Hey there, pretty much what the title reads. To give a bit more detail, I am open to either Nvidia or ATI (now AMD). I can go with either one two-slot card, or two one-slot cards, possibly with the aid of waterblocks. With this in mind, would a setup like this be possible where the VR headset alone counts as two monitors? I have been getting conflicting information on this, so I am looking for clarification. If I go with an Nvidia card, I had been planning on going with a 1080 TI, I am however not familiar with the modern Radeon cards from after they stopped using the ATI name.
4x 4K displays + VR headset, is this possible on a single card?
Elanachan
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Hey there, pretty much what the title reads. To give a bit more detail, I am open to either Nvidia or ATI (now AMD). I can go with either one two-slot card, or two one-slot cards, possibly with the aid of waterblocks. With this in mind, would a setup like this be possible where the VR headset alone counts as two monitors? I have been getting conflicting information on this, so I am looking for clarification. If I go with an Nvidia card, I had been planning on going with a 1080 TI, I am however not familiar with the modern Radeon cards from after they stopped using the ATI name.
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Quote:
so, needless to say 4x 4K screen + VR headset is definitely a no go
now lets step back a bit so you can understand.
Because I already tried, and the result is grotesk at best.
The performance of 3x 4K screen is already super laggy, even with SLI GTX 1080.. even with 2x GTX 1080 TI, it won't change that.
To get decent performance you can only got 1x 4K screen, or 1x 4K screen + VR headset.
Now lets revisit again why the 4x or 3x screen + VR headset is a no go
I currently have that setup, and I had to move my VR headset to another computer (home theatre PC) so it can work properly, because when you have 3 or more screen setup, the VR headset will simply "mirror" the physical setup, and that generates a squashed view of your screens, and makes the picture very tiny.
so imagine 4x 4K resolution downgraded to 1080p in your VR headset, that will make a very narrow lane across your eyes, and everything in it squashed.
That's how it looks like to me.
When I ran the 3D mark VR test, i didn't quite understand why it was doing that weird thing, until I realized
So to get the VR to work properly I had to unplug all my extra monitors, to basically have either 1x 4K + VR or 1x 1080p + VR.... as long as it's a combination that generates a proper scaling of 1080p then it can display properly on the VR.
Now this might just be an issue with the Steam VR, but other VRs might work the same way.
From what I understand it's actually the video drivers doing the work, so it might actually be the video card doing that.
Another thing to note.
at least with nvidia cards, you can only do Surround + Accessory display, or Surround + VR, but not Surround + Accessory + VR ... because I tried and it won't do it.
Now there is a work around if you really want an accessory display to see heat temp, fan, and OC data, or walkthrough guides, etc, get one of those USB monitor display, and plug the extra monitor via the USB, that will count as a separate video card
so you can still have the 3x screen + VR... but as mentioned before the 3x screen looks horrible through VR, because the VR will only render the center portion of the 3 screens.
That's why... I decided to run VR on a completely separate machine (my HTPC) so that it's a 1:1:1 ratio.
while I keep my gaming rig on the 3+1 display setup.
on the HTPC I have a single GTX 1080 that runs great on all big screen TV 60" + the VR + the Projector for the 50 ft wall
.
it doesn't matter what video card you got with, none of them can handle Surround View of 4x 4K displayOriginally Posted by Elanachan
Hey there, pretty much what the title reads. To give a bit more detail, I am open to either Nvidia or ATI (now AMD). I can go with either one two-slot card, or two one-slot cards, possibly with the aid of waterblocks. With this in mind, would a setup like this be possible where the VR headset alone counts as two monitors? I have been getting conflicting information on this, so I am looking for clarification. If I go with an Nvidia card, I had been planning on going with a 1080 TI, I am however not familiar with the modern Radeon cards from after they stopped using the ATI name.
so, needless to say 4x 4K screen + VR headset is definitely a no go
now lets step back a bit so you can understand.
Because I already tried, and the result is grotesk at best.
The performance of 3x 4K screen is already super laggy, even with SLI GTX 1080.. even with 2x GTX 1080 TI, it won't change that.
To get decent performance you can only got 1x 4K screen, or 1x 4K screen + VR headset.
Now lets revisit again why the 4x or 3x screen + VR headset is a no go
I currently have that setup, and I had to move my VR headset to another computer (home theatre PC) so it can work properly, because when you have 3 or more screen setup, the VR headset will simply "mirror" the physical setup, and that generates a squashed view of your screens, and makes the picture very tiny.
so imagine 4x 4K resolution downgraded to 1080p in your VR headset, that will make a very narrow lane across your eyes, and everything in it squashed.
That's how it looks like to me.
When I ran the 3D mark VR test, i didn't quite understand why it was doing that weird thing, until I realized
So to get the VR to work properly I had to unplug all my extra monitors, to basically have either 1x 4K + VR or 1x 1080p + VR.... as long as it's a combination that generates a proper scaling of 1080p then it can display properly on the VR.
Now this might just be an issue with the Steam VR, but other VRs might work the same way.
From what I understand it's actually the video drivers doing the work, so it might actually be the video card doing that.
Another thing to note.
at least with nvidia cards, you can only do Surround + Accessory display, or Surround + VR, but not Surround + Accessory + VR ... because I tried and it won't do it.
Now there is a work around if you really want an accessory display to see heat temp, fan, and OC data, or walkthrough guides, etc, get one of those USB monitor display, and plug the extra monitor via the USB, that will count as a separate video card
so you can still have the 3x screen + VR... but as mentioned before the 3x screen looks horrible through VR, because the VR will only render the center portion of the 3 screens.
That's why... I decided to run VR on a completely separate machine (my HTPC) so that it's a 1:1:1 ratio.
while I keep my gaming rig on the 3+1 display setup.
on the HTPC I have a single GTX 1080 that runs great on all big screen TV 60" + the VR + the Projector for the 50 ft wall
.
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So, even at a lower resolution, the 3+1+VR (or 2+2+VR) will not work?
With the exception of the playstation VR setup I saw once, or when the display was deliberately mirrored to let others see what was going on inside the headset, the headset was NOT mirroring the primary display.
With the setups I've seen, full-screen games would actually switch from being on the primary monitor to being displayed inside the headset. I just don't know if the hardware would be capable of doing this with more monitors on the system, as all of the examples I've seen are a single monitor plus VR, with the exception of a single setup which was 3 surround displays and then the headset.
If my memory is serving me correctly, the two headsets I've seen in demos are the HTC Vive and the Occulus Rift.
With the exception of the playstation VR setup I saw once, or when the display was deliberately mirrored to let others see what was going on inside the headset, the headset was NOT mirroring the primary display.
With the setups I've seen, full-screen games would actually switch from being on the primary monitor to being displayed inside the headset. I just don't know if the hardware would be capable of doing this with more monitors on the system, as all of the examples I've seen are a single monitor plus VR, with the exception of a single setup which was 3 surround displays and then the headset.
If my memory is serving me correctly, the two headsets I've seen in demos are the HTC Vive and the Occulus Rift.
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Quote:
Because I wanted that to work as well, but found out the hard way it wouldn't work.
What you see on Monitors, it's mirrored inside the HTC Vive (that's the one i'm using.)
A single display scales nicely inside the Vive
but a Surround view setup (3 screens) inside the Vive it tries to squish all 3 screen into the frame size of a single screen, so everything looks horrible, squashed, very skinny, very tall and long, way worse than watching PAL in NTSC or the other way around.
Exactly.Originally Posted by Elanachan
So, even at a lower resolution, the 3+1+VR (or 2+2+VR) will not work?
With the exception of the playstation VR setup I saw once, or when the display was deliberately mirrored to let others see what was going on inside the headset, the headset was NOT mirroring the primary display.
With the setups I've seen, full-screen games would actually switch from being on the primary monitor to being displayed inside the headset. I just don't know if the hardware would be capable of doing this with more monitors on the system, as all of the examples I've seen are a single monitor plus VR, with the exception of a single setup which was 3 surround displays and then the headset.
If my memory is serving me correctly, the two headsets I've seen in demos are the HTC Vive and the Occulus Rift.
Because I wanted that to work as well, but found out the hard way it wouldn't work.
What you see on Monitors, it's mirrored inside the HTC Vive (that's the one i'm using.)
A single display scales nicely inside the Vive
but a Surround view setup (3 screens) inside the Vive it tries to squish all 3 screen into the frame size of a single screen, so everything looks horrible, squashed, very skinny, very tall and long, way worse than watching PAL in NTSC or the other way around.
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Then why is it that in the setups I have seen with the vive, most of them do not duplicate the monitor displays? I have been told that you need hardware capable of running any normal screens you plan on having, plus two non-mirrored displays inside the headset, one for each eye.
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yes you can see a mirror version of the VR on screen, using the SDK or the Steam feature that lets you display the same thing you see on a window, but that only takes 1 monitor even if you enlarge it, it's not 1 monitor for each eye.
and that feature is optional, is only used for Demo purposes to show people what you are seeing inside the headset,
you don't need to use it when you are actually playing.
not sure where you seen that, but that is definitely not true.Originally Posted by Elanachan
Then why is it that in the setups I have seen with the vive, most of them do not duplicate the monitor displays? I have been told that you need hardware capable of running any normal screens you plan on having, plus two non-mirrored displays inside the headset, one for each eye.
yes you can see a mirror version of the VR on screen, using the SDK or the Steam feature that lets you display the same thing you see on a window, but that only takes 1 monitor even if you enlarge it, it's not 1 monitor for each eye.
and that feature is optional, is only used for Demo purposes to show people what you are seeing inside the headset,
you don't need to use it when you are actually playing.
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I want to add my 2 cents regarding the mirroring.
In some games, (Dying Light for example) my desktop monitor shows the game from 2 perspectives (so both screens from the Vive are mirrored).
Most, if not all, other games show 1 eye/perspective.
In some games, (Dying Light for example) my desktop monitor shows the game from 2 perspectives (so both screens from the Vive are mirrored).
Most, if not all, other games show 1 eye/perspective.
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What if you use NVIDIA or AMD's software to deactivate (software-wise) a couple of the screens? Could you match the scaling that way?
For instance, if the OP has 3 montiors at the desk for surround, and then another near where the VR will be + VR - could you use the software (AMD's used to be called catalyst control center) to make the VR + 1 display all that is active?
This might be a way to solve OP's issue if that's how the monitors are being used. I was planning a similar setup (3x at desk + TV + VR), where the TV and VR would be mirrored so guests can see what VR user sees in the living room).
For instance, if the OP has 3 montiors at the desk for surround, and then another near where the VR will be + VR - could you use the software (AMD's used to be called catalyst control center) to make the VR + 1 display all that is active?
This might be a way to solve OP's issue if that's how the monitors are being used. I was planning a similar setup (3x at desk + TV + VR), where the TV and VR would be mirrored so guests can see what VR user sees in the living room).
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Quote:
on my 3+1 setup
if I go into nvidia control panel and change the screen from Surround View to normal 4 screens, then I can use 3 screens + VR
Then set any of the 3 screen as the Main Monitor, which is what the VR headset will display.
then the 2 "Accessory" monitors you can open other stuff like System Stats, and a Game Guide Walkthrough on the other screen, and none of those will show up in the VR headset, unless you drag them into the Main monitor view.
I just found it annoying to have to keep changing back and forth, between single screen vs triple screen setups, just to be able to use the VR.
So, in my case I just moved my VR headset to a computer that only has 1 screen, my HTPC
The simple answer is "Yes"Originally Posted by Hoff248
What if you use NVIDIA or AMD's software to deactivate (software-wise) a couple of the screens? Could you match the scaling that way?
For instance, if the OP has 3 montiors at the desk for surround, and then another near where the VR will be + VR - could you use the software (AMD's used to be called catalyst control center) to make the VR + 1 display all that is active?
This might be a way to solve OP's issue if that's how the monitors are being used. I was planning a similar setup (3x at desk + TV + VR), where the TV and VR would be mirrored so guests can see what VR user sees in the living room).
on my 3+1 setup
if I go into nvidia control panel and change the screen from Surround View to normal 4 screens, then I can use 3 screens + VR
Then set any of the 3 screen as the Main Monitor, which is what the VR headset will display.
then the 2 "Accessory" monitors you can open other stuff like System Stats, and a Game Guide Walkthrough on the other screen, and none of those will show up in the VR headset, unless you drag them into the Main monitor view.
I just found it annoying to have to keep changing back and forth, between single screen vs triple screen setups, just to be able to use the VR.
So, in my case I just moved my VR headset to a computer that only has 1 screen, my HTPC
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And then we again run into the question of "How to do this, if a single card (atleast for nvidia) has been said to only support up to four displays?".
I have been told that the HTC Vive specifically infact has two displays, one for each eye, and the displays are NOT identical in order to give you true stereoscopic vision. Just like if you were to look at an old stereoscopic photograph taken with a camera that has two lenses, the perspective in each eye is slightly different, which results in the closest thing to true 3D you could possibly get with a digital device. From the wearer's point of view it makes it look like you're simply looking through something akin to a diving mask.
To be clear, I was not planning on mirroring the VR headset with any of the monitors, something would be set up so that specific games that would support it and/or some full screen games would be rendered inside the headset instead of displaying it on the monitor.
And, unless there is multi-OS support, I would need something that could be set up within the hardware, not OS-installed software. I will be dual-booting windows 7 and linux on this system, the latter quite possibly becoming the primary operating system as support for 7 is dropped, as I have no desire to install the spyware that is windows 10.
I have been told that the HTC Vive specifically infact has two displays, one for each eye, and the displays are NOT identical in order to give you true stereoscopic vision. Just like if you were to look at an old stereoscopic photograph taken with a camera that has two lenses, the perspective in each eye is slightly different, which results in the closest thing to true 3D you could possibly get with a digital device. From the wearer's point of view it makes it look like you're simply looking through something akin to a diving mask.
To be clear, I was not planning on mirroring the VR headset with any of the monitors, something would be set up so that specific games that would support it and/or some full screen games would be rendered inside the headset instead of displaying it on the monitor.
And, unless there is multi-OS support, I would need something that could be set up within the hardware, not OS-installed software. I will be dual-booting windows 7 and linux on this system, the latter quite possibly becoming the primary operating system as support for 7 is dropped, as I have no desire to install the spyware that is windows 10.
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Quote:
Quote:
while yes each eye has its own screen, the actual connection only takes 1 physical video port, and that's the HDMI connector.
So, make sure you get a Nvidia or AMD video card that has a HDMI out, even after you use the HDMI for the VR headset, you'll still have 3 other screens you can use for whatever it's you want. if it's nvidia, then you'll still have a DVI-D port, and 2x DirectPorts free to plug in extra monitors
Correct, 4 screens in any combination of setups.Originally Posted by Elanachan
And then we again run into the question of "How to do this, if a single card (atleast for nvidia) has been said to only support up to four displays?".
Quote:
yes and no, you are getting confused.Originally Posted by Elanachan
I have been told that the HTC Vive specifically infact has two displays, one for each eye, and the displays are NOT identical in order to give you true stereoscopic vision. Just like if you were to look at an old stereoscopic photograph taken with a camera that has two lenses, the perspective in each eye is slightly different, which results in the closest thing to true 3D you could possibly get with a digital device. From the wearer's point of view it makes it look like you're simply looking through something akin to a diving mask.
while yes each eye has its own screen, the actual connection only takes 1 physical video port, and that's the HDMI connector.
So, make sure you get a Nvidia or AMD video card that has a HDMI out, even after you use the HDMI for the VR headset, you'll still have 3 other screens you can use for whatever it's you want. if it's nvidia, then you'll still have a DVI-D port, and 2x DirectPorts free to plug in extra monitors
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Replaced by Direct Ports and HDMI 2.0 (2.1)
The HTC Vive uses the new HDMI 2.x
Pretty much, DVI has gone rather obsoleteOriginally Posted by Elanachan
Should I assume that the lack of response to my previous posts means the lack of a DVI port is unimportant?
Replaced by Direct Ports and HDMI 2.0 (2.1)
The HTC Vive uses the new HDMI 2.x
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You can run 4x4k screens off a single card but to get good frame rates you need multi cards. Ran 4x4k screens off a titanx quad sli setup. 3 were in surround the 4th was for other stuff. Frames rates were around 50-60 fps in most titles. But it was a pain to get working in some titles. Adding a VR headset should work along side it with the right adapters.
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Forgetting the VR headset, that needs to be factored in as well.Originally Posted by ozlay
You can run 4x4k screens off a single card but to get good frame rates you need multi cards. Ran 4x4k screens off a titanx quad sli setup. 3 were in surround the 4th was for other stuff. Frames rates were around 50-60 fps in most titles. But it was a pain to get working in some titles. Adding a VR headset should work along side it with the right adapters.
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With NVIDIA cards (I'll be getting a 1080 ti poseidon, hoping Vega release will depress pricing next week or two) do you have the ability to easily switch between monitor configuration presets?
Example:
At Desk: 3x1
Around the corner: 1 TV + HTC Vive
All plugged into same 1080 ti poseidon and PC.
Can you have a preset (1) for just the 3x1 (nothing on the TV or Vive) and then another (2) for just the TV + Vive, with the 3x1 turned off?
Seems like this didn't used to be possible, had to be manual - but I gather that thread was old.
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/887653/multi-monitor-config-presets/
Example:
At Desk: 3x1
Around the corner: 1 TV + HTC Vive
All plugged into same 1080 ti poseidon and PC.
Can you have a preset (1) for just the 3x1 (nothing on the TV or Vive) and then another (2) for just the TV + Vive, with the 3x1 turned off?
Seems like this didn't used to be possible, had to be manual - but I gather that thread was old.
https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/887653/multi-monitor-config-presets/
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No idea if it's possible, though it might simplify things if you can simply switch displays like that, though with some devices being displayport, and others (such as the Vive) being HDMI, it might be something that needs to be done at the software level.
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