Flying Fs2004 with 3 Monitors

[jerryuscg 1]

I've been thinking about buying 3 monitors for a 3 monitor setup. I fly about 70% of flight in the outside "spot" view and 30% inside for the cotpit view. As you know, it only takes one keyboard click to alternate between the two views and I change back and forth about every 5 minutes. The question: How long does it take and how do you change between 3 inside views and 3 outside views? The answer to this question will probably make me decide to stick with 1 monitor or go ahead and buy three. Thanks for your help. jerrycwo4

[Walouigi 1]

Hi JerryI have FS9 running with 2 Monitors, and I suffered drop in FPS, the dual monitor or triple is not made to extend the view, but mainly lets say you put the overhead panel on 1 monitor and on the other you have the main panel, with this set up you won't suffer loss of FPS. I use 1 monitor to display my FSNAV and the other one the main panel, but I couldn't have 2 different view, let's say 1 outside and 1 main panel I lost a lot of FPS.Now to have the best view with 3 monitors, perhaps you should think of buying the Tripplehead2GO by Matroxhttp://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/products/th2go/That should give you a nice big view from the outside.But you need to make sure to have a good system to handle it.I just build a new PC and I bought the triple head, I don't have it yet to tell you my experience, but you can go to YOUTUBE and check the triplehead2gohttp://www.truveo.com/FSX-PMDG-747-TripleH...o/id/4228906396Hope this helpRegardswalouigi

[january 19]

Jerry- Takes as long as a click on a specific monitor to set focus, then keying S or W as you wish. Repeat for each monitor if you want all views outside or you can have a mix- 2D panel on main mon- outside views on #2,3. With a mix, you can fly in formation with yourself!!! (see screenie) Are you presently using a CRT monitor? Why not just add 2 LCDs - one on either side. If you angle the outer mons toward you, their frames(bezels) can be partially overlapped on the CRT bezel to reduce the separation. Then in Panel Config you can set the outer view angles so that the 3 views and horizon are perfectly synched in roll and pitch!I'd be willing to bet that once you've flown with a triple wide horizon, you won't be all that excited about outside views!Alex ReidDreamFleet Baron Aerobatics Team at CYYJ AMD XP2200 1.8 GHz & triple GeForce FX 5200 vid cards.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187132.jpg

[psolk 3,040]

Here is another way to go with three monitors. These pictures are really dated as I have the Saitek Yoke now as well as an additional laptop but you get the idea...http://home.comcast.net/~psolk/3monitorsa.html-PaulPrimary RigLiquid CooledIntel C2D E6600 @3.2 gigsAsus P5N32SLI-Plus2 gigs Corsair XMS PC6400 4 4 4 12 @810Dual OC'd XFX 8800GTX @ 2 gigs24 inch Widescreen LCD 16XAA/16XAFDual 19 inch LCD'sRaid-0+1PCPower and Cooling 1k Quad SLIhttp://home.comcast.net/~psolk/3monitorsa.htmlBackup RigAMD 4000 San Diego @ 2.72 Gigs Kingston Corsair XMS CL2XFX 7900 GTX Raid-0

[Guest ThrottleUp]

Cool setup there Paul :)

[psolk 3,040]

Thanks Nevin,I also added the Go-Flight gear/flap module which really adds to the realism. Maybe I will get off my lazy butt and take some updated pics :)Thank again,-PaulPrimary RigLiquid CooledIntel C2D E6600 @3.2 gigsAsus P5N32SLI-Plus2 gigs Corsair XMS PC6400 4 4 4 12 @810Dual OC'd XFX 8800GTX @ 2 gigs24 inch Widescreen LCD 16XAA/16XAFDual 19 inch LCD'sRaid-0+1PCPower and Cooling 1k Quad SLIhttp://home.comcast.net/~psolk/3monitorsa.htmlBackup RigAMD 4000 San Diego @ 2.72 Gigs Kingston Corsair XMS CL2XFX 7900 GTX Raid-0

[Guest ThrottleUp]

Hee hee..I notice with interest that you are running different sizes of monitor. You can adjust the resolution of each sperately (to each monitors native res) and FS9 "remembers" it? I guess Im asking if its a pain to run different res monitors because I have two identical LCDs but plan to get a third. The monitors I have are no longer out there so this 3rd monitor will probably be another size!Currently I have 2 Philips widescreen 20-inchers @ 1680 X 1050. Im new to the whole multi-display thing so bear with me if my questions sound silly http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/ashamed/ashamed0005.gif

[rhodges 6]

Hello Jerry:I have used multiple monitors for years. I was useing four until recently when one of them gave out, and am presently back down to three. It negates SLI, but I can not even imagine flying in FS without them.One item that may need addressing that either was not included in the other replies (or Old Blind Tom overlooked them): You seem to favor the spot view the majority of the time. I suspect that what you might be wanting is to be able to display your cockpit view on one monitor and spot view on another. You do not specify your system specs and this could be critical. Until I upgraded my hardware to be able to run FSX, this zapped my resources so badly that such a dual display was not really useable. However, if you have near up to date hardware for today, this is possible in FS9 (not very well on FSX at least on my system).I normally run with my cockpit view on the primary monitor of my primary video card. On the secondary monitor from my primary video card, I run Throttle, Radio Stack, FMC's, gc2 and the like, with electrical panels, overheads etc. minimized so that I can cycle through them on the second monitor as well. When VatSim is utalized, the arrangement changes somewhat (great use for a fourth monitor). On the third monitor, I run FSNAV or FSC. In FS9 at least, I do occasionally put a spot view on my secondary monitor off of the primary video card if I want to sight see a bit.Relative to resolution, I have two 21" CRT's off of my primary video card, but have used a variety of sizes for the third and/or fourth monitor with no problem in FS. Outside of FlightSim, sometimes some textual or resource programs are certainly useable, but are a bit more user friendly when the monitors in question have resolutions that match the primary. For these old eyes, the size of text can be an issue at times.Good luck:RTHGood luck:RTHEdit: I am presently considering giving "WIDEFS" a try (Multiple computers for the multiple monitors). However, as I understand it, the secondary panels and anything else internal to FS cannot be moved to the third or fourth monitor, and I really do not know that this would be an advantage for anything for which I might use it.

[january 19]

RTH- I was surprised that mixing spot and cockpit views caused serious FPS problems on your sys. I just checked this again on mine, displaying the 2 spot views along with 2D cockpit view- identical to the pic I posted above in this thread.Yes there is a significant drop but still very flyable. (A bit strange flying in formation with yourself!)The things that really hurt my FPS are large popups of Overhead and COM panels- so they are displayed on an "as needed" basis. On the other hand, Kneeboard has absolutely no effect on FPS.Also NEVER allow a view to overlap an adjacent monitor- even just a sliver. That's FPS death!I'm waiting for a call from the Smithsonian to ask for my sys- now nearly 5 yrs old- AMD XP2200 1.8 & GeForce FX5200 cards!Alex Reid

[Kimchoc 1]

jerry,I'm guessing you are switching because you like to look at the scenery and plane? I sometimes switch around on one monitor but rarely EVER would I switch each monitor. http://eecherrors.homestead.com/DCP_1790.JPGNot sure of the purpose when one monitor in spot will let you look 360 around the plane, but to each his own.You can mix and match any type of monitor and resolution. You can mix a projector and 3 monitors. You can do almost anything with Nvidia. ATI cards are a bit more limited. You cant span the same view across three monitors as Nvidia. At least not on my cards and my driver. never been able to do that. Nvidia puts more design into their thoughts on multiple monitors.One thing is for sure, you can one right now and have only the cost of the monitor. Plug it into the card and go. Get a another cheap card and one more monitor and you cant lose either. Using multiple monitors for everyday computer use is a godsend. I just dont think you can go wrong buying extra monitors. Even if you decide to go to multiple computers (read here, setup time 45 mins and then CTD before you get to take off), you will use those extra monitors.As you could tell I'm no big fan of spending setup time when I could be flying. I dont think the setup below is worth the time to configure EACH time I want to fly. AI and weather are not synchronized either. But they could be used for displaying panels and other programs such as Fsnav, but not scenery IMHO.http://eecherrors.homestead.com/flightdesk.jpggood luck,Ruby

[rhodges 6]

Ummmm???? Interesting Alex!This has been a gimme with all versions of FS and all systems I have had as far back as I can remember. Spot view seems to have more impact than any other secondary window/secondary monitor for me. On older systems, the GPS was pretty significant too, although not a killer.Again, with newer hardware this is not an issue for me with FS9 any more. It is useable in at least some locations and under some conditions with FSX, but I can forget it in high density/complex aircraft (FSX Only).System Specs. are attached for what it is worth:Thanks for the comment.RTHASUS P5N-E-SLI MotherboardIntel E6600 Core2 Duo CPUZalman CNPS7700-CU RT CPU Fam4 GB KST DII800 MemoryWinXP ProNVIDIA VCG8800GTX 768MB Primary Video Graphics Card21

[january 19]

RTH- That looks like a "Knock em Dead" system- I'm envious! You mention GPS causing a hit- with the Reality GPS in the DreamFleet Baron, I can detect no effect on fps whatsoever.One of the weird characteristics of my old system is that it is smoothly flyable right down to FPS as low as 5 !! Yes, below 10 you can start to see "chattering" in nearby scenery objects- runway lights, buildings etc- but the aircraft dynamics continue smoothly.Recently did a sightseeing jaunt about 2500'- out of KJFK in the ATR 72- at night with everything in Ultimate Terrain on. The NYC area is spectacular like this. FPS ranged from 5 - 10 all the time, the aircraft performance very smooth but again "chattering" of nearby lights/scenery as the fps drops below 10.On landing back at JFK the rate briefly dropped to 4 and still the plane continued flying quite normally.The effect is much like driving a car while blinking your eyes very rapidly- the car motion continues perfectly smoothly but nearby scenery "chatters" (or flickers). As a consequence, I just switch off the red FPS display and merely enjoy FS9 with a 48" triple mon horizon on the old "Smithsonian" !Regards Alex Reid

[jerryuscg 1]

I had planned to buy a new top of the line system for about $4000 and the three monitors for about $1000 more which will have two top of the line video cards. My present stsytem is a two year old ABS computer with a P4 2.6 processor and it came with two top of the line (then) video cards. Don't remember the brand of vedio cards and I'm backing up that computer right now so I can't look right now.What do you think of this plan? Since this is fairly good computer that I have right now, buy the three new LCD monitors that I want for my new 3 monitor set-up and hook them up to my newest compuer and see if I really like flying with the three monitors. This way, even though the viewing of the new LCD monitors with my 2 year old computer might be less than desirable, at least I could get an idea what it would be like. I want to see: THREE 2d views of the cotpit and THREE 2d views of the outside(spot view) when I fly. If it is too much trouble switching between the inside and the outside views, then I'll sell the three LCD monitors for 1/2 price and forget the whole 3 monitor thing.Everyone to their own taste, but I see a LOT OF YOU HAVE A LOT OF GAUGES PASTED ALL AROUND THE DIFFERANT 3 MONITORS. I only want the three views of each (inside/outside): LEFT side/ Center/ RIGHT side, only the three PURE views with NO extra gauges or INSTRUMENTS showing, even in BLANK spaces. I know that the TH2GO STRECHES the one view across three monitors... I don't want that either. What do you think of this "try before I buy" method? Thanks jerrycwo4

[january 19]

jerry- I'm running triple views, 2D main panel and most popups on 3 mons with a 5 yr old AMD 1.8 computer. I have to keep my FS9 settings to mid range but FPS is quite acceptable and the whole thing is SMOOTH at any frame rate. Believe it or not: fully, smoothly flyable right down to 5 FPS although below 10 nearby scenery- runway lights, buildings or clouds will chatter- like blinking very rapidly!So I would think your present 2 year old puter would do the same job even better if you had two extra mons. Now, I'm speaking of FS9- no experience with FSX.As far as I know, there are NO airplanes where the 2D panels for Captain and 1st Officer can be properly mated together on 2 monitors. I wish there were. In all that I have seen, there is a lot of duplication AND having both displayed is a frame rate killer. That's why you see Popups arranged on my secondary monitors to simulate a wider 2D panel. Finally, I'm not aware of any sim plane that offers more than the 2- 2D panel views mentioned above. The attached screenshot is of an experiment I did awhile back on this very question. The popups are arranged over portions of the copilot's panel that are duplicated on the captain's panel. And the FPS was ugly! In any event, popups are where a lot of flight deck action occurs and they are closer to lifelike size- very handy when inputting a lot of data to the FMC/CDU !I would suggest trying 2 LCDs with your present CRT mon to see how it goes and learn the Panel Config settings to compensate for monitor bezel widths- this keeps the 3 views synched in roll and pitch. The advantage of 3 identical LCDs is you won't have to play with any colour balancing or size adjustments. (zooming up the smaller mon.)Alex ReidPMDG 747 Exper. Displaying both Cap./CoPilot 2D panelshttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187229.jpg

[Max Kraus 339]

TripleHead2Go and TrackIR were made for each other. You really need both. Forget 2D all together. 2D is so ancient now.