AMD's Eyefinity Technology Explained

[tommysch]

"Predictably, DisplayPort is fully compliant with prior DRM technologies and some forward-looking DRM besides, so don’t look for DP to make ripping any easier."

Like anybody is still doing any video-capture based ripping... Its much better to rip directly at the source! 1:1 BR ripping ftw.

 

[rhino13]

Actually it is a proven fact that nVidia fanbois notice the bezel 7 to 10 times more often than the rest of the world.

Oh, and kudos to AMD for including the DP out. That's where we need to be going. It's ideal with the advent of the 3D monitor.

 

[no_quarter]

When I first set up 3 monitor Eyefinity I had a 4 inch gap between the monitors because I didn't have room on my desk and you still don't notice the gap. Your brain just filters it right out. Looking at a picture of multi-monitor is not remotely the same as sitting down in front of it and being instantly immersed.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Just a correction,

DP to VGA does not require an active adapter if none of the other RAMDACs are being used. In the last configuration, the DVI and HDMI run off of the 2 dual-link TMDS (HDMI being double clocked single link actually) and then the DP->VGA adapter will use the RAMDAC to run that display, it does not require an active adapter. Nor does DVI+DVI+VGA.

This has been done many times before, and was address by ATi in a blurb posted by bossman Kyle @ [H];
http://www.hardocp.com/news/2009/11/30/eyefinity_using_active_adapter

It is a little more problematic at detecting monitors, but it works fine.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

i dont know if i am an idiot but i still dont understand the difference between hooking up 3 monitors to a 48 series and eyeinfinity.

You don't have the display controllers for most of the 4800 series, and if it's an HD4870X2 you have it seeing 2 separate GPUs to display the information on three screen (2+1). The difference being that you need to tell the game to display that section of the visible area for that chunk of the screen on that GPU. some games (mostly Flight SIMs) are very good at doing that with multiple GPUs and have for a while, and can even display a chunk of the visible landscape across PCs let alone just displays, but for most other games it's a little harder.

However for eyefinity you're essentially extending the field of view so that it's one continuous chunk of landscape that you are rendering and outputing to the multiple screens letting the hardware split the scene. This was previous also possible with a solution like Matrox's TripleHead2Go where Matrox's software and hardware would work in conjunction with a GPU's single output to render the screen split amongst the 3 attached to the TH2G. You could then still do 3600x1024 and such, but you were limited to the max outpuut of a single output devices (dual link TMDS or 400Mhz RAMDACs) so you didn't have the same scaling options, especially not the higher resolutions.

Hope that helps.

 

[dvdkramer]

does this mean we can finally clone displays with different resolutions?

 

[dethsite2]

you must remember they are scaling over multiple pci-e buses

sadly there only 1 mobo that supports this type of configuration as it sadly that is an intel based model..

pity it don't have the space to run seven cards..

I just wished we had lcd/led displays with no border banding..

i could see up to a 60" display.. emagine the monitors real estate from that, then again using projectors you you could build your own omni screen..


if we ever got a mobo long enough I could quite easily see 7x 5970's being used not mention 2-4kw power supplies to power it all not to mention a 3-phase power hookup

 

[pim69]

It sounds like a lot of fun getting 3+ monitors for immersive gaming, but how many people can afford 3 monitors? Even if the video card were free I couldnt afford 3 new monitors at once. And I wouldnt buy 2x 1680x1050 22" monitors to match my existing one, it makes no sense to buy anything less than 1080p these days.

This would easily double the cost of my next gaming rig upgrade, geez! my wife would have a heart attack!

 

[chigra]

Forget bezels, I want to know where to get those single pole TV stands in the picture.

 

[dethsite2]

for 3, 4, 6, or 8 displays you would scaling over multiple pci-e buses i doubt it on a per card configuration, reading the article it does say it is using crossfire x to partake in the scaling feature whilst using multiple monitors..

just remember if you plan to build your next rig using 3-4 graphics cards i would be seeking cases that support 2 or more psu's as you will likely need it multiple psu's to run such a configuration as you will need to multiply the single wattage calcs when deploying 2, 3 or 4 cards...

 

[akula2]

I am loving this feature with my 5770 cards, thanks ATI

 

[cypeq]

well well gammers since quake one are messing with fov to see more it's nothing new. For a price of 2 monitors you get bigger picture with higher fov that implicates it's easier to aim but still it's a hefty price. I haven't yet played on eyefinity but can my eyes keep good track at sth like 60 inch wide or bigger area effectively ?

 

[grunzbert]

Multiple monitors are nice for working, but for games I would prefer a good head mounted display (HD resolution, >=90° field of view) with headtracking, which allows to look in really every direction, and also provides high quality stereoscopy.

 

[vexun11]

Great article, I picked up a radeon 5830 for 200$ and I have 2 22' lcd's I am tempted to get another one so I can try gaming and watching movies with this special feature. Thanks for the info

 

[alyoshka]

The bezel doesn't hide any part of the image or whatever you watch.... these setups are basically for showrooms and other commercial joints. When it comes to the personal computing side of it, most of us who use 2/3 monitors usually remove the whole frame and mount the whole thing on a different rig..... so it's more like an enthusiast kind of a thing or just for the kicks of it.
If you view the whole thing from a distance, the bezel(Borders) don't bother you that much. But ain't that the whole point of it, either creating a virtual immersion environment or than using it for gaming or creating stuff that requires more desktop space......

 

[skadeet]

[citation][nom]sykar[/nom]The problem I see with Eyefinity are the black borders between displays...[/citation]

Right but that's not Eyefinity's problem. You may be able to find monitors that are made for a multi-monitor display, they usually are border-less or have very small one. What would be really cool is to set up a bunch of HD projectors for monitors, that way there is no border and they will fit together seamlessly..... of course i wonder how much 3 HD projectors (or good SD projectors for that matter) would cost.. hehe, that would be sweeeeet

 

[a73k]

What kind of monitors are being used in the display photo at the top of the article? Those are the thinnest bezels I've seen online.