Triplehead
From VaafWiki
Triplehead is the use of three monitors to span a single display to present a wider field of view than can be achieved with a single monitor. Triplehead provides a more immersive gaming experience and also enhances the use of the TrackIR head tracking system. Dualhead display is less desirable because a LCD bezel would be in the center of the viewable display.
Triplehead display can be implemented using the Matrox Triplehead2Go (TH2Go) and more recently the ATI Eyeinfinity technology of the 58xx series of graphics cards. Nvidia is reportedly working on a 3D multi-monitor feature called 3D Vision Surround. Nvidia 3D Vision Surround will require Nvidia GT200 or GF100 GPUs in SLI and will only work with Vista or Windows 7. There is also a freeware software based solution using two graphics cards called SoftTH.
Surround gaming can be implemented in games different ways. Some games will not support higher resolutions and will only work on one monitor. Some games support the surround gaming resolutions natively, for example ARMA II, Rise of Flight and many others just by changing the video settings in-game. Other games can be made to work in surround resolutions through the editting of configuration files or through the application of a modification called Universal Res Changer by Racer_S. Matrox provides the Surround Gaming Utility to assist with the configuration of games by the automated application of configuration file edits. These edits can include screen resolution, field of view and camera distance modifications.
| Product | TripleHead2Go Digital | ATI EyeInfinity |
| Max Resolution | 5040x1050 (3x1680x1050)1 | 7680x1600 (3x2560x1600) |
| (check monitor compatibility) | (six display support in future cards) | |
| Crossfire support | Yes | Yes in recent Catalyst versions |
| SLI Support | Yes | Not applicable |
| Interface | Dual Link DVI/VGA | Dual link DVI + at least one Displayport or active Displayport adaptor |
| Game configurator/assistance | Yes | No |
| Bezel Management | Yes | Coming in Catalyst 10.2. |
| Supported Operating Systems | Win2000, WinXP, Vista, Windows7, Linux, MacOs. | Vista, Windows 7, Future Linux support. |
1. 3x1680x1040 is supported in the latest Matrox firmware and Powerdesk software. Some people have reported problems getting 3x1680x1050 working with some Nvidia drivers under Windows 7.
Options
The Matrox TripleHead2Go is an established system with good drivers, bezel management, multiple OS support and the useful Surround Gaming Utility to configure and run games. If you are a Windows XP user the Triplehead2go is your only option as Eyeinfinity does not support XP and the Nvidia solution specification as released only supports Vista and Windows 7. However the Triplehead2go has resolution contraints compared to the Eyeinfinity system due to it's use of the DVI interface. The Eyeinfinity system uses at least one DisplayPort interface to overcome this limitation and support higher resolutions. The Nvidia solution uses two graphics cards. The Matrox system is also totally dependent on video drivers from Nvidia and ATI supporting the Triplehead display resolutions for example 3 x (1280 x 1024) = 3840 x 1024 or 3 x (1680x1050) = 5040 x 1050. That support has been a problem with both ATI and NVidia in recent driver releases and may make future use of the Triplehead2go very problematic.
Tips
- ATI Catalyst drivers 9.9, 9.10 and 9.11 do not support 3x1280x1028. That is ATI broke that resolution starting at 9.9 and it still isn't fixed and there is no indication from them they intend to fix it. There is no fix other than using an earlier driver. This also means that using any ATI 5xxx series card with a 3x1280x1024 monitor system isn't currently possible.
