TH2Go FAQ

From WSGFWiki

What is the TripleHead2Go by Matrox?

The Matrox TripleHead2Go is a hardware solution from Matrox that enables Surround Gaming on any graphics platform (i.e. a graphics card from either NVIDIA, ATI or Intel). The TH2Go is an "extension" of the Matrox Parhelia 512, which established the Surround Gaming "platform."

The first version of the TripleHead2Go offered analog VGA inputs and outputs. Matrox later released a revision, the Digital Edition, which featured both DVI inputs and outputs. The original version has now been branded the Analog Edition. Both versions are still available for sale. The Digital Edition can input/output analog signals with DVI>VGA adapters.

What is Surround Gaming?

The Matrox TripleHead2Go system is the easiest way to implement Surround Gaming, which is where a single gaming image is spanned across three monitors to provide an expansive and immersive Field of View (FOV).

AA game with a 90° FOV at a 4:3 aspect ratio will produce an FOV of 100.4° when at a 16:10 aspect ratio. That same game will produce an FOV of 141° in "Normal Surround Gaming" (3x5:4) and an FOV of 151° in "Wide Surround Gaming" (3x16:10).

For more information on Surround Gaming, visit the WSGF article on Surround Gaming or the Matrox Surround Gaming Website.

Supported Games

As of this writing, the TH2Go supports more than 250 games. To see a list of supported games, look in the WSGF Wiki, or visit the Matrox Surround Gaming Zone.

Not all games support 3x 1680x1050, one of the new Widescreen TripleHead2Go resolutions for the Digital Edition which was added with the most recent firmware update. Please look here for the solutions thread on WSGF.

How Does it Work?

TripleHead2Go appears to your system as an super-widescreen monitor. Using standard EDID reporting mechanisms, the TripleHead2Go will cause the graphics device already present in your system to generate the super-widescreen image, which is sent to the TripleHead2Go. The TH2Go then splits this super-widescreen image into a left section, a center section and a right section and sends the normal size images to your physical monitors.

In essence, the TripleHead2Go spoofs the EDID to allow the computer to render a super-wide image, splits the incoming super-wide image into sections the size of each of your monitors, and then displays those sections on the screens. The TH2Go isn't a video card as it doesn't generate the image, and so Matrox calls it a "Graphics eXpansion Module (GXM)."

To support the hardware, Matrox supplied two pieces of software. The first is the Matrox PowerDesk, which is necessary for Bezel Management. It is also a key tool for setting up different resolution modes and options. The general consensus is that the PowerDesk software leaves a lot to be desired. The window management is very limited, Bezel Management hotkeys can are inconsistent, and it can be crash prone. But it is the only method for implementing Bezel Management and thus a key element to experiencing the Digital TripleHead2Go the way it was intended.

More and more games are supporting Surround Gaming resolutions without the need for fixes or hacks. But, for those games requiring edits or tweaks, Matrox supplies the Surround Gaming Utility (SGU). This offers a GUI interface for making any necessary configuration tweaks. You select the game and the resolution, and the SGU will tweak the appropriate configuration files or registry entries. While not a requirement for using the TripleHead2Go, it does make life easier.

Differences Between Analog & Digital Versions

USB Power - The original (analog) TH2Go requires an AC adapter for power. The DTH2Go derives its power through a USB cable.
Updatable ROM - The original TH2Go does not offer a user updatable ROM, and required service through Matrox. With the USB power connection, the DTH2Go offers a user updatable ROM. As of this writing, there have been two updates. The first made the center screen the primary screen in "single screen" mode. The second implemented 3x1440x900 and 3x1680x1050. It also gave the ability to cycle the single-screen display mode to any display.
More Supported Resolutions - The Digital Edition of the TripleHead2Go supports far more resolution options than the original analog version. The user updatable ROM gives the potential for this gap to widen even further. See the chart below for a full list of supported resolutions on both versions of the TH2Go.
Cable Management - The original TH2Go mixes the inputs and outputs across the two sides of the unit. With the DTH2Go, all of the inputs (the source cable and the USB cable) are on one side, and the outputs (the cables to the monitors) are on the opposite site. This helps greatly with cable management.
Bezel Management - Due to the digital connection, the DTH2Go implements a functionality of "Bezel Management." This removes slices of the image, so that the game screen passes behind the monitor bezels, rather than jumping across. See this section of our DTH2Go review for information about Bezel Management
Dual-Link DVI - Due to the bandwidth requirements of the high-end resolutions, the DTH2Go requires a Dual-Link DVI video card and cable. As of this writing, most all video cards offered Dual-Link DVI support, and should not be seen as an issue.

Technical Aspects

Can I Mix Aspect Ratios or Resolutions?

Simply put - No. The TripleHead2Go spans its image across the three screens, splitting it evenly. Identical monitors are recommended (though not required), but identical resolutions must be used. This means you could have different monitors with different resolutions and aspect ratios attached to the TH2Go. But each monitor will be required to display the same resolution, even if it requires scaling or stretching on individual monitors.

What Aspect Ratios are Supported?

For a more detailed explanation of aspect ratio, please see the article on Aspect Ratio. To make it easier to see exactly what aspect ratio does to an image, here's a simple comparison. All of these are the same height - 60 pixels, with the width dictated by the aspect ratio. TH2Go is limited in that it must split it's image across three identical resolutions.

Normal
Widescreen
Normal TH2Go
Widescreen TH2Go

What Resolutions are Supported?

Mode	Resolution	@ Hz	Display	Aspect	Supported By	Mode	Resolution	@ Hz	Display	Aspect	Supported By
TripleHead	5040x1050	57	3x1680x1050	3x16:10	DTH2Go	DualHead	3840x1200	60	2x1920x1200	2x16:10	DTH2Go
	4320x900	60	3x1440x900	3x16:10	DTH2Go		2560x800	60	2x1280x800	2x16:10	DTH2Go
	4098x768	60	3x1366x768	3x16:9	DTH2Go		3840x1080	60	2x1920x1080	2x16:9	DTH2Go
	4080x768	60	3x1360x768	3x16:9	DTH2Go		3360x1050	60	2x1680x1050	2x16:10	DTH2Go, TH2Go
	3840x1024	60	3x1280x1024	3x5:4	DTH2Go, TH2Go		3200x1200	60	2x1600x1200	2x4:3	DTH2Go, TH2Go
	3840x1960	60	3x1280x960	3x4:3	DTH2Go		2880x900	60	2x1440x900	2x16:10	DTH2Go
	3840x800	60	3x1280x800	3x16:10	DTH2Go		2720x768	60	2x1360x768	2:16x9	DTH2Go
	3840x768	60	3x1280x768	3x15:9	DTH2Go, TH2Go		2560x1024	85, 75, 60	2x1280x1024	2x5:4	DTH2Go
	3840x720	60	3x1280x720	3x16:9	DTH2Go, TH2Go		2560x960	60	2x1280x960	2x4:3	DTH2Go
	3072x768	85, 75, 60	3x1024x768	3x4:3	DTH2Go, TH2Go		2560x768	60	2x1280x768	2x15:9	DTH2Go
	2400x600	85, 75, 60	3x800x600	3x4:3	DTH2Go, TH2Go		2560x720	60	2x1280x720	2x16:9	DTH2Go
	2400x480	59	3x800x480	3x15:9	DTH2Go, TH2Go		2048x768	85, 75, 60	2x1024x768	2x4:3	DTH2Go
	1920x480	85, 75, 60	3x640x480	3x4:3	DTH2Go		1600x600	85, 75, 60	2x800x600	2x4:3	DTH2Go
							1600x480	60	2x800x480	2x16:10	DTH2Go

Notes:

Some modes require the TMET (Triplehead Mode Expander Tool), or a firmware update from Matrox.com
Some modes with the DTH2Go require a Dual-Link DVI compatible graphics card, and Dual-Link-DVI cable
Some modes require a DirectX® 10 compatible GPU, and are not Mac compatible
For more information, visit the DTH2Go Specifications Page
To check system compatibility, download the GXM System Compatibility tool.

Technical Issues & Considerations

Mixing Aspect Ratios or Resolutions

Doesn't support mixed resolutions (like 1280x1024|1680x1050|1280x1024)

SLI and CrossFire

Supports SLI and Crossfire to render the scene.
The newest BETA drivers (177.39 and 177.92) from Nvidia don't work for the new 3x1680x1050 and 3x1440x900 modes on the Digital Edition of the TripleHead2Go. The Analog Edition does not support these resolutions, so the beta drivers do not pose any issues.

Performance Impact of TripleHead2Go

Due to the increased resolution and aspect ratio, your framerates will have a noticeable drop in most games. This article covers the topic, with a full set of benchmarks and comparisons. The conclusion was that the increased Field Of View in surround gaming will impact your fps negatively. But, once you cross that FOV threshold, increasing the resolution often has little impact with a capable video card.

HDCP

HDCP is not supported on the TripleHead2Go Digital Edition, and would not be applicable to the Analog Edition.

Supported Displays

There are some displays, that doesn't support the resolution 5040x1050 at 57Hz. Please post if you have new information on supported displays.

Other Options for Surround Gaming

SoftTH

Kegen Kotisivu created SoftTH (aka "Soft TripleHead"), a software application that attempts to duplicate the functionality of the Matrox TripleHead2Go. SoftTH requires that three monitors be attached to two PCI-e video cards. Please note, these cards are not run in SLI. Two cards are required, as three monitor connections are needed.

How it Works:

The scene is rendered on the primary video card.
The center frame is then displayed on the primary monitor.
The side frames are combined to one buffer, and copied over to system RAM.
The buffer is scaled and converted to another format if it is needed.
The buffer is copied to the system memory, and there it will be split and displayed on secondary monitors.

One buffer is used because copying one large buffer is faster than copying two smaller ones. I diagram of the basic operation can be found on the SoftTH Site.

SoftTH works by rendering the whole scene on one display adapter, which then gets split into three parts to be displayed on each monitor. While it is technically possible to use it on a AGP/PCI card, only PCI Express has the required bandwidth to get good framerates. Since only the primary card does any rendering work, the secondary card can be a low end card. Also, only DirectX (Direct3D) is supported.

Pro

Supports mixed resolutions (like 1280x1024|1680x1050|1280x1024).
Supports any custom resolution, rather than the limited set from the DTH2Go hardware.
Free

Con

Only primary video card will render the scene, so SLI/CF are not supported. Dual GPUs are advantageous with these extreme resolutions and aspects, so the lack of SLI/CF support is a negative against SoftTH.
Significant, inherent performance hit from software solution.
Only 18 games listed as officially working, compared to the hundreds for the DTH2Go.
Extensive configuration may be required, beyond any "normal" tweaking for adjusting the aspect or FOV in the game.

Faux TH2Go

With the proper aspect scaling support, you can try Surround Gaming on a single widescreen monitor. By setting custom resolutions in your video card drivers, you can simulate the super-wide aspect ratio and FOV of Surround Gaming. This allows you to experience the potential gameplay enhancements, before spending they money on a DTH2Go and additional monitors. On a 30" monitor you can simulate the original TH2Go modes of 3072x768 (4:1) and 3840x1024 (3.75:1), with custom resolutions of 2560x682 and 2560x640, respectively. You can see several examples in this forum thread.

Pro

Free - "Try Before You Buy" Allows testing of the Surround Gaming experience with no additional investment (SoftTH still requires three monitors).
Allows for virtually any custom resolution, and any custom aspect.

Con

Small viewport, and wasted screen real estate.
Long term solution basically requires a 30" monitor to get enough horizontal pixels, and a large enough image, to offset the extreme letterboxing.

Disclaimer, Author & Thanks

The WSGF makes no warranty on the usage of this information/tutorial. Use this information at your own risk, and use common sense. This tutorial was originally authored by P-Storm. If you have any questions or comments about this tutorial, please post into the original forum thread.

I also like to thank people for there help, in non-alphabetic order: JKeefe, Mach1.9pants, Ghimpi, Ibrin, Paddy the Wak, and much more people. Did I forget you? just pm me, P-Storm

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