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Tom's Hardware Reviews Multi-Display Gaming
MikShapi writes "Most gamers out there today own a dual-head graphics card (most of us completely neglecting the second port), and games such as X2 are offering support for this already (at least on nVidia cards, due to the "span" driver feature). Tom's Hardware did a nice rundown on the technology, complete with screenshots and benchmarks."
Meh, Seriously..... People are saying how cool this is but multidisplay gaming was being done on my Mac Quadra 840av back in 1989 or 1990 with an application galled Hornet by Graphic Simulations. We had three displays hooked up that could dynamically display front and side views as you moved the plane throughout its axis making virtual air combat much easier. Hornet was apparently written for the Mac natively, but later, when Graphsim decided they were going to write for Windows first and then port the Mac version, we lost the ability to do multidisplays even though the Macintosh had been supporting multiple displays since 1987.
Granted, at the time, a Quadra 840av with three fast NUBUS video cards and three displays were decidedly not cheap, but my point is simply that this is nothing new and when the original Graphsim creators of Hornet included this feature, they knew this was the right way to do it just like the more sophisticated simulators that pilots use for their training.
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I'm sure that having a second monitor to provide extra game info is probably way cool, especially with games like flight sims and driving sims. But how many people really have two monitors?
:-(
My desk is not that big and because I care about resolution and sharpness I run a large 19" CRT. There simply isn't room on the desk for a second CRT.
Not to mention that extra monitors are quite pricey. I love games and gaming, but I can't see myself forking over several hundred dollars for the purpose of playing a game. At least if I were a graphic designer I could make money with the second screen, but gaming is only a money pit.
No second screen for me, I guess, no matter how cool it would be.
I have been pwned because my
You can't beat the "3-headed" Doom play if you had three networked machines. That was fun.
Now that monitors are dirt cheap perhaps it will start to catch on more.
My experience with dual monitors has showed me its use for multitasking, but I can't think of anything more horrid than trying to span a game across it.
Even my multitasking ends up dividing entertainment from work... My GAIM windows and media players go in monitor 2 while my real work stays in number one.
I just don't see how that would be any fun.
clifgriffin > blog
Zaphod Beeblebrox!
I run duel monitors, one 19" crt and one 15" lcd, and it's great, but not for games, for the desktop. I have movie/tv/whatever running on the 15" and web browsing/chattin/programming/whatever on the 19"
:P
it's sooo wonderful, I want to get another vid card and do a third on the left
Left, centre, right. Ideal for flight simulators etc. Where do you look with dual head? I can see the practical problems with fitting 3 VGA outputs on the back of an AGP card though, as well as desk space issues.
When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
I had multi-display gaming on my Mac ten years ago. Chuck Yeager's Air Combat. I set the second monitor to always show the rear view, so if any MiGs or Messerschmitts started tailing me, I'd see it immediately. IIRC, the game would let you put a different view on as many monitors as you had.
Hell, one of my friends managed to get DOOM working with three displays on his PC back then, too, though it took him a day or two to figure it out-- mine was just (as you'd expect on a Mac) plug and play.
This would work great for a game if you had a touch screen on one of the monitors.
Think MMORPG
One screen is first person view
The other is your inventory and chat screen
It's too hard to actively use 2 screens with one mouse.
I found that continually turning my head right to left to view both screens put a real strain on my neck.
I tried moving back from the screens but I really couldn't find a "sweet spot" and eventally gave up.
I always save my last mod point to mod up a good troll. You people are too serious.
I've always hated how my second monitor becomes unusable during gameplay. I'd like nothing more than to be able to throw my TV app up on the second monitor so I could watch TV while waiting to respawn in Wolf: ET.
that Flight Sim: A Century of Flight spans multiple decad^M^M^M^Misplays.
I like the idea he presents in the article, but I'd rather have FPS games have the action in a middle window and have auxilliary information on the sides. Of course, the problem there is that two screens would divide the picture and three screens get you head swiveling even more than the original layout.
Multi-display gaming will require a lot of these kinds of ergonomic decisions if they are to succeed.
Rule #1 -- Politics always trumps technology.
This is great for passing the time while working. You can watch a DVD on one screen, while 'working' on the other.
Ahhh, technology, what would we do without you?
cross your eyes...it's cheaper.
My wife and I both have had dual monitor setups for quite sometime. A lot more applications have picked up on Photoshops approach and implemented the floating tool bars or break away menus, allowing you to have your controls and clutter on one desktop and your canvas on the other.
More of the programing suites are supporting this as well. Its about time games started to come around. We would buy almost any game that would supports this feature in an attempt to push the feature into the mainstream.
...how to run text console on one head and X on the other.
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
I got kind of excited when I saw the DC mockup showing extra info on the additional monitor, and disappointed when I saw it wasn't possible (I have an Nividia dual-head setup so I pretty much knew that).
But BF1942/DC could really use this, as could any FPS that involves a lot of secondary display info (maps, sensors, multiplayer chat, etc). I think that'd be a great step forward.
A triple screen where you actually get a broader field of view would be amazing, although I won't hold my breath. Plus the desk space is a pain -- I have a custom-built desk I made specifically to hold 2-3 21" displays and it still feels cramped. Unfortunately the money for 3 x 21" LCDs just isn't there.
I dont think so, since multimonitoring needs windows drivers/software to be configured.
:-)
What, is there games actually supporting multimonitoring on Linux?
"...a generation of kids has grown up thinking Trance is the shittiest music since country and western." - Paul van Dyk
Zaphod had 2 heads.
With the nVidia drivers allowing you to span, games like EverQuest already support multi-monitor. I play EQ in 2560x1024x32 and it works out pretty well, letting me split the character information across the screens. And, honestly, you never really look directly in front of you that often, heh, so the screen split isn't that bad.
In summary: While multi-display gaming would be cool, the hardware and software takes time to set up, and not enough game developers have multi-display on their mind when they produce games.
Cue Nintendo DS.
doom -devparm -net 3 -left
doom -devparm -net 3
doom -devparm -net 3 -right
Done this a few times, works best if you have 19" monitors, roomate got seasick playing it. But he couldn't play Descent without getting nauseas either.
My biggest issues with this is that I need a monitor that allows me to place 2 more monitors on the left and right seemlessly. Such as, I want to extend the screen forward in the form of a lens and then slide the left and right monitors behind it hiding the plastic along the edge of the glass display. I can't have the 2 inches of break in my display when playing FPS games. Put it on both sides and it is twice as annoying. Remove the frame of the monitor and we have this working for games. Otherwise this is going to only slow me down. My desk has a 19 inch CRT, 14 Inch CRT, 17 inch CRT, and 2 laptops. Nothing new, but technology just isn't right.
Atari tried to put this technology into arcades, with Race Drivin' Panorama. There were 3 and 5 screen versions, but only prototypes existed. Check some nice photos and specs here and here
Some games I think a dual monitor setup would be awesome. Think any RTS game where the play field is shrunk because of the "instrumentation" or the like, with dual monitors, a lot of this could go to the second monitor. I think it'd be even cooler if you could decide what components went over to the second screen, and only keep those items most important to you on the play field screen. Or, have both the current and a completely non-instrumented view in the second.
I don't think that just spanning the entire screen shot across 2 monitors would be helpful in any way though. Even with LCDs, the break caused by the frames would be somewhat irritating, to me at least. Then again, even the mesh lines on Trinitron monitors are annoying to me, so I may be just a bit more sensitive to those types of things.
As for dual monitors in general, initially I thought why have duals? Just get one bigger better monitor. Now having worked with duals for about 2 years, I love this setup, and would rather have 2 slightly less capable monitors instead of one slightly bigger monitor. Being able to see a full web page and do something else in another screen related to it is way more helpful than switching between two window frames. There are many other instances where dual monitors are useful as well, and I even span both sometimes, although the application I use when doing that is amenable to doing that (eclipse).
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
Yeah, we *may* have fried a $450 video card, but don't worry about that... on with the review!
Every tried organising a clan match? Can be a pain when your waiting on a few player to join a server, but they can't get in for some reason (don't know the password etc).
How many times have you had to alt-tab out of the game, do some ass kicking and go back in, only for the game to then crash/go mad because of the alt-tab caused the buggy game (and OS) to get in a muddle. Reboot..reload...etc.
With a 2nd monitor, problem solved. I actually have 2 PC's so I can play on one and have IRC etc on the other.
With my Mac II. Snore...
But, yeah, I want my FPS games to work like the mock-up they show. Most games today simply black out all but the primary display. Tactical information on a second screen would kick.
There exists no way of exchanging information without making judgments. --Bene Gesserit Axiom
I believe Tom's Hardware itself showed a photo of someone playing Quake 3 on three screens when he reviewed the Matrox Parhelia card (which can drive 3 monitors). This was in 2002. Here is the relevant page. and Here is another one
Regardless of what the article says, I know that ATI used to support the spanning mode, at least in some operating systems.
I know that was the default mode for my Radeon 7500 if I had hydravision installed under Windows 2000 and, to be honest, I found it extremely annoying.
"I won't mod you down - I feel the need to call you a twit explicitly, rather than by implication."
No second screen for me, I guess, not matter how cool it would be.
This guy is definately cool! However, on Slashdot the long hair, shorts and sandals combo never goes out of style.
Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
But how many people really have two monitors?
There are many many folks that have been using multiple monitors for a while. I got my MacIIsi and had two monitors running back in 1988 and every computer since then (except for most of my Windows systems and a couple SGI's) have had multiple displays. The advantages are simply too many to count, but historically the applications for multiple displays have run the gamut from financial displays of information to a system we had based on WinNT that was seriously hacked (read expensive) to have three displays for electroencephalographic information back in 1990. My current system is a G5 with dual Cinema Displays for maximum desktop real estate which provides me with the room I need for our graphics rich analysis of retinal circuitry data. Oh, the second display is also nice to have the iChat list box up along with a terminal window, iTunes and a network activity monitor.
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I never understand why twin display never caught on.
Simple, it's a lot easier to hide the fact that you bought a kick-ass graphics card from your wife, than it is an extra monitor sitting on your desk.
Garg
Garg
Alumnus, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
You mean when I play Pong, I can have one paddle on one screen, and the other on another! That is dope!
-m
#
# Modus Ponens
#
but I can't see myself forking over several hundred dollars for the purpose of playing a game.
Then you're definitely no gamer.
"WOW! GEFORCE 5000! MOMMY CAN I HAVE $750 FOR A COMPUTER PART?!?! ALL THE OTHER KIDS MIGHT GET IT FIRST IF YOU DON'T HURRY!"
"No, Jimmy. Now take your medicine, go to your room and lie down. You know how your blood pressure gets when you're excited ever since you turned 40."
Because using a second monitor to have twice the display room sure would be nice, but then, I'd still have just as much Fog of War to claw through.
___ In the words of Gen. Douglas McArthur: "I'll be right back."
Heck, theres like 1% to 5% (made up statistic) of the home PCs using/having a multimonitor setup..
I think its a good idea for users messing around lotsa applications, but before going onto gaming, i guess mainstream needs a good reason to buy a second monitor (gaming or apps) when one seems to be enough.
"...a generation of kids has grown up thinking Trance is the shittiest music since country and western." - Paul van Dyk
Seriously. If you're turning your neck to see 2 or 3 displays right up against each other, YOU'RE SITTING TOO CLOSE TO THEM! Move back a bit and use your eyes to scan, glasshoppah!
There exists no way of exchanging information without making judgments. --Bene Gesserit Axiom
I'm sure that having a second monitor to provide extra game info is probably way cool, especially with games like flight sims and driving sims. But how many people really have two monitors?
I bought 3 Hitachi 17" Flat Panel displays just for that purpose. I powered them with a Matrox Parhelia. (Screenshots here, here, and here.
For Flight Sim'ing, the experience is just OK (at best). And that's only if you turn down the settings quite a bit. The video card simply can't handle 3840x1024 resolutions with all the settings maxed out and still manage 60+ frames per second. (Though in flight siming, since the graphics don't change nearly as much as they do in a first person shooter, you only need 25-30 to get a smooth playback.)
I noticed that in first person shooters the extra monitors didn't actually add to the emersion like I thought it would. You still focus all of your attention on the middle monitor. The side monitors ARE good for camping/sniping though. You have a wider field of view so it's harder for someone to surprise you from the side. But when you are running around constantly, the side monitors can almost be more distracting than useful. But it makes for a great demo for friends. Everyone you show it to will want it.
The real problem with triple head gaming right now is lack of graphic processing power. Don't buy the Matrox card for this purpose. You definitely WILL NOT be happy with the results. I most certainly wasn't. And I bought it knowing that for first person shooters it was going to suck, but I wanted it mainly for Flight Simulators. But even in that case it just doesn't have enough power.
Maybe when PCI Express is available I'll be able to buy 3 NVidia/ATI based graphic cards that actually have the kind of power needed for this intense of a workout.
What Tom's Hardware is proposing in this article is a much more practicle use for a second (or third) monitor. Having the second monitor display map data, chat information, statistics, and so on. The second display wouldn't even have to be accelerated in that case. A spare PCI VGA card with 8MB or 16MB of RAM should be sufficient.
anybody remember these guys?
http://www.go-l.com/monitors/index.htm
last i recall, they had fraud rumors flying left and right, but then they showed up to some convention or other with an actual setup and made everyone eat their words. i still think a lot of their desktop descriptions sound like complete hogwash, but whatever. that grand canyon display still looks pretty badass.
education
That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.
~a.bierce
What I want is two camera views one for each monitor. I would like to have an overhead camera and a front view camera when playing NeverWinter Nights. This way I can see the excellent fights and creatures and still have a tactical overview of the situation.
Onward to the Aether Sphere!
I'm quite surprised to read that trimonitor/trihead is difficult because I find it's actually quite easy - I've got a dualhead Matrox G550 card, and a TNT2 PCI card with 3 monitors and am able to have 3 desktops, and even tried a 3rd TNT2 card to get 4 screens, but the computer kept crashing which I suspect due to the excessive power usage of the 3 graphic cards.
I used to have a Geforce 3 and 2 TNT2 cards but as I said, the computer kept crashing after 5 to 15 mins of trimonitor usage.
Talking about 3 monitors - I can't really find anywhere how to set up games such as Quake 3 et al on trimonitors - I've seen pictures of Quake3 being played on 3 montiors - but how?
Though I do realise the TNT2 card is woefully inadequate for decent 3D gaming - though it is possible to get fairly decent PCI graphics cards and use that for the 2 side monitors, and the good graphics card for the middle monitor. But of course, that needs a wedge of cash to do so.
Every few years multi-headed gaming rears its head (haha).
It's not going to catch on any time soon.
Matrox Did it right with their latest 3d card. Offering the use of 3 monitors. Several games supported this natively but the comparitively poor 3D speed led few to pick it up.
Until it is the defacto standard to have 2 or 3 LCD's on a desk you're not going to see gamers using this over one large high resolution monitor.
-- taking over the world, we are.
why is the parent modded flamebait? This is high-end top 10% of the top 1% type stuff here to be using dual setups for recreation. I think he has a point that is relevant to slashdot in general, are we mindless technology fanboys or is that technology situated in a society and attached to it in many ways - both good and bad?
We need more articles on how some technology is useless, and how some technology isn't needed, and how some technology uses too much electricity or is wasteful or poisonous in disposal. There are many sides to the technology coin, playing games in first-world countries is only one of them.
I've been eyeing this 3 panel LCD display for a while. I would buy it, but i'm a gamer at heart and I just can't give up my 9800 pro just to have 3 monitors. I'm hoping that when PCI-express comes out that matrox will step up the the plate and put out a good quality 3d card that handles dx9 and opengl. Then I wont want more then 2 seconds to place that order for the 3 panel lcd.
Dual, not duel!@#$
...is here
When I was a developer I used to use 3.
Left was API / Help
Centre was IDE
Right was Output (+ Winamp, trillian etc)
Nowadays I keep my email on my secod monitor and my work on my main.
A second PCI video card can be had for nothing - and you can pick up small CRTs for beer money. For cost effective multitasking, go multimonitor.
If a square is really a rhombus, why aren't all triangles purple?
Let me ask you one thing: What did you do to help the rest of the world? (Donating your change or complaining on others doesn't count)
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Not to mention that extra monitors are quite pricey.
Actually, they're quite cheap, if you had the space.
I have a triple-display setup at home. Three 17" CRTs. CRT monitors aren't very expensive these days. As for the video cards, I have one AGP Geforce2 on the center monitor, and I have two PCI Matrox Millenium II cards on the side displays. The Millenium IIs are $20/each on Ebay.
Now of course, given the hardware on the side displays they aren't very useful for running games, however this setup is incredibly useful for many other things (programming, web stuff). Also, I can have a game running fullscreen/accelerated on the center GeForce2 and have IRC or AIM or a web page or something running on the side displays.
If you're using the additional monitors for just peripheral vision in a racing game and/or information displays (merely text or 2D graphs/sprites at best), the card doesn't (or better say shouldn't) have to chug out all the gory details with high resolution textures and pixel shaders running full force on the "extra displays".
---- Take the Space Quiz!
I have 19" and 15" CRTs running of my ATI 9700 pro. As the ATI cards will not run in span mode, I'm SOL for most games. I use the second 15" for various things, but I don't use it often, it mostly just sits there turned off. My old monitor was otherwise just collecting dust, and I have a big desk, so at least I get some use out of it now.
What I would really like to see is a RTS that uses the second monitor as a status and logistics display. Map, unit info, unit construction menus etc. Hopfully it would be able to display at a diferent resolution than the first, so I don't need the span mode.
I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. My life is my own.
and gone is one card :P
(good thing the CRT didn't implode)
i would prefer two DVI outputs
since i'm using LCD and LCD are
digital?
who in the world is still buying CRT, please?
Second question, how does linux do with a second monitor? does it take any further customization?
This is my digital signature. 10011011001
i felt like you until i realized that
agyption didn't have headphones, monitors,
cars, medicien yet they still had
a fantastical empire.
isn't it that developing countries are so
because industrialised countries rob them
of all their gold, will and knowledge or
are they third world countries because
they chose to be?
i would want two displays on one computer, thank you!
I was suprised to find that Multiple monitors actually distracted from gameplay. As a previous poster mentioned, The time spent turning your head & refocusing on another screen was often long enough for your oponent to get a shot off. More significant, by adjusting the view to match the realestate of the display, I lost considerable vertical field of view. Leaving me prone to attacks from above & below. I used the Multi-heads for a month, making adjustments. But eventually reverted back to a single monitor and saw my frags increase imeadiatly.
Here, at work, I have to 19" SyncMaster 800 TFT side by side.
I use one for some typical OpenView monitoring app while using the other for all my work which is 99% terminal based...
I just do not see the interest in having 2 but well, they gave these to me.
Trolling using another account since 2005.
I just look forward to computers equipt with multiple PCI express slots, think about how many screens you could hook up then, and with out the loss of picture quality by splitting one graphics card onto two monitors.
This won't really do much for RPG's (although a sepperate screen for game stats would be cool), but imagine the possibilities for sims and stratergy games.
VENI, VIDI, VICI, DIXI
And a couple of more quick points.
... but I could not get them to work with SuSE or Mandrake (which are, of course, also RPM based distros.) YMMV. And the Linux drivers ONLY work with the analog VGA out signal, no DVI. That alone is reason enough NOT to buy it (if you're a Linux user). And on that same note, if you are a Windows user and you are using triple head, the 2nd and 3rd display are analog only. You can't get DVI on all 3 displays.
The Matrox Parhelia SUCKS if you are a Linux user. For the last several months I've been using Linux 100% of the time but I guess technically I am a dual booter. (There are a couple of games in Windows that I enjoy enough to keep Windows around.) Anyway - the Linux drivers that are available for the Parhelia are non accelerated. (There is a note on the website that says you can e-mail them and request some kind of accelerated development only driver. I requested them and never got them though.)
The drivers also address your Desktop as one big Desktop (not Xinerama). So when you maximize a window, it maximizes across all 3 monitors. (It's the same in Windows actually but in Windows there is a Matrox service that runs in the background that will make it so Windows will maximize only within the pixel border of it's respective monitor.)
And finally, the drivers come in the form of an RPM for RedHat 9 only. (No source RPM or tar.gz is available of course.) I was able to make them work with Fedora Core 1
I ended up selling the Parhelia card due to it's overall suckyness and lack of Linux greatness (since I use Linux for everything but a couple of games) and replaced it with an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. Though now I'm starting to thing I should sell that (the ATI card that is) and buy an NVidia card since NVidia seems to have better Linux support.
Well, I cant help but wonder after reading this, will there be a push again for Head Mounted Displays? I, for one, would much rather use a Head Mounted Display than shutter glasses, which dont seem to work that well.
Granted, I understand they are simply talking about doubling the resolution and either spanning the viewport, or moving some of the displayed data to the second monitor. I also understand that rendering two different scenes takes more processing power from both the CPU and GPU. However, there are a great number of games out that will render two frames and spit them out one after the other from different viewpoints, if not, the shutter glasses wouldnt work.
Why not instead toss the frames off to seperate graphics ports on the card to send to an HMD?
Are small high resolution LCDs still expensive enough to make good low cost HMDs impossible?
While 1024x768 may be low resolution by some peoples playing standards, I have a feeling the extra immersion from the HMDs would more than make up for it.
Uplink has (slightly buggy) multimonitor support. Now you can pretend your in Swordfish or The Matrix or any other film where the hackers use multiple displays :)
I hate when that happens.
Link
Ask Slashdot: Multiple Monitor Fun
Posted by Cliff on Tue Nov 03, '98 07:09 AM
from the more-monitors-are-good-than-one dept.
A whole bunch of you have written in about multiple monitor (multi-headed) support in Linux. Is it possible? What's involved? Who supports it? These are all interesting questions, and one person made a point of noting that Windows could do it, and couldn't find out how to do it on Linux. There's also a nifty project in the works involving Linux and a "video wall"! Click below for more...
We hope that multi-display gaming will get a lot easier with the introduction of the PCI-Express interface, as it allows the use of several graphics adapters.
This is actually incorrect - contrary to most people's assumptions, there is no technical reason why a motherboard cannot provide multiple AGP slots.
Whether software is built to handle it is another question, of course...
It's especially appropriate for Tom's reviews.
There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
I currently run 2 monitors not for gaming but for webdesign and programming. One is a 19inch monitor the other is a 15 inch. I run the 19 at 1600x1200 and the 15 at 1024x768. No good for gaming but I can check how well a website works at different resolutions and program on the big screen then check out render on the 15. I'll never go back to a single monitor.
I can get tv out working on it's own, but not with the montior as well. I'm not using twinview as you don't get hardware overlay on either screen (btw is that a driver issue or hardware limitation). I have set up 2 X screens and when starting X I see the nvidia logo on both my monitor and tv, but once X is launched the tv screen goes grey. This works fine in windows.
Why am I asking here? Because I've googled to no end, posted on the nvidia forums at nvnews.net and asked on #nvidia at freenode on a few occasions. What do I have to do to get this working? I have a gf4 ti4200 with the philips 7104 tv chip. I've tried their latest drivers and gone back a few versions as well. Latest lock X on exit, 4496 exhibit the grey screen issue that I'm at now.
I've also tried that nv tv utility for tv out in linux but the last version doesn't support my card at all and the previous version detects it but it has huge underscan and the image on the tv is black and white.
How much does a set of graphite shaft golf clubs cost? For that matter have you checked out the price of balls lately? Nevermind greens fees.
What does a single Orvis or Sage flyrod cost, never mind your reel, line, flies and wading equipment?
I've got several hundred dollars into just the radio gear of my R/C racing car, and it's another fourty bucks in tires every few times I race it. Not to mention entry fees.
Computer gaming is actually relatively cheap if one runs a generation or so behind the curve. Used 17" CRTs are about fifty bucks.
I'm a notorious cheap ass bastard who enjoys squeezing life out of as little money as I can. I'm a luftmensch. But I work to buy things I want and enjoy. A good book. A game. A nice flyrod. A Campy grouppo. Whatever.
Life is a money pit. I'm going to do what I can to enjoy it and use what little money I have in that pursuit.
I work to live, not live to work.
KFG
hahaha, its funny cause it's true, so true
I always wondered how a country that has natural resources like oil or uranium, could be poor. But I guess they're poor because they allow a dictator to acummulate all of the countries riches.
It's easy to blame poverty on the rich countries, but those people fought for their rights (e.g. The french revolution or the independence of the US as the better known ones), without those people we wouldn't be rich either.
All those poor countries need to do is stand up against those dictators that keep them poor.
Without those dictators and the (passive) cooperation of the people in those countries, the rich countries couldn't steal any of those resources.
I have dual monitors at work; don't at home because I use a KVM switch to manage four PCs + laptop (yeah, in /. terms, I'm a 98-pound weakling). Can't stand the thought of the second monitor being wasted on 4 machines. Does anyone make a multi-monitor KVM?
I'm also in the same quandry in re: bluetooth wireless keyboards and mice....
THINK
I think the multi monitor trend is catching on. I hope to see some really cool inovations in gaming with the multi monitor display. Especially now that they have plasmas that fit 2 screens in one. I'd like to find out what Nintendo's DS will be capable of and correct me if I'm wrong... But I keep reading that the screens will overlap. But I'm always seeing mock ups by the community of the screens side by side... Is it supposed to be side by side or overlapping?
This is the caption of an image on the first page. Of course, the answer is 'yes', but this isn't possible even with these video cards. If you look at the screenshot, you see that the player is in the middle of the two screen, so nothing right of centre can be seen.
What we need is games that allow you to shrink the main play window so the map windows and such don't overlap the main play. THEN, these dual video cards will be useful.
My second monitor at home is a 17" LCD and was pretty cheap. Indeed, two smaller monitors will give you more screen real-estate than a single large one, for a much lower price.
If you do go down the multi-monitor route in Windows, I'd highly recommend Ultramon which adds invaluable features missing in the OS (taskbar on second monitor, maximize to dual-screen, button to flip window from one monitor to another, turn on/off second monitor, multiple profiles, etc.)
RTA. The author appears to have actually destroyed a card due to the demands put on it by dual heading.
11 years ago was 1993. macs have had multiple monitor support since you could stick things in them, 1987. youre just jealous that you didnt get to play "hunt for red october" on multiple monitors when you were a young'un.
Poorly written games (of which there are many) will completely black out the other monitor. It's been ages since I used Windows, so I don't know what state it is in these days, but with most any Linux games I tried, and with UT2004 on my Mac, multi-monitor support sucks. The problem actually looked similar on both which makes me suspect that both have the same problem; SDL. With Linux I traced my problems to the poor and completely buggy (lack of) multi-monitor support in SDL. When UT2004 on my Mac showed the same problems, it made me think of SDL again.
Speaking of problems with UT2004...my right channel audio seems to dominate the left channel. If I turn one direction, all the sound will come from the right. If I do a 180, it will come from center. It never comes all from the left. It's annoying, and it's the same thing that happened to me with UT2003 on Linux. Anybody else get this? Is this an OpenAL or SDL problem?
Exactly. That is the whole reason I bought a KVM switch, to AVOID needing more than one monitor. If I get tired of "hotkeying" over to the other computers, I can fire up VNC.
Gaming is a money pit. I *almost* bought a new video card back in November just to be prepared for when HL2 came out. I am soooo glad I couldn't quite afford it. I am running an ATI-AIW32Pro, and it lags behind on several games. And I don't play very many at all. Luckily, it does find on good ol' Quake MegaTF. :-)
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
They work great in linux, I only use linux, so it was important to me. You can set it up any way you like, so check it out.
Is that a challenge ? ;)
No Comment.
Yeah, woe be to anyone who dare suggest that PCs weren't the be all and end all of technology. :rolleyes:
Macs have had plug and play multi-display since 1987, in 24 bit colour.
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
Doesn't anyone else want to know how they did the 13 monitor trick!! http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040216/dual_ displya-04.html
How the HELL is that done??
I want a review/ HOWTO of that. Don't you???
Whew...
Those old OS 7.something Macs supported "spanning" at the OS level, so if the game didn't want to fill the screen you didn't need any code to back this up. Colonization was much nicer with all the palettes off to one side and a sprawling, 20" map of the new world on the other screen.
(Mac users were the design people, is why this feature was always there. When we presented a brochure design or something, the display was one monitor or LCD, and our slide show controls, palettes and whatnot were on the other one.)
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
I had a pair of montiors when I worked as a physical design engineer, and it was absolutely amazing!
Now that my main machine is a laptop, though, I'd rather have some sort of goggle-thing with decent, useable desktop resolution that would let me turn my head (something like XFree86's ability to do virtual desktop resolutions by sliding your mouse, but with the sliding controlled by my head.)
Seems like it might be more expensive than an LCD, but I doubt it'd be more expensive than three...
And yet the users can never figure out that nobody cared in 1987 and nobody cares now.
A triple screen where you actually get a broader field of view would be amazing, although I won't hold my breath.
Me neither, since this functionality was actually in the game up until version 1.4, when EA (or was it DICE?) decided it would be cheating to have a wider perspective than others with only one monitor. Version 1.5 removed all support for surround gaming, and it hasn't been put back in 1.6.
Slagborr
This half the world statistic drives me mad, when? When did half the world never make a phone call? Read this, http://www.shirky.com/writings/half_the_world.html
"My car goes from 0 to 60" has to be one of my favorite quotes from that article, and it proves just as much as your statement of "half the world has never made a phonecall". Other than weakly attempt to illustrate the digital divide as they call it.
Second question, how does linux do with a second monitor?
:-)
:-)
Like anything with Linux, the answer is, "it depends on your distro, your [insert hardware model here] and what version of [insert relevant software here] you're running".
does it take any further customization?
Heh. Would it be Linux if it didn't?
Seriously, though, check out this HOWTO. The HOWTO's title is slightly misleading in that it covers dual head configuration in addition to Xinerama (which is lucky for us).
FYI, the Xinerama extension is what allows XFree86 to support the use of multiple monitors with one desktop (e.g., you can drag your windows from one monitor to another or have them span both, etc.). In the old days, you used to have a separate X session for each monitor. Most modern session managers (GNOME, KDE, etc.) now have good support for Xinerama, but you'll need a relatively new version of XFree86 (if you have a newer version of most distros, you should already have this).
It will also help if your monitors are relatively new. If they're not, you may have to do some Googling to get the proper modelines (search for "[your monitor model] xfree86 modeline"), but for most newer monitors, this should be an issue.
Another point of recommendation: if you want hardware 3d acceleration, try and make sure all of your cards support it. Otherwise the contents of your OpenGL app windows will not display on monitors without it. Not a show-stopper, but sometimes a little confusing/annoying when you're running Blender.
moto411.com
The people would have a much easier time standing up against their dictators if wealthy countries would stop supporting said dictators.
Who needs a social life when you can have 7 computers? Hmmm? ;-)
Statistics from International Telecommunication Union from 1998.
telephone lines per 100 heads
(pop around one billion) china - 7
(pop around one billion) india - 2.2
indonesia - 2.7
pakistan - 1
eygypt - 6
south africa (affluent african nation in comparison to most) - 11
From "The Globalisation of World Politics" (editors, Baylis, J. and Smith S.)... chapter "The communications and internet revolution" by Jonathan Aronson (prof at Uni SoCal) table 25.2 on pages 544-545. Published by Oxford University Press. Not some shitty webpage with some crackpot journalists.
So maybe some more people have been wired up since the survey. But even if 25% of the worlds population hasn't made a phone call it's still pretty bad. You are just making excuses for your affluent lifestyle. Rationalise it away with "growth" figures, the digital divide is HUGE and a global disgrace.
I'm not affiliated with the game I just wanted to spread the word. EVE-Online
--I'm sure that having a second monitor to provide extra game info is probably way cool, especially with games like flight sims and driving sims. But how many people really have two monitors?--
I do, but not for gaming. I use a CAD program on one monitor an a spreadsheet on the other. I've got a Ge Force FX 5600 card from ASUS. The point is to to get dual dvi out. It's not the fastest thing int the world but faster than comparable Matrox cards. I've got a 21" crt and a 19" lcd. The dual monitors are worth it. They are a fine time saver.
The first example on the article web site is a pretty good case: you don't span the main game view across two windows, you play with a full-size main view on one screen and far more of the supporting information/controls than normal visible on the other. Gives you a larger main display and more convenient access to the extras. Any RTS fan is going to appreciate that...
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
I LOVE multi-head displays. My only problem comes from all the talk of spanning. I never could see a use for spanning itself. the only reason I would us it is because it allowed me to move apps from one monitor to the other. I never saw a use for running one app (or one screen of an app) across that big of a screen. I know games seem like they need it, but mostly what I hear is people dividing up the display. Even having different POV's is still dividing it up in my opinion. Does anyone actually use one big screen? And, also, does anyone know an easy way to move apps without using desktop spanning?
AB HOC POSSUM VIDERE DOMUM TUUM
Oops, did I cause that site to be /.-ed now?
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
To enhance your gaming experience, build yourself a nice beamer
? &f orumid=20
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/forumdisplay.php
I tried that multihead gaming...while I was playing a game on one screen, I kept getting fragged in the other game. How do you guys keep up??
Although that Matrox card is fun...quake on monitor one, quake II on monitor 2, quake 3 on monitor 3: Wohoo! Now THAT'S multihead gaming!
Oh, wait, you guys are talking about something different....
In your case, you're not giving a fair argument. Just by clicking the link to your Hitachi 17" flat panels and looking at the bottom would scare away most users.
The cheapest price for a Hitachi CML174SXW 17" flat panel? Roughly $450 USD. And you bought THREE of them? Even if you got a discount and rebate, thats over $1000 right there. I could build/buy a budget PC with that kind of money and maybe even get a monitor with it.
I have to say, I absolutally adore multiple screen setups. At home I have a 20" and a 17" display (the 20" is on a GeForce2MX and th 17" on a Matrox Millenium). One thing I've noticed, at least with me, is that having dual monitors has affected the amount I multitask. After coding/surfing at home on a dual-display setup, I go to a single display iMac and end up feeling horribly slowed down, just because I can't have a billion and a half windows open (okay...so maybe I exagerate). I also notice that it decreases my attention span. Oh, but you HAVE to try coding in java and having one window to code in, and a browser at the api's...and having both windows maximized...oh so sweet. Cheers.
http://www.9xmedia.com/pages-Build_a_system/X-Top- --5over5.html
I'm not making any excuses for my affluent lifestyle, I'm trying to put a stop to the overuse of statistics and common phrases that are just plain wrong.
If you bought a tower computer from Apple over the last couple of years, you already have dual monitor support on your graphics card... One for standard VGA, the other is Apple's ADC format (so you would need a standard CRT monitor, and an Apple branded flat screen, or converters to the other formats), which is cool for Apple to offer out of the box!
is not who has two monitors but who has four? So is that a really cute mock-up on the first page of the article or does somebody actually sell such a thing. The 'flower' arrangement of four tfts on a single stand. That would kick some serious ass...
Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
Not too pricey if you shop around.
I just bought a really good 19" monitor from eBay for $100 and that included shipping.
Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.
Umm you know not every hobby is expensive. I bowl, and really well too, I bought one of the best bowling balls for me (ignoring price) and it was only $200, shoes $20 (very cheap ones, but they work and they've worked for years, I had them since I was 16 and I'm 22 now, don't ask how they still fit I don't know). Ok it costs money to bowl a few games, but that's only $1.50-$3.00 (depends where you go and the time of day) a game and usually $10 to bowl for an hour. And not everyone needs the same equiptment, most people can do well with $70 worth of stuff or less. Just because expensive equiptment for a hobby is out their, doesn't mean the hobby itself is expensive.
Assuming we are talking about 4 17" LCD displays, the price will be over $1000. Getting a projector instead of two displays might be a little bit more pricey, but the end result is much better both in terms of picture quality, fun and compatibility.
Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.
I want to tell you what ever you do. Don't get Dual 15" LCD. Just buy a good 19" LCD. Dual Monitor are only good for work apps that I've seen. All my current gaming/entertainment apps suck for dual monitors. I wanted to have a useful monitor up on one screen and a Turn Based Game like oh, civ. on the other. Nope, almost every single game takes full control of your desktop and resizes your resolution to meet its requirements. Games are awfully impolite. There is also that DirectX issue that moves the second screen to the right when ever you start a game also. That dual setup was the worst mistake that I made. The problem is it does come in usefull for work stuff. I don't do that at home so it was a waste of my money.
"Macs have had plug and play multi-display since 1987, in 24 bit colour."
A small handful of people rejoiced!!
"Derp de derp."
This reminds me of the expensive Battletech simulator that existed ~10+ years ago in a mall in Chicago. It had multiple monitors (one showing front view and one showing a radar). IIRC, each monitor was hooked up to a different computer, a PC for the front view and an Amiga displaying the radar. That was a cool game. Too bad it cost so much (like $5/per person/session). Eventually, they disappeared, although I saw a similar game in LA about 5 years ago (which has also disappeared since).
My mind works like lightning. One brilliant flash and it is gone.
how about it just needing a nudge due to (?) bad contact?
just sayin'...
I bowl for free. My brother owns an alley.
This has nothing to do with the fact that people spend money on things they enjoy and that doing so is not unreasonable, and that your argument for bowling is exactly my argument for computer gaming.
It only need be a money pit if that's the way you play the game, and as a pastime it's in no way inferior to, or less deserving of expense, than any other.
You buy a ball and a shoes, I buy a wheel and pedal set. Same difference; and no big deal.
KFG
...things I've ever done with my computer. (Rating up there with buying a cdburner, and then advd burner).
I have 3 hooked up, and a television, altho I only use the tv when I'm watching a movie or something. Two monitors and a tv are hooked up to a GF4 ti4200, and the other one to an old Voodoo Banshee PCI card.
I use at least one other monitor during game play for things like game faqs, maps, forums, etc... just displaying information I might need in the game.
It's much nicer then switching back and forth with one screen, but it does have the downfall of whenever I play a game that is fullscreen (read: most games) it moves the information over to the right for some reason. I just compensate for this by placing the windows further left before starting a game.
Multiple monitors are also great for other things.... photoshop palettes, directory views, chat windows, downloads... etc... all without blocking out your main window... so say if you're web browsing... a quick glance tells me if what I am downloaded is done, and if someone replied to my message.
My main monitor is a 19", and the secondaries are 17" and 14" (yes 14). The 14" only does 640x480 so I use it mainly for things like directoy (folder) stuff in explorer or konquerer... depending on which OS I am in.
If I can't smoke and swear I'm fucked.
I have a similar setup, but only 2 monitors. I must say the Matrox Milleniums were nice for doing web browsing and IRC on the other monitor, but any games loaded on it dragged. I found the $30 investment in a GeForce2 MX to add OpenGL acceleration to the second monitor well worth it. Since my primary monitor is a GeForce4 drivers are also easy and simple to install. The installer goes through and updates all your nvidia cards with the latest drivers and reboots once. I have never, ever, had a problem with nvidia drivers. I have dealt with about 6 or 7 different nvidia cards across my computers and friends computers, and their unified driver worked flawlessly. Can't say the same for ATI or Matrox.
yes and no.
if you use an nvidia card and the nvidia binary driver any distro can have multi-monitor easily.
just enable the twinview options of the driver. works great, doesn't need Xinerama or apps to support it... in fact the software and X dont even know. plus open GL works on both screens.
try that with an ATI card.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I'm willing to bet $1000 USD that each troll awarded to the previous messages in this thread were by mac users.
Ralph Wiggum "Truth makes my mac sad."
A lot of people downplayed the Gameboy DS, but now they're hyping dual-screen pc gaming?
Just to sound off on this one. I have two monitors and I have for about 6 years now on both my macintoshes and my windows computers. Most everyone else that I know working professionally in digital graphics or sound applications also has two monitors. Generally, modern day audio and graphics programs have too many frequently used menus to display all at once on a single monitor. With two monitors and photoshop for example, I can display the graphic that i'm working on full screen on the left while keeping all of the menus open and available on the right. It proves to be a huge time saver and well worth the extra $ and space for the second 19".
True, but in my experience it's not such a big deal spending on good quality monitors as they will typically be useful for the lifespan of a _few_ computers.
I've got 2 Samsung 17" Syncmaster 173T monitors which just recently replaced 2 17" ViewSonic's that I had used for 5 years previously. I expect to use my new ones for at least 5 years as well. And that's just as use as my primary monitors on my main machine at work. My old viewsonics are now very happy at home, and will probably be happy there for _another_ 5 years or more.
No Comment.
My gf and I just watch the pr0n together.
...but for most newer monitors, this should be an issue.
Should read: "...but for most newer monitors, this should not be an issue."
moto411.com
I bought two Iiyama 17" 4315s a couple years ago after Tom's Hardware rated them the best 17" they've ever seen. You can get them for about $550USD which is a far better deal than the $750 they were when I got em!
They are truly fantastic LCD displays!!
Thanks,
--
Matt
Troll? Hmm I kinda expected that my parent post would have been accepted in better humor.
"Derp de derp."
All I want is to have my game in one monitor, and my web browser in the other. Is that too much to ask? Some games (KOTOR) won't even run in windowed mode.
And I note that the same comment from you in a similar context gets +4 funny, and no negative mods. Yes indeed, sense of humour doesn't exist when it comes to Mac moderators..
Tell your grandfather to get his own pr0n.
Remember, it takes 42 muscles to frown and only 4 to pull the trigger of a sniper rifle.
Enter multiple monitors. This is a good solution, but gamers will likely find that the solution may be unwieldy and expensive. Furthermore, it will still lack the depth that they seek to immerse themselves into the game. Lastly, the edges of the monitors will ultimately get in the way, though this is a minor problem compared to the expense and the need for a large desk.
One thing that is rarely discussed or seen is how to get better depth from a single (or multi) monitor setup. The way to do it, which the simulator industry has done for years, is by using a collimated display. These displays work by taking the light output of a monitor, and forcing it to be more parallel, resulting in an increase of depth and immersion. However, these displays are typically expensive, due to the specialized optics (and niche market, of course). How can a home user do this themselves?
Enter the fresnel lens - using such a lens (page magnifier), obtained from just about anywhere (or, alternatively, if you are willing to spend the money, buy a good one from Edmund Scientific Optics). Flashback on the "100 inch" TV projector projects (some would say scams), then flashback further to the AcidWarp projector box from DOS days, and even further back to the large fresnel lens TV magnifiers - you start to get the idea. Then, go to this page, and read it. Get immersed!
Regarding HMDs - for good immersion you will want one with at least 60 degrees horizontal FOV, ideally with a high resolution. Such HMDs exist, but they are expensive, very expensive. Even lower res (ie, 640x480 or 800x600) will set you back some coin, especially if you buy new. If you want to play with HMDs, it is probably best to buy used (every now and then pro-level HMDs appear on Ebay for a fraction of what they cost new - recently, several Virtuality HMDs went up - I have also purchased a CyberEye CE-200M on Ebay before as well, with 3DOF magnetic head tracker, for around $300.00). You can also go the homebrew route - use small TFT LCD TVs mounted to a hardhat headband, with credit-card size fresnel lenses as magnifiers. Likely your first tries will be abject failures, but subsequent modding will yield a reasonable HMD for little monetary outlay (but lots of invested time). Back in the day, PCVR magazine ran lots of articles on this - information on building homebrew HMDs seems to have faded from the collective memory. You won't get the resolution or the FOV of a high-end HMD, but you can easily approach, and in many-ways exceed, that of low to lower-mid level HMDs, if you only try...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
...here.
Best. Minesweeper. Ever.
I've had multiple monitors for years and years. Finally I've ditched the big glass (24" Sony w/ 21" Sony) and moved to matched LCDs. The power savings alone pays for the extra monitor.
Great posts. I had been thinking about the Parahelia just for flight sim, now that's pretty well nixed.
So if you swapped out to ATI, what are you doing to drive your third screen?
Have you set-up the multiple-computer flight sim set-up? How painful is that?
I really want a three monitor setup - it's just so much more interesting to flightsim when you can see stuff to the left and right of the plane.
I'm not terribly excited by flight simming, but it's cheaper to practice instrument approaches in the sim than in the plane. In some respects, I think it's better too. The controls/feedback sucks (Even with a FF joystick) which makes overcontrolling almost unavoidable. But the overcontrolling just forces you to have a really good instrument scan - so it ends up being better for your practice.
But my interest level falls off rapidly due to the tiny field-of-view. I've had a chance to try two views (excellent Dell 20001FP LCDs) and it was great. Now if only I could add that third display....
1. 2.
Sorry, I meant my grandfather and I make our pr0n together.. wait. Did I just say that out loud ?
Actually i have been doing this since Ultima Online came out. I ran the game in on one screen and the maps, status bar, skill bar, icq etc. on the other. I love it. I begged the Star Wars Galaxies team to add multi monitor support but got stone walled... bastards...
Yes, so..
-blar
I believe with respect to a Radeon setup, I heard the expression "you can either have Xinerama, or you can have 3D, but you can't have both." And that there is some other Radeon-driver-supported way of getting a dual-display desktop.
Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
I've found that a multimonitor rig is the only way to fly when you're dealing with heavy-duty Audio and Video Editing. In the case of the former, I stick Sound Forge 6's editing window on the main monitor, and the plug-in window on the second, along with a copy of Total Commander for file mangement. Same thing goes for Nuendo: stick your mixer and plugins on the secondary, and your editing window on the first--extreme goodness.
For video editing and DVD authoring work, this is even more of a lifesaver. I'll stick Final Cut on the main monitor, and then either DVD Studio Pro or Photoshop (or both) on the secondary. Add in a Video Monitor for checks, and it fills up your desktop pretty fast, but the benefits are worth the space used. The extra 300-700 bucks you spend on a second monitor are made back on the first job you do with them, even if only in saved frustration as you no longer have to burrow through the 5 open apps on your monitor to figure out what the hell you need to be looking at.
....now if only I can come up with the $$$ for a new cinema display I'll really be ready to kick some multidisplay ass ;-).......
The same thing goes for my developement environment: Bluefish or XEmacs on the main window and Mozilla on the secondary, along with a couple of terminals for file management and a MySQL monitor. It's the only way to fly.....
Don't Panic!
Golly, so I can't play many games on a multi headed display...all is not lost!
I have FOUR (4) 19" LCD's each with 3 different Desktops using One Nvidia VGA/DVI AGP and One PCI Nvidia VGA/DVI.
Editor on #1
Database on #2
Application on #3
Browser on #4
This is great setup for application programming/debug.
Zapper
Don't bother trying to win in any sort of Mac debate over mod points. I had no problem with Macs (other than having to monitor a Mac lab in college and holy crap were they unstable), until I read this site. You can not say a single negative thing about a Mac here without getting modded down. It is rediculous because, quite frankly, Macs are not the be all and end all of computing. But the Mac mods on here have to mod every single postive Mac message up and every negative Mac message down. You are not helping your cause.
Just go on any new Mac device article and watch how all the people who say "I can't wait to get this! xxx totally justifies the fact I can do $xxx" get modded up as insightful and interesting. Take a similar comment "Wow, this is way too expensive. It doesn't support xxx, and just supporting yyy doesn't it make it worth it to me" get modded a troll. They are the same message with the same amount of insight. Neither should be modded at all.
My mom uses macs at home and my dad uses them at work. Both like them a lot. They are good machines. I mainly use Windows and Linux boxes for work and home. I find the freedom of hacking linux great and the games and stability of windows xp (yes, I said stability) are big plusses for that OS. All OSs have strong points and weak points. My suggestion to Mac modders is to calm the heck down with your points and only mod things that actually matter. I am so unimpressed with you guys that it actually lowers my opinions of both Macs and Mac users (except, obviously, my family who I know are intelligent and use there Macs as tools, not political statements).
I was talking about multimonitoring with a single graphic card (with multiple outputs), but it looks like it has been already done :/
"...a generation of kids has grown up thinking Trance is the shittiest music since country and western." - Paul van Dyk
Last time I checked, XFree86 does not support DRI to the second video card, so OpenGL apps only worked on the monitor driven by the primary graphics card. Xinerama only takes care of the X11 drawing, not the GLX DRI rendering.
Of course if you only have a single graphics card, this is no big deal. But if you want to build your own mini powerwall by adding a few PCI graphics cards, you need something like chromium if you plan to render openGL across more than a single GPU.
Great posts. I had been thinking about the Parahelia just for flight sim, now that's pretty well nixed.
... if you have your weather setup for rainy on your primary machine, the other machines won't just automatically show rain. So your left/right view would be a clear, sunny day while your primary display is raining. Same problems with air traffic. The weather problem can be overcome with a third party software program that keeps the weather in sync between the machines. I'm not sure if it works with air traffic too or not. (I think it's dumb that Microsoft didn't think to make it so that you could setup some "listen" nodes on your network. Sort of a client/server config for multiple displays.)
I would definitely advise against it unless you know what to expect and are OK with that.
So if you swapped out to ATI, what are you doing to drive your third screen?
Right now I have the 3rd screen on my other computer. I originally planned on buying 2 inexpensive ATI or NVidia PCI cards with DVI out so I could have DVI on all 3 screens. But every configuration I've tried so far under Linux has failed in one way or another. (And perhaps even more frustrating, all the configurations work fine under Windows. sigh.)
Have you set-up the multiple-computer flight sim set-up? How painful is that?
Sort of. I set up a 1 node configuration just to see if I could do it. I wasn't happy with the results. There's enough of a delay in the network response time between the machines that it makes for a weird experience. For example, you bank right, and 1/2 second later the Networked machines bank right. I have a 10/100Mb Network so I don't think it should be an issue of latency or not enough network bandwidth. (Could have been the relatively crummy specs of the spare machine though. My primary machine is pretty decked out though.)
Plus there are issues with the weather and air traffic. Since each machine is running it's own copy of the Flight Simulator
Plus there is the custom configuration that has to be done on each machine. You have to edit the cockpit files for *each* plane on *each* networked machine and tell it what viewing angle you want. -15 degrees on the left, +15 degrees on the right (or whatever).
It's a big pain in the neck in my opinion. You'd have to be a lot more of an enthusiast than I am to want to deal with it.
I really want a three monitor setup - it's just so much more interesting to flightsim when you can see stuff to the left and right of the plane.
Yes definitely. It's just too bad computers don't have 3 AGP slots where you could drive each monitor with a dedicated graphics card. I'm thinking PCI Express will be ideal for a 3 monitor setup.
I'm not terribly excited by flight simming, but it's cheaper to practice instrument approaches in the sim than in the plane. In some respects, I think it's better too. The controls/feedback sucks (Even with a FF joystick) which makes overcontrolling almost unavoidable. But the overcontrolling just forces you to have a really good instrument scan - so it ends up being better for your practice.
I think you can learn a lot from the Flight Simulator. I prefer yoke and pedals myself. I think it's more realistic than a combat stick.
But my interest level falls off rapidly due to the tiny field-of-view. I've had a chance to try two views (excellent Dell 20001FP LCDs) and it was great. Now if only I could add that third display....
My interest waxes and wanes like the phases of the moon. I was really jazzed about it for a while and kind of went "all out" on buying these 3 monitors, the parhelia card, and a yoke and pedals. And it was great fun for a while. But then, it got a little old. I put away my pedals and yoke and haven't touched them in months. My true interest lies in computer technology in general. Networking, playing with Operating Systems, and so on. That never goes away.
If you want both machines running X, you need to use x2x, as vncserver on *nix creates a virtual display.
This is correct, and this is a limitation of XFree86, which does not support DRI and Xinerama at the same time.
The only practical way to have 3D and dual-display at the same time under Linux is to use NVidia hardware.
And it's still cool today.
The article claims that AIT Radeon does not support monitor spanning. My Dell C610 has a Mobility Radeon and I am currently running two monitors with my desktop spanned across both. It took updating the windows 2k ati driver, but it supports both horizontal and vertical spanning as well as cloning. Is this feature just unique to ATI's mobile chipsets?
What it can't do is Dual View, which would be nice since my other monitor is a 21in. crt and I either have to have very small text on my laptop's monitor or suffer with a 60hz refresh rate on the crt.
yeah I got a GF4MX onboard my $250 hp machine that had dual head on the motherboard. I also happen to have 2 compaq 15" LCD's I picked up for 150$ a peice. I got a copy of ohno! more lemmings and chose the zoom option and stretched the window across my two displays. This game was meant to be played with 2 displays! I don't think you can say that about any of the other games mentioned here.
If you're gonna do it right, do it like this:
Grand Canyon
It's a single monitor...but it's 92" wide. And it can be yours for the low, low price of just $17,499.99!
Ok.. I started reading your posts and they kinda were well, Lame.. So: The Point is: 15" moniters are now FREE. (used) and, 17" moniters cost about $35 (used). So, For the first time in gaming history, I can afford to have moniter to the LEFT and RIGHT of my Main display AND, Some game Makers realizing that! IT'S COOL!!!!!!
I'll raise your 1986 with a 1985 . . .
It was possible to write a game for Commodore's C128 that could cover a 40-Column, and a 80-Column screen. The only difficulty was that only one screen could update at a time.
Could have been okay for Battleships, with one screen-per-player!
.
(David Bowman, EVA near HUGE Monolithic Win-PC in orbit around Jupiter) "My God - its full of Malware!"
[HUSHED WHISPER] Hooray! [/HUSHED WHISPER]
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
Ok I'm an idiot, I just realized how many different ways you could read my comment.
What I wrote: " I'm willing to bet $1000 USD that each troll awarded to the previous messages in this thread were by mac users."
What I meant: "I'm willing to bet $1000 USD that each person that modded any anti-mac comment in this thread with +1 troll, were themselves, mac users."
Your comment was funny.
I need speak more better clear english.