My cockpit project - Attila

[Attila Domján]

Hya guys,

To start up, currently i have a cockpit like this:



Recently i realised that for my racing rack a 3 monitor stand support is available:



The rest is logical, i immediately started to think about an upgrade.

Of course i will need this Matrox TripleHead2go as well to spread the signal to the 3 monitors:
DataSheet

Currently i am on the questions phase towards Matrox and VPP, when and how can i purchase, compatibility with Vista and so on, if all fits then i think i will go for it.

One question to you all: which monitor would you propose for this setup? As i understood max can be 19" standard 4:3 format 1280*1024 native resolution, of course 3 next to each other. I am looking for the best quality, price is luckily not the first priority. I guess it should have digital input, speakers not needed, and the side plastic of the monitor i would like to have the thinnest possible, to have as less disturbance as possible.

Any suggestion?

also one more thing, anybody knows if this is working with Race 07 and other Simbin titles?

Thanks: Atti

[Jose Cesar]

This one is really nice.

[Jose Cesar]

i support, 3 monitors is very reallistic

[Marcel Hulsbergen]

If you want quality for a reasonable price i would suggest Dell.

They have real good 19 and 20 inch lcd's for a good price.

If you so a lot of photo editing i would suggest not to take a TN panel, those are fast but not full 8 bit.


Look for an SIPS or PVA panel to get real 8 bit colors, which means 16.7 million.

You can also get 2 24 inch lcd's to match your 24 inch now.
Dell has a great offer the DELL E248WFP for 391 euro.

[Attila Domján]

1280*1024 resolution needed for the 3 monitor setup, this is the max it supports, so i am looking for this.

The SIPS/PVA panel words are chinese for me.... do you have some tips for specific monitor maybe...? with veeery very thin plastic side...

[Jari Vinnari]

Wait for second half of 2008 and get ready sell your kidney for about rumoured 4000-5000$.
Curved--->YouTube - NEC / Alienware Curved DLP Screen: Hands-on, In-Depth Report



peace
Jari

[Marcel Hulsbergen]

Ah ok i didn't knew it was only 1280 x 1024, but i see widescreen resolutions can be used too.

In that case i think 3 19 inchers will be ok, they are cheap and most of them use a native resolution of 1440 x 900 and they can do 1280 too on widescreen.

I would say the Dell 1908 WFP is great and only 249,= euro each.

They have cheaper ones too they are arround 210,= but the panl in this 1908 is much better.

Dell has no speakers on the sides so the sides are very thin. Their response time is 5MS which is ok.

I own a Dell for 2.5 years now and i still think its awesome, i suggested Maik the same lcd and he is also very happy with it.

[Bram Hengeveld]

I would defenitly go for the option suggested by Jari, what an amazing piece of art that is.
Do you need extra videocards to have such a system running smooth?

[Marcel Hulsbergen]

Originally Posted by Bram Hengeveld

I would defenitly go for the option suggested by Jari, what an amazing piece of art that is.
Do you need extra videocards to have such a system running smooth?

Sure i love that most too but it is still not realistic and the price seems a bit too much. In about 3 years we maybe have it all.

[Attila Domján]

ehm, for the time being 3*19" will be the way, i still need my kidney for later usage....

Thanks a lot guys for the help so far!

[Mehmet Arikan]

here you can refresh your chinese knowledge .. the article is older but the description is
the same how they be used todays pva-mva,tn sips
Budget LCD Roundup April 2005
i prefer LG they have very small thin plastic side look like this
ALTERNATE. Hardware - Software - Entertainment
and also good as i know is samsung 931bw
ALTERNATE. Hardware - Software - Entertainment
have fun alien with your new cockpit

[Steve Emmons]

The Dells are nice. I've been using them for years. Would suggest that you get an UltraSharp model though. The quality is better.
For 1280x1024 something like this...
Dell : DELL UltraSharp 1908FP 19-inch Flat Panel Monitor with Height Adjustable Stand : Displays : Home & Home Office

[Attila Domján]

thanks thanks, really appreciate guys.

I am not sure now, i tend to like the LG better, just because of the thinner side, is there any reasonable performance difference to the favour of the Dell...?

[Steve Emmons]

Don't know anything about the LGs, but suspect they are fine. If they look good to your eyes...

I researched the heck out of TH2Go about 6 months ago and thought it was pretty interesting. Matrox claims pretty good game compatibility. After reading lots of different forum posts rFactor seems to be the most seamless, but other games seem ok also with the odd glitch here and there. It's hard to tell what the issues are sometimes because there is such a spectrum of computer abilities and system configurations out there...
You've probably seen this.
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/jp/gx...aming/list.php

I'm using a 37" 1080p lcd and it works pretty well, but don't think it gives the same affect as the TH2Go.
You hit on one of the two issues I wasn't sure about --- bezel width. Wasn't sure how big of an issue it would be, but thinner is better I think.

I was going to give it a try as I already have two 20" 1600x1200 Dell lcds for regular Windows work, but that resolution isn't supported with three monitors. Windows doesn't look very good when an lcd isn't running in its native resolution, do you think a graphics game like Race07 would look ok on a 1600x1200 lcd with resolution turned down to 1280x1024?

[Marcel Hulsbergen]

Originally Posted by Attila Domján

thanks thanks, really appreciate guys.

I am not sure now, i tend to like the LG better, just because of the thinner side, is there any reasonable performance difference to the favour of the Dell...?

In my opinion the Dell has better image quality, i am very satisfied with my Dell as many friends of mine are too.

Atti i know a address where you can get the Dell E198wfp widescreen 19 inch TFT for 169,= with 5 years of warranty and deathpixel free.

I bought mine there too and also maik did.

He is an official Dell resaler, look at :: Qsix ::.
Here is the shop, you need to register to see the prices, he delivers faster then Dell too :: Qsix ::

[Attila Domján]

Thanks Marcel.

The upgrade for the cockpit is available to buy alone as well, also i found a TH2G digital version, where it says it is compatible with Vista 64 bit, so now it is just coming to money, but actually i think i will go for it... but a bit pricey...

VPP upgrade monitor stand for the 3 monitors: 179 Eur + shipping
Matrox TH2G digital: 259 Eur + shipping
3 Monitos: ye, depends, but lets say 3*200 Eur

Easily 1000+ Eur upgrade....

I am still looking around for monitors searching for the thinnest frame available, so far the lowest has 12 mm side plastic. Any 19-22" monitor with native resolution of 1280*1024 beats it? 1280*1024 is a must native resolution, and now i also have the info that the VPP monitor stand supports max size of 3*22" monitor.

[Attila Domján]

hmmmm, i found an interesting monitor, the brands is unkown for me Lenovo, but it has the thinnest side frame i found so far, the half of the next best, only 6.6 mm. Any comment on this monitor?

Lenovo - Products - Central Europe - Lenovo L190x 19.0in TFT LCD (19.0in VIS) TCO 03 Business Black Monitor, T39HNEU / 4439HN2

edit: sorry, forget it, i found it on another site it has 25 ms reaction time, for some reason at the official page they forgot to mention it....

[Attila Domján]

heeeeey, look what i found, anybody knows more about this, size, price, etc....? i could find nothing on their site, but maybe i am blind....

Seamless Display - Radius320

[Marcel Hulsbergen]

Lenovo is IBM, they are good for office work not for games in my opinion.

That seamless display looks amazing but it will be very expensive i guess.

I still should go for 3 Dells if i where you.

[Attila Domján]

ye ye, but the temptation to have no any frames between the monitors is soooo big...

[David Garcia]

radius 320

It seems it is not cheap Atti! :brancard:

[Attila Domján]

16 000 USD...???? wtf, forget it then...

[David Garcia]

What about the TFT 7" screen as button box?

It looks pretty cool, look: COCKPIT Finished with 7" LCD ButtonPanel - RaceSimCentral Forums

[Attila Domján]

very cool, never seen anything like that, innovative for sure, but i am not sure how much it is useful at the end. Looks cool anyhow!

[Attila Domján]

this is news from today... and i thought 3*19" would be big..... omg, for what the hell i am browsing that much, now my heart will hurt for the next few decades....