How to realise triple head output with Nvidia card

[PjotrVan]

For a car <A HREF="http://www.vstep.nl/p_s_dsim.htm" target="_new">driving simulator which we are developing</A>, we are looking for a graphics solution with 3 outputs. I know that Matrox has some TripleHead cards, but their 3D performance is not sufficient. Because the latest Nvidia 3D cards have such a good performance and high output resolution, I was more thinking of using a kind of VGA splitter, which would split one of the 2 VGA outputs running at 2048x768 into 2 separate monitors of each 1024x768, each showing a different half of the original 2048x768 image. The 3rd beamer is then driven by the card's 2nd VGA/DVI output.

Technically, this should work, but I haven't been able to find such a VGA splitter device yet. All the splitters just duplicate a VGA signal onto multiple identical outputs.
Does anyone know whether such a device exists? Or could I use the splitter of the Matrox card?

Another technical option is of course to use multiple PCI Express cards in one PC, but I cannot yet buy such PCs here at reasonable prices. Also, a 2 card solution would require some serious 3D programming and possibly synchronisation problems. A one-card solution would be easier.

Ideally, Nvidia would bring out a triple head card, which would make sense, as all the flight sim and F1 sim players would probably love to play their games and sims on triple-head LCD panels, but I haven't been able to convince anybody at Nvidia to develop such a card.

 

[entium]

the market is a bit small compaired to pure 3d gaming. It would be a nice add on. Who have you tried to contact at nV? Dev rel really doesn't get involved with stuff like this.

 

[PjotrVan]

I spoke to some Nvidia people at the CeBIT exhibition a few months ago, don't have their business cards. Also with developers from LeadTek and MSI. Nobody seemed to have any plans for triplehead solutions....

 

[TheRod]

I know that you can get triple display from ATI too. You can make by pairing an AGP ATI card on an ATI based motherboard (with integrated video). Ta dam! 3 output. But, you would still be limited by the integrated GPU performance.

But, as I see, since your software will not reach a broad audience, you can develop for Matrox only. And you might even bundle your software with a Matrox Parhelia card.

From your website screenshot, you don't need very high-res or polygon count. You mostly need an immersive experience. If I were you, I would focus on Matrox support for triple-head.

--
It's tricky to use words like <b><font color=green>AMD</font color=green></b> or <b><font color=blue>Intel</font color=blue></b> in a signature some users could think your are biased.

 

[entium]

try getting into the developers program then talk to your account manager he/she will point ya in the right direction. other then that ya can't do much with current technology support for new features like that.

 

[Terracide]

For now the market(I guess) is too small for such a "niche".
The vast majority of people don't own, and have(the ones I have talked to) neither the money or the desire for such a thing.
Maybee in 10 years it will be more common, but I don't expect to see this any time soon.

Terracide...

Don't pretend - BE!

 

[entium]

thats true, unfortunatly but man that would be an awesome gaming experience monitors all around you hehe 7.1 surround sound . Almost like real life!