnt have the bezel management (with the bazel management you can adjust the visuals in a way as if the bezels are the window posts of your flightdeck (so actually visuals are dissapearing behind the bezels).

With the analog version you will have somewhat jumpy behavior....lets say a push back truck dissapears behind the bezel it shows up immedeately on the other screen.....looks a bit unrealistic.

If you only want to use 2 monitors there is also a dual head to go. But i dont think there will be a digital version of that one (if you will be able to find it at all)

Stef

[andarlite]

well the analog one doesnt have the bezel management (with the bazel management you can adjust the visuals in a way as if the bezels are the window posts of your flightdeck (so actually visuals are dissapearing behind the bezels).

With the analog version you will have somewhat jumpy behavior....lets say a push back truck dissapears behind the bezel it shows up immedeately on the other screen.....looks a bit unrealistic.

If you only want to use 2 monitors there is also a dual head to go. But i dont think there will be a digital version of that one (if you will be able to find it at all)

Stef

Hmmm, good point about the bezel.

Actually, I want to be able to use 3 monitors.... but until I can afford to buy the 3rd monitor, can I use it with 2 monitors?

I just checked on ebay, if anyone is interested there's about 15 listings for the dualhead2go.

Regards,
Henry

[Kennair]

Henry et al,

I used my TH2GO in dual head mode for quite a while til hooking up a third monitor. The mode extender software gives you all these options. Just connect one monitor to the Centre output and the other one to the left or right output, no problem. Also, the monitor bezel management is no problem if you only use your screens for flight sim and not for general office work as you can adjust the screen positioning to overlap and the joins using you monitors on-screen setup. This solves the view anomolies caused when a view moves from one screen to the next. Of course if you also use the monitors and TH2GO for other desktop work, you are going to lose some of your screen real estate!

As for using 24" monitors with a 1600 wide native res, you will not get any more view out of it as the Matrox is limited to a max of 3840 or in widescreen mode it's 3072 using the mode extender tool. All you will be doing is magnifying the same res over a larger area. You view will look BIGGER not wider.

Given what I see as the limited benefit of the Digital Matrox, I'd certainly go for the analogue version particularly if you are on a budget. And if you can afford 24" screens, then go for it.

Just my view :)

Ken.

[andarlite]

Ken

Thanks for you reply.

Is there any performance hit on the framerate as you start adding more monitors? I would tend to think that there would be as more pixels are getting pushed around with the higher resolution.

Regards,
Henry

[markgrizzo]

Henry,

I would go for the 3 22" LCD monitors. I currently have 3 20" LCD monitors with Triplehead2go and really like the setup. Using Triplehead2go is going to give you a wider field of vision then by having just one monitor. You want to also consider what your plans for your simulator are in the future. Do you want to eventually go with 3 projectors? If so, then I would buy the one projector for now.

Mark

[Kennair]

Henry,

Surprisingly there was little or no frame hit adding the third monitor. I was using it in dual head mode with a resolution of 2400x600 then added the third monitor and changed the res to 3840x1024. I was expecting a serious slow down but none! This is an amazing piece of kit I must say. In fact I swear my frames increased when I added it for the first time.

I'm running a low end system AMD 3.2M with 2g ram and a 6600 256m video card, so nothing to write home about by todays standards! Frames locked to 25 and getting mid to late teens on the ground, 20-25 at altitude, sliders mid to high. Slideshow at major airports though. But I am running the TH2GO with 3 screens PLUS two 17" LCD's for instruments off a second PCI card on the one PC and it's still clearly flyable. (upgrade needed soon though!)

As Mark suggested, I'm going for the 22" lcd's eventually. I am still waiting but every month the prices are dropping, which is good, but I've got to bite the bullet eventually. You may be limited by the Matrox's res but the larger more immersive view would be amazing.

Do yourself a favour and get the Matrox (no I'm not affiliated with them in any way)

Ken.

[NicD]

Think I've "sold" dozens of TH2GOs recently, but not afiliated at all, and I receive no commission :(

I was also very suprised to find that the unit has almost no impact on frame rates on my rig. Amazing!

[Kennair]

Hi Nic, love your sim and learning a lot from you Ta :)

And of course if you are using projectors, as you are, there's no need for any bezel management, so the cheaper analogue unit's the go!

Ken.

[andarlite]

OK, you guys got me convinced...... it'll be the Triplehead2go and 3 22 inch LCD monitors (well, actual 2 monitors until the wife let's me buy a 3rd one).

I was on the Flight Deck Solutions website looking (and drooling) over the 11 pages of gallery pictures. There were quite a few builders who had multiple monitors and the expanded view with the extra monitors was quite remarkable.

Is there a particular "zoom" setting to use with the multiple monitors or is everyone just sticking to 1x?

Regards,
Henry

[sbecker777]

The zoom setting depends on your distance from the monitors. Given I sit fairly far from the three LCDs in my 777 deck, my zoom is at .75.

I have an Excel spreadsheet that handily calculates the "proper" zoom given your monitor (or combination of 3 monitors in the TH2G case) horizontal dimensions and your actual eye distance from the screen(s). I'll upload tonight US Central time if I can.

Steve

[andarlite]

Steve

Thanks a lot. That would be great.

Regards,
Henry

[cdjung]

I just spent the weekend building an enclosure/support for my three 22" LCD's that I bought some weeks ago from Best Buy for $178 each when they had a sale. It took about a month for me to receive a digital TH2GO (they are currently backlogged due to an unexpected large demand). After a little experimentation I was convinced that the monitor setup was significantly superior to my projector so I decided to take down the projector and go solely with the three monitors. I had been using a single projector at 1024X768 for the last three years and while the scale is nice on a big screen there is always a loss of detail because of the ambient light conditions in the room. Now that I have moved to the three LCD monitors I have razor sharp visuals that I can enjoy without feeling like I have to be in a cave.

I have the monitors set 22 degrees off of the center and that seems to give the proper "feel". I am using the TH2GO with the virtual cockpit and Trackir when I want to sightsee, and I use the 2D scenery display when flying the heavies. The sense of "being there" in the VC is fantastic. I thought I was immune to that feeling of spatial disorientation that you can get from the visual cues fooling you, I was wrong. Even with "just" the three monitors I get that sensation of movement that comes from having such a wide presentation.

There is a lot of good information on using the surround system in the Wiki surround gamers forum. I occasionally like to switch to shooters (BF2 and HL2) to break things up, and the experience is really incredible. The available widescreen resolutions don't precisely match my native resolution but the distortion is slight and only I notice it.

When I decided to spring for the LCD montiors one of the things that attracted me about the Westinghouse models is that the controls were tiny and on the bottom of the monitor, the bezels are also small and with the newly implemented bezel management incorporated in the Matrox software the view feels very natural. In fact, in the 2D scenery only mode the bezels give a very convincing sense of looking out a cockpit window.

The only down side is that I had to back off on a couple of settings on FSX (Yes, I really did make the switch). I turned off the autogen and backed down traffic as well as water detail. It is now sikly smooth on a fairly old machine but overall the framerate hit was no biggie.

Constructing a holder for the monitors was a bit of a chore, but now that it is done and the monitors on sitting on my glareshield it was worth the effort.

Hope this helps.

CJ