Flying with a wide ............... screen
What a view
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The Winter in Grand Rapids, Michigan is typical of the Midwest. It's frigid cold and snowy. Lots of cold. Lots of snow. To get away from it all, each year my Mom flies to Arizona to spend four months soaking up the warmth and sun of the Southwest.
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This year, she again asks me to drive her car to Phoenix so that she will have ground transportation during her extended stay. As I love to drive the open highways, I consent and shortly after the New Year, I set out on the 2100 mile journey on an ice-cold Tuesday evening. This will be another easy trip for me. |
The central plains states are snow-free with the highways clear and dry for perfect long-distance driving. Anyone who has driven the interstate highways through Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico knows that there are long stretches between cities so I make only a few short stops for food and two quick naps at rest areas along the way.
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The music from the iPOD provides some pleasant driving entertainment and makes the trip less lonely. Before I know it, I am ready to leave Interstate 40 to complete the final leg on the back highway from Holbrook to Phoenix. As the car descends into the winding canyons of central Arizona, I can feel my bones starting to warm up. Yes, I am shedding the wintery temperatures of the Midwest just as the cactus start to appear through the windshield. I reach the city limit after less than 40 hours, arriving in the early afternoon on Thursday. By this time, the temperature has already climbed past 100 degrees. The heat is a surprise greeting. |
I head to my mother's home and deliver the car. Job complete! After freshening up after the long drive, I have a bite to eat and am ready to go again. Since I have scheduled a meeting for the next day in Las Vegas, I make my way to Sky Harbor Airport (KPHX) for a short 45 minute flight. Flying into Las Vegas' McCarran International (KLAS) at night is a pretty site. The bright lights of the Strip make for a very colorful welcome. |
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Now on to business. Each year in early January, the Consumer Electronics Show opens it doors to the trade. The main reason for this venue is that the Las Vegas Convention Center is spacious enough to handle the large number of visitors who are attending the show to preview the latest gadgets, equipment and trends that will be making their appearance throughout the year.
While walking the long, endless aisles peering at this and that, I happen upon an impressive demonstration of Microsoft Flight Simulator. The newest release Flight Simulator X is running on a laptop. That in itself is not extraordinary. What is amazing is the fact that the display consists of three widescreen monitors. How can a single laptop drive these three large monitors?
I am looking at a demonstration of a new product from Matrox Graphics. The new product is a graphics device called the TripleHead2Go to promote a concept they've coined as Surround Gaming. The TripleHead2Go brings an ultra wide field of view to the Flight Simulator flyer.
It is amazing to see so much cockpit and sky at one time. Sitting in front of this setup, I feel that I am seated in the cockpit with the two side monitors showing me other important details.
At the Matrox booth, I learn that the TripleHead2Go is not yet in production and that I will have to wait a while to take advantage such a great view. Oh well, I'll need to be patient.
Soon enough my visit to CES comes to an end and I board the plane for my flight back home. At KLAS, most departing aircraft fly directly over the Strip. If you happen to have a window seat, there's a great view outside. Here's a pic of the Mandalay Bay with the Luxor (black pyramid) in the background on the south end of Las Vegas Boulevard. To me this is a nice way to see the sights. Unfortunately, the view is only about 30 degrees wide; certainly not like the FS view that I saw in the Convention Center. When I return to my office I have lots of work to catch up with and I promptly forget about the TripleHead2Go. |
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Fast forward to a few months later. I read that Matrox has started shipments of the TripleHead2Go.
This provokes my interest again and we decide to build a Flight Simulator X "Gaming" computer with a three monitor configuration. We place an order for the TripleHead2Go and then hurry down to the local computer store to buy the parts for our lightning fast computer.
Here's a list of the components that we buy for this project:
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Staffers Sharon Wandrey and Mike Lee "volunteer" to build the computer. After about 30 minutes, they have the computer all put together.
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It takes them another 30 minutes or so to install the Vista operating system and the computer boots without any problem.
Next they spend 45 minutes to install Flight Simulator X. FSX runs fine with the new Vista computer.
Now we have to wait for the delivery of the TripleHead2Go. The next day, the TripleHead2Go arrives by courrier.
Adam Howe tears open the package revealing a palm size black box, a monitor cable, a a small power supply and a CD-ROM.
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The black cable connects to computer's video graphics card. The blue cables each connect to one of the three widescreen monitors. The small cable supplies power to the TripleHead2Go. |
Here's how the hardware "installation" works. The Matrox cable connects from the video port to the input port of the TripleHead2Go. The electronics in the TripleHead2Go "trick" the computer's video card into thinking that the TripleHead2Go is a single monitor with a very wide view.
Now for the fun part. The TripleHead2Go has three monitor connectors. We connect a monitor to each of these connectors and arrange them in the specified order (the ports on the TripleHead2Go are labeled Left, Center and Right) on a large tabletop. The result is that there are three monitors each with a resolution of 1280 x 1024 that form a "visual wall" that is 3840 x 1024 pixels in size. The TripleHead2Go has the smarts to divide the video data sent by the computer and forward the data to the proper monitor.
That's it. We didn't even have to open the computer cabinetl, just connect cables.
When we turn on the computer, we notice that only the center display is used. The left and right monitors remain black.
Installing the software on the CD-ROM tells the operating system that this new hardware is capable of supporting a desktop size of 3840 x 1280 pixels. To set the desktop size, choose one of the following. For Vista, right-click on the desktop and Personalize and choose Display Settings. For XP, right-click on the desktop and choose Properties. The click on the Settings tab. Then use the slider bar to choose the desired resolution. We use 3840 x 1024 pixels and click OK. Immediately, the desktop expands to cover all three monitors. What a VIEW. |
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The first thing we notice is that moving the mouse from the left side to the right side of the desktop take forever.... The mouse now has to negotiate a range of 3800 pixels. With icons on the left side of the desktop and the Vista gadgets on the right side of the desktop, I find that my head is bobbing left and right. After all, the three monitors have a combined width of more than 72 inches (six feet).
Now we're ready to fly. Start Flight Simulator x. From the main menu, choose Settings and then click on the Customize button. On the Graphics tab, the Full screen resolutions will have an entry for 3840 X 1024 pixels. Select this resolution and click OK. You're ready to enjoy a great view. |
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full screen capture - click to view
original size of 3840 x 1024 pixels
The Matrox TripleHead2Go is a relatively inexpensive way to enjoy a great view. Using our computer's modestly priced graphics card and without having to open our computer, we were able to get a three monitor display set up and running in a few hours.
We'll continue to fly high and wide ...........
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Vendors: Please note that we have no connection to any of these vendors. We are providing this information solely for your convenience. TripleHead2Go manufactured by Matrox Graphics eDimensional Computer components purchased from: GPC Computers |
Author: Arnie Lee
If you have any comments or feedback about this article, please contact Arnie via email
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