Matrox Triple Head 2Go Question

[Les Parson 99]

I've recently ordered the Matrox Triple Head 2Go for a 3-monitor set-up. I've used Wideview with FS2004 for years and very happy with it.In an effort to someday make the transition to FSX with a new machine, the Matrox was ordered rather than plan three new PC'sI've recentlty read the Matrox does not do well with the 2D panel view which is understandable considering the device. However, the idea of converting to VC on a permanent basis is not an option for me. It sounds like the best course may be to remain with Wideview and 3-PC's for 2D use. Any opinions and comments are welcomed as there is still likely time to cancel the online order.

[JSACKS 0]

I have 3 LCDs with Matrox TH2G and love it madly. It has transformed simming for me totally and in a way I never imagined. It's true that you really cannot use the 2D views at all so you have to use the VC all the time. I fly aircraft with beautiful VCs--PMDG, Level-D, CoolSky, Milton Shupe's stuff, David Maltby and David Chester's great creations, Flight1 Software's Cessna 172, and so on. I don't miss the 2D stuff at all, not one bit although I did miss 2D in the initial transition to a VC world. Not any more. I could NEVER go back to 2D panels after being immersed in a huge 52" diagonal world of triple LCDs with Matrox.JS

[january 19]

LDP- Interesting discussion. I'm on your side re 2D vs VC. But why use multiple PCs? An extra video card will do the job for triple mons/triple views. No need for 3 PCs that I'm aware of. It's my understanding that the TH2Go will stretch laterally & ovalize 2D gauges- some simmers say it doesn't espec. bother them. See my comments below in this forum- "Ways to generally improve----"Posts #4 & #13.Alex Reid

[JSACKS 0]

With TH2G, any 2D panels are stretched in a very distorting manner and generally the panels are unusable without radical screen surgery. You can re-size the 2D panels quite easily and then re-save them for further use with the sim, but the trouble is you lose the incredibly exciting, immersive effect of having an ultra wide world with a lot of sim real estate if you do so. I re-sized and re-shaped a couple of beloved 2D panels in my first few weeks of using TH2G, but then I got vertigo with the sim because I had sky on my left and right sides and felt as if I were about to fall into open space. I then dicthed all 2D panels and have lived in a highly functional 3D VC world ever since and would never go back to 2D panels.In practical terms, you cannot really continue to use 2D panels with TH2G and have a satisfying visual experience.JS

[Les Parson 99]

Thank you sir. To me, converting over to the VC world is like entering another dimension that I'm not sure I can handle. However, it seems like many have made the conversion, and after have made the transition, don't look back?

[january 19]

LDP- When it's so easy to achieve this realism with a five yr old processor and a couple of equally ancient vid cards- I'll stick with 2D triple views & a 180

[Guest kittie]

To me, flying VC is the only way to go now. Not sure if you watched my video (PMDG-As real as it gets) I just posted here, but if you do, you will see why I fly VC. It's a whole new perspective. There is a bit of a learning curve and getting use to, but that normal. We are looking at getting the Triple Head after our Whistler trip, but for now I fly on 2 22 inch monitors with the screen stretched across them.

[Reset XPDR 1,271]

TH2G + 3x19" LCDs + TrackIR4 + High Quality VC = FS heaven (IMO, of course!)Gary

[JSACKS 0]

Excellent equation (and entirely true!)JS

[Guest kittie]

>TH2G + 3x19" LCDs + TrackIR4 + High Quality VC = FS heaven>(IMO, of course!)>>GaryYou forgot the coffee cup holder, lol Now heaven!

[JSACKS 0]

The first time I ever saw a full 3D VC spread across 3 LCD screens with Matrox TH2G was at one of the AVSIM conventions a few years ago. It totally blew me away. I was amazed, excited, and thrilled. I think the aircraft at the time on screen was the Level-D 767. I simply HAD to have it. I couldn't think of anything else once I'd experienced it.I'd always hated the average VC up till then in FS2002 and 2004 and felt that the imagery was nothing special, the performance was slow nd sometimes jerky, and that my 2D panels were far superior.Little by little, over about 18 months, I stitched together a 3 LCD set-up, in stages, lining up a second monitor first (24" DELL -- wow!), spanning dual monitors to make a single image, then getting a DELL XPS Gen 4 top-end with much more powerful processor and RAM, upgrading to an eVGA 7900 GTO video card (nVidia-based, the better choice for TH2G) then a third (DELL) monitor with the actual TH2G. When I put it together and turned on TH2G, it was simply sensational. My panels gave me a 52" diagonal view with great clarity and unbelievable imagery. There could be no going back--ever.I did miss my 2D panels initially as I've said above but in time I quickly realized this was the ONLY way to go. You have to see it to understand how stunning it is. It's like being half blind or having 2D vision once you have TH2G with full VC and then look at a PC with 2D cockpit panels. This VC stuff, with something like TH2G, is the future of simming.JS

[hmar 0]

Hi,So far I know, the TU154M is the only plane with a special configuration of the layout of the 2D cockpit for use with a triple screen.http://www.fs-proteam.com/products.html?op...pw_patt=catalogHugo

[january 19]

Gary/JS/Kittie- How do you resolve the Field of View issue with TH2GO?My understanding is that TH2GO FOV is only the 90

[JSACKS 0]

I don't know precisely how large the field of vision is, I estimate it's maybe 130-140 degrees. I use a ZOOM factor of 0.31 although from time to time FS seems to load with a factor of 0.29 or 0.28 and on occasion even as low as 0.26.I have a good deal of peripheral vision and am able to see airport lights out of my left and right windows when conducting approaches that would not be there with just a single LCD monitor. It's phenomenal to experience in the sim.I think the thing is not to get too hung-up on degrees and technicals. This is a visual and aural experience and when anybody sits down at my rig with TH2G and looks out from the VC of a 747-400, the reaction is universally "Wow, this is amazing!" So it works brilliantly and that's all I care about.JS

[january 19]

Agreed 100%: either way, multi mon FS IS amazing!----------- Yes FS seems to save Zoom 1 notch below its setting. I try to bump up Zoom 1 point before saving. Why Zoom? My left mon is a 17 LCD- the others are 19 CRTs- setting left to 1.06 corrects for the size difference.Alex Reid