TripleHead2Go Vista FSX and only 2 monitors

[GeorgeT93 1]

Greetings all,I've recently upgraded to Vista64, and am no longer able to span my view across my monitors. I know (now) that changes in the Vista driver architecture prevents using 2 monitors on one video card for span mode. After giving UltraMon a whirl (did nothing) and after spending hours trying to configure and get SoftTH to work (which worked, but still renders as though there's a third monitor, leaving my menus inaccessible as they're being 'displayed' on a monitor that doesn't exist). After all this, I've decided that I'm going to need to purchase an external piece of hardware to get the span mode I've become so accustomed to in XP. I've been looking at both the TripleHead2Go Digital Edition as well as the DualHead2Go Digital edition. While I'm currently using only 2 monitors, I'd love to upgrade to a 3rd monitor in the near future, however due to the cost of the TripleHead2Go ($300), a 3rd monitor is going to have to wait at least a month or two since the $300 will use up all of my remaining budget for upgrades. So here's my question, has anyone here used a TripleHead2Go with only 2 monitors, and if so, were there any issues? I'd love to get the TripleHead2Go, and then get a 3rd monitor a little later on, but if it won't work well with only 2 monitors, then I may just have to go with the DualHead2Go, and forego a triple monitor setup until my next upgrade.Thanks in advance for any input on this.-George

[GeorgeT93 1]

Just wanted to post back that I went ahead and ordered the TH2G Digital and got it today. It works perfectly fine with only 2 monitors for a spanned vc view, and am looking forward to picking up a third monitor sometime early next month. So I thought I'd post back so anyone else considering a TH2G that will only be using 2 monitors at first, with plans to upgrade to a third in the future.-George

[sausalito 0]

Hi,I took another approach: I'm using SoftTH solution instead; It's a freeware software and though it has some limitations, works with my 8800GT card, Win7 and FSX with 2 monitors configuration. The outcome is impressive, with an experience that is as close to reality as possible, when compared with my previous setup using one monitor.Cheers,Sausalito

[Guest Emesis]

Hi just curious, you say that you have SoftTH working with FSX, but it clearly states on the SoftTH website that it doesn't work with FSX. Is there anything special that you did to make it work for two monitors? I have two monitors hooked up and about to install a third. Was about to buy Matrox's Triplehead2go, but was looking in other areas to save cash. So it would be helpful to me and I'm sure to other simpilots if you would go into a little more detail.....thanx

[sausalito 0]

Hi,Mine is working with SoftTH and 2 monitors (1920x1080) under Win7 64bits. My set up & configuration is:8800GT with NVIDIA 185.81CUDA installed (cudart.dll on FSX directory)SoftTH 1.9 rc1 (d3d9.dll,softthhook.dll,softth.cfg on FSX directory)The issues I have are related to FSX CTD when switching from full screen to windowed mode, and progressive image deformation on the right display (I guess both are because of using two monitos instead of native config using three).softth.cfg file:;; SoftTH 1.09 configuration file; by Kegetys, http://www.kegetys.net;[config]; deviceIDLeft/right: Direct3D device ID's of left and right monitor, or 'auto' for automatic; secondaryWidth/Height: Left&right monitor resolution, or 'auto' to use same as middle screen resolution; secondaryRefresh: Refresh rate of left & right monitors, or 'auto' for automatic; secondaryFormat: Secondary device image format: 'RGB32', 'RGB16', 'RGB16D' or 'RGB32CUDA'.; uploadMethod: Method used to upload image to secondary card(s): 'blit', 'D3D' or 'D3DCUDA'; forceAffinity: Set to 1 to force process affinity to all processors/cores.; borderSize: Size in pixels of frame border between monitors that is discarded; sideExtraWidth: Width difference between middle and side monitors, or 'auto' to autodetect from desktop resolution; noHotkeys: Set to 1 to disable all hotkeys; noOSD: Set to 1 to disable on-screen display when changing settingsdeviceIDLeft=-1deviceIDright=1secondaryWidth=autosecondaryHeight=autosecondaryRefresh=autosecondaryFormat=RGB32CUDAuploadMethod=D3DCUDAforceAffinity=1borderSize=0sideExtraWidth=0noHotkeys=0noOSD=0antialiasing=8anisotropic=16[Direct3D]; ** Advanced setting for Direct3D games **; lensCorrection: Lens correction, set to 1 to enable support. >1 to enable by default; lensCorrectionEdge: Lens correction edge offset; hideNondefaultDevices: Hides all but the default adapter from the game; forceHorizontalFOV: Forces horizontal FOV to be three times as wide; forceResolutionWidth/Height: Forces device to be created with this resolution; force16bitDepth: Force game to use 16bit depth buffer, can improve performance and reduce memory use; sleepBeforeRead: Time in ms to sleep before reading back buffer data from video card; useMultihead: Uses multihead features of primary card if available, can increase performance and reduce memory use; delayedPresent: When useMultihead enabled, delay primary monitor present to sync with secondary head; d3d8dll: Path to D3D8.dll/D3D9.dll to use or auto for automatic (system32 dir); altResetBehaviour: Do not reset lost main device after secondary device initialization (WDDM crash workaround)lensCorrection=1lensCorrectionEdge=1hideNondefaultDevices=1forceHorizontalFOV=0forceResolutionWidth=autoforceResolutionHeight=autoforce16bitDepth=0sleepBeforeRead=2useMultihead=1delayedPresent=0autoSquash=0altResetBehaviour=0d3d8dll=auto[hooks]; Win32 API hooking settings - Used for some extra compatibility and game-specific fixes; doHooking: Enable/disable hooks in Direct3D, with OpenGL hooks are always enabled; doScaleMouseCoordinates: Scale mouse coordinates for getCursorPos to fix games which do not handle negative screen coordinates properly; doScaleFromLeftScreen: Spread out mouse coordinates from left screen to full width; doScaleWindowRects: Scale focus window WindowRect; doScaleClientRects: Scale focus window ClientRect; mouseXoffset: Number of pixels to offset mouse cursor position in X axis, to fix misplaced cursor due to negative screen coordinates. auto = use X resolutiondoHooking=1doScaleMouseCoordinates=0doScaleFromLeftScreen=1doScaleWindowRects=1doScaleClientRects=1mouseXoffset=auto; Triplehead screenmodes to add to resolutions list (width multiplied by three and border added); width x height x refresh rate in Hz; 'auto' adds current primary monitor desktop resolution; Must be last in this file[modes]800x600x60800x600x75800x600x851024x768x601024x768x751024x768x851280x960x601280x960x751280x960x851280x1024x601280x1024x751280x1024x851600x1200x601600x1200x751600x1200x851680x1050x601920x1080x60autoHope it helps,

[Guest ronmertes]

I'm considering the same TH2go and use my two 22 inch monitors. How does it work, How does your desktop look(just like XP spanning?)? With FSX do you get a Front and 1 side view(so NOT to have bezel down the center...like XP spanning)?I have two ACER AL2216W's and though I read that they may not be compatible refreshrate wise?Thanks. I may just get one 28 inch 1920x1600 monitor for 300 at costco. I understand I give up the wide screen perspective, but get a LARGE view "down the middle" I have had it with this bezel in the center of my view...Makes for difficult landings. Not sure if three 22's will fit on my desk. Also wife may think I'm a bit crazy ...Thanks for any feeedback.

[january 19]

--------- I understand I give up the wide screen perspective, but get a LARGE view "down the middle" I have had it with this bezel in the center of my view...Makes for difficult landings. Not sure if three 22's will fit on my desk. Also wife may think I'm a bit crazy ...Thanks for any feeedback.

Don't give up on a wide Field of View- it will completely change how you fly.Remember you can mix & match LCDs & CRTs and different sizes too.Also, since monitors should be viewed square-on ( not at an angle) to avoid image distortion: the outer monitors should be angled toward the pilot- typically at about 40

[Stefti 14]

Hi EverybodyI think i posted this somewhere else ..but..i`ll try it again..My Dilemma1st my specs..win xp pro32 intel q9650 3ghz@3.80mobo; asus x37 p5ddr2 1066 2x 2 gigvideo card#1 nVidia 285,1 gig attach to a 22 inc monitorvideo card#2 nVidia 8800 gts 640 gig atttach to a 22 inc monitor when I enable the second monitor my frames drop by 50%Why?Please how can i mantain good frames with 2 monitors with my specsThank you ,Thank you, Thank you for any helpRegards Stefan

[january 19]

Hi EverybodyI think i posted this somewhere else ..but..i`ll try it again..My Dilemma1st my specs..win xp pro32 intel q9650 3ghz@3.80mobo; asus x37 p5ddr2 1066 2x 2 gigvideo card#1 nVidia 285,1 gig attach to a 22 inc monitorvideo card#2 nVidia 8800 gts 640 gig atttach to a 22 inc monitor when I enable the second monitor my frames drop by 50%Why?Please how can i mantain good frames with 2 monitors with my specsThank you ,Thank you, Thank you for any helpRegards Stefan

What are you displaying on the second monitor? Any reason why you are not running two monitors from one card? Are you running FS9 or FSX ?Alex Reid

[Stefti 14]

What are you displaying on the second monitor? Any reason why you are not running two monitors from one card? Are you running FS9 or FSX ?Alex Reid

Hallo AlexIn Fsx I`m streching the desktop over to the second monitor mainly for gps map/garmin. I hoped to put a 2nd video card to good use and reduce the workload on the primaryalso Nvidia physx can be used on a second gpuRegardsStefan

[january 19]

Hallo AlexIn Fsx I`m streching the desktop over to the second monitor mainly for gps map/garmin. I hoped to put a 2nd video card to good use and reduce the workload on the primaryalso Nvidia physx can be used on a second gpuRegardsStefan

Stefti- Using 2 vid cards means they have to share a single CPU- so a 50% drop in FPS is about what I would expect.Try plugging in both monitors to just one (your main) video card. (You may need a simple cable adapter.) I expect FPS will improve since that card now has the full attention of the CPU.As far as I've figured out, a second vid card is most useful in running a third monitor.Have you tried opening a second view (key [ ), undocking & dragging it to your second monitor and then setting it as View L or R Fwd- so as to get a double wide view? A wide view will change the way you fly!Alex Reid

[Stefti 14]

Stefti- Using 2 vid cards means they have to share a single CPU- so a 50% drop in FPS is about what I would expect.Try plugging in both monitors to just one (your main) video card. (You may need a simple cable adapter.) I expect FPS will improve since that card now has the full attention of the CPU.As far as I've figured out, a second vid card is most useful in running a third monitor.Have you tried opening a second view (key [ ), undocking & dragging it to your second monitor and then setting it as View L or R Fwd- so as to get a double wide view? A wide view will change the way you fly!Alex Reid

AlexI follow your intructions , but I still get a big drop in frames in fsxYes the [ key does give you lot more awreness Thanks againStefan

[january 19]

AlexI follow your intructions , but I still get a big drop in frames in fsxYes the [ key does give you lot more awreness Thanks againStefan

Stefan- I too get a Frame Rate drop- about 50% on my FS9 setup with 3 views- 2 video cards for triple monitors. But it is not a great concern because the smoothness/fluidity is just the same at 20 FPS as at 40. I believe the reason is that with only one CPU, only 1 monitor view is being updated at any moment- the other 2 views are static/unchanging- or you might say they have an infinitely HIGH frame rate. The eye/ brain gets fooled and tends not to see the 1/3 of the pic running at a low FPS since the other two views are perfectly smooth- ie stopped! I test this as follows- with parking brakes ON:Let the triple view sim FPS stabilize and note average FPS and apparent image smoothness & fluidity.Now kill everything in monitors 2 & 3 and again note FPS and image fluidity. FPS doubles.Having tried this many times, I see NO difference in smoothness between triple views @ 20FPS and single view @ 40 FPS.It is important that the three views are integrated into what the eye sees as one. This is done by adjusting the "View Angle" of the outer views by the amount of sideways shift caused by bezel thickness. Not a difficult task.Alex Reid

[Rahul1254 0]

Greetings all,I've recently upgraded to Vista64, and am no longer able to span my view across my monitors. I know (now) that changes in the Vista driver architecture prevents using 2 monitors on one video card for span mode. After giving UltraMon a whirl (did nothing) and after spending hours trying to configure and get SoftTH to work (which worked, but still renders as though there's a third monitor, leaving my menus inaccessible as they're being 'displayed' on a monitor that doesn't exist). After all this, I've decided that I'm going to need to purchase an external piece of hardware to get the span mode I've become so accustomed to in XP. I've been looking at both the TripleHead2Go Digital Edition as well as the DualHead2Go Digital edition. While I'm currently using only 2 monitors, I'd love to upgrade to a 3rd monitor in the near future, however due to the cost of the TripleHead2Go ($300), a 3rd monitor is going to have to wait at least a month or two since the $300 will use up all of my remaining budget for upgrades. So here's my question, has anyone here used a TripleHead2Go with only 2 monitors, and if so, were there any issues? I'd love to get the TripleHead2Go, and then get a 3rd monitor a little later on, but if it won't work well with only 2 monitors, then I may just have to go with the DualHead2Go, and forego a triple monitor setup until my next upgrade.Thanks in advance for any input on this.-George

How did you set up 2 monitors, using triplehead2go analog. On windows Vista 64??