Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hey Everyone
Ok so I currently own a 19 widescreen monitor. I've seen a lot about the triplehead2go and i think it looks sweet, and with Christmas around the corner i'm thinking of trying to put together a surround setup. The thing is id prefer not to go out and buy 3 monitors and the triplehead2go and be left with my current 19' left to sit around with nothing much to do. So my question is could i instead of buying 3 new monitors just buy 2 17' monitors and use them with my current 19'. I believe this to be possible but from something I've read some people don't often recommend it.

If it makes a difference my current monitor is a Viewsonic VA1912wb, and if i were to get 2 17' i may be looking at the relatively similar Viewsonic VA712b

Thanks

Why can't you buy 2 more monitors of the same model you already own?

Combining 16:10 and 4:3 Monitors is not recomended ...
The resolution for each montor is the same via the TH2G.

Supported Display Modes
3 x 4:3 ...
1920 x 480 .... triple 640 x 480
2400 x 600 .... triple 800 x 6o0
3072 x 768 .... triple 1024 x 768
3840 x 1024 .... triple 1280 x 1024

3 x widescreen ...
3840 x 720 .... triple 1280 x 720
3840 x 768 .... triple 1280 x 768

Have you considered buying a TripleHead2Go plus 3 new monitors, and selling the monitor you currently have?

Definitely avoid using triplehead with 5:4 side monitors and a widescreen center monitor.

Ok i understand now why mixing display ratios is not recommended.

Why can't you buy 2 more monitors of the same model you already own?

i actually never really considered this, and now that ive check the price two more of my current monitor would only be roughly 20-30 dollars more...i may consider this.

Have you considered buying a TripleHead2Go plus 3 new monitors, and selling the monitor you currently have?

Definitely avoid using triplehead with 5:4 side monitors and a widescreen center monitor.

This is also another interesting possibility. What sort of differences are there between running 3 x 4:3 vs 3 x 16:10. Is one better then the other in terms of quality/in general? also what do people think about the size difference between 3 x 17' vs 3 x 19' ?

also as a side note if i were to buy 3 new monitors is it possible to run a TH2G setup with another monitor in a sort of dualview? for instance have 3 19' lcd's across, and one 19' widescreen above them plugged into the video cards other slot? It seems to make since to me, but would it have trouble running smooth without a really high end video card setup? I'm in the process of stepping up to a 8800gts, would that be enough or not?

Thanks for the help.

What sort of differences are there between running 3 x 4:3 vs 3 x 16:10. Is one better then the other in terms of quality/in general?

3 x 4:3 (or really 3 x 5:4 for 3840x1024 operation) lends itself perfectly to 3 LCDs with a native resolution of 1280x1024 (i.e pretty much any 17" or 19" LCD). At at triplehead resolution of 3840x1024, each monitor runs at its native resolution, which is a big plus.

If the TripleHead2Go really ran at 3 x 16:10, it wouldn't be too bad. That would be an overall apsect ratio of 4.8:1. But what it really runs at is 5:1 (3840x768) or 5.33:1 (3840x720). A 4.8:1 triple widescreen resolution would be 3840x800, but that resolution is not available using the TripleHead2Go. So, that's problem #1 for triple widescreen: improper aspect ratio; this leads to image distortion.

Issue #2 is that even if the TripleHead2Go offered the correct widescreen triplehead aspect ratio, none of the monitors could run at their native resolution if that res is 1680x1050 or 1920x1200; you'd need 1280x800 monitors.

also as a side note if i were to buy 3 new monitors is it possible to run a TH2G setup with another monitor in a sort of dualview? for instance have 3 19' lcd's across, and one 19' widescreen above them plugged into the video cards other slot?

This would work fine on the desktop but not in games. For the desktop you could use 4 monitors (Windows would only see 2 due to the way the TripleHead2Go works), but you couldn't game on all 4. This is because a maximum horizontal resolution of 4096 pixels is allowed in 3D (which, as a matter of fact, is the reason that the TripleHead2Go's output resolutions all stop at 3840).

Ok I i understand everything now. I think im going to buy 3 new 19' 5:4 monitors, and depending on wether i need money or not i may keep my current widescreen and use it as a Taskbar/MSN/WMP monitor or perhaps i will sell it to afford the other three monitors. Thanks everyone for all your help.

I have a 20" 16:10 benq wall mounted with an iiyama 17" 4:3 wall mounted on either side. The centre is on a 7800gtx with the 2 others on a dual dvi 7600gs (so, multiple pci-x cards but not sli mode). I've had this setup for a while and using ultramon i've set up various hotkeys and am very happy with it... until i found out about the triplehead2go about a year ago! My centre monitor can work in 1280x1024 but it's native is 1680:1050. The panel is EXACTLY the same height as the other two panels and it looks mighty fine, but I don't think i can ever do surround gaming as a result of the differing aspect ratios! Do you think it's worth me getting a triplehead and trying some games with the centre mon on 1280x1024?

I think it will work ... but the image on the centre monitor will look stretched ... :(
Whether this would be acceptable to you or not is up to you ...

You could try running a game at 1280x1024 on that centre screen (without the TH2G) to see how it would look stretched and then make your mind up as to if it is acceptable to you or not before you buy a TH2G.
If you change your desktop res to 1280x1024 you will be able to see how windows stretches too.

I don't like stretched games so for me it is a no go.

I am testing right now a 22" 16:10 on one side instead of a 19" 5:4 together with the 2 19" and a little horizontal correction of the widescreen it looks not as bad as I tought it to be, because the contents of the side monitors looks stretched anyway...probably I will keep it that way...