Widescreen Gaming Forum

Hello, found this site doing some research and have been going through the forums to help plan a new setup. I do have a few questions I'm hoping I can get some help with. I've looked into getting the below hardware to replace my 24” Dell. The primary use would be desktop to allow me a good working size area as well as play games such as Bad Company 2, flight Sims, PS3 and Netflix. The goal would be to get a nice slightly curved display on my desk. I don’t want to go too big in screen size, max 50” diagonal view, as I want to be able to work on my desk and sit the display a couple of feet in front of me. I’d like to be able to mount the projectors overhead or out of the way somehow. A couple of questions I’m hoping someone can help answer.

1. Are these projectors a good choice for a 46”-50” size screen (fond of the Alienware screen but figured I can build something for a fraction of the cost)? My current thoughts are 2 mounted over head and displaying on a DIY curved screen. I may mount the projectors on the desk itself if the short throw allows for it or possibly set these up for rear projection if the hardware is capable. Rear projection would be ideal to help keep them out of the way.

2. Would it be wiser to get 3 less expensive 720p projectors instead of the 2 GT750 for a more seamless display? If going with three projectors would provide a noticeable improvement I may just go this route. Though I would like to use my PS3 on it which requires the HDMI 1.4 from what I understand. Either way I’d like to stay under $1,600 for projectors.

3. Will the NTHUSIM software allow for the different projector mounting methods I mentioned?

4. What would be the ideal curve for the display, 120?

5. Do the projectors have to be mounted level to the screen?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Current PC
- I7 2.8
- 16G 1600 DDR3
- 2T RAID 0
- EVGA X58 board
Plan to purchase
- NThusim
- 2 Optoma GT750 or ?
- Nvidia GTX 590 or ?
- DIY curved screen 46”-50”

1/ Yes 750's are fine although for extended use on desktops maybe look a led based unit like casio but the throw distance will be larger.
2/ You wont get Much use of your ps3 as most warp software will not pass external game info via capture cards to projectors.
we have a version that does but it will just take the 1080i from ps3 and stretch it to your new pixel size.
3/Nthusim works fine for all mounting methods Ive tried it on.
4/120 is fine .
5/No you will correct with keystone problems with software. http://youtu.be/sFTrndLQ9SA

Nvidia Surround doesn't support 2 monitors (projectors in this case) - you need a triple configuration. AMD's Eyefinity is much more versatile if you want to go with a dual head system and span games across it. It's too bad game developer support is so spotty. You may want to go with a triple projector setup just to be a bit more mainstream. Another thing to note is that AMD currently doesn't support 3D Eyefinity so the nvidia solution does have that going for it (especially if you're buying fancy 3D capable projectors).

I haven't decided on GT720 projectors or GT750's myself. But I am going with 3 flat screen sections instead of a curve. I do too much "general computing" with my system and limiting myself to full screen applications to get geometry corrections for a curved screen is kinda balls and even then it's not guaranteed to work perfectly. If it was a dedicated BF3/BC2/Skyrim machine I'd probably go for the curved screen.

M.

I'm not too certain how HDMI 1.4 S3D would work with spanned projectors. Isn't it a SBS (side-by-side) type of video signal, so that would really screw up if the projectors are spanned?

1. pre-warping software allow you the freedom to do some pretty unique designs. I see no issue with a smaller screen than what you typically see in the current multi-projector community.

2. Consoles simply don't support non-standard resolutions -- especially very wide aspect ratio ones. A console would only be good for piping into your center projector without pre-warping capability. Only way to pre-warp console would be to somehow capture the console video out into the pre-warp computer and then output it through that computer. That will induce latency and lag. You don't want that for gaming.

3. The reason why pre-warping utilities exist is to allow you to do things regular keystoning can't. Pre-warping allows for any spanned mount configuration you want to do as long as you can maintain focus on the projection location.

4. Ideal? depends upon the content being shown. Personally I like anything 120-180 degrees. 120 is good for a generic dual-projector configuration.

5. No, the only requirement is that the projector be able to maintain focus on whatever you're projecting onto.

The post above mine is correct about NVIDIA Surround. NVIDIA Surround is only capable of 3x1 configuration. There is no NVIDIA Surround 2x1 (or 4x1, 5x1 or 3x2 for that matter). If you are using Windows XP you do have the obsolete horizontal-span mode though. NVIDIA requires a Matrox DH2G or TH2G to achieve 2x1 in Windows Vista or 7. Be mindful, using any Matrox box will kill your ability to use S3D as they can't lock 120hz. The AMD 6950 or 6970 is the better option for 2x1L. I personally suggest the ASUS 6950 or 6970 DCII 2GB cards. Be mindful that they're triple-slot though.

For 100% compatibly with NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround your only good option is three GT700/GT720. Using two GT750 opens up a bunch of incompatibility problems that set the build up for potential failure and a lot of frustration.

An alternate option for you would be rear projection with Goo rear projection paint and a sheet of cut plexi.

Be mindful that "desktop use" means 2D. NTHUSIM and most other pre-warping utilities only work in fullscreen DirectX and OpenGL modes, not on the desktop.

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com

hi，
anathor choice is use mv103hdve pro 120hz version for your two optoma to support nvidia 3d vision

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Shanghai Mviewtech Co.,Ltd.

hi，
anathor choice is use mv103hdve pro 120hz version for your two optoma to support nvidia 3d vision

I can confirm this. I have one of the MView MV103 HDVE Pro boxes I got about 6 months ago. It will work. Also the new Zotac DP-to-Dual HDMI Active Adapter will also depending upon your port availability on your card.

_________________
Brad Hawthorne
Product Manager
Nthusim Pty. Ltd. | www.nthusim.com