I have put this up as I have lost count of the times I have had to explain this ...

Distortion on the side screens ...
The point about TripleHead set ups that everyone seems to miss (even when it is explained to them) is that the sidescreens are just for adding to the immersion ... you can't look at or focus on all the screens at once unless you are looking at a screenshot.
Same as in reality ... you can't look at and focus on everything your eyes are seeing at once.

Whilst playing a game you are concentrating on the centre screen where the action is ... in front of you ... just like using one screen.
The sidescreens then add to this giving you some peripheral vision as your eyes have ... and so the distortion isn't noticed so much (if at all) when you are playing.

Another point about the distortion ...
Objects get wider towards the edges of the screen ... even at 4:3.
Some games are better than others but it is like this for just about all first or third person games.
It's normal with most games for things to get fatter towards the edges of the screen... even at 4:3
Some screens to illustrate ...
I haven't moved position in any of the shots ... all I have done is turned to get the NPC nearer to the edge/side.

Click to enlarge ...

Doom 3 ...



Half Life 2 ...



F.E.A.R. ...



So the wider your screen gets the more obvious this distortion appears ... and it is just the way game cameras are ... it isn't an added feature of the TH2G ... it is already there.

Some shots from UT3 ...
4x3 ...


Widescreen ...


TripleHead ...


Bars between the screens
You should be too busy playing/concentrating on the centre screen to notice them ...
Do you notice the edges of the screen when you are playing on one screen ? ... no ... because you are busy concentrating on the game.
So ... just as when you are using one screen you don't notice the edges of the screens or the bars because you are too busy concentrating /playing the game on the centre screen ... the sidescreens as I have said just add to the emersion giving you some peripheral vision.
The emersion is stunning ... giving a view that is far far closer to the way your eyes work in reality ... way more than just one screen could ever do.

TripleHead
I guess it is one of those things you have to experience ...
Looking at screenshots most get it wrong and moan about or point out the distortion ... "fisheye" ... etc.
Looking at photos of setups with 3 screens most get it wrong and moan about or point out the bars between the screens ... "one of those ultra expensive seamless triple monitor setups" really really isn't necessary.
It you ever get to try it you will understand ... until then trust me those that say these things are wrong ... or just picky ...

And here is something else that might help explain it. I pulled these five videos of EVE Online from Fraps. They are listed here in order of increasing FOV. While the increase in FOV does exaggerate the edge stretching, it is still something that is apparent in the 4:3 ratio.

Click on the image to watch the video. They range in size between 6MB - 10MB, so the download might take a moment before they start to play, but they are very high quality.

EVE Online, 4:3, 1600x1200 native res. Video size: 800x600


EVE Online, 16:10, 1920x1200 native res. Video size 960x600


EVE Online, 16:9, 1920x1080 native res. Video size 960x540


EVE Online, 2:1, 2560x1280 native res. Video size 1280x640


EVE Online, 3:1, 2560x853 native res. Video size 1280x426


Edit - I've removed the links to the videos on my .mac site. They have been replaced with the Edge Distortion video from the DTH2Go review, which can now be found here - http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/vi ... zelmgt.php

Sorry 4 the Off-Topic, but what game is this????

UT3 .......

I've removed these individual videos, and uploaded the combined Edge Distortion video from our DTH2Go review to the new WSGF video gallery - http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/vi ... zelmgt.php

Just had someone direct me to this thread as I posted about this issue. I was searching the forum using the wrong terms and couldn't find the answer myself. Thanks for the great explaination. You right... when you involved in the game you don't notice distortion or other minor issues.

Nancy

The only thing I would add to this is that it would be nice if developers took the black bars into account... There have been a few games that the UI info is placed in positions that appear "between the monitors"

Currently experiencing this with BFBC2... I'm losing part of the mini map and beginning of all convo's including names...

Its also curious that they made the loading screens widescreen O_o lose some info in that regard as well between maps...

This happens in newer games if you are using 4:3 or 16:10 monitors, because centered hud usually assumes you are using 16:9 monitors.

I never noticed any distortion on my 19" LCD when playing FPS games at 1280x1024, but with my new Acer Aspire GD245HQ 120Hz, it's really obvious and beginning to bug me. The geometry distortion is weird. If I'm standing in front of a perfectly square box and I pan slowly left or right it changes into a oblong shaped box. It's basically the same with all objects and characters in any 3D game. Is there a fix for this or is there something I can do to reduce the distortion to a minimum?

Playing a game in Widescreen compared to playing it in Surround it's like comparing driving a car without and with side-windows. You look out most of the time through windshield, but it sure helps to have visibility to sideways as well. Same goes for bars, while you drive your they are there in my view, but they don't bother me.