![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Monday , September 24, 2007
- Author:
- Brent Justice
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital Edition
Multi-display gaming has never looked so good. We evaluate the new Matrox TrippleHead2Go Digital Edition which spreads your games across multiple-displays. We will look at features, show screenshots, test performance including SLI, and share our gameplay experiences.
Matrox PowerDesk-SE
PowerDesk-SE is the Matrox software driver suite needed to exploit all the functions that the TripleHead2Go Digital Edition provides. You can in fact run the device successfully in 2D mode without the driver suite installed and have the full resolution of the device displayed, however it may not work properly in 3D and you won’t be able to tweak any of the settings.
The latest version at the time of writing is dated June 13th, 2007 version 2.01.00.005. The driver supports Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows XP x64, Windows Vista and Windows Vista x64. The entire driver suite package is a slim 6 MB file. Upon installation we found two processes that run at Windows startup. One was only taking up 1.2 MB of RAM and the other 2.6 MB, so definitely not a resource hog.
Before we even installed PowerDesk-SE our computer booted right up with the correct resolution of 3840x1024. The TripleHead2Go Digital Edition seems to carry out the actual work of combining the computers video output signal into one large resolution across multiple displays, even without the driver installed.
Main Configuration Window
To maximize the potential of the module and use it in 3D games you do need to install PowerDesk-SE. Once you have installed the software, which requires a reboot, you will see the main PowerDesk-SE configuration menu. In this menu you can verify that it is detecting the correct GXM product, video card and software version. You can also see a list of displays that the device is currently connected to as well as the current resolution. On some older monitors that may not have DDC capability, or an older version of DDC, the module will not be able to outright recognize the device in the software, though it will still work without any issues as we discovered. If you click on the “Troubleshooting” button you will be taken to a more detailed screen of the hardware setup detected.
If you click on the “Change” button next to the current display mode you will be taken to another dialog box where you can see the current resolution modes supported. The maximum resolution we can set with three displays is 1280x1024 @ 60Hz on each display. Clicking on “Edit Mode List” will take you to another menu where you can remove display modes you do not want to be shown or add new resolutions which may be supported depending on if you are using two or three displays. You are not going to be able to go higher than what is allowed by the module however, only lower.
Bezel Management
From the main configuration menu there is a button called “Bezel Management”. When you click on this button a test pattern will be displayed full screen across all displays with a new menu selection box. Bezel Management is a unique feature that Matrox provides that lets you adjust the image on your displays to compensate for the bezel of your displays. This allows the image to appear seamless across all displays.
When you have multiple displays right next to each other the bezel creates an annoying separation of your image. With Bezel Management you can adjust the left and right displays to match up with the center display. A big blue background is displayed with diagonal lines. By adjusting the display the goal is to match these lines up between all the displays. You can assign a hotkey to enable and disable Bezel Management on the fly while in 2D or in your games. The result is best shown in a screenshot example we’ve done.
In the first photo above we are taking a photograph of the center display right next to the display on the right. As you can see the bezel of the displays get in the way and separate the image, this is the default mode for any multiple display configuration (ignore the vertical height difference in the image, one monitor is slightly higher than the other.) What we are looking at is the NVIDIA control panel window between both displays with FRAPS showing us that it is running at 32 FPS. What you want to note is that the “3” and the “2” in the “32” are separated by the bezel.
Now, in this photograph we have enabled Bezel Management. The “32” is no longer separated; it is now hidden behind the bezel as if the bezel were really there in the image. Whether you prefer bezel management on or off is up to you, it comes down to personal preference. Thankfully you can set a hotkey to enable or disable it on the fly to try it out for yourself while you are playing games.
System Tray Icon
With PowerDesk-SE installed there will be an icon placed in the system tray for easy access to all the TripleHead2Go Digital Edition features. Right clicking will let you open the main GXM setup menu, open desktop management, configure the desktop divider option, or open up your display properties. One thing we noted is that when we right clicked this icon in the system tray there was a few second delay before this context menu popped up, so if you right click it and nothing happens give it a few seconds and it should pop up.
Desktop Management
Accessed via the system tray there are two more options that allow greater control of the displays. Desktop Management allows you to customize various display settings in 2D mode. From here you can have windows snap to the edges of specific displays or have all your program windows open on a certain display. This is good if you want to sit in front of the center display and have all your programs open on this display and snap to it when they are maximized. You can also force any window to span all three displays by holding CTRL down while maximizing the window. We found these features work great; we were able to have every window we opened centered on the center display. The Display Diver configuration menu let’s you individually adjust each resolution on each display unit for the utmost customization in 2D mode.