Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital Edition Review - Installation & Performance

Installation

Installation is about as simple as it gets. I hooked up the Dual-Link DVI cable from my NVIDIA 7950GX2, to the DTH2Go; and then Single-Link DVI cables from each of the outputs on the DTH2Go, to the three HP LP1965s. I hooked up the USB cable through my USB hub, and fired up my rig. Windows natively detected the desktop resolution of 3840x1024 and booted up fine. I was able to select from resolutions of 3840x1024, 3072x768, 2400x600 and 1920x480.

The initial installation simply could not have been easier, as I expected Windows to need drivers before working properly. I followed up with installing the SGU, the MPD and updating the firmware (to address the "center display" issue).

Performance

Gaming in Surround

Immersion

Gaming in Surround is nothing short of amazing. Making the jump from a "normal" LCD to widescreen is simply a small taste of what Surround Gaming offers. The feeling of immersion is second-to-none, and goes a long way to helping suspend the disbelief that you are "simply playing a game." FPS players will certainly appreciate the widened Field of View (FOV), as it allows them to have an actual, natural peripheral vision in the game.

There can be one nasty downside to this immersion, and that is for gamers prone to motion sickness. Unfortunately, I happen to be one of those people. What I would say is this - if you find yourself becoming motion sick while playing a certain game, Surround Gaming will probably magnify the effect. Half-Life 2 makes me motion sick, even on a 4:3 screen. The effect is simply quicker in Widescreen and Surround. But, I don't get motion sick from Team Fortress 2, at any aspect.

I have also found that the effect can be magnified for games with a Vert- screen change. Vert- ends up limiting the camera dolly, and the camera ends up rotating around the character at a closer difference. Guild Wars in 4:3 doesn't make me motion sick. But, the game is "some Hor+ & some Vert-." As the aspect increases, I find myself moving the camera a lot to look around the terrain and find enemies. I simply end up doing this more in Surround, than I do Widescreen. By contrast, in Lord of the Rings Online (Hor+ and WSGF Certified), I have no problems.

In the end, it depends on the gamer and many aspects of the game. Surround Gaming is so cool, it is worth stocking up on Dramamine and Ginger Ale. I hate to mention it, as I don't want this to seem like a knock against the DTH2Go. But, I would hate more for someone to go through the time and expense of setting up a Surround Rig, and not be able to enjoy it.
HUD Customization

My favorite game genres are RPGs and MMORPGs. One staple in these genres is a very "busy" HUD, that can get cluttered with things like character stats (health, mana, etc.), quest logs, maps, and inventory screens. These "meta" items can obscure your view of the game world, quickly breaking your immersion. Making the move to Surround allows many (if not all) of those items to be moved to the periphery, so that you can now focus on the gameplay and the game world. Well-designed games allow for HUD customization. This freedom allows you to place frequently used elements such as characters stats and maps just outside the bezel breaks; other items such as quest logs and inventories are placed near the edges.

HUD Customization

My favorite game genres are RPGs and MMORPGs. One staple in these genres is a very "busy" HUD, that can get cluttered with things like character stats (health, mana, etc.), quest logs, maps, and inventory screens. These "meta" items can obscure your view of the game world, quickly breaking your immersion. Making the move to Surround allows many (if not all) of those items to be moved to the periphery, so that you can now focus on the gameplay and the game world. Well-designed games allow for HUD customization. This freedom allows you to place frequently used elements such as characters stats and maps just outside the bezel breaks; other items such as quest logs and inventories are placed near the edges.

Image Quality & Scaling

The image quality of the DTH2Go is impeccable. There is absolutely no degradation of the signal or image, and thus your image quality depends on your graphics card and monitors. With the DTH2Go, you are pushing 3.93M pixels, and not every rig is up to that. Native resolutions are always preferred, but scaling the image down to a non-native resolution doesn't effect the image quality to any noticeable degree. The key component to scaling the images will always be your monitor. Choose monitors that work well and you won't have a problem.

Benchmarking

I haven't had a chance to do enough benchmarking to put stats together for this article. Now that I have both the 30" panel and the DTH2Go setup, a formal benchmarking article is (hopefully) soon to come.

3840x1024 comes in at 3.93M pixels; this is just under the 4.1M pixels of 2560x1600. 3072x768 comes in at 2.36M pixels; this is just over the 2.30M pixels of 1920x1200. So, if you see how certain games or hardware benchmark at 1920x1200 or 2560x1600, this should give you a good idea of how your rig would perform with a Surround Gaming setup.

At 3840x1280, and max quality settings, I get about 90fps in both Guild Wars and Half-Life 2. At the same resolution and "high" quality settings, I get about 40fps in LOTRO. My machine is based on a Core2Duo E6700 and an NVIDIA 7950GX2.