Wonder if I can get some guidance with this. My current multi computer/monitor set up, whilst OK for FS9, is not going to cut it if I upgrade to FSX. The cost of multiple copies of the prog plus upgrades to machines is going to be way out of my pocket.I thought this Matrox box could be an answer - at least I could run three monitors with it and my main machine is easily capable. However, I have had a look at a friends set up and have to say I'm a bit lost. I suppose the main question is would it be possible to use this system with 2D panels and if so, how.Any advice would be much appreciated.Bud

Greetings Bud,If your question is can you use a 2d aircraft panel the answer is your panel will look streched out across 3 monitors.You can resize the panel by holding your pointer on the outside and dragging it towards the center screen,But then you end up with black spaces on either side.You can use these spaces for other panels@ gps and throttle.hope this helpsBest regardsAndrew

I have TH2G (1x24" LCD and 2x20.1" LCDs) and can use 2D panels in FS9. You re-size as Andrew states above, but you can then pull the scenery down to the bottom of the left and right flanking screens to get rid of black gaps. Then you re-set the eye point on your center screen with the 2D panel in order to give yourself the correct perspective looking out in front.However, flying 2D panels with TH2G is weird because you feel like you're inside a cockpit with huge glass panels on your left and right and you can fall out (and get vertigo easily!). I miss my good 2D panels with TH2G as a result of all this stuff. The VCs do work superbly and the overall effect is amazingly immersive, but 2D is largely a thing of the past with TH2G and it was not designed for 2D. JS

Many thanks for the responses - I appreciate it. Reckon I need to put a bit more thought into this.Bud

Mostly, you need PC processing power, a lot of RAM, and a big video card to be able to run TH2G satisfactorily. I doubled my RAM to 2GB, swapped out a fabulous ATI Radeon X850XT PE card (still miss it!) for a nVidia eVGA 7900 GTO card (512MB, very fast and big appetite), and my processor is a 3.80Ghz P4 Northwood. All works well with an occasional frame degradation but VC views are mostly outstanding with good fluidity generally. Heavy AI traffic and really heavy clouds of 5/8+ coverage still impair visual performance somewhat, but not to an unacceptable extent. Glad to assist. I researched endlessly before migrating and upgrading!JS

jsacks, don't you notice the different scaling on the 24" and 20" panels since all are displaying upscaled 1280x1024?

Yes there is a slightly different scale but it is bearable. It is really only noticeable if you look closely. Otherwise, the sense of continuity exists and looks very good. The other factor is that the 24" is so massive that the entire setup occupies almost all of your visual field so you mostly see the 24" and see the laft and right flanking 20.1" LCDs with part of your peripheral vision. I have lined up the bezels extremely well so that the ground lines always line up nearly perfectly and the panels generally look seemelss. It is somewhat less perfectly lined up in SPOT view but still looks phenonmenal.So, in sum it is not a deal breaker for me. It is imperfect, agreed, but it does look stunning and many folks have walked in said "Wow! That looks F@#$ing AMAZING!"JS

It seems like one way to compensate for the 2d panel would be to resize and expand it over the middle monitor and stretch over to the right monitor. That way you would sit closer to an actual view of a pilot (rather than the typical middle of the panel).Question for JSACKS: You have a 24" and a 20 inch on each side? I have always read the largest size one could use is three 19"'s due to graphic card limitations. Have things changed? Heck, if that is the case I plan a TH2G with three 24"s!ClutchProject 9 Dragons

The limitation with TH2G is that it spreads a total of 3840x1280 pixels across 3 screens that can be of any shape or size. You can indeed have 3x24" LCDs if you wish but it will look slightly distorted because 24" is "widescreen" format, and also slightly less clear because of the way the pixels are distributed over three huge LCD panels. I did not build my set up this way, I collected bits and pieces individually and discovered TH2G after I'd started the collection! If I did things properly I would've done 3x19" ideally or maybe 3x20.1". As it turns out, I am happy--pretty darn happy--with my set-up with non matching screens. It was important that the flanking screens be of identical size. But each LCD is a different model by DELL (I like DELL very much.)JS

Even the new Digital Matrox TH2Go will not handle more than 3x1280x1024 BUT in Dual mode you can run 2x1920x1200 so you could run 2x 24" widescreen monitors in native resolution. If you have a dual head graphics card you could then attach a third monitor to that 2nd graphics port. If your desk space allowed it you could have your instrument panel on the 3rd monitor and place the Spanned image above it with the outside worldAlternatively you could run 3 19" monitors with TH2Go for the outside world and have a widescreen instrument panelRegardsJim

Jim:Looks really nifty!JS

JimThis is exectly what I tried to do. I have two 7900 nvid cards in non-Sli mode. When I tried to open the instrument panel on the mon served ny the second of the cards, I just got a black screen. Oddly, the mouse also started to flicker and became unresponsive.Bud

It is possible ..I've done it with a Dual 7950GX2, with Dual Quadro FX4500 and with Dual 8800GTX.Make sure in your FS2004-Settings-Hardware section you have the 2 different and correct screen resolutions set. I'd also recommend putting the instrument panel on Card.0 and the TH2Go on Card.1RegardsJim

Thanks Jim. I did, in fact, have everything set up correctly. Turned out to be a fault with the Matrox box itself. I've been promised an instant replacement!!Bud

>Alternatively you could run 3 19" monitors with TH2Go for the>outside world and have a widescreen instrument panel>Regards>>Jim>Which is just what I'm planning...http://www.akemp.dsl.pipex.com/room.jpg