We have been testing a variety of multi-screen controllers. The three hardware solutions we’ve looked at have been VillageTronics, Newnham Research’s USB-to-VGA adapter, and Matrox’s TripleHead2Go. All of these devices are external to the computer, with the exception being VillageTronics, which is a PCMCIA PC card.

We’ve written about VillageTronics several times, and this time we’re looking into Matrox’s nifty little box, the TripleHead2Go.

The hardware installation is simple. The box connects to the PC via a standard analog VGA (sorry, no DVI for now) cable, and reports resolution via standard EDID structure, appearing to the PC as a single, very wide second display.

Figure 1. Connecting the screens with Matrox’s TripleHead2Go box. (Source: Matrox)

And the setup in Display Properties is straightforward, if not immediately obvious. It’s one big second display that is spread across three external displays (see Figure 1, below).

TripleHead2Go is not a graphics add-in board (AIB) but an external box that harnesses your system’s existing graphics solution (including CrossFire or SLI) for rendering of all 2D, 3D, and video, and adds multi-monitor support. TripleHead2Go appears to your system as an ultra-widescreen 3840 x 1024 monitor. Since SLI doesn’t support a second display while in the SLI mode, this is a nifty way to get a larger scene; for example, look at Unreal.

And then look at it in what Matrox is calling “Surround Gaming.”

However, as many of you know, especially anyone who is lucky enough to have a Dell 30-inch 2850 x 1600 display, not all games support these wide views.

Therefore, Matrox has put together a Surround Gaming Utility. The Surround Gaming Utility (SGU) is a simple software application that automatically updates game configuration files to have proper settings enabled for TripleHead resolutions. A version of the SGU appears on the CD in the TripleHead2Go box. But Matrox says they are committed to updating the list of titles and will be making updates available on the web. The third update appears on this website and increases the number of “pre-configured” games to 120.

Figure 2. Display properties dialog box. (Source: JPR)

Matrox, as some of you may recall, pioneered the triple-head concept with their Parhelia 512 and showed it at E3 in 2002 (in a tent; see TechWatch, vol. 2, no. 11, May 28, 2002, p.18). That was Matrox’s last attempt at being in the game, so to speak. The Parhelia was/is an AGP part, and so far Matrox has not come out with a PCIe GPU or AIB. Instead they have moved into video editing and IT, primarily in the trading rooms on Wall Street.

Stock traders like a lot of displays, and so Matrox found a welcome market. Over the years, however, the stock traders have moved to laptops for portability, space, and heat savings. A new solution was needed for multiple displays, and Matrox came up with it with their TripleHead2Go (they also have a DualHead2Go model).

TripleHead2Go will be available for purchase by mid-May 2006. Matrox is currently working to enable a number of system and channel partners to offer the product. The expected price will be under $200.

We have been testing it here at MTTL, and for the most part find it easy to install and easy to use. However, we’d like to see Matrox make a few additions or mods to it.

Where the hell is that cursor?

In moving the cursor from my left screen to my right screen (which straddle my laptop in the center), I find:

A. I spend a lot of time moving the cursor (possibly because I’m using a track-ball), and

B. I tend to lose the cursor.

So here’s what I’d like. I’d like to press the right mouse key and a number and then have my cursor become 3x its normal size and red in color for a while (flashing would be nice, too), somewhat similar to the Identify button in the display properties setting panel function, so I could quickly find the cursor.

Pressing the control key, which produces a diminishing circle to locate the cursor, is not good enough when you have a lot of screen—it’s just too subtle. It will help you eventually locate the cursor but it is not fast or efficient. Something better is needed.

Now maybe I should take this request/suggestion to Logitech, maybe it’s a mouse function, but I thought since Matrox caused the problem by giving me all this screen space, they should solve it.

Figure 4. “Unreal Tournament 2004” original screenshot taken at 1280 x 1024 resolution without TripleHead2Go.

Figure 5. “Unreal” at 3840 x 1024 resolution with TripleHead2Go.

Move that damn cursor

If I am on the righthand screen and need/want to get to the left screen, I’d like to be able to jump there, not have to roll or mouse my way over—it just takes so long, and I find I do it a lot. How about a cursor screen jump, maybe right mouse button and an arrow to jump to the center of the screen? (The center screen could be the down key.)

A word about productivity

One of the primary reasons for adding displays is to gain productivity—The more you can see, the more you can do—Jon Peddie, 1999. It may seem trivial or whiny to complain about cursor movement, but if you are trying to increase your productivity you don’t want to be slowed down by fiddling with a cursor to get work done.

Two-4-three

We’ve discussed this but I thought I’d mention it once more. The TripleHead2Go is a fine idea, and seems to work as advertised (with a little re-booting). Three screens is its capacity (actually giving you four-screen capability). But, it is, in its present form, also its handicap. It should be described as “up to three extra or external screens.” As it is on my setup, I only have two external screens. But the default setup is three screens. The net result of that is I lose things. They go to what would be the far left screen if I had one. I lose the cursor there and occasionally a program will open up there (maybe something about the upper left screen coordinates). In any case, it should be possible to map to two screens (only) or even one.

Now I know one screen seems silly, since that is a built-in function of any laptop and XP, but it is possible to have a configuration change due to maintenance, or testing. If I pull one monitor off (say to loan to a colleague or get repaired) I want a simple keyboard control to reduce my external screen map and not have to go plug and unplug a bunch of cables, and likewise when the loaned display is brought back.

Figure 6. Jon’s current triple-head setup. (Photo: JPR)

Resolution setting

I’d like to have more control over the resolution setting of the external displays. Right now it defaults to three 1280 x 1024 external screens, or 3840 x 1024, or 3.932 Mpixels, which, as I understand it, is a function of the bandwidth of the components in the highly affordable TripleHead2Go box. If possible it would highly useful to map to two external screens at 1600 x 1200 or 1680 x 1050 and combinations between 1600 x 1200 and 1280 x 1024.

Tile mapping

The TripleHead23Go maps the GPU’s external display frame buffer into a long display (i.e., 3840 x 1024), which is a clever way to get a lot of external screens almost for free. However, if you use a laptop, with its attached screen and keyboard, it’s rather inconvenient to have three screens hung off to the left or the right; one can strain one’s neck looking to the far right or left screen while still trying to type on the keyboard directly in fron.

Therefore, it would be delightful if the external screen map could be broken up into tiles and the tiles placed to the left and the right, and maybe above the laptop’s display. Perhaps that’s a “super” version of the product, but with the price as reasonable as it is, I think people would be willing to pay for those extra capabilities—I would be.

What do we think?

We think Matrox has a winner. It’s low cost, easy to install, and solves a lot of problems. Gamers should like it, the traders should like it, and anyone who wants more than two screens should like it.