Question 1 PC with 11 monitors setup (extended)

[bayujoss]

Hi,

I need to setup one PC with 11 monitors setup in 1 x 11 extended configuration. The intention is to play a custom (wide) resolution animation video, moving from right to left 11 monitors setup, something like (1920 x 11) * 1080 resolution.

Have a few (or lots) questions to ask.

1. Can i output to 11 monitors (extended) using 3 graphic cards? Like GeForce RTX mostly has 4 outputs (3 DP & 1 HDMI).

2. As the video has 21120 (long) * 1080 resolution, do i need an RTX 3090 or 3090ti + 2 RTX 3050 to play that high resolution video? Or i can just use 3 RTX 3050?

Because i won't be using NVLink, so the main graphic card (RTX 3090) is probably needed to handle the high video resolution.

3. What motherboard supports at least 3 GPU slots? And what processor to handle them?

4. I had a thought of using just 2 RTX 3050 with 2 Display Port MST, so each card can output 5 displays, plus 1 from iGPU, with the total of 11 displays.

But as i thought before, can a single RTX 3050 handle that kind of resolution? And also can DP MST worked like that?

TIA

 

[geofelt]

Do you have a budget?
What is the make/model of the monitors?
Do you now own them?
What inputs do they take? DP,HDMI,DVI,VGA

Can you describe a bit more what this whole setup is for?

I could envision using fewer ultra wide curved monitors for such an application.

It is my understanding that windows has a limit of 128,000,000 pixels for a single window.
Since each 1080P monitor displays about 2 million pixels, you should be able to display all using the extended desktop and a single window.

Many conventional pcie graphics cards may be an issue that requires a server motherboard.

But, if the displays can handle displayport input, there are workstation cards that can handle 6 outputs.
Fast animation may be an issue.

 

[bayujoss]

Do you have a budget?
What is the make/model of the monitors?
Do you now own them?
What inputs do they take? DP,HDMI,DVI,VGA

Can you describe a bit more what this whole setup is for?

I could envision using fewer ultra wide curved monitors for such an application.

It is my understanding that windows has a limit of 128,000,000 pixels for a single window.
Since each 1080P monitor displays about 2 million pixels, you should be able to display all using the extended desktop and a single window.

Many conventional pcie graphics cards may be an issue that requires a server motherboard.

But, if the displays can handle displayport input, there are workstation cards that can handle 6 outputs.
Fast animation may be an issue.

This setup is intended to play one long resolution video to 11 TVs, is an animation video that moving from the right to the left. Also the TV needs to be able to play 11 different videos, that's why they need to be in extended mode.

The setup will be Eleven 4K TVs with HDMI input (so i will need DP to HDMI cables for some ports), but each TV will be set at 1920*1080 resolution.

For the budget i still have no idea, but maybe around 7k or 8k.

About the video resolution, as i mentioned before i won't be using NVLink or SLI (so i can utilize all display port), Do i need high performance card to handle it?

 

[Flayed]

I think Matrox specialize in this sort of video wall thing, perhaps check out their products.

 

[geofelt]

I found this GT730 card with 4 hdmi outputs:
https://www.newegg.com/asus-geforce-gt-730-gt730-4h-sl-2gd5/p/N82E16814126570
It is a one slot card that only needs pcie X1 sized slot, and many motherboards will have at least three or more.

 

[bayujoss]

I found this GT730 card with 4 hdmi outputs:
https://www.newegg.com/asus-geforce-gt-730-gt730-4h-sl-2gd5/p/N82E16814126570
It is a one slot card that only needs pcie X1 sized slot, and many motherboards will have at least three or more.

Can it handle 21120 x 1080 video resolution?

 

[USAFRet]

This setup is intended to play one long resolution video to 11 TVs, is an animation video that moving from the right to the left. Also the TV needs to be able to play 11 different videos, that's why they need to be in extended mode.

The setup will be Eleven 4K TVs with HDMI input (so i will need DP to HDMI cables for some ports), but each TV will be set at 1920*1080 resolution.

For the budget i still have no idea, but maybe around 7k or 8k.

About the video resolution, as i mentioned before i won't be using NVLink or SLI (so i can utilize all display port), Do i need high performance card to handle it?

So this is not a home setup, but rather something commercial?

 

[geofelt]

Can it handle 21120 x 1080 video resolution?

Specs say each output can be 3840 x 2160 resolution.
You should be able to attach your 11 tv's with three such cards.
I do not know what the quality would be of the image or if the animation would be ok.
I think I would try to test things out first.
If you own 4 monitors, it would not cost you much to build what could be a cost efficient solution.
A lga1700 motherboard with DDR4 support like this $150 MSI B660 PRO will have space for 5 such cards:
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813144523
A simple processor like a I3-12100:
https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i3-12100-core-i3-12th-gen/p/N82E16819118370
and other usual parts will get you a test bed.

 

[bayujoss]

So this is not a home setup, but rather something commercial?

Yes, correct

 

[bayujoss]

Specs say each output can be 3840 x 2160 resolution.
You should be able to attach your 11 tv's with three such cards.
I do not know what the quality would be of the image or if the animation would be ok.
I think I would try to test things out first.
If you own 4 monitors, it would not cost you much to build what could be a cost efficient solution.
A lga1700 motherboard with DDR4 support like this $150 MSI B660 PRO will have space for 5 such cards:
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813144523
A simple processor like a I3-12100:
https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i3-12100-core-i3-12th-gen/p/N82E16819118370
and other usual parts will get you a test bed.

That motherboard only has 2 x16 PCIe, the second one usually has only x4 speed.

 

[USAFRet]

That motherboard only has 2 x16 PCIe, the second one usually has only x4 speed.

To just play a video, you don't need a lot of bandwidth.

 

[bayujoss]

To just play a video, you don't need a lot of bandwidth.

How about gpu (and cpu) power? Do i need a big one? My team has confirmed the video animation with 5 seconds duration has 15 GB size, in .mp4 format.

 

[USAFRet]

How about gpu (and cpu) power? Do i need a big one? My team has confirmed the video animation with 5 seconds duration has 15 GB size, in .mp4 format.

5 sec = 15GB....that is going to require HUGE storage space.
That can probably be recompiled to much much lower.

How much resolution does this actually need?
Who will be watching, and how?

Basically, you really need to determine your actual requirements, and thereby all the other hardware.
The monitors are but one part of this.

 

[bayujoss]

5 sec = 15GB....that is going to require HUGE storage space.
That can probably be recompiled to much much lower.

How much resolution does this actually need?
Who will be watching, and how?

Basically, you really need to determine your actual requirements, and thereby all the other hardware.
The monitors are but one part of this.

21120 x 1080 (1920 * 11 monitors). A motion graphic run from right monitor to left monitor. Yes i am prepared for other spec, but the GPU & CPU power that i am still concerned about

 

[USAFRet]

21120 x 1080 (1920 * 11 monitors). A motion graphic run from right monitor to left monitor. Yes i am prepared for other spec, but the GPU & CPU power that i am still concerned about

Required power depends on the hardware involved.
Hardware depends on the video quality needed.

 

[sketchyachewan]

Instead of a single-use, unique solution that would generally prove more expensive, why not break it down to what you are actually looking for: you need 11 screens to display 1920x1080 video over HDMI for a given amount of time, From the sounds of it, the furthest right monitor will start with active video from the first instant, and the furthest left monitor will be displaying nothing (black screen?) for most of the time.

So at the most basic: 11 video sources, synced to start an X minute video at the same time.

Assuming you don't want your control machine to be on a visible screen at the start of the action, you could use 12 systems dragged in from anywhere. I'll skip over the Raspberry Pi solution since it sounds from the original question that you are looking for a windows solution. That means, if you want this all to be new equipment, you could actually purchase low-spec desktop or laptop systems with integrated graphics, because doing FHD video doesn't even require high-powered rendering equipment. If the investment is just for a single project, you could then turn around and resell or donate the computers, or give them as parting gifts to the team.

Simplifying somewhat, and leaning back to your original thinking about multiple computers, you could use 4 more capable systems of 3 HDMI outputs each. One control screen and 11 to display video. But the control gets more complicated since you will need to trigger multiple processes per system, instead of just one.

The final reason I would suggest these solutions is this: to have a single 21120x1080 video, you have to be able to edit it. Had you already considered what computer and software you were going to use for that?

 

[bayujoss]

Instead of a single-use, unique solution that would generally prove more expensive, why not break it down to what you are actually looking for: you need 11 screens to display 1920x1080 video over HDMI for a given amount of time, From the sounds of it, the furthest right monitor will start with active video from the first instant, and the furthest left monitor will be displaying nothing (black screen?) for most of the time.

So at the most basic: 11 video sources, synced to start an X minute video at the same time.

Assuming you don't want your control machine to be on a visible screen at the start of the action, you could use 12 systems dragged in from anywhere. I'll skip over the Raspberry Pi solution since it sounds from the original question that you are looking for a windows solution. That means, if you want this all to be new equipment, you could actually purchase low-spec desktop or laptop systems with integrated graphics, because doing FHD video doesn't even require high-powered rendering equipment. If the investment is just for a single project, you could then turn around and resell or donate the computers, or give them as parting gifts to the team.

Simplifying somewhat, and leaning back to your original thinking about multiple computers, you could use 4 more capable systems of 3 HDMI outputs each. One control screen and 11 to display video. But the control gets more complicated since you will need to trigger multiple processes per system, instead of just one.

The final reason I would suggest these solutions is this: to have a single 21120x1080 video, you have to be able to edit it. Had you already considered what computer and software you were going to use for that?

The video animation's already done, and software to play the video will be something like VLC or MPC, with custom resolution setting.

Any suggestion regarding the graphic card(s)?